Chapters Through Life: Submerge ❤ Blog Tour ❤ Giveaway

Submerge (Mer Chronicles #2)

Tobie Easton

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33299927-submerge

❤ Synopsis

Now that Lia and Clay’s love has broken the Little Mermaid’s curse, everything has changed. Will Lia’s family remain on land, leading the only life she and her sisters have ever known, or will they move below the waves, to the sparkling new capital city? Lia is adamant about staying on land with Clay for her senior year. But at Melusine and her father’s trial, new revelations threaten what Lia holds most dear.

The verdict will shake Lia’s whole world, calling into question her future with Clay, her feelings for Caspian, and the fate of all Merkind. As she wonders who to trust, Lia sets out on a treacherous path that will lead her away from her sheltered Malibu home to a remote and mysterious school for Mermaids—Mermaids who may hold the secret to ancient magic Lia can use to either get back all she’s lost or to embark on a thrilling and dangerous journey.

Purchase Links:

Submerge (Mer Chronicles #2)

by Tobie Easton

Publication Date: September 12, 2017

Publisher: Month9Books

Pages: 300

£18.31 Hardback

1. I can’t wait. Months of crossed fingers, doubt-ridden smiles, and

whispered worries have led to this day. This sunset. Now that it’s

almost here, I can’t wait. Not any longer.

But I can’t control the sun either. I may be immortal now, but I

have no true power over time. All I can do is squeeze Clay’s hand and

feel his fingers interlace with mine.

“Almost,” he murmurs in my ear, his breath like the warm

California breeze that sweeps over us, rippling the blue water so it

glints silver-white in the sunlight.

My family’s saltwater swimming pool features a disappearing

edge like a waterfall that looks as if it flows seamlessly into the Pacific

Ocean below. My sisters and cousin all swim in listless circles, their

jewel-toned tails swishing beneath them, their lovely faces creased

with concern they try to hide. But I’m not in the pool. I’m sitting on

a lounger in my bikini, my legs in place and ready to run down to the

beach at a moment’s notice. Next to me sits Clay, fully dressed and

looking strangely out of place in his trademark ripped jeans, band

t-shirt, and Doc Martens.

We both stare at the late-July sun as it starts its slow descent

toward the waves. Up here, in the backyard of my family’s Malibu

estate, we’re safe from prying eyes. The beach below may be private,

but our neighbors can still see it from their windows, and not all of

them are members of our Community of land-dwelling Mer. To stay

hidden from our neighbors’ view, nothing will rise from the waves

until darkness cloaks the sandy shores.

2. “You should get back,” he says, nodding up the winding path

toward my house. I punch in the security code, and he pushes

open the gate. It scrapes through the gravel until the opening is just

wide enough for him to step through. But he doesn’t. He stands

there, waiting under the white, bell-shaped blossoms of one of our

brugmansia trees. I place my hand over his on the iron gate as I

step in close. Clay brings his other hand up to my cheek, stroking it

with fingers calloused from his guitar strings, drawing me closer still.

His handsome features—so familiar and so astonishing—gleam in

the moonlight, then grow so near they’re indiscernible. I let my eyes

flutter shut. Let myself taste Clay’s lips against mine. Get lost in the

richness of every touch, every press of his tongue and graze of his

cheek.

A suspiciously familiar, syrupy voice lurking in some hidden

crevice of my mind asks me if I really think I’m doing this right. If

maybe he’s comparing me to her. Surely she must have been a better

kisser. But I push that voice back into its dark cave as I wrap my arm

around Clay and he brings his hand back to cup my head, tangling

his fingers in my hair as my chest presses against his.

Finally, in a flurry of breathless, whispered goodbyes, our mouths

come together and apart, together and apart, until he slowly pulls

himself away and down the street. With one final flash of hazel and a

promise to see me in the morning, he disappears around the corner.

Later, after several hours of carefully smiling while catching up

with my parents, I lie in my sea sponge bed in the hidden grottos

beneath our house and try to sleep. As a layer of satiny salt water

covers me like a blanket, I force myself to replay tonight’s kiss instead

of imagining what risks the next few days will bring.

3. It’s my last day of normal, and I plan to enjoy it. While my parents

are getting caught up at the Foundation, I plan to sit right here,

all snuggly on Clay’s couch and not think about what’s coming. Not

think about how tonight, more Merfolk from across the ocean floor

will surface here in Malibu. Not think about where I’ll be this time

tomorrow.

Nope. All I’m going to think about is Clay and maybe how I

can get to know his lips even better. I scoot closer to him on the

couch, rest my head on his shoulder, and inhale. He played me one

of his new songs on the guitar earlier, and the cinnamon scent of his

guitar polish still lingers. He strokes my hair, and this den—his den,

with its overstuffed, checkered furniture, humming AC, and glowing

television—turns into the most relaxing place in the world. Sitting

next to Clay, I can forget for a few minutes that I’m a Mermaid and

just be a normal girl.

