Although this is described as a great beach read I really enjoyed reading it in the depths of winter.

Maeve’s story involves romance, but is much more about family - the complicated relationship with her brother, the one she joins with her extra-fiancée and his daughter, and the shark ‘family’ she feels closest to.

The book has a few twists and turns, and not all the characters, or their relationships, are fully developed (I wanted lots more of Perri, Maeve’s grandmother) but it avoids the easy resolution which I hoped wouldn’t happen! A solid 3.5*

Really enjoyable read. Loved the idea of it all. Not read anything like this before.

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor follows Maeve, a marine biologist known as the ‘shark whisperer’. As a child, she was bitten by a lemon shark but rather than becoming scared of them, she develops a deep love and understanding of the creature. We join Maeve as she returns to her childhood home in Florida and the Hotel of the Muses; a literary themed hotel run by her Grandmother. She reconnects with her twin Robin, and finds herself thrown back into her old life – spending days at the Conservancy where she works and finally running into her childhood sweetheart and cheating ex-fiance Daniel. But Daniel now comes with 6-year-old Hazel – the result of a fling he had while engaged to Maeve; and which broke her heart.

Desperately trying to work out whether she still loves Daniel or whether her heart lies with her dive partner Nicholas, Maeve finds herself forming a ‘Shark Club’ with Hazel – an adventurous six-year-old who is struggling to come to terms with her mother’s recent death. But Maeve has another problem. A shark-finning operation has moved into the area killing hundreds of the sharks she’s spent her life monitoring. And as it’s a small island, the chances are, she knows who’s involved…

I felt like I was accompanying Maeve on a journey to discover herself. Her failed engagement with Daniel consumed years of her life – with nights spent wondering what might have been. So when she returns, it’s natural that all those feelings swim back to the surface. But Maeve has to determine what her feelings for Daniel really are. Does she still love him, and can she see a future with him and Hazel? Or does she love what they used to have – is she just hoping to rekindle a love which is already lost?

Nicholas confuses things for her. He’s the dive partner she’s just worked alongside for months. He visits the island a few times – once declaring his love for her, and secondly becoming a useful ally and supporter when she discovers a finned shark. He shares her passions and he supports her whether or not he agrees with her actions. No wonder she’s confused…

While the romance element does take up a majority of the plot, the highlights for me were the growing bond between Maeve and Hazel and the light shone on shark finning.

Hazel’s character is immediately lovable. Trying to come to terms with her mother’s fairly recent death, Hazel has thrown herself into the world around her. Passionate about prehistoric marine creatures, and harbouring a love of the ocean, Hazel has a thirst for knowledge which Maeve helps quench. Intrigued by Maeve’s shark attack, and her job, the duo set up ‘Shark Club’ and what follows is one woman’s attempt to show a child that although sharks are scary, they’re just as important as the other creatures in the sea.

‘Sharks matter. Everything swimming in the oceans matters. Dolphins, stingrays, the tiniest sea horses, and the smallest crabs.’

But Maeve’s beloved sharks are in danger from a huge finning operation. She throws herself into trying to identify those involved – even at risk to her own life. Ann Kidd Taylor has, in my opinion, covered this horrendous phenomenon exceptionally well.

I found myself nodding along; emotional and disgusted at the actions of humanity – all in the name of greed.

‘People were killing them faster than they could reproduce. It was pretty clear that at this rate most species would be extinct in a matter of decades.’

There is so much wildlife in trouble; so many endangered animals, that the plight of sharks can often be forgotten. Maeve acknowledges this in the book:

‘If it had been dolphins or whales, the whole world would be up in arms. But it was sharks.’

Kidd Taylor serves us up a disturbing taste of what’s really going on in our seas – evoking images of hundreds of shark fins lying on tarpaulin, describing how fins (and often tails) are sliced while the shark is still alive, before the body is thrown overboard – left to bleed or drown to death.

The reality of shark finning

It’s horrendous and it’s wiping out a staggering number of sharks each year. But often, the publicity doesn’t reach as widely as campaigns do for other animals. In fact, I think that the plight of most marine species doesn’t hit home as hard as the plight of animals on land – possibly because it’s harder to monitor things in the ocean.

This isn’t enough for Maeve though. She is a fantastic female role model when you look at her actions in conservation. She is determined, passionate and does everything possible to help the police with the investigation and to increase publicity over what’s really going on in her town.

The Shark Club is a read which will transport you to sunnier climes, throw you into a romantic web and make you fall in love with the ocean all over again. The ocean helps Maeve understand and work through her own problems, and in turn, she devotes her life to research and protect its creatures. But she isn’t stupid. Despite its beauty and calming influence, Maeve knows the ocean can be a dangerous place – but she has a deep respect for it.

If only everyone else did.

The Shark Club, Ann Kidd Taylor

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Women's Fiction, General Fiction. 

I've mixed feelings about this book, I enjoyed it very much but it also left me feeling fainly unsatisfied at the end. 
It's not classed as Romance and yet...the synopsis certainly hints at a strong romantic content. Well, there is romance here, but for me not enough to justify inclusion in the brief description. 
Its a story about so much more, loss, betrayal, families and coping, childhood bereavement, and of course Sharks and all the stories that surround them. 

Maeve gets badly bitten as a kid, then becomes fascinated by them, and through her work we get to know so much more, how intelligent they are, that they're not the hardened killers so often made out, but incredible creatures just living out their lives until we interfere. Through that we get the whole Shark Finning theme - something pretty horrific IMO, and I didn't realise it was so widespread or such a lucrative trade.

Its got some great characters, some intense issues, starting with the twins parent' death and subsequent upbringing by their aunt, childhood friendships, where they were so close with Daniel, he too having his own family issues. Then there's the conundrum of relationships v career and that's something that affects so many couples. 
Some real characters her, I loved Maeve, felt a bit annoyed at Robin, though he's just dealing with life his way, adored Daniel but them Nick....I loved him too.
Of course the real star is Hazel, 7 going on 37, a gem of a girl, confident and yet scared too. She was so perfect and the title reflects just how wonderful she was. 

Its kind of a book that brings things out and explores them but doesn't really give any answers. Maybe because there isn't a right and wrong way, its not cut and dried but varies from person to person and all we can do is what feels right to us at the time. Certainly I can look back at my own life and see where I could have taken a different route, but at the time what I did felt right...
I enjoyed reading it but wanted more from the romance(s). I didn't get the ending I wanted, perhaps that was just too predictable though, and I can see that it had the right ending, just not the one I necessarily wanted ;-)  
I did feel that some parts were treated very lightly, not just the romances, but Robin's book, Daniel's actions both past and present, Maeve's uncertainties about love, her way of dealing with loss, and Nick and his problems. The Shark Finning though was especially " missing" something for me, it's so awful, so cruel and graphically described, and yet the conclusions just seemed so rushed and simple. I expected more action, more drama, or else to have left it as an unsolved issue. The way it was treated seemed horribly superficial, a slapped wrist for those involved and all over in a few pages ;-( 
Despite my criticisms its still a story I enjoyed very much and would recommend to those who like thought provoking novels, ones that give you something to mull over in quiet moments, who want to read about real people, real issues and enjoy a story that will take you away from everyday life for a few hours. 

Stars: four, an absorbing read but I felt some parts were lacking a bit for me.  

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Maeve is fascinating by sharks and loves her job working with them. She is on the brink of a relationship with a co-worker, Nicholas when an old love,Daniel comes back into the picture. This is part romance and part Maeve working out what she wants in life. An easy read with likeable characters.