Review: The Lure of Shapinsay by Krista Holle

Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant. 

Unexpectedly, Kait is awoken by a beautiful, selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. 

Kait obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or has she simply been lured?

I was kind of unsure about this read because I'd never heard of Selkie creatures. However, I was too intrigued to pass up the opportunity to learn more about the lore. Krista Holle creates a completely different world than we're used to seeing with an old town Scotland setting.

Eamon is a Selkie, a seal type of creature that can turn into a human when on land, who falls in love with a human girl named Kait. I enjoyed both of the character because they both seemed to have fairly strong personalities that fought to understand one another. Kait is lovable in that stubborn girl for her time kind of way, while Eamon has a very mysterious lure ye want to know more about! Side characters were also well written, but I tended to prefer reading about the main relationship. Though cute, their relationship does have a slight insta-love quality that wasn't the most believable. I think their relationship geared more towards going for something that was forbidden than it was love. However, their relationship was still an enjoyable read to root for. There are a few mature scenes regarding the relationship, but they're all handled with light detail so it's something that could still be YA appropriate.

Though thoroughly interesting, I hoped to have more of a background on Selkie creatures because I knew nothing about them. Even after finishing, I'm a bit hazy on truly understanding how they work. I think elaborating a bit on this aspect would've rounded the story out a bit more for me.

Overall, The Lure of Shapinsay was a really creative story that seemed to be very well researched. This is one of those stories I could definitely see more books on because there's so much uncovered territory to the story and this book just scratches the surface. Take your chances on this book if ye looking for a unique and different read. (I'm unsure if I used that right, but I'm trying here.)

Soundtrack: 

I was thinking a lot of LOTR type of Middle Earth music while I read this, so here we go:

Concerning Hobbits - LOTR Soundtrack

Into the Wild - Enya

Another Dance - Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Review: The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg

"Dying of a broken heart is just the beginning.... Welcome to forever. 

BRIE'S LIFE ENDS AT SIXTEEN: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart—literally. 

But now that she's D&G (dead and gone), Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend has been keeping a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost—and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul . . . who just might hold the key to her forever after. 

With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on. But how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?"

Even after reading YA for years, you'd think I'd be used to different types of somewhat far-fetched stories. Maybe I'm a romantic pessimist or something, but I'll admit a girl dying of a broken heart made me kind of roll my eyes at first. I went in thinking I wouldn't love this book, but was pleasantly surprised.

This story is much deeper than I thought it'd be. It's one of those books that doesn't really make its impact until you've finished it. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I liked it after I finished it. Then, I had this really long discussion with a few friends who were also reading it and realized how many ways this book could be interpreted. After we went through all the layers of this story, I realized that I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought because of the questions it brought up for me.

I will say that I was somewhat annoyed at Brie at times, but once I once I really thought about who she was, I understood her actions a bit more. Patrick was my favorite character in the book because he was so sweet and understanding. I also loved how I totally got that 80's feel with him. There were a lot of surrounding characters that I really wished I knew more about. I felt like they'd have something more to do with the story and was disappointed when there wasn't more included.

Another aspect that I MUST mention is the awesome playlist included in the book. Each chapter uses a different song/lyric to start with. I loved that it helped set a somewhat theme for the book as I read since the songs were all pretty known.

As I said, this book is much deeper than I expected. If you're looking for a story that will give you questions and surprise you with different events then give the book a try. Don't let the pretty cover fool you, this book will keep you reading even if you think you know what's going to happen.

Soundtrack: 

Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri

Just Like Heaven - The Cure

Yankee Bayonet - The Decemberists

Memories Can't Wait - Talking Heads

I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab For Cutie 

And because Jess Rothenberg's playlist will probably put mine to shame, I'm going to share. 

The Catastrophic History of You and Me Spotify Playlist by Jess Rothenberg

The Lifeguard by Deborah Blumenthal

"It's an unsettled summer for Sirena. Back in Texas, her family's splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her aunt, it's a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with Pilot, the lifeguard with shamanic skills. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers his mysterious--almost magical--gifts."


This book was definitely way different than I was thinking it would be. Not to say that it was misleading, just different. Right off the bat we're introduced to a plain old teen who moves to Rhode Island to start anew after a family break-up.

Being in a new surrounding she meets Pilot, a quiet lifeguard who rarely speaks. Honestly, I found his character to be annoying. I'm fine with quiet characters; I just didn't understand why he was. Sirena on the other hand is a decently likable character who seemed very laid back. This is kind of the point where I wasn't really into the book. It started off good enough, but just wasn't developed enough for me to really understand where it was going. The story had everything to be interesting, but failed to be developed and had a weird pace.

