Carrie
Talick's exciting first novel, Beware the Mermaids, opens with
a scene that packs a wallop. Nancy Hadley, a native Californian who came from
modest beginnings to become a wealthy housewife, lives in Hermosa Beach.
Nancy--a lifelong sailor, thanks to a doting Finnish grandfather who instilled
in her an instinct and love for the sea--cheerfully escorts a charity league on
a tour of the Bucephalus, a 38-foot racing yacht owned by Nancy and
her husband, Roger. As the group boards the well-appointed sailing vessel,
Nancy catches scheming, philandering Roger in a compromising position with none
other than Nancy's cunning, devious nemesis, a woman who hailed from the East
Coast and clawed her way into "the upper echelons of society."
What follows is the start of an acrimonious divorce
between Nancy and Roger. The Bucephalus, which both refuse to
relinquish, becomes the obstacle in finalizing the legalities of their split.
Locked in a grueling tug-of-war, determined Nancy gears up for a fight. She
moves out of their lavish home, buys a boat of her own to live on and rallies
the support of her tight-knit circle of girlfriends, intent on teaching them
how to sail. When Nancy suggests that she and Roger, via competing vessels and
crews, both enter the Border Dash Race, which sails from Newport Harbor to
Ensenada, Mexico--winner take all--the stage is set for high-stakes fun and
drama.
Fans of women's fiction will eagerly climb aboard Talik's smart, sassy, suspenseful story
that sails through choppy waters and shifting tides of betrayal, friendship and
new romance.
Beware the Mermaids by
Carrie Talick
Alcove Press, $16.99
paperback, 9781643858241, 352 pages
Publication Date: August 10, 2021
To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE
NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being
posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's
Edition
(August 31, 2021), link HERE