Waiting on Wednesday (May 9th)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Breaking the Spine. We all get together to show each other books we can't wait to get our hands on.

This week's can't-wait-to-read-it selection is:

Lies Beneath
by Anne Greenwood Brown

Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough — especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistible good looks and charm on unsuspecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily — just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

I've waited so long to feature this book as a Waiting on Wednesday post. I don't quite remember when I first heard about it. But I know I've been waiting for its release quite a while now. Shall we talk about what Lies Beneath has going on that has me reading to click the pre-order button? (Yeah, I want it THAT bad, people. This sounds AMAZING.) 

1. Murderous mermaids. Too often I see books about merfolk that were too clearly influenced by Disney's The Little Mermaid. I love that movie, but as with many other mythological creatures, Merfolk are derived from myths that are a heck of a lot less sugar and spice then they've been portrayed in our media. When I see a book that tells it as it *was* I tend to take notice. 

2. Romance between a human girl and a merman. Nice! I love this! (Okay, I admit it, the next book I'm writing *features* it. I'm actually waiting to start writing til after I read this so that I don't overlap. I wouldn't want to touch it if I'd already started, and as I've said, I Can't Wait.)

3. A romance tinged with danger and deception. Lily doesn't look like she's going to get out of this scott free if she and Calder don't work out. And Calder trying to seduce her so his family can murder her father ... hello, dark twisted and creepy motivations. When he falls for her, how the heck is he going to get out of THAT? 

4. The "victim" isn't innocent, either. The merfolk believe that Lily's father is responsible for the death of their mother. And his aversion to the water definitely makes me suspicious. (Although if he knows they feel that way, I don't necessarily blame him.) I'm not going to say he "is" guilty. But there is a chance, and that's a rather unique way to spin this. 

5. Calder. I don't know why I like dark or dangerous male leads, but I do. They have to be done right, but the way this guy looks like he's going to be set up in this book -- especially since we're getting it from his POV -- looks very promising. Sign. Me. Up. What else is there to say? :D 

Well, now that you know what book I'm counting down the days for, it's your turn to share. What book has you totally excited this week? I'd love to know so feel free to link to your post so I can drop by and check it out.