I think this book was really trying to be deep, but just had to work on a few more things to get to that point. The characters are well thought out, but overall I think this book isn't going to go over well with the majority of its readers.

Tegan & Sara- Walking With a Ghost

Dashboard Confessional- Dusk and Summer

Slip Point by Karalynn Lee

"From childhood, Shay had one dream--to join the Space Corps with her best friend and sweetheart, Jayce. When the Space Corps reveals that the father she thought was dead is actually an infamous pirate and rejects her application, the dream dies and she leaves the planet without saying a word to Jayce.

Ten years later, Shay is a pirate herself. She captains her own ship and has earned a reputation as one of the slipperiest pilots around. That's why she's recruited for a dangerous secret government mission. But the cargo she's assigned to smuggle turns out to be a woman with a government bodyguard--Jayce.

Jayce never thought he'd see Shay again, and when the mission forces them together on her ship, he isn't sure he can forgive her for deserting him; but their desire for each other is stronger than ever. Jayce knows he wants to be with Shay, but how can he trust a woman who's both a pirate and the girl who broke his heart?"

Um, hello? How can I not want to read about Space Pirates? I mean the image alone is pretty entertaining in my head. Alright, I know this isn't Johnny Depp in a space suit or anything, but I love me some space entertainment so I thought I'd give this book a shot. 

What I loved initially about this book was that we get a glimpse into different age points of our main characters. I think it helped create a better understanding with personalities and build the conflict because they'd known each other for so long. For a heroine, I really appreciated Shay for being a strong female who could rely on herself to get things done. While I do think she did a few stupid things at a younger age, I still respected her character throughout the story. 

One massive plus point in Karalynn's story is that she actually developed the struggle,heartache and tension between Shay and Jayce. There are so many stories that have characters meet up once again and have them be perfectly fine like nothing ever happened. It's a small thing but I think it makes such a huge difference in a story for me. I really enjoyed their tension and chemistry because I felt for the characters. Jayce seemed heartbroken after all those years, and it was realistic not to just forgive and forget so easily. 

My only issue with this story was that I wanted more detail with the world Lee created. The area was so incredible and had the story had a lot of side plots going on that I wanted more information about. This book could've easily been longer and still needed more time, but for now it's definitely too short. If Lee were to release more on this story I'd definitely give it a read!

Busted in Bollywood by Nicola Marsh

"Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else's.Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend's whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fianc her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she's mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fianc .Life is less complicated in New York.Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that's when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn't so far away?"

I bought myself a copy of this book because I wasn't able to get through it while it was on NetGalley. Come on, it's Bollywood! Being an Indian female who enjoys her Bollywood movies made me feel like it was mandatory that I read it. There's no way I can't love characters being bombarded with marriage proposals while being trapped in a slew of mixups.

First off, warning...You will want to eat a lot of food from this book. Keep a snack handy. Visit a friendly Indian neighbor, head on over to your local Indian market or just get some popcorn. Really, have some food. You'll love me for it later.

Okay, now that we have that squared away...

What I loved most about this book was that it read exactly like a Bollywood/Hollywood fusion movie in my head. Marsh's writing has you picture scenes along with her as you laugh at Amrita's familial antics and swoon at the characters she creates. This book does have a more adult theme to it, so if you're not into a little sexy time I'd stay clear.

Though Marsh does a great job of keeping things interesting, her characters did lack the depth that made the story reach to a deeper level. Most of the relationships are shown to be fairly superficial, and I think more could've been added to build the tension a little more.

The overall pacing of the story was decent. I will say that it did take some time for the story to really begin and the ending was a bit tiresome at times. It wasn't because it was slow, I just personally wanted to tell Shari to snap out of it and make decisions so I could get a glass of water.

Busted in Bollywood was an enjoyable read overall. If you enjoy a Bollywood theme with a little sweetness, a dash of funny and a big helping of spice, then this book is definitely worth checking out.

This book playlist is wedding themed. Either having to do with weddings or will likely play at any Indian wedding you attend. Enjoy! 

Rab Rakha- Love Breakup Zindagi
Chammak Challo- Ra.One
Ainvayi Ainvayi- Band Baaja Baaraat
Bounce Billo-Imran Khan 

Truly. Madly. Deeply. You. by Cecilia Robert

"Four days before Valentine’s Day, Liese Hansfeld is determined to shut the door to her house, as well as her heart, for her annual four days of mourning her one true love. Little does she know her best friend Freytag Meier is just as determined to keep her from her ritual. He’s ready to pick the lock to her apartment door and camp in her living room if that’s what it takes. 

