A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey W. Hill(Book Club 1) read at your own risk... may include spoilers

This is my second time reading this book, I'm a big fan of Joey W. Hill and have great respect for her as an author. I thought A Mermaid's Kiss was a very interesting book, I love Anna's outlook on the world and the fact that no one can hold her down, not even an Angel, and Jonah is a very powerful character also! What was your favorite part of the book?

oh my gosh. so much! I loved the world she created and the details she included about her characters. How Anna had the 'flight' instinct that fish have, that Jonah struggled with what his 'purpose' was (made him relatable even though he was, like you said, such a powerful character!)... Anna's determination so save Jonah (from himself) and their love for each other.. *sigh* lol. loved it.. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of her series, I'm completely hooked!

that last pun wasn't intended.. lol, but I just realized I did that!

oh- and I also enjoyed the spin she did with the angels, the Lady (& Lord.. *sqwee* love him..), and the creation theory of humans (definitely intriguing & different but kinda explains alot about human behavior )

Well like I said I'm a big fan of Joey and this is an amazing series, she creates such conflict in her books and really brings her characters to life, (granted I'd probably fall all over myself if they were real so good thing they're only in print) and if you get into her other series you'll find that her characters have a tendency to show up in unexpected places. I hope you'll continue to read the series!

really? that is so cool! i'll have to look into her other series.. I agree about the conflict in her stories, I really respected that it wasn't just the 'war' (battle of good vs evil, though there is a bit of that, lol) aspect that is commonly associated with conflict, that she includes self-conflict, feelings of lost purpose, disagreements between friends & lovers over different perspectives/ self-worth. Grief. Love. Life. extremely well written.

The creation theory was definately an interesting part of this series, I love the fact that the Lady is accepted as truth with other beings while we "humans" get to decide in what we want to believe, faith is different to everyone and free will is an amazing thing, even if at times we do terrible things that in this world create rifts to allow in pure evil. Its an interesting thing that the Angels have to fight because of the evil that we ourselves let in, I can definately see how that would be frustrating after oh say a thousand years.

The fact that the Angels are also trained in all different areas and get to choose which legion they want to belong to also intrigued me. I'm still torn on the fact that they're all male but I guess given how we females can be (no offense intended) I can understand.

I believe Anna and Jonah made an excellent couple and I love how Joey's dialogue doesn't seem forced, their conversations, sarcasm, and things maybe not said out loud keep the characters real for me. I also like the fact that they were made to travel by fate, such is magic right... everything happens for a reason, and they definately meet some interesting people along the way.

The appearance of the other angels like David and Lucifer is very cool, I love how "Luc" seems to be the most intimidating and would be completely thrilled and awed to be in his company, well that of any Angel but I like how Joey portrayed both Lucifer and The Goddess. And you get to see a lot more of David in the next book which is A Witch's Beauty, its the story of Mina and David!

I had a little trouble with the all-male thing too, though I can't blame a goddess from wanting to surround herself with male-goodness lol. One thing I really took away from the book was that no matter what we, as individuals, believe as a higher power- it all comes down to one true being, as if everything we believe, despite the different ways we have of honoring religion, is really the same.

Another thing I really liked was the idea of balance throughout the universe. evil dark ones to balance out the goodness of other worlds, the Lord- warrior and protector. consort. (love it!) to balance out the goddess, her Lady. Even Hell was a place of a spirit's own creation until they feel worthy to move on to their next life/ afterlife. so interesting!

I love different theories on the 'fallen angel' Lucifier.. and Hill's was by far the most creative that i've read! I agree, I really enjoyed the way she portrayed both Luc & the Lady, as well as showing the comradely affection between the warrior angels (which I'm really looking forward to reading more about in the other books in the series!)

The "Joining Magic" was an interesting concept for me also, I love how in the beginning Jonah suggests it even after thinking that it could probably be done with one strong kiss, their mutual desire for on another and for that connection is so strong. Definately some steamy parts in Joey's books, but she does it so well, its not just trashy sex! It is however extremely HOT!

