Book Blurb
MERMAIDS ARE BEING HUNTED...
They are no longer safe in the human world...
When one of her closest mermaid friends is imprisoned in a science lab for investigation, Cordelia insists on taking up the quest to find the lost island of Atlantis, a sanctuary for all the water species. But the island is guarded by the dragon kings, an ancient and formidable race who are determined to keep it for themselves.
Together with her best friends and her boyfriend, Wade, they must travel to distant pockets of the earth to collect the three magical jewels that open the portal to Atlantis.
But no one remembers how the jewels work, instructions are non-existent, and tensions are rife as Wade’s ex-girlfriend, Stephanie, appears on the scene. Plus, Cordelia must learn to harness her own emerging powers and discover if she really is the fire mermaid.
With the support of Wade’s parents, Stephanie is determined to win him back and Cordelia’s heart breaks as she watches the love of her life waver. They must be united in their quest, or the jewels will refuse to reveal themselves.
If they can’t repair their broken relationship and defeat the dragon kings, the mermaids will be captured by the humans and face the threat of extinction.
Book Extract
As Dad lowered the anchor, Wade took me aside. He placed the leather pouch we’d found at Corona del Mar around my neck. Inside, in a sealed plastic bag, were the two white pearls and the Power of the Sea the High Council had given us. I had yet to understand what the Power of the Sea could do for us or when we might need to call on the magical blue orb, but I knew I didn’t want to be far from it. I placed the black pearl inside with them. Everything safe.
“Wade,” I said slowly, feeling a frown line on my forehead. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
He stiffened as he fiddled with the leather pouch. “Hmm?”
“Stephanie.” I brought my eyes to meet his and caught a flash of something, some hidden emotion. I didn’t say anything else. Wade took a step back and sighed.
He placed his hands on my shoulders and peered into my eyes. “What is it you want to know?”
“Were you together? Before?” She’d spent the better part of the boat trip asking Wade to rub sunblock on her skin, so afraid she would burn under the hot summer sun, and conveniently ignoring the fact that she already had a deep tan. Wade had—irritatingly—obliged. And then the giggling had started and the ‘remember when’s’ and the sidelong glances in my direction, which seemed to include me in the conversation but really didn’t.
“I wouldn’t say together exactly.”
I braced myself.
Wade let his arms drop from my shoulders. “It was two years ago, for all of about three months. It was more of a summer fling. I was young and naïve and fooled by the legs and the blonde hair.”
He laughed as if expecting me to laugh along with him. I didn’t.
“She’s your sister’s friend, right? So she’s two years older than us?”
“Closer to three…”
“And she went for you?”
Wade chuckled. “Thanks a lot!”
“Sorry. I mean. You were sixteen. She was eighteen, going off to college and...” I looked at my feet as heat flooded my cheeks. Wade and Stephanie had been together. Their fling might have only been fleeting, but Stephanie knew him romantically. They had a history. Memories to look back on. Dates, hand-holding, kisses…
I pushed the images out of my head.
“That’s why it didn’t last long,” Wade said.
I raised my gaze to meet his handsome face. “She broke up with you?”
“Yeah.” Wade shrugged. “As you said, she was going off to college. She didn’t have time for a sixteen-year-old boyfriend anymore.”
“Good for me, I guess.”
“Cordelia Blue, I do believe you’re jealous.”
Did I detect a glimmer of triumph in his voice?
“I...” I blushed. I couldn’t deny it, but I was also annoyed. I suspected Stephanie was back to play more games with my boyfriend and I would be considered the collateral damage. “She’s after you again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve been there and done that...”
“Oh, you’ve done that, have you?”
“She was my first,” Wade said.
Pain lanced through my chest. A physical sensation which made me tense. Wade had lost his virginity to a tall, blonde, leggy beauty who had arrived back in his life with a winning smile and eyes that clearly said she wanted him again. The dagger twisted deeper.
“Cordelia?”
“Hmmm?”
“What’s the matter?”
I toed the deck with my bare foot.
Wade and I hadn’t had the whole ‘ex’ conversation. On my part, there wasn’t much to tell, and I naively hadn’t considered that Wade could have had a tumultuous romantic past. “I’m not sure I wanted to know that.”
“I would never lie to you, Cordelia Blue.” Wade circled his arms around my waist and tried to pull me close. He gave up when I stood rooted to the spot.
“I don’t trust her,” I said.
“Cordelia?” Wade lifted my chin with a finger to meet his eyes. “I love you. You do know that, don’t you?”
I nodded.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I don’t trust her. She wants you back. I can see it in her eyes. The way she watches you when you’re not looking.”
Author Bio
Marisa Noelle is the writer of middle grade & young adult novels in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy & mental health including The Shadow Keepers, The Unadjusteds Trilogy (The Unadjusteds, The Rise of the Altereds, & The Reckoning), and The Mermaid Chronicles – Secrets of the Deep.
She is a mentor for the Write Mentor program that helps aspiring MG & YA authors. With dual citizenship, Marisa has lived on both sides of the Atlantic and uses settings in both the USA and UK as inspiration for her novels.
When she’s not writing or reading or watching movies, she enjoys swimming. In the pool she likes to imagine she could be a mermaid and become part of some of her make-believe words.
Despite being an avid bookworm from the time she could hold a book, being an author came as a bit of a surprise to her as she was a bit of a science geek at school. She lives in Woking, UK with her husband and three children. You can find her on Twitter @MarisaNoelle77 or her website www.MarisaNoelle.com
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Buy Links
Amazon: https://geni.us/cUUaS
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