“Lia, can I … can I see your tail?”

Or not.

I sit up so fast, Clay’s hand gets tangled in my hair. Ow. “You’ve

seen my tail plenty of times,” I say as he works his fingers free.

It’s true; he’s seen it whenever he comes over and I’m swimming

in my pool with my sisters or spending time in the grottos with

my parents. But now that we’re alone and there’s no water in sight,

deliberately transforming into my tail just so he can look at it feels

like putting myself on display.

“I’ve never seen it up close,” he says, twisting his thumb ring

around in a circle. He’s right—and that’s on purpose. I’ve been making

a point of keeping our alone time as human as possible. We hang out

at the pier, walk on the promenade, grab sushi or burgers—y’know,

normal stuff. Clay’s a human guy and I just … I don’t want … it’s a

lot to take in. What if I scare him off? What if up close, he thinks my

tail’s gross, that I’m gross?

Since I haven’t said anything, he pushes on. “Every time I see you

with your tail, we’re around your family, and I feel like I shouldn’t

stare.” He lets his fingers sweep through his own dark hair, then

claps a hand on his denim-clad leg. “It’s just, it’s a part of you. This

beautiful part, and … but if you don’t want to, that’s cool. If it’s

weird or whatever … ”

I raise my gaze from my lap. “Did … did you say beautiful?”

The corner of his mouth quirks up. An expression I know well.

“Oh yeah.”

I look down at my lap again, and he rests a hand on my thigh, the

heat of his palm warming my skin through the thin jersey of my skirt.

“I think you’re beautiful,” he says.

All of me? I want to ask. Even the parts that are more halibut than

human?

I love my tail, but it’s always been this secret part of me, the part

I have to keep hidden. How will this human boy in front of me—this

handsome, patient human boy—react to seeing it up close? I guess

there’s only one way I’ll find out.

4. It’s much easier than I expected to do what Ondine advises and settle

in to a life on the island. Especially once I’ve gone up top.

I don’t know what I thought the surface of the island would

look like; when I heard this place was a California nature preserve,

I pictured some dry shrubs by a rocky beach and maybe a few old

turtles. Boy, was I wrong.

Maybe the periphery of the island by the shore looks like that,

but that isn’t where we spend our time.

Every other day here, classes end early, letting out midway

through the afternoon. That’s when the other girls and I head for the

island’s surface. We swim through an underground tunnel that lets

out at the very center of the island.

In the most breathtaking lagoon I’ve ever seen.

Seriously—it’s epic. Lush green mountains and trees work along

with the cloaking spells to hide a natural pool of the bluest water

from passing ships or the occasional visiting scientist. Many of the

cascading crystal waterfalls I’ve marveled at in the caverns beneath

the island originate here, flowing down from the mountains and into

the rippling water, creating caves in secret pockets behind.

Wildflowers of every color line the banks, and species of sea

birds I’ve never seen before soar overhead or nest in the island’s tall

treetops. Like Ondine herself, this lagoon strikes me as something

straight out of a storybook. Mermaids play tag beneath the waterfalls

or sun their jeweled tails on the rocks peeking through the water or

bask on the banks while they run white fishbone combs through

their shining, long hair.

As fantastic as our swimming pool is at home, this? This is

better. Never before have I been allowed to release my tail under

the sun out in nature before, warming my golden scales in golden

rays and soaking up that warmth until it drives me to dive into the

cool, refreshing waters of the lagoon. It’s like travelling back in time

through the centuries, to before Mer hid our existence from humans,

when Mermaids could lie out on ocean rocks and be admired by

passing sailors who’d go home and regale townsfolk with stories of

the beautiful maidens they’d seen at sea.

Tobie Easton was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she’s grown from a little girl who dreamed about magic to a twenty-something who writes about it. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Tobie hosts book clubs for tweens and teens. She and her very kissable husband enjoy traveling the globe and fostering packs of rescue puppies. Learn more about Tobie and her upcoming books on www.TobieEaston.com.

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My Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I would recommend reading book one before even looking at this one. This is a continuous story following Lia and Clay.

The spell has been broken, and the Mer's immortality restored. Now the trials are about to begin everyone is hoping for the order to be restored. Lia wants the guilty to be punished, and to finish her senior year with Clay. Her family are hoping to make the waters safe again so the Mer can have peace.

This book is full of twists and turns. The story is long and juicy. Lia lives in a complicated world, and she has to work out who to trust before it's too late.

5 out of 5. Loved it. ARC received as part of the Chapter by Chapter blog tour.