Video: Book Cake Tag

I was tagged by a sweet friend of mine to do the book cake tag. You love books? You love cakes, and maybe even baking? Then this video might be just the one for you! Check it out to see which bookish ingredients I chose :)

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

Title: Forbidden
Author: Tabitha Suzuma
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Purchased
Age Group: Young Adult (YA)
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥

Title: Kiss of Twilight
Author: Loribelle Hunt
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: NetGalley
Age Group: Adult 
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥ - See more at: http://yearningmermaid.blogspot.de/#sthash.X1r0KzaZ.dpuf

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister.

Seventeen-year-old Lochan and sixteen-year-old Maya have always felt more like friends than siblings. Together they have stepped in for their alcoholic, wayward mother to take care of their three younger siblings. As defacto parents to the little ones, Lochan and Maya have had to grow up fast. And the stress of their lives—and the way they understand each other so completely—has also also brought them closer than two siblings would ordinarily be. So close, in fact, that they have fallen in love. Their clandestine romance quickly blooms into deep, desperate love. They know their relationship is wrong and cannot possibly continue. And yet, they cannot stop what feels so incredibly right. As the novel careens toward an explosive and shocking finale, only one thing is certain: a love this devastating has no happy ending.

Title: Kiss of Twilight
Author: Loribelle Hunt
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: NetGalley
Age Group: Adult 
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥ - See more at: http://yearningmermaid.blogspot.de/#sthash.X1r0KzaZ.dpuf

I still don´t know if my review will be a review in the right sense. After reading this book I just have the strong feeling that I want to talk and write about it, because it deserves the attention. This book made me feel so strongly that even now, after almost two weeks after rereading this book, I cannot fully grasp the feelings that shook me so deeply. Tabitha Suzuma created a beautiful story that left me stunned by its cruelness.

Maya and Lochan have to take care of their three younger siblings, because their mother is mostly drunk or absent from home. After a while they fall in love, maybe they always have been in love, but never realiesed it. It is the story of a broken family, but the children will not let it fully break apart. They are desperate to appear normal to the outer world, because they are afraid that social services will take them away. I really despised their mother for her selfish behavior. Yes, she went through a lot and her ex husband left her, but is that truly reason enough to be such a lousy mother? Most time I wanted to slap her in hopes that she finally wakes up from her little fantasy world and starts behaving like an adult, taking responsibility for her five children. 

Maya is a sweet sixteen-years old girl that has to take too much responsibility too soon. She has the mind of an adult and that is probably why I liked her so much. She is not the typical girl you find in so many books that make mistake after stupid mistake. Maya knows that life isn´t always fair and that some people have it harder than others. She acts like the mother her younger siblings never knew, a mother full of kindness and worry, laughter and joy. Maya is willing herself to be strong for the kids and that is something that makes her truly beautiful to me. Most times I felt like she deserved a person that loves her for who she is...and who could actually know her better than her brother Lochan? Who shares the same burden like her?

Lochan is a seventeen-year old boy that suffers from extrem shyness. He is not able to speak to other people but his own family. Even the thought of speaking in front of a whole class makes him hyperventilate. Yet, Lochan is also very bright and is the best pupil in class. His grades promise him a bright future, but Lochan knows that he has to take responsibility for his little family and must support them when he is finished with school. His relationship with Maya heals him in some ways and I always had the feeling that without Maya, Lochan would fall apart. They steady each other and they need each other.

Of course I know that incest is illegal and before reading this book I always felt like incest was something disgusting and unthinkable. But I think that this book made me realise that people don´t choose such a love. Their circumstances may be the reason for it and who am I to judge two people in love, when I don´t know all the facts? 
This story made me feel helpless, because I realised that nobody can do anything to make this story have a happy ending. This love is against the law and thus forbidden. It felt so unfair, because I truly rooted for Maya and Lochan. I wanted them to be happy together forever.
I don´t think I ever cried as hard because of a book before. Shouldn´t true love be left alone? Even if it is against the law? I still don´t know...Maybe there is no answer.

Video: Christmas Book Haul

Christmas is officially over and I´m quite sad about it. I love the festive period when my whole family comes together and we´re (mostly) in a happy mood. I also love getting presents, of course. So here I am showing you what books I got this christmas.