What Freytag isn’t prepared for is the surge of deep-rooted emotions he feels for Liese, but two things stand in his way: the grief and guilt she still clutches close to her heart, and a man who threatens to snatch Liese from under Frey’s watchful eye. Frey is determined to distract her into forgetting her pain. But is that enough to ease her grief, or help her see he can be more than her best friend?"

I regretted this book.  No, I didn't regret reading it silly people! I totally regretted not reading this sooner! I actually really wished I had read it during Valentine's Day for the full affect. I don't really know how, but this whole book is like a warm cup of cocoa on a winter night. Think of your ultimate comfort food and this book would be it.

Liese, our female lead, is going through something that you hope never happens to anyone. Throughout the book we're kept in suspense about knowing what and who she is mourning, but are given little clues up until the very end. I really felt for her character and understood all of her hesitations through the story. Our other main character named Frey is seriously the best friend any girl could ask for. He's so sweet and adorable that I just wanted to clone him and have one for myself. From beginning to end I always felt his love for her to be real and almost childlike. I was able to see that their relationship had a history to it.

The strongest aspect about this story was Robert's writing style. She was able to convey such an array of emotions in such a short period of time that always felt believable. Though the characters were going through hardships, they could still banter with one another and understand what the other was going through without anything said. There was also this underlying tension from the beginning of the book that also added to the emotion of the characters. It was something that was never really mentioned, but as a reader it was something I could always sense.

Seriously, the only issue I had with this book was that it wasn't longer. I wanted more from the characters because I felt for them. I finished feeling incomplete because this book was like a tease, haha. This short story has everything for a sweet romance lover. If you want a cute short read with characters you want to know or already know, I'd definitely pick this up in March!

Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey

"When Keri Daniels's boss finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job.

Joe's never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he's intrigued to hear Keri's back in town—and looking for him. He proposes an outrageous plan—for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping trip, Keri can ask one question.

The chemistry between Joe and Keri is as potent as the bug spray, but Joe's sister is out to avenge his broken heart, and Keri hasn't ridden an ATV since she was ten. Who knew a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling romantic interludes could make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever?"

I figured this would be a cheesy romance novel, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. Normally when I read these books I find the plot to be pretty unrealistic and ridiculous, but this book was different for me. Stacey presented the story and characters in such a unique way that I felt like I could know all of them. The family within the story definitely helped with this because it was something most people can relate to. The Kowalski family is a family I actually wanted to be a part of because they all had their own roles and personalities.

What I especially liked about this book was that I could feel the tension between the two main characters. Usually these books seem to have two characters that hook-up at a first or second meeting, but Stacey actually let it build until even you wanted them to get together.  Though there were a lot of secondary characters, I liked how everyone somewhat had their subplot. There wasn't a plot in this book that I didn't care about; I wanted to know more about each one of the characters. 

I honestly had very few issues with the book. Keri was sadly the only character that didn't do much for me.  I did like her, but her inner conflicts seemed kind of unreasonable at times. I didn't really feel the breakdown of her character, so by the end I just felt as if she gave in because there were few other options. Poor Joe, I felt for the guy. I could tell how much he had loved her, I just couldn't understand why Keri didn't feel the same. It felt as if Keri was able to throw him away easily while Joe struggled for months. As this book was set in a camping settings, the activities felt kind of redundant after a while. I kind of wanted them to do something else other than ATV cruising. 

Stacey is a writer who has such a lively and fun writing style that you can read for hours and not even notice. If you're looking for a story that is not only realistic, but filled with characters you can actually get to know and care for I'd say this book is for you!

Book Notes: The Brenna Blixen Series by Liz Reinhardt

"What happens when you fall for the perfect guy...twice...in one day? Brenna Blixen spent her freshman year homeschooling in Denmark; now that she's back in the States, she's determined to make her sophomore year unforgettable. And by unforgettable, she imagined awesome classes, fun friendships, and maybe a little romance. What she got was a whole lot of romance, and all at once. The same day that dark, brooding Saxon Maclean charmed her with his killer good looks and whip-smart wit, Jake Kelly stole her breath away with his heart-wrenching smile and intelligent, thoughtful focus. But Saxon is a proud player who makes it clear that he doesn't know why he can't get Brenna off of his mind and out of his system, and Jake's sweet and humble attitude hides a secret past life that might be darker and more complex than Brenna is willing to deal with. Complicating the matter is the fact that Saxon and Jake were once best friends and are now arch-enemies...and the more Brenna finds out about their connection to each other, the more intrigued and worried she becomes. Between keeping the peace with her lovingly over-protective parents, designing t-shirts for her high school's rising punk band, keeping up her grades in classes split between academic and technical high school, and running the track like a maniac, Brenna has enough to worry about without juggling two guys who make her heart thud and drive her crazy all at once. She has to make a choice, but how is she supposed to do that when giving her heart to one of them might mean breaking the other's?"


