Waterborne, by Katherine Irons, is the third installment in her PNR Atlantis series. With so many vampire PNR's out on the shelf this was a nice switch up for a world that tends to go fang-crazy.
Plot:
Alexandros, prince of Atlantis and lethal assassin, has a new assignment. Hunt down and eliminate powerful, ruthless Grigori Varenkov, whose fleet of fishing ships is scouring the ocean floors bare of life. But there is a complication in the stunning form of Ree O'Connor, Varenkov's personal chef. When Varenkov's struggle with Alex leaves Ree wounded, Alex gives up his chance to finish his foe in order to save her. Taking her to the underwater kingdom of Lemoria, he plans to heal her and return her to land before resuming his mission. Yet Ree is not the innocent bystander he first believed. And once they give in to the passion between them, no ocean will quench it...
As many of the readers here will know, Katie is a vampire fanatic. The "I fang bang" bumper-sticker on my car also says so. Just saying. But once in a while it's so refreshing to change up the game a tad and try something different. Waterborne is that book to read. If you like undersea adventures and dreamed/thought you were Ariel growing up (ok I totally did) then you'll enjoy this tale. It's chock full of an imaginative underwater world that's both vivid and breathtaking. Sometimes it's better down where it's wetter. Zing! Now the plot itself left a little to be desired but the world Irons builds is over the top with beauty and down right fun.
Our two lead characters meet after a botched assassination attempt on a bad Russian dude. Why Russians are often seen as the bad guys is beyond me but either way the big bad Russian has been out raping the seaworld of its majestic life and selling little kids on the black market. Not cool. As the Prince of the Sea sets out to take this guy out he runs into Ree, the human woman that just so happens to be in the wrong place at the right time. It's your typical tale of love and romance but cast to the background of the deep blue and supported by some very engaging side characters that help boost the story along when our main couple started to lack substance.
The romance picks up by page 80 (in the paperback edition) and carries on at various random points throughout. I liked the romance in this book, it was done very well and felt realistic. On the downside, the romance here felt a little rushed in the beginning. These two barely know each other and all of a sudden they are jumping in-between the kelp sheets. Wow dude, buy me a crab dinner first at the very least, mmkay?
I dove into the Atlantis saga at this point, something I don't usually like doing, but as someone who had no previous knowledge of the backstory I was easily able to navigate my way. Waterborne has a lot of unique and refreshing pages but lacks some of the base substance to really become a great PNR. Still it's entertaining and overall will keep you turning the pages.
Getting 3 and 1/2 'peeping tom' sheep
