Reviews also on our site:Readers In Wonderland 
 Let me start by saying that when I was younger I used to love mermaid novels. I swam as if the water, not air, was my oxygen. Therefore I know quite well what it sounds like, and how objects and people move under there. Basically my point is that the main thing TEMPEST RISING is missing is realism. 
 Objects "clatter" as they "hit" the ocean floor. In one particular example, a knife does this. I do not make a habit of throwing around knives in pools so I can not exactly disprove this. But with my experience and common sense, I do not think such a light object would drop, so fast it clatters, on to the ocean floor. This story takes place underwater yet sometimes I feel as though this detail is forgotten. People cough and do other things that one could only do on land. 
 Now I recognize that this is a mermaid novel and such beings are the opposite of realism (as far as we know) but I believe your job, if you write something like this, is to make the reader believe mermaids exist. Make them fall in love with the character and the world so much that they wish it was out there somewhere. 
 Unfortunately the novel had me more interested in the dialogue than the actual plot. There were pages upon pages of huge paragraphs without breaks that you actually lost interest. I was in the heat of the climatic battle and I could think was, "Did I leave my curling iron on?" The story is just not told in a way you connect or care about the characters. 
 The romance was also unrealistic, as normal for many novels in the genre. It even had a love triangle, which I love, but it just didn't do it for me. Of course the romance progressed so fast it can be classified as insta-love. 
 Loose ends were not tied up, and key information just about the character's own siblings weren't revealed until the very end. 
 The negatives are easier to point out. They are what I first notice instead of, "Hey, what a great simile. I think I will ponder that whilst I bathe and-" Well, that got off track fast but you get it. 
 Things I did like were Tempest's humor, at times. She had a voice we can relate to and her sarcasm, occasionally overdone, is good for a laugh. Or chuckle. A small chuckle. Laughing manically over a book is never a good thing really. Especially in public. You've been warned. 
 Things were described in great detail, allowing you to picture in your head everything that was going on. I also liked the really powerful ending that leaves you thinking. I do not think I am going to read the sequel though. 
 Quick bit: 
 If you do not recognize repeated phrases and little details that don't add up, go for it. If you like romantic mermaid stories, go for it. If you like head-over-heels comsuming love at first sight with a peferctly sculpted guy, go for it. 
 If your eyes seem to laser in on grammatical errors and such, stay away. If you like a meaningful, deep, attention-grabbing story that convinces you mermaids exist, avoid it. If you hate insta-love and a love interest that has no flaws, avoid it. 
 I recommend SEVEN TEARS INTO THE SEA by Terri Farley as an alternative if you do not think you will enjoy TEMPEST RISING.