Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels

Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels by Helene Boudreau, 2013 Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

     Jade Baxter and her best friend have managed to save the tide pool where mers can transition into human form. Cori is officially dating Luke's brother, Trey, and Jade is officially dating Luke. The friends are enjoying typical high school exploits and looking forward to the Fall Formal.
     Except, Jade is terrified of the dance: she's got two left fins. The formal becomes the smaller of her problems when the Mer Council orders all Webbed Ones back into the ocean. Jade finally got her mom back and she certainly isn't willing to let her boyfriend go back into the ocean.
     The friends are busy with their school work: Cori has an internship, Luke and Trey have work and water polo, and Jade has joined the underwater hockey team. To top it all off, Selena has been enrolled as a foreign exchange student at her school - and Jade is not keen on playing tour guide to the mer-girl.
     Jade tries to prepare for Mer-mageddon all while trying to prevent the building underwater war and trying to find the perfect dress for the dance. When they can't keep the Webbed Ones out of the water Cori, Trey, Jade, and their human adult supervision take to the water. Following the "call" back to the Mer Council leads Jade to new secrets and challenges. If the fourteen-year-old can prevent civil war in the mer-world, finding a good dress and learning to dance should be a cake walk.
     The Real Mermaid series is aimed at middle grade and younger teen readers. The girls experience budding romantic relationships with all the emotional ups and downs in a clean romance. This is the third of four novels featuring Jade and her friends.

Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, 2014 Balzer + Bray

     Nyx was raised to avenge her mother's death and end the demonic reign of the Gentle Lord. Legend has it that when Arcadia's ruling family displeased the Gentle Lord he came with the demons of Tartarus and ripped their island country from the world.
     As the daughter of the manor, Nyx has a privileged place in society. She has grown knowing in order for Arcadia to escape the demon lord's cruel rule she must destroy him. And Nyx is in a unique position to end the curs on her homeland.
     Nyx's father made a bargain with the Gentle Lord when his wife, the love of his life, cannot have children and falls into a depression which will cause her death if they cannot find a solution. The Gentle Lord gives Thisbe twin daughters, but in exchange one of the girls must marry him when she turns seventeen.
     The chosen daughter, Nyx has known since she was a  child that she would marry the Gentle Lord and her sister would remain to live out her life as she chose. She resents her younger sister and the family which has never appeared to love her. Nyx absorbed magic and love with the hope she will avenge her mother's death and her country's isolation at the hands of the demon lord.
     But when Nyx meets her new husband he and his magical prison are not what they seem. The demon lord lists several rules for their interactions, and Nyx learns while she has been taught much about the Gentle Lord the people of Arcadia don't know everything and don't have half of his history correct. As she searches for ways to end the hold over their island Nyx grows to appreciate the demon lord's honesty and appreciation of her, and even grows to love him.
     When the chance comes to save all of Acadia by betraying the cultivated relationship with the demon lord or to realize her dream of finding someone to love Nyx finds the choice on of the most difficult of her life.
     This is a tale of magic and deception, of appearances reflecting expectation rather than the reality, and of learning to look past expectations to find the truth. Nyx discovers that sometimes doing the wrong thing can be the right thing to do. Older teens and young adult readers will enjoy the moral shades of this tale. 

Princess of Glass

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George, 2010 Bloomsbury

      After their curse is broken the princesses of Westfalin are sent as diplomatic emissaries around the known world. The king hopes his daughters will learn from the nations surrounding their small country and possibly they will help provide political restitution for the loss of so many high-ranking young men.

     Princess Poppy is sent to her mother's homeland Breton. Life with the Seadown family, cousins of her late mother, is comfortable despite their attempts to find her a suitable husband. The daughter of the house, Marianne, introduces Poppy to several of her friends including Roger and Dickon Thwaite and the visiting Prince Christian. Marianne and Dickon seem to be all but engaged. Poppy finds Roger to be an agreeable companion if distracted by a childhood love, but it is Christian with whom she develops an affinity. 

     The friendships carry Poppy through missing her sisters, but when the men of her acquaintance become enamored of a mysterious "Lady Ella" Poppy smells a rat, or rather the magic of the dark. The women become unnaturally enraged at Ella's appearance--also uncharacteristic of both Marianne and her mother. Poppy finds her experience with dark and dangerous magic makes her the most qualified to discover what happened to all common sense in Breton.

     Roger Thwaite had experience with dark magic in the East and is a quick ally when Poppy requires a level head. He notices a familiar face among the Seadowns' servants. Poppy ties links between Eleanor's strange comings and goings and her fascination with Prince Christian. The friends dig deeper trying to discover the source of the problems. 

     Poppy and Roger discover Eleanor is Lady Ella and the mysterious benefactor who made it all possible is an ancient and dangerous supernatural being. The main cast strips up to challenge the witch when her magic tries to take Eleanor's life and Christian's freedom. Poppy fights to survive another monster's captivity. 

     Middle school and younger teen readers will find this sequel to The Midnight Ball an enjoyable blend of Cinderella with modern trappings. Princess of Glass is followed by Princess of the Silver Wood concluding the Princesses of Westfalin trilogy. 

The Great Pursuit

The Great Pursuit by Wendy Higgins, 2017 HarperTeen

     Mere days after the Hunt and the contest for princess Aerity's hand is won by the Northlander and Paxton has left Lochlanach a new monster appears. The King is without resources to manage this new threat as the previous hunt has depleted not only his army but his coffers and the people's faith in their monarchy. Aerity refuses to allow her sister to offer the reward she so recently offered her kingdom.
     Vixie is furious that her family will not let her sacrifice herself to the kingdom's needs, but when news comes the Lachlanach isn't the only kingdom facing the beast Vixie and Paxton's younger brother, Tiern Seabolt, band together to help find a solution.
     Aerity goes searching for Paxton Seabolt hoping to find closure with the young man before her wedding to the Northland's Lord Alvi. With Harrison's help, they find Paxton has joined Rosaria Rocato's army and is secretly planning to sabotage her plan - Rasaria is at the center of all the chaos plaguing Eurona.
     With Paxton's information, Aerity and Harrison return to Lochlanach to discover Tiern and Vixie following them after the King and Queen are kidnapped. Aerity returns home to find Leif has maintained stability in her absence, but her country is beginning to flounder. Those who Lochlanach believed were allies wage war openly on the side of Rozaria Rocato and Aerity must make the decisions which will save or doom her kingdom.
     Paxton returns and on his heels is active warfare across Lochlanach and even more beasts ravaging the continent. The heir apparent fights enemies on all sides and her own misgivings to become the leader her people need. In the conclusion to her story, Aerity finds her strength, her place in life, and her place in her kingdom.
     The Great Pursuit concludes Eurona's tale and Aerity's quest for purpose, following closely behind The Great Hunt. The series has its own mature content and significant violence as Rocato's rebellion breaks across the continent.