The Lure of Shapinsay [Kindle Edition]

Krista Holle (Author), Stephanie Hacker (Editor), Reese Dante (Illustrator)

Book Description

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.

Kait is awoken unexpectedly by a beautiful, naked 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?

Product Details

• File Size: 466 KB
• Print Length: 272 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Sweet River Romance; 1 edition (December 19, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006O53UTS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,550 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting, compelling, and wonderfully described world-- a great first novel! August 11, 2012

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition

I was given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. I give this book 4.5 stars.

The Lure of Shapinsay by Krista Holle was an unexpected find. This story is about Kait, a headstrong girl, who falls in love with the wrong man... or in this case, a selkie--a seal that can turn into a man, and is gloriously handsome. She doesn't believe that he can really be in love with her as well. The rest is a love story that has unexpected twists and the story ends the only way it can.

By the time I received this book, I was inundated with requests, but I was intrigued by the premise, so accepted this novel to review. And boy, am I glad I did! This is mostly a love story between two young people, who are from very different worlds and everything seems to be working against them. Usually, I can't stand people who speak in dialect in books because it makes it hard to read, but somehow Holle does a great job balancing clarity of what is said with keeping in line with where the characters are. I loved the description of the land, the selkies, and the characters. My favorite character I have to say was Tipper, who was an unexpected gift in the last half of the book. At times, I felt that the love story was almost too much-- Kait seemed to be almost too desperate in her love for this man-- a far cry from the independent, fierce woman that she used to be. But the ending to all of this was absolutely perfect and made up for any of my misgivings.

Overall, a wonderful and unique first novel that I blazed through in a day!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical, tragic love story with a Happy Ending! Loved it!!! July 27, 2012

By bighornforestgirl

Format:Kindle Edition

I really loved this, and definetly the first half was 5 stars all the way. Then halfway through I thought I might give it 4 stars because there starts being talk of humping(He is a Selkie(Seal-Man) and he thinks kind of animalisticly), sex before marriage and talk of humping all night to satiate his loins. I would still classify this as a clean read, but it did push it a bit for my taste. I did love that this story was like nothing I've read before. It had a magical feel to it as I read and I never wanted to put it down! I thought the sex before marriage could kind of be rationalized away because of the lure(that's what the selkies do is lure women to bed and then to the sea to their deaths). I ended up going with 5 stars because I loved that they both ended up doing something major to sacrifice for the other that ended up proving they really did love each other, and it wasn't just the lure that kept them together. I loved how angry Eamon is and how untrusting of humans he is. I loved how he becomes jealous and angry at one point when he thinks Kait has "chosen a human mate", but really her brother set it up because he wants her married off to someone who will take care of her when he is married and gone. I really liked finding out just how young Eamon is and therefore why he is so quick tempered and untamed, and it explains why he had never taken a human to bed before. I love how fiercly loyal he is to Kait. I loved the almost sad/dramatic ending, but that it did have a Happily Ever After ending!
CONTENT: Talk of humping, sex before marriage, the girl being completely obsessed with the guy, to the point of wanting to, and being willing to go to the sea and die. So I would not recommend this to anyone under 17.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The obsession was not my cup of tea June 24, 2012

By DragonCeres

Format:Kindle Edition

The Lure of Shapinsay is about the love between a selkie and a human. I've never read a selkie story before so this one interested me from the beginning. It was hard to get into at first because of some of the Scottish language and the nature of the selkies, but once I got over that part it became much easier to understand the book.

Krista Holle truly brought the world alive in this book. While reading, I can imagine that I'm there at the island with salty wind blowing over me as I look over the ocean. I saw the selkies sunbathing on the rocks just like Kait did. There were also traditions of the time that made this story and its setting feel so much more real.

However, the reason for such a low rating is that I really couldn't get into the love story. Kait is bewitched by the selkie, Eamon. She became obsessive and totally couldn't function without Eamon. I just don't see how this could be love. Every time she spouted that she loved Eamon, I wanted to shake and scream at her! She couldn't trust Eamon even after he gave her such a priceless gift and this distrust and insecurity of hers really made the love story unbearable.

On Eamon's side, it was a little better. His reason for being intrigued was at least believable. His selkie nature was kind of hard to understand and relate too. I'm used to doing everything to stay with the one you love kind of thing, while he easily gave that up due to his pride and very nature, so I couldn't understand him very well. Due to his age, he was kind of immature and childish and overly aggressive. There was too much male posturing on his side without him actually doing much.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you're looking for something different. I would classify it for older teens because there is sex ("humping") involved, but not it's not explicit. It has pretty good reviews on Goodreads, but because how the love story played out, it just wasn't for me.

More About the Author

Krista has been writing since she was nine-years-old when she scribbled out her first adolescent work entitled Merish, the completely illogical but heartfelt story of a girl who was part mermaid, part fish. As a young mother, Krista added to her repertoire some middle grade readers and picture books she's wary of mentioning.

In 2004, Krista began an intensive four year period working part-time as a critical care nurse while homeschooling her four children. During this hectic time, courses of writing were taught and learned, and rules of syntax were scolded to memory. Ironically this period of study equipped Krista with the tools she needed to enter the next phase of her writing experience.
Now equipped with the mysteries of the comma, Krista was ready to tackle a much bigger project--a full-fledged novel.

After the kids were enrolled in public school in 2009, it occurred to Krista that there is an insatiable audience of women and girls who want to read books filled with stories about true love, not just vampires. Convinced that there was an unfulfilled audience waiting for what she love to write--romance, she sat down in the family's dungeon, a.k.a. the basement, and began to furiously type. In no time, her first novel was drying on crisp white paper.

Krista currently resides in Midlothian, Virginia with her husband, four daughters, and an eccentric cat with a weird attachment to the family's socks. She continues to write obsessively every chance she can get.