Tag: Ireland

Seven Letters by J.P.MONNINGER

Seven Letters

Kate Moreton is in Ireland on sabbatical from her teaching position at Dartmouth College when she meets Ozzie Ferriter, a fisherman and a veteran of the American war in Afghanistan. The Ferriter family history dates back centuries on the remote Blasket Islands, and Ozzie – a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States – has retreated to the one place that might offer him peace from a war he cannot seem to leave behind.

As soon as I read the first letter I knew I was going to love this story. And oh I did!

This isn’t a traditional romance story in beautiful Ireland. It is a deep, soulful, character-driven story of love, loss, brokenness, sin, and redemption. Kate is Irish through and through. Her dream of seeing the Blasket Islands and finishing her dissertation is finally coming around. She will be able to live by the sea and finish her research regarding the islands and how even her own family had been evacuated.

But life is never as tidy as that. When Ozzie comes along, it’s as if their souls knew each other at once. There was a palpable feeling of connection in the way the author told this story. The descriptions of the sea, the saltiness you could almost taste, the wild beauty of the islands and the warmth of the people. Ozzie and Kate are an island in a vast sea of people.

I don’t want to give anything away with this review. Just read it. And now I shall make myself a nice cup of tea and read it slower and savor all of the feels it has to offer.

Brilliant Work!

NetGalley/ October 8th, 2019 by St. Martin’s Griffin

 

Murder in an Irish Pub by Carlene O’Connor

Murder in an Irish Pub (Irish Village Mystery #4)

Irish Village Mystery #4

When competing card sharps stir up Siobhán O’Sullivan’s quiet Irish village, a poker tournament turns into a game of Hangman . . .

Kilbane is a small village in County Cork. Hardly a place one would hold an International Poker Tournament, but the people of Kilbane will take the tourists and players if it brings business to the town.

Siobhan O’Sullivan, now a Garda, and her off the record boyfriend, Macdara Flannery and their small force are going to be very busy. As are Siobhan’s brothers and sisters working the tent for their own Naomi’s Bistro.

With the tournament barely started, one of the most popular players is accused of cheating. And winning with the dead man’s hand. As things get rowdy they all are kicked out of the pub and continue their drinking and gambling at Sharkey’s. With the understanding that a decision on the cheating will be delivered in the morning.

Early the next morning finds Siobhan walking to work and noticing Sharkey’s door is ajar. What she sees through the storage room window will shock everyone. 

This is the fourth in this series and the characters are so real they could be your neighbors. All the earmarks of a great cozy series are here! Great characters, even the sketchy ones, a real mystery and a surprise ending!

Very Well Done!

Netgalley/ February 26th 2019 by Kensington


 

 

SAY NOTHING: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

From award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

The horrific conflict known as The Troubles is introduced to us beginning in 1972, when Jean McConville, 38 and a mother of ten children was abducted from her home in front of her children and neighbors, never to be seen again, until years later when bones found on a beach turned out to be hers.

Everyone knew it was the IRA, but no one was speaking out. Fear and Paranoia were rampant and no one was safe. Family members turned on each other. Neighbors turned a blind eye and some, like Dolours Price, were carrying on the family tradition of violence and proud of it.

This was a bitter conflict that I once thought was over Catholic vs. Protestants but that was only a small part of the story. Everyone wanted peace, but when it came, it was shaky at best.

This is one of the best books I have read on the Irish Conflicts. Turning loved ones against each other and so many deaths and in the end, who was right? Was it all worth it?

I don’t know but reading this account I fully intend to find out more.

Very Well Done!

Netgalley/ February 26th 2019 by Doubleday Books

Bury The Living (The Revolutionary Series Book 1) by Jodi McIssac

Bury the Living (The Revolutionary Series, #1)

The Book Blurb for Bury the Living:

Rebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.

When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. Here she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it.

Our story begins in 1990 Belfast with a 15 year old Nora O’Reilly. The British may have pulled out but the war continues. A Civil War that has turned countryman against countryman. Trying to help her mother and brother, Nora agrees to do some shady things and gets in trouble with the wrong people. The same people who soon get her brother killed.

14 years later, we find Nora in Darfur,Sudan, working in a Refugee Camp. Planning a much needed bit of R & R. But she ends up back in Ireland. Having dreams of a man and an urgent need to find him. To do that she will have to suspend reality for a while. Will she find him? Can she really travel back in time and try to find this man and end the wars in her home country?

As a History buff, I enjoyed this book very much. The Irish Wars have always been a complicated subject, and difficult to understand what exactly happened and who is now fighting who.

One of my favorite types of stories are those that combine fact and fiction. There are plenty of facts and obviously some fiction, and it works wonderfully well.

Coming from an Irish family, I loved this book. Parts of it broke my heart. War is never easy to read about. But Nora is a girl after my own heart. Standing her ground and fighting for her country as well as any man.

Since this is book one in this series we know there will be more, which is a good thing.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:5826477

Jodi McIsaac is the author of the Irish contemporary fantasy series The Thin Veil (47North) the thriller A Cure for Madness (Thomas & Mercer) and the forthcoming historical Revolutionary series, starting with Bury the Living (47North).

She grew up in New Brunswick, on Canada’s east coast. After abandoning her Olympic speed skating dream, she wrote speeches for a politician, volunteered in a refugee camp, waited tables in Belfast, earned a couple of university degrees, and started a boutique copywriting agency. She loves geek culture, running, and whiskey.

Expected publication: September 6th 2016 by 47North