I definitely agree.. HOT! lol Though I did have a question about the ending that I'm putting out there... I can't remember the book ever mentioning if any other beings besides angels were immortal, only that their children weren't (i think), but seeing as there are no female angels would an angel's mate become immortal? Their legit children? (maybe through joining magic, which seemed to literally heal as well as connect souls?)
I guess I was just wondering if Anna became immortal via joining magic/ becoming Jonah's mate, by her reincarnation via the goddess, or if she isn't immortal and will likely die- leaving Jonah behind to live forever- what do you think? (i'm assuming that unless I missed something in the book that Hill did it purposefully so that it's up to reader interpretation..)

I kinda wondered the same thing myself, their are other immortal beings in Joey's writings, such as vampires I'm not sure if Fey are immortal I'm thinking they are but not 100% on that. Mermaid's according to Joey already have a prolonged lifespan of about 300 years if they are allowed to live out their full lifespan and being that Anna had the qualities of a pheonix which in theory rise from their ashes I'm not sure where that leaves us which is probably exactly what she wants.

lol probably. I didn't know about the prolonged life.. but I like the theory that Anna's phoenix abilities will help her continue to rise after death to live forever with Jonah

[b] I'm new to Joey's writing and I don't think this would have been a book I would have picked up to read if I wouldn't have decided to read along with you guys. I was quite surprised at how much I liked it! perfect example of don't judge a book by it's cover. not saying it isn't a beautiful cover because it is, just not my usual genre. will definitely read her other books! thanks for turning me on to a new Author!

can't help but wonder where Joey comes up with some of her ideas, for instance the joining and the detail she describes the sex scene when Anna's in mermaid form. such great writing!

has the next book been picked yet?

I definitely agree! I was surprised and impressed with Hill's creativity and detail when it came to the sex scenes in other forms- not only was it such a great way to show that love was love no matter the form, but the sheer inventiveness and the way isn't awkward to read amazes me! Hill is extremely talented.

She is an extremely talented author who has a way of writing to that makes her characters and scenes feel real and not forced. Its amazing to read some of her works and how she can put such detail so that you feel like you can imagine the places and the people. Storywitch.com and her fan forum have excerpts and vignettes so you can get a look at some of her other characters.

I'm so glad everyone liked the book, definitely fun stuff to read.

Since we haven't gotten a lot of votes I'm asking Stella to pick the next author and book, if I don't get a response by 8pm PST we'll figure something out want to give people a chance to get the book and read it and we'll probably try to pick out the book for next week and the one after so people have more time to prepare.

is there somewhere we can vote?

It was in the other thread ended up having Stella pick the next two and we'll switch off after that, want to give people time to get a head start on the books if we can so want to give author list a week or 2 in advance to make it a little easier... The threads will not be created until the week we discuss the book, but will remain open for people to comment as they finish or while they're reading.

ladies, you are doing a great job so far.

Did you read the book woowoo?

just wondering if the next book will be listed in this thread or the other one?

It is already posted. The next 2 books are posted. It is posted on the same page as the poll.

thank you!

No problem

My favorite thing about these books is that the characters seem very real; Anna's almost-awe doesn't stop her from not telling Jonah about her being away from the ocean because she's trying to save him. Mina's struggles against Anna's overtures of friendship continue, even when it's obvious to the reader that she's really just struggling against herself.

I actually liked how the angels were portrayed; powerful and protective but still fallible in their own ways. I also loved how Anna was drawn to save Jonah by his own severed wing. The Joining Magic was very well done - I always worry that that sort of interaction will feel forced, and there's nothing more disappointing to me than badly written emotion in sex scenes, but Ms. Hill writes very powerful emotional content, so it worked very well.

This is just my sort of book - I love stories about non-standard paranormal creatures like mermaids, but I have to admit that I got hooked on Ms. Hill's vampire series first. I blame marketing teams.