Fatal Tide

Long winded in the beginning. Alot of fluff added that was not essential to the plot. I almost put the book down. However,I'm glad I didn't! Turned out to be a really good book!📗🤔glad I stick it out.

I have just finished reading Fatal Tide and I still can't get over how much I loved it. My first thought wile reading the last sentence was "Wow, what a good book!!" and I was sad in a way that it was over. I fell in love with the characters, I mean those are some juicy, meaty, live breathe and jump out of the page people; Jed Kelby, Nicholas, Melis Nemid and her beloved dolphins Pete and Suzie. They took some magical grip on my eye balls and still have me enchanted for the world I just read about. This was my first Johansen book, as I bought few more moths ago ( I'm like a hamster, I buy gazillions of books and then run my finger on the bookcase and stop at some delicious one and read whenever I please, but I always make sure I have tons and tons of unread books to choose from) and It didn't occur for me to read her earlier because I've seen some reviews that made her look like some romance novelist, and I do not read romance, but the cover and the story in the back really intrigued me, first to buy it, then to read it few weeks later. This was a story about a woman named Melis, who lived with her dolphins Pete and Suzie on her own Caribbean Island. She was a tough cookie, strong smart but not annoying, she was wonderful to read through and I felt real connection with the character because she was simply marvelous. There are flashbacks to her tortured past, as we learn that Melis is being stalked by a very violent, evil and deadly snake of a man; Archer. I think I had a nightmare with him in it, that's how real he was to me. He stops at nothing to get to Melis; she is the only one who knows where sunken city of Merinth lies lost in the Ocean, and only her and the dolphins can find it. With the help of Jeb Kelby, an ex SEAL she ventures out in an adventure to find the treasure, to deceive and for once get rid of Archer who is killing her friends and family and to free her soul of her black, tortured past. We find that Archer has some sick sadistic plans for her, and more of her past is revealed as he find ways to hurt her and those around him until they can beat the clock and stop him. I adored the relationship that build between Kelby and Melis, at one point in the end I was crying, I kid you not (I wont say if it was good or bad but the ending was insane!) but no spoilers here!! : ) I loved the ending, it was solid!!! I can't wait to read everything this woman wrote, because if she created Melis and Jeb then I wonder what other delicious and marvelous characters and stories she cooked up as well! The beginnings was a bit fast, with many characters introduced, but hang on in there, it's a very satisfying and succulent story!

This book is a good reading, you just can sit, relax and enjoy your reading. Don't expect too much of the main plot but is a quite good reading.

Oceanographer Mellis Nemid lives an isolated life on a secluded island in the Caribbean, with two dolphins for company. After her foster father, Phil Lontana, is killed while seeking funds to aid in his endeavor to discover Marinth, a legendary city under the sea, Mellis becomes the target of Hugh Archer, a perverted madman, who believes Mellis holds information to the whereabouts of Marinth. Archer will stop at nothing to get to Mellis, including killing her good friend and psychologist, Carolyn Mulan, to learn more about Mellis's tragic childhood in hopes of using this information to force Mellis to help him. To Mellis's rescue comes rich playboy, oceanographer Jed Kelby, who agrees to help Mellis seek vengeance against Archer for the death of Mellis's close friend and foster father, in exchange for information about Marinth. With the aid of Mellis's two dolphins, the two explore the ocean floor for signs of Marinth while developing a plan to lure Archer into their net. As always, Johansen gives her readers plenty of what they want: suspense and romance encompassed within a thrilling novel.

This is such a good read. The story flows, the characters are easy to identify with, they stay true to their original character and even though I don't really feel that this is one of those books you can not put down, it is definately enjoyable.

Lontana's Island in the Lesser Antilles is the refuge of Melis Nemid, a woman who loves the dolphins Pete and Susie that she trains as if they were own children. She doesn't like or trust men except foster father Phil Lontana or the crewmembers of his shop the Lost Home. Phil is obsessed with discovering the location of Marinth, an island of an advanced civilization that sunk beneath the sea millennia ago.Arms dealer Hugh Archer wants the research notes concerning the weapon that Phil developed that can cause earthquakes because a Mideast terrorist group is willing to pay much money for it. When Phil refuses to deal, Archer blows up the ship with Phil aboard and goes after his protégée Melis who he knows has the location of the research notes. When Melis also refuses to deal, he kills her closest friend forcing her to team up with billionaire Jed Kelby who will help her kill Archer if she leads him to the location of Marinth.Though feeling somewhat comic book in nature, FATAL TIDE is an exciting romantic thriller that starts off at light speed and just picks up speed until the climax is over. In between chase scenes, the two protagonists find room for romance but the real scene-stealers are the two dolphins, more loving and civilized than most of the humans in the novel. Melis will engage reader empathy especially when the audience discovers the extreme trauma she suffered as a child. Nobody will pity her though because she has grown into a strong woman who is not afraid to mete out justice to those who deserve it.Harriet Klausner