#BookReview: The Coming of Arabella by Joanne Guidoccio

Reviewer: Michelle

I received a review copy

Summary:

On the day of her engagement party, an ex-mermaid’s life is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of another mermaid—a sister she has never known. Under normal circumstances, Barbara Davies would be overjoyed, but her special day is already wrought with tension. While Barbara is not the first mermaid from the Mediterranean kingdom to settle in small town Ontario, she has yet to reveal her origins to her fiancé. So when Arabella, the gorgeous sister whose disturbing black eyes banished her to the island of Crete, saunters into her life, clutching the arm of Barbara’s discarded lover, a powder keg of emotion is released.

Relationships falter and careers stall as envy stirs in the hearts of the sisters. On the verge of meltdown after her fiancé leaves Canada for a teaching job in Vermont, Barbara flees to Arizona hoping for a reprieve. There, she finds solace at a retreat for ex-mermaids and a second chance at love with a charismatic preacher. As she contemplates a new life in the desert paradise of Sedona, shocking secrets emerge and tragedy strikes. A stronger and wiser Barbara rises up to face these new challenges and embrace the best parts of her mermaid heritage.

Review:

I was pleasantly surprised by The Coming of Arabella. It’s not something I would normally pick up but I did enjoy it!

Barbara is an ex-mermaid who is dealing with her beautiful, younger, twin (it’s confusing) sister showing up on Earth like a freight train. She’s already messed up her relationship with her fiance Graham, not to mention she’s married to her ex Stewart! As if it could get worse, her parent’s have pretty much sided with Arabella and Graham is leaving for Vermont to be alone. Barbara takes off to Arizona to be with some other ex mermaids for a retreat – but trouble seems to follow her everywhere.

I was slightly confused about Barbara being an “ex mermaid” and how her sister could be her twin but so much younger. I definitely would have understood more if I had read the first book in this series. I don’t recommend getting into this with the second book like I did. However, around half way through I started to figure things out. I would have loved to have learned more about the island Barbara was from. The whole mermaid aspect was SO interesting to me. Arabella was such a hot mess that it kept me reading. I couldn’t believe some of the things she did! I really liked this book and recommend it to anyone who likes a good chick novel with a little bit of a twist thrown in!

 4 stars