Review: There’s Something Fishy About My Boyfriend by Gloria Duke

There’s Something Fishy About My Boyfriend by Gloria Duke
Series: Jersey Shore Merman, Book 1
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Paranormal Romance 

ISBN: 9781464242342
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo

GYM. TAN. MERMAN. Welcome to the Jersey Shore, where the men are hot, the sun is sizzling, and the boardwalk’s seen it all…until now.

After years of living on the Shore, Hannah Bell is sure two things are true:
    1. The family B&B is her future.
    2. Men like Xander—mysterious, charming, and un-freaking-believably gorgeous—do not just wash up like some kind of sexy flotsam.

But when Xander appears mostly-naked and half-conscious in the surf, Hannah does what any sane, kind-hearted woman would do: hauls him into her bed. Her bed and breakfast, that is. It’s only polite. But her one act of seaside charity goes sideways fast when her new perennially topless “guest” starts fixing leaky faucets with a wink, charming her with fishy dad jokes, and casually revealing that—oh yeah—he's a freakin’ merman.

Not only that, but he’s the merman who rescued her a decade ago and then ghosted her like an enchanted Tinder date gone wrong. Rude.

As Hannah reels from revelations and Xander tries to stay one step ahead of the secrets lurking beneath the tide, they’ll need to figure out if their surfside chemistry is just a summer fling... or the start of something truly fin-tastic.

There’s Something Fishy About My Boyfriend drew me in with its fin-tastic premise and the promise of a cute and fluffy romance between a human and a merman. However, once the hook lost its allure the book kind of flopped about.

Puns aside, I wanted to like Gloria Duke’s first Jersey Shore Merman story. It sounded campy and fun and parts of it were, but mostly it fell flat. Hannah is sadly just fine as a heroine. Ever since her near drowning as a teenager she has stuck close to home. She’s running her family’s bed and breakfast but it’s clearly not her passion. Then Xander washes up on the Jersey shoreline and turns her world upside down. Xander is a nearly perfect hero. He’s a hunky merman who is great with his hands in more ways than one. I liked that he and Hannah had corny dad jokes going back and forth, but I wanted depth from him and there was none. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Xander and Hannah either. There was nothing wrong with them as a couple, but nothing truly drew me in either.

There’s Something Fishy About My Boyfriend isn’t as catchy as its title and for all that Duke throws in a lot about saving the town from developers, hunters out for Xander, and both hero and heroine grappling with duty versus desire, the story overall falls flat. A mid-size cast of supporting characters didn’t help much as they were all caricatures who added very little to the story for all that there were themes of community supposedly present. Even for a fluffy romcom, this story could have used more depth. This is apparently the first book in a duology and there really isn’t enough to support two books worth of plot. The rather lackluster bulk of the book could have used more of the action rather than shoving it all in at the end in an inorganic manner. Overall, even though There’s Something Fishy About My Boyfriend has some bright and fluffy spots, it was a miss for me and I’m not inspired to read the sequel.



Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Review: Falling Into You by Jill Shalvis

Falling Into You by Jill Shalvis
Series: Colburn Brothers, Book 3
E-Book Publisher: That’s What She Said Publishing, Inc.
Print Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary Romance 

ISBN: 9781464261060
Release Date: July 14, 2026
Source: Author
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Audible
Jill Shalvis Reading Order

Some love stories don’t stay buried, no matter how far you run.

Hazel Pierce has three goals for coming back to Star Falls:
1. Help her estranged dad.
2. Keep things strictly temporary.
3. Absolutely, under no circumstances, fall for Tucker Colburn again.

That plan dies a dramatic, soggy death when a rogue wasp sting sends Hazel swerving off the road and into the river—only to be hauled out, half-drowned and furious, by the Star Falls Fire Department’s finest. Unfortunately, “finest” is ex–best friend, ex–one-night mistake, and the man she’s been avoiding for a decade.

Tucker’s always had a way of getting into her head. And now between a family that thrives on gossip and a town that’s way too small for all this chemistry, Hazel’s running out of ways to avoid the truth. As sparks turn into late-night confessions and slow, toe-curling kisses, Hazel has to decide if she’s done running—from her past, from this town, and from the only man who’s ever made her feel like home. And Tucker has to prove that this time, he’s not just her safe place to crash—he’s her always.

The final Colburn and the one who got away finally get their happily ever after in Falling Into You. Tucker and Hazel have been circling each other since she returned to Star Falls, the unspoken tension simmering in the background. Can these two ex-best friends get their second chance at happily ever after?

Falling Into You is a bit difficult for me to review. On its surface, it’s a fine read. Tucker is handsome, caring, and honestly perfect. He’s a dreamy, modern-day Prince Charming and it’s easy to see why he’s impossible to resist. Hazel has trouble believing in unconditional love. She’s stubborn (sometimes to a ridiculous degree) and has walls so high Tucker will need climbing gear. If this were my first Jill Shalvis book, I’d probably enjoy it a lot more than I did. The issue I had with this story is it’s very repetitive and echoes of so many of Shalvis’s past books are present in this story. There’s falling into comfortable, enjoyable patterns from an author you enjoy and there’s a feeling of copy/paste. Nothing in this book really stood out to me, save for the rather messy and unnecessary dramatic twists in the third act. In all honesty, Tucker and Hazel’s story may have worked better as a novella; the plot was stretched too thin.

As is expected in Shalvis’s work, boisterous secondary characters with no boundaries are everywhere, pushing Hazel and Tucker to work out their issues. I enjoy the Colburn family, but they pulled focus a lot in this book in ways that highlighted the weakness in the main characters’ character development. All in all, Falling Into You is a light and breezy read, even though it touches on heavier themes. I wish I had connected with the story and the characters more, but ultimately for me this wasn’t one of Shalvis’s more compelling reads.



Disclosure: I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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