Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey

What they say:

As the seventh daughter of the Sea King, Ekaterina had a wonderful life—but also a lot of responsibility. Her special gift for moving around on land made her the perfect emissary from her father to check out interesting happenings on the surface. In short, she became the family spy.

On one such reconnaissance mission, she encounters Sasha—the seventh son of the king of Belrus. Though everyone sees his talent at music, they also consider him a fool. Ekaterina suspects something more powerful lies behind his facade. But before she can find out what, Ekaterina is kidnapped!

Carried off by a whirlwind and trapped in a castle with other kidnapped princesses at the mercy of a possessive Jinn, Ekaterina knows her chances of being found are slim. Which means that fortune, a fool and a paper bird are the only things she can count on. Oh, and of course her own clever mind and manipulative abilities…

Commentary:
Katya is the Sea King's daughter, entrusted by her father to be his informant on the various goings-on above the sea.  Though she is a creature of the sea, she is gifted with the ability to breathe both on land and sea, thus making her an effective 'spy' of sorts.  In addition, she is well versed in the Tradition, the force that governs the way of life in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, knowing how to use it as needed and as necessary.

Mercedes Lackey certainly isn't the best fantasy writer that I've read -- but what I can admire about her is that she's certainly prolific.  I started reading the first book in this series a couple of years ago, and it's reassuring to know that I can expect at least a new installment every year. 

As part of Harlequin's Luna imprint, I'm always expecting these books to have more romance (alright, who am I kidding? I mean more sex) than the usual fantasy novel.  It partially delivers on that end -- Lackey can write a convincing love scene as any in the biz -- but the buildup of the relationship between Katya and Sasha was too pat and easy.  Once she figures out that he was the source of the peace of Led Belarus as its Storyweaver, she figures "hey, he's also aware of the Tradition -- and he's kinda hot too!  Maybe I should fall in love with him!"  And Sasha, as any warm-blooded male would be wont to do, is not going to resist the lures of the equally beautiful daughter of the King of the Sea.

I think my other problem with installment in the series is its lack of action.  Katya and her love interest Sasha are pretty capable and quick thinking leads -- so it's too bad that their villain is more flash than substance.  Their 'villain' didn't really want to be a bad guy, but because of the Tradition, he had to do those things.  What's the fun in that?

For a romance/fantasy, it's a little unfortunate that there's not much of the romance or fantasy to make this a strong recommendation to anybody but the most ardent Mercedes Lackey fan.