What books did you get this christmas?

Challenges in 2014

I´m not a really  big fan of reading challenges. I think 2-3 are okay, but more add a certain stress level to my reading schedule. I´ve been through it all and I learned from my failures...
In 2014 I decided to participate in "only" two reading challenges.

The first one is the 2014 Dystopia Reading Challenge hosted by Blog of Erised. I love to read dystopian books and I´m really looking forward to reading a few good ones in 2014.
My goal will be Revolutionist (13-18 books).

Then second is a reading challenge that I just do for myself. I challenge myself to read 80 books in 2014, which is an insanely enormous amount of books if you ask me. 

I´m really excited to see if I can actually meet my expectations...

Follow Friday #3

Pick a book in your favorite genre that you’d recommend to a reluctant reader.

Right now I´m really into the dystopian genre. So I´d either recommend The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or The Giver by Lois Lowry. Both are fantastic reads and will surely get everyone into reading.

Kiss of Twilight (Dark Bonds #2) by Loribelle Hunt

Title: Kiss of Twilight
Author: Loribelle Hunt
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: NetGalley
Age Group: Adult 
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥

 Dupree Jackson is everything a senior soldier of the Order of Templar should be. Cold. Unbreakable. A master at arms in the fight against demons. But as a hybrid, Dupree is beginning to lose himself to the demon half of his soul. One woman has the power to save him. If he lets her.
Kara Stone wants two things in life: to be merged with a demon so that she can become a full member of the Order; and Dupree Jackson. She knows they are meant to be together, if only Dupree would love her back.
Though his desire for Kara is undeniable, Dupree's need to protect her is stronger. Not wanting to see her merge, to face the internal struggle he deals with every day, he refuses to bond with her. But when Kara becomes a target and uncovers a dark secret about her past, Dupree may no longer have a choice.

I was pining for this novel so much after reading Kiss of Darkness, which I loved insanely. Kiss of Twilight starts where the first novel left off and I was sucked into the story all over again.

Dupree and Kara have known each other for a long time and both feel that they are meant to be with each other, but Dupree denies his feelings out of fear for her. This is both hard on her and him and their story focuses on their struggle.
Then there is the fact that Gia, one of the closest friends of Dupree and Winter (she was the main character in Kiss of Darkness) is still missing. Winter has the strong feeling that Gia was kidnapped, but they have no idea where to look for her.

What I love most about this series is that the characters, who were introduced in the first novel, are still as present as in the second one. I loved Winter and Marcus and I was so glad to see both of them again and I was absolutely thrilled when I was able to read a whole chapter from their POV.

Dupree´s and Kara´s story was not as interesting and intriguing as I anticipated, but that was mostly because I found that Gia´s relationship with Luke - Marcus´ brother - was way more intriguing. I was actually surprised to find out that the second novel focuses on Dupree rather than Gia, but it all makes sense if you consider the storyline.

All in all I can say that I enjoyed reading Kiss of Twilight just as much as I hoped for and even though Dupree and Kara are not my favourite couple I still loved reading about their relationship. 
The series promises to get even better with the third novel, which will focus on Gia and Luke. Their relationship is probably the most thrilling one and I am already waiting for it to hit the digital shelves. I´m so thrilled to find out how they will find Gia and her abductors...

Unfortunately author Loribelle Hunt is not thinking about continuing this wonderful story in the next year, which is so frustrating! There is a huge cliffhanger at the end that leaves me unsatisfied and -by now- disappointed.This is why I can only give 4 hearts for this book. It´s so frustrating not to know if the author decides to continue this series...

The Yearning Mermaid says: "This is a series you NEED to read if you´re a fan of Jeaniene Frost and Nalini Singh. Hot romance and a good paranormal twist. Pick it up if you don´t mind waiting for the continuation of the series!"

Video: BookTubeAThon TBR

The booktube community is in an uproar, because this weekend there will be another BookTubeAThon! A whole weekend with just one goal: To read as many books as possible! I decided to join in, but I´m also realistic. Two books are more than enough for a whole weekend, no need to stress myself over this! To all others that are participating and to those who are not: Happy Reading!