Irish Meadows

Back Cover

Brianna and Colleen O’Leary know their Irish immigrant father expects them to marry well.  Recently he’s put even more pressure on them insinuating that the very future of their Long Island horse farm, Irish Meadows, rests in their ability to land prosperous husbands.  Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.

Brianna, a quiet girl with a quick mind, dreams of attending college.  Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry – as long as her father’s choice meets her exacting standards of the ideal groom.  When former stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from business school and distant relative Rylan Montgomery visits Long Island during his seminary training, the two men quickly complicate everyone’s plans.

As the farm slips ever closer to ruin, James O’Leary grows more desperate.  It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to avoid being pawns in their father’s machinations and instead follow their hearts.  And even if they do, will they inevitably find their dreams too distant to reach?

Review

Wow.  If you want a story full of drama – look no further.  Reading Irish Meadows is like watching a reality TV series – there is no shortage of fights, tears, forbidden relationships, and strict parents, leading to one emotional outburst after the other.  The dicey situations the characters would get themselves into reminded me of the phrase, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we deceive…” 

The constant drama made it difficult to put the book down because, of course, as the reader, you have to find out what’s going to happen next!  Who can put a book down when the sentence you just read leaves you hanging?

Irish Meadows is a promising start to the new “Courage to Dream” series.  I am looking forward to reading the continuation in the O’Leary family saga – which hopefully will come out sooner rather than later!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  This is my honest review.

Hope Harbor

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Tracy Campbell never wanted to leave Hope Harbor, Oregon, or the idyllic three-generation cranberry farm where she grew up.  But life – and love – altered her plans.  Now she’s home again – with a floundering farm to run…a tragic secret…and a wounded heart.  Romance is not on her agenda.  Nor is it on Michael Hunter’s.  The visitor from Chicago has daunting secrets and devastating regrets of his own.  But when Tracy recruits him to help with a project that is close to her heart, winds of change begin to sweep through Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives – including their own.

Review

Hope Harbor is a beautifully written romance from the amazing Irene Hannon.  With strong themes of hope, forgiveness, grace, and of course, love, Irene has penned a memorable tale about two people who are struggling to overcome tragic heartbreak, and end up finding hope in the Lord, and each other.  They both have secrets and mountains of guilt, and feel unworthy to ever be loved again.  Hope Harbor is a story that chronicles their journey of healing and redemption and reaffirms that even in the darkest hour, hope is never lost. 

Simply, beautiful.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  This is my honest review.

In Good Company

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After growing up as an orphan, Millie Longfellow is determined to become the best nanny the East Coast has ever seen.  Unfortunately, her playfulness and enthusiasm aren’t always well-received and she finds herself dismissed from yet another position.

Everett Mulberry has quite unexpectedly become guardian to three children that scare off every nanny he hires.  About to depart for Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer, he’s desperate for competent childcare.

At wit’s end with both Millie and Everett, the employment agency gives them one last chance – with each other.  As Millie falls in love with her mischievous charges, Everett focuses on achieving the coveted societal status of the upper echelons.  But as he investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the children’s parents, will it take the loss of those he loves to learn whose company he truly wants for the rest of his life?

Review

I had just started a week-long farm-sitting stint when I cracked open this novel.  I was so, so excited to dive into this book, and it came at the perfect time.  Jen Turano’s stories always provide a fantastic escape from my crazy, stressful life inside the law office.  In Good Company proved to be true to form as Ms. Turano’s previous novels and I finished it before my week of farm life was done.  In between mucking paddocks and changing irrigation at the farm, and plowing through mountains of files at the office, I spent my free moments in the world of Millie Longfellow and Everett Mulberry and three cute rascals known as Elizabeth, Thaddeus, and Rose. Chock full of humour and wit, the characters’ antics elicited more than a few laughs and chuckles (the flour scene…those peacocks!...and the tennis match – oh my gosh!), which are very classic in a Jen Turano novel.  Filtered in was a thread of suspense regarding the circumstances of the deaths of the children’s parents…was it truly an accident, or murder? 

However, the true story were the sparks flying between Millie and Everett – something that proves to be quite complicated given Everett’s expected engagement to Caroline Dixon, a lady that lives and breathes the society’s lifestyle – right down to the proper way to fold a napkin for a ball (I can’t believe there was such a thing as napkin folding classes!).  Even while at the beginning of the story cracks were starting to show in Everett’s and Caroline’s relationship, Everett’s strong-held views that he needed to marry someone of his “station” isn’t something that can be overcome easily.  Especially marrying someone as flamboyant and unorthodox as Millie…

In Good Company is a delicious read that I did not want to end.  The only consolation was realizing that I had missed reading Jen Turano’s previous novel, After a Fashion – a mistake that I’ll be rectifying very shortly!

Book has been provided courtesy of Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  This is my honest review.

A Perfect Ambition

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As the firstborn son of an old and powerful family, William Jennings Worthