Review: Starts with mystery, Ends with Love
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 7, 2012
The book opens with the mystery of what was wrong with the child born to Kait's friend and what its grandfather was doing with it (and that's what caught me).  Kait follows the man and ends up being seen by the selkies that live around the island as she looks for the newborn, and that is how Kait gets inadvertently gets accused of murder.Kait and her brother live on the Island of Shapinsay. Their parents died when they were young which lead to Kait being independent, strong willed and outspoken. She doesn't seem to take much grief from anyone. Needless to say everyone else wishes she were quiet and obedient like the other young girls of the village. Her brother Blair has a hard time trying to be the head of the house and attempts to marry her off. Kait is nave when it comes to selkies and men, it comes across well, I like my heroines a bit less so. She's entranced and in Love from the start.  She can't go a second without thinking of her selkie or looking for him. At times it her obsession was a bit annoying, but it was an important part of the story.Eamon, the selkie, wants revenge against Kait for the killing.  After meeting her he can't get her out of his mind.  He treats Kait with dislike and contempt at the beginning of the story. He begrudgingly admires her love of the sea and swimming, so unlike the other humans on the island.  The selkies are definitely more animal than human..."So ye really do not use names?" "I thought I was clear on that," Eamon said with a growl as his eyes moved sleepily over my face.  ....."Then how in creation do you address one another?" "The selkie speak with a look or a nudge. If that doesn't work, we bite or use a swift rock to the head." (Krista Holle. The Lure of Shapinsay)The world that Krista Holle has created is complex and the research that went into it is obvious.  I loved Tipper, can't say more without giving something away. The struggle, both emotional and in the real world of the book, that would go on between selkie and human was portrayed very well.  I would recommend this one to anyone who likes a good romance, paranormal and historical elements.  I've no idea what Ms. Holle has planned but it would be a shame not to have another story in this well developed world.  Tipper's perhaps?Review by Tala