Review: This ain't your mama's mermaid tale
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2014
Quick, when I say mermaid what comes to mind?  Topless women with their bottom halves encased in fins, cavorting around in the ocean?  Wrong.  Meet Deputy Sheriff of Dirtwater, Rania Agualina, half mermaid/half Sicilian, nicotine addicted, glock toting, with a flask full of Southern Comfort at her hip and an attitude to match.  What is a half mermaid doing in the only town in the country with absolutely no source of water?  Why solving mysterious murders of naked tattooed blond women, fighting her weakness for men who look like pirates (especially her ex secret government soldier hunk), staring down naked men who literally fall out of showers in a stripper’s bathroom and generally causing mayhem and madness, of course.Ms. Baxter writes with tongue very firmly in cheek while telling us this slightly off beat, slightly steamy story.  She gives us a host of characters all centered around our heroine, each one a story in and of themselves.  Lest we get too caught up in the folks we meet, she sets her tale in places that refuse to be outdone by the cast.  We travel from a dessert town that celebrates its lack of water to deep in the ocean where the inhabitants celebrate their lack of land.Talk about a rich cast of characters. Rania leads the group in all her tough talking, tough walking, drinking, cussing, eating Twinkies, nicotine patch wearing glory.  She tries to make us think she is all that, but we soon find underneath it all, she is just as insincere as the next person.  Her mother is beautiful, quiet, makes brownies, and the mayor of Dirtwater.  Her father is a resident of the county jail and best friends with her boss, the sheriff.  Add to the mix a sexy, mysterious soldier ex-boyfriend, a slightly used up pathologist, a hunky merman who leads Rania on a good dance, a best friend who is a princess, and a host of other interesting people and your head just might spin.This story drew me in from the first line and kept my interest until the final line.  Who could not enjoy a mystery wrapped up with some romance and bundled together with characters and settings straight out of a fairy tale?  As I mentioned, Ms. Baxter tells her tale with tongue very firmly in cheek, and therein lies my one little niggle.  At times it felt a little like she was trying too hard to amuse and would result in an overload of cuteness.  That one little issue aside, as I’ve said before, I love being told a good story and this is most definitely a good one.  I recommend anyone who enjoys to laugh while solving a mystery and travelling to exotic locations and meeting fun people, settle down and enjoy.Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team