5-STAR Fantasy / Sci-Fi

Monday, August 18, 2014

New Indie Book Release: Serenade-A Mermaid Tale (Mari Bianca)


New Indie Book Release:
Serenade: A Mermaid Tale - Mari Bianca
Fantasy / Fairy-Tale (236 pages - June 2014)

Serenade: A Mermaid Tale is a retelling and re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. It is set the year before he originally wrote the tale, and serves as his inspiration for having written it. To that end, Hans Andersen is actually a character.

"This book is a light and easy read, and appeals to all ages. A dazzling twist to the classic tale. Praise for Serenade" - Reader Review

About the Book

Serenade-A Mermaid Tale (Mari Bianca)
Click to Read an Excerpt
17-year-old mermaid Sirenia doesn’t belong in her world. When she gets the opportunity to rise to the surface for the first time, she quickly realises what’s missing her whole life, and she’s prepared to sacrifice everything to have it.

Princess Sirenia knows that something is missing from her life. The only problem is, she has no idea what it is. As the last-born daughter of the sea king, Siri is more excited than any of her older sisters to come of age, for this is the time when a mer is truly free to explore not only their own world, but the world above: Humanland.

With each passing year, Sirenia’s older sisters each rise to the surface, marvelling at the wonders of the unknown world. But when each returns, she agrees that the true wonders lie below. But not Siri, for when she rises to the surface, she encounters a human ship, and a handsome prince. She cannot tear her eyes away from either, something igniting inside her that she didn’t even know was there, until a terrible storm rages across the Ocean, and the ship that is carrying her prince is wrecked. She saves him before he sinks to the depths, and takes him back to his own land.

For the month that follows, Siri is heartbroken that she can no longer find her prince, and even more frustrated that there are so many places on Humanland that she cannot go. Then, one day while exploring a trench, her luck changes. She encounters a beast that knows of her heart’s pain, and can help her get to her prince. She follows the creature down to the deepest part of the ocean, where she meets a witch who can give her legs, for a price. In exchange for the ability to walk on land, the princess must first give something up: her voice.

The princess strikes a deal with the evil hag, and rises to the surface with a month to make the prince fall in love with her. But the prince is fairly distracted, for the sleepy seaside village that borders the palace has grown restless, and a string of mysterious disappearances causes havoc in the town. The villagers are looking for answers, and the prince has promised to give them. There’s only one problem; the villagers think a hell-beast is responsible for their calamities, and they’re out for blood.

It’s not just Humanland that has grown restless. The tides are changing and the power of the Guardian Line has been corrupted. Sirenia soon learns that her sisters, father and their entire kingdom are in grave danger. The problem is, the Ocean doesn’t seem to want to let Siri back in. Stuck on land and becoming the object of the villagers’ suspicions, Sirenia has to find a way to save not only the entire Ocean, but the humans on land as well. What she doesn’t know is just how powerful she really is, and as soon as she learns to control her emotions and channel this power, she will become something with more strength than both worlds have combined.







About the Author

Author Mari Bianca
Author Mari Bianca
Mari Bianca likes to spin worlds, weave stories, and tell tall tales. As a child, she spent days and days inside the magical world of stories, from Roald Dahl to RL Stine – there was very little she wouldn’t read, but she did enjoy scary stories a bit more. It was around eight years old that she knew she wanted to be a writer, and wrote her very first (and not very good) short story at the age of ten. She wishes she still had it.

It’s not just regular books Mari loves. When she discovered Batman, her whole life changed. She also soon found herself relishing comic books, and her supportive parents kept her stocks high. She soon found herself especially interested in the villains in stories, especially ones with redeeming qualities. She still nurses a big soft spot for Lex Luthor.

Mari also has a special interest in child and adolescent development, and spends most of her time (when she’s not writing) with her nose buried in a book… or five.

Serenade is Mari’s debut novel, and she’s already hard at work on the next one – to be released in the first half of 2015.

Quotes: “I sometimes find it hard to keep my feet on the ground. So I gave up on trying, and decided rather to bring my imagination out and let people float up with me.”

Connect with Mari Bianca via Facebook
and the Author's Website.



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