It feels a little unfair not to give this 3 stars at the very least because the truth is I really did enjoy most of this book. The whole getting-him-back thing felt a little toxic (which feels like a too-aggressive word but I can't think of a better one), but I knew it was for the sake of the fake dating trope and I was willing to go with it. It was a little cheesy too, but I was enjoying it. It was cute. And then the ending was awful and it just kind of ruined a lot of it for me.

Like I swear the whole time the book is dropping hints about how perfect Sean would be living among the merfolk and then he has the chance to do that and they can be together and he's like actually no sorry I'm just going to go back to my old life. Like I liked the whole theme about living for yourself but is this or is this not supposed to be a cute romance book? And then Ross shows back up when they're on the water and Drop is there, like are they together? It just was awful.

I don't think this is a bad book, but ultimately not the book for me.