Jake.Saxon. No wait, Jake. Damn you Brenna Blixen! Yeah, Saxon. Never mind, Jake.

That was pretty much my train of thought while reading these two books. I've been done for a few days now and I'm still just as lost about who to pick.

I don't know how Reinhardt did it, but I've never wanted to kick, hug, punch or do naughty, naughty things repeatedly with so many characters.

Brenna, Brenna, Brenna. I love her. I hate her. She's pretty awesome overall. I see her appeal, but I also have this need to punch her throughout the books. I don't think I've ever yelled at my iPad so much as when reading this series. Now my yelling isn't a bad thing; it's just that Reinhardt has this way of getting you so involved with the characters that you can't help but feel for them throughout their experiences.

These are the types of notes I take while reading.

The boys. Oh mylanta! Jake is the hot artsy boy who I just wanted to cuddle throughout the book. He's just such a sweet guy! He has a dark past, but he's getting through it and trying to better himself. Saxon is just pure...I can't even come up with the proper word. I want to smack him upside the head sometimes, but also have his beautiful dark-haired babies. I can usually pretty easily pick a side in book love triangles, but I can completely understand why Brenna is so torn between them because I still can't make a choice.

Be forewarned, these books have some minor sexy time moments in it. However, if you're looking for a series with great realistic characters that will pull you in from the very beginning, you should definitely check this series out!

Book Notes: The Juliet Spell by Douglas Rees

"I wanted the role of Juliet more than anything. I studied hard. I gave a great reading for it—even with Bobby checking me out the whole time. I deserved the part.
I didn't get it. So I decided to level the playing field, though I actually might have leveled the whole play. You see, since there aren't any Success in Getting to Be Juliet in Your High School Play spells, I thought I'd cast the next best—a Fame spell. Good idea, right?Yeah. Instead of bringing me a little fame, it brought me someone a little famous. Shakespeare. Well, Edmund Shakespeare. William's younger brother.Good thing he's sweet and enthusiastic about helping me with the play...and—ahem—maybe a little bit hot. But he's from the past. Way past. Cars amaze him—cars! And cell phones? Ugh.Still, there's something about him that's making my eyes go star-crossed...."

I wanted to like this book from the start, but it just didn't end up that way. I was always annoyed by the main characters. I'd usually always like a guy that spoke in Shakespearean English, but Edmund just didn't do anything for me. Other than being a relative, I don't feel like I was given much about who he was as a character. The issue I had with Miri was that the author gave very little into showing that she even liked Edmund. She also seemed a little overly whiny to me.

Another big issue that made me dislike the book was when all issues were just automatically accepted. Everything about the story was a bit too convenient. Mom had no issues, friends had no issues and everything was just hunky-dory.

I also felt like Rees began the story like Miri had very few to no friends and later decided she needed to have some. Overall, the pacing of the story didn't work for me. Though the storyline had everything to be interesting, it was just poorly executed. I'd say pass this up unless you're bored and looking for an easy pass the time read.

Book Notes: Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

“I don’t want him to love me because of a potion,” she said. 
 
Izzie loves Mark, and why shouldn’t she? As the captain of the basketball team, he is kind and loving and he’s everything she’s ever wanted in a boyfriend. Her BFF loves . . . somebody, but she won’t say who. So when a hot new guy, Tristan, shows up at school, who better for Izzie to fix up her friend with? And what better way to do it than with a love philtre? 

But even the best of magic has a way of going awry—and Izzie finds she’s accidentally fallen in love with Tristan herself. And that’s a problem. First of all, there’s Mark. Second, Tristan comes with baggage—like the supernatural creatures that keep attacking whenever he’s with Izzie, and the fact that he comes from the place where Izzie’s father was killed, years ago, by an enormous, evil serpent that’s still around—and it knows Izzie is out there." 


I was so excited to read this book when I saw it. I've always loved the story of Tristan and Isolde, and realy wanted to see how it would be retold. Sadly, this is where my positive notes end.  I have no idea what this book was trying to do at all.

