Blog Tour: Tempest Unleashed

Title: Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 352 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers to Tempest Rising, the first book in the series.

Goodreads Summary: Tempest Maguire is happy with her decision to embrace her mermaid nature and live among her mother’s clan within the ocean’s depths. Even though training to one day ascend the throne for the aging mermaid queen is rigorous, she finds refuge in the arms of Kona, the selkie who first opened her up to her mermaid side. But when word comes that one of her brothers has been gravely injured on land, Tempest immediately rushes to his side—which also brings her back to her old flame, Mark. And in her absence, a deadly battle begins raging at the hands of Tempest’s old nemesis, the sea witch Tiamat. As the dangerous war erupts, Tempest’s two loves—Kona and Mark, sea and land—will collide for the first time, both to protect her and to force her to choose.

Tempest Maguire is finding out that the grass is not always greener on the other side. After making the painful but solid decision to leave her life on land and embrace her mermaid heritage in the sea, Tempest is now having doubts that she did the right thing. Life in the mermaid kingdom is not going the way she thought it would: Tempest is constantly at odds with Hailana, the scheming mermaid queen she serves, mer politics are treacherous and she has started having arguments with Kona, her selkie boyfriend.

Tempest Unleashed, the sequel to Tempest Rising, takes place about eight months after the first book and is set mostly underwater which is awesome! Deebs’ world building is really cool and I enjoyed reading about the places and creatures she created. Like Tempest Rising, this second book is no fairytale. It is dark with war, death, nightmarish creatures and of course, Tiamat, the sea witch who has gotten even stronger since Tempest last battled her.

Tempest is a girl torn in two. When she is on land, she can’t resist the ocean’s pull on her and when she is in the sea, she misses her family and craves to be with Mark, her ex-boyfriend. It does not help that she and Kona are having problems stemming primarily from his wanting to protect her. Tempest, insisting that she can take care of herself, chafes at Kona’s warnings about her hot new trainer: a merman that Kona knows and justifiably hates. There is a huge love triangle involving Tempest, Mark and Kona. Thankfully, Tempest does choose by the end of the book so we are not left hanging!

Tempest Unleashed has lots of action and for the romance lovers, lots of kissing! Its fun to see Tempest come into her powers and use them in such a kick butt way. There is definitely more to explore in a third book in the series which will probably come out next year.

Content: Kissing, profanity and violence.