Today’s the day!!! ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MERMAID is finally out!
Today, you get to meet LJ! One of my most fight-y All I Want characters. When I say this book was a knockdown, drag out fist fight from Page 1, I mean it.
It’s said with love, because I did love writing this book. But the backdrop of writing this book was an absolute dumpster fire of a year. There’s been a lot going on in the background, and getting MERMAID finished and out the door was a true labor of love.
I hope you love ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A MERMAID as much as I do. I hope it gives you the escape you need from whatever stresses and worries you’re facing. I hope you have a wonderful December and a magical New Year.
All my love,
Liana
Lainey Jane – but please, call her LJ – needs out: out of her dead-end job, her soul-sucking family, and the Louisiana bayous in general. So when a chance comes up to join a cruise-ship liner as a permanent staff member playing a mermaid for excited children, LJ jumps at it. The fact that it comes with a move to Sydney, Australia? Absolute bonus.
But when her bunkmate bestie books her for a mermaid job on land, the life she thought she left behind shows up to haunt her, first in the form of wickedly hot and very off-limits Marcus “Mako” Dupre – and then other, more sinister forms. LJ thought the mermaid-on-land job was just a favor for a friend that came with a good paycheck. It turns out, favors have strings attached, and these ones might be strong enough to tangle LJ back in a past she’d do anything to forget, and whose resurrection could land her in prison… If only someone was around to help.
Perfect for anyone who wants a book full of the wit, humor and determination to overcome the odds!
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Teaser Scene!
“LJ!” Kilee Moyle waved at me from the center of a crowd of googly-eyed tourists that smelled of sunscreen and forgotten deodorant. Kilee was dressed for work in the same green wig with a clamshell crown and glittering green dress that I often wore. In front of her was an array of sparkling cards, the kind that left you contaminated with glitter for a fortnight.[2]
Swallowing a put-upon sigh, I walked over. “Hello, Marvelous Minerva!” I said in my best Aussie deckhand voice.
“Everyone,” Kilee said, “this is LJ, one of our happy helpers here on The Merry Mermaid. She does everything to make your day extra awesome! She’s about to go for some shore leave, should we see her future for her?”
“Yes!” several small children squealed in delight.
Across the table with the Marvelous Minerva Seas All[3] sign, Kilee grinned at me.
Brett must have been busy because it was his day to have his fortune told to make all the suckers—excuse me—tourists pay good money to have a fake magician read their future in the cards.[4]
Reminding myself that my employers were very kindly paying for me to have a four-week holiday on land, I put on my bright Happy Helper smile.[5] “All right.” I tapped three of the cards fanned out in front of me at random. “What’s my future hold, oh Marvelous Minerva?”
Kilee did her act, waving her hands over the cards and pulling them out with mysterious looks. “Ooo! Your future is bright!” She flipped over the sun card for everyone to ogle.
Drawing the second card, her eyes widened dramatically and she pronounced, “You will find magic and mermaids!” She showed us the second card, the mermaid, which was usually the third and led to a spiel about the mermaid shows all guests were encouraged to attend.
“True love is waiting for you!” Kilee assured as she flipped over the final card.
The Lovers card stared back at me, with a black-haired man who reminded me far too much of a man I hadn’t seen in three years. I’d never see Marcus Dupre again in person, but he seemed determined to haunt me all the same.
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[1] Auckland is in New Zealand, Okinawa is the southern tip of Japan.
[2] A fortnight is two weeks and a commonly used saying in Australia. When I moved here I thought it was only a video game.
[3] Yes, the typo is intentional. No, that didn’t stop my eye from twitching every time I saw it.
[4] They weren’t tarot cards. They’d been tarot cards once upon a time and then a passenger threw a fit. Now they were Minerva’s Lucky Life Deck and they sold for $50 AUD at the shop next door. For a cool $100 you could buy the deck in the color of your choice and a matching box covered in rhinestones.
[5] My other default was Mysterious Mermaid and I saved that one for when I was swimming in the mermaid show.