Promises by Amber Garr

MY RATING: 4/5
SERIES: The Syrenka Series Book 1

BLURB: 

Sometimes following your heart can end up destroying the ones you love. 

When seventeen-year-old Eviana Dumahl is faced with the responsibility of an arranged marriage and clan leadership, she is forced to choose between the life required of a mermaid and one of a teenage girl simply infatuated with the wrong guy. Kain, her devoted fiancé would make a wonderful husband except that she's been in love with Brendan, a shape-shifting selkie, ever since they were kids. Choosing to abandon her family, her clan and her life with Kain will have dire consequences far beyond anything she could have imagined. 

A war is brewing amongst the clans and Eviana unwittingly becomes a pawn in the intricate schemes of a twisted mastermind. With Brendan's life on the line, she has no choice but to involve those who she once considered friends. Amidst encountering senseless tragedies and immense loss, Eviana discovers that she is more valuable as a clan leader than anyone ever suspected. Her survival is not only dependent upon the loyalty of her friends, but also on her acceptance of a life that she had so adamantly tried to escape. 

Promises in the first book in The Syrenka Series trilogy following Eviana and her friends through the perils of growing up in a discrete world that inherently threatens human society. 

MY REVIEW: 
This is actually the first book I have ever read about mermaids, so I was definitely excited to read this book and didn't know what to expect. I was kind of expecting a story that took place entirely underwater, but I really liked that they mermaids/men could transition between tail and legs at will (kind of like the tv show H2O just add water if you have seen it). Promises got straight into the story and caught my interest immediately. It had a really good pace, and got very exciting at the end making me want to read the next book as soon as I can! 

In order to merge their clans Eviana has been betrothed to Kain since she was young, but she is in love with the shape-shifting selkie, Brendan. Eviana chooses the one she loves over her responsibilities and must face consequences that no one would have imagined. On the verge of a war Eviana is unexpectedly pulled back into the world she so desperately tried to leave behind and now must step forward and face her responsibilities. 

Eviana annoyed me a little at the beginning, but as the story progressed and she had to start really making mature decisions I came to really like her as a character and am excited to see her have to step forward and deal with the responsibilities she is now faced with. We got to see more of Kain's feelings and affections toward Eviana than Brendan's in this book, and I always kind of have a bit of a soft spot for the underdog, so I find myself leaning more toward Kain, but I look forward to hopefully getting to know Brendan more in the next book. I really liked all of the characters in the story, and really felt for all of them when anything bad happened. 

I found myself really invested in the characters and the story, so I definitely want to get my hands on the sequel Betrayal. And overall just had a really great time reading this book. I would definitely recommend checking it out. 

Thanks to Abby at Bookshelf Confessions for giving me the chance to win this book. 

Jammie the Book Nerd 
<3

P.s. The whole naked thing was a little funny to me, it doesn't really have anything to do with the overall story, but basically the mermaids and selkies have to undress before they change. So there are a few scenes where they have just changed back into people and they are all casually standing around naked, and I know the it's not weird to the characters because they are just used to it, but it felt funny to me having to picture them that way :)