Izzie was one of the most annoying characters I've read in a while. I don't know if Harrison did so on purpose, but I never got a great feel from Izzie or any of the characters. Some of the language used for students in high school felt really unrealistic. Nothing in the book really flowed naturally for me. I kept having these, "Really? Why would you do that?!" type of moments while I read.

Though the book wasn't my cup of tea, I do think Harrison did decently well with her writing. If you like books that are a bit over-the-top in imagination, you may like the story. However, I don't think I would ever recommend this book to anyone.  

Book Notes: Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl

"Olivia Bishop is no fun. That's what her ex-husband said. And that's what her smart bob and glasses imply. So with her trademark determination, Olivia sets out to remake her life. She's going to spend time with her girlfriends and not throw it all away for some man. But when an outing with her book club leads her to a brewery taproom, the dark-haired beauty realizes that trouble—in the form of sexy Jamie Donovan—may be too tempting to avoid.

Jamie Donovan doesn't mean to be bad. Sure, the wild streak in his wicked green eyes has lured the ladies before. Now it's time to grow up. He's even ready for a serious romance. But how can that be when Olivia, the only right woman he has ever met, already has him pegged as wrong?"

I regretted starting this book about a third way through. I wanted to like it and the main characters, but I just couldn't help them annoying me. The story wasn't all that bad. My major issue with the book was the lack of character development and interaction in the beginning. There wasn't much mention of Jamie noticing her at all, but then he suddenly asked her out and it just left me sitting thinking, "Well alright then." I just felt like a lot of the events didn't feel realistic to me. For a very reserved person, Olivia opened up fairly quickly. I also never felt like their relationship developed normally. Sure, they were in lust with each other, but love? No.

I'll credit Dahl with being able to write some pretty steamy scenes. However, maybe it's just me, but there were a lot more sexy time scenes than I needed in this book. I know it's a main objective of the book as it's be a romance type of novel, but I think it got to a point where there was no real radical chemistry or tension between the characters to give me anything to look forward to. 

I wouldn't go to this book if you were looking for a deep type of love story, but if you want something light to get lost into it could work. 

Book Tour & Giveaway: Breathe by Abbi Glines

Holy crap! My very first blog tour and giveaway! I'm kind of excited if you couldn't tell. The story of Breathe by Abbie Glines is here to take my blog tour cherry.



"Sadie White’s summer job isn’t going to be on the beach life-guarding or working at rental booths like most kids her age. With her single mother’s increasing pregnancy and refusal to work, Sadie has to take over her mother’s job as a domestic servant for one of the wealthy summer families on a nearby island.
When the family arrives at their summer getaway, Sadie is surprised to learn that the owner of the house is Jax Stone, one of the hottest teen rockers in the world. If Sadie hadn’t spent her life raising her mother and taking care of the house she might have been normal enough to be excited about working for a rock star.


Even though Sadie isn’t impressed by Jax’s fame, he is drawn to her. Everything about Sadie fascinates Jax but he fights his attraction. Relationship’s never work in his world and as badly as he wants Sadie, he believes she deserves more. By the end of the summer, Jax discovers he can’t breathe without Sadie.
But can their love overcome the disparity in their lifestyles? Or will they have to learn how to without each other breathe again?"


As soon as I read the description for this book, I knew I had to read it. I mean really, who hasn't thought about what it'd be like to be with someone famous? I could probably come up with a list of people(how YOU doin' Matthew Gray Gubler). 


Glines wrote in a very easy to read manner that never made the book tiresome for me. Though I found some of the characters to be not as well-developed as I would've liked, they all seemed to have a lot of heart. Sadie was a lovable character in a naive way. As a reader, her life really pulled at the heartstrings. For someone who went through that many struggles, she seemed to always have a positive outlook on life and it was nice to see people have hope in their lives. Jax, our male hottie in this book, was written in a way that was almost too perfect. Though I could see how Glines was trying to portray two different sides to him, I would've liked to see more of the "normal" Jax side of him that he continuously said Sadie got to. However, an aspect I realized that I did enjoy was having a male character be the one to lay his heart out on the line. There are so many YA books out there always having the girl fall for some guy, where this book took a turn and had a male character speak about his emotions and what he felt for a girl without the girl saying it first. 


Sadie and Jax's relationship overall was pretty adorable from a teen point-of-view,but seemed a bit unrealistic for my taste. Though they were perfectly cute together, I couldn't really see some of their relationship fitting the way it did. The relationship ran a bit quickly for me and I would've enjoyed a little more set-up in them getting to know one another. 


If you're looking for a fun breezy beach read, Breathe could be just what you're looking for. 







Want to win an e-book copy of Breathe by Abbi Glines? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your email so we can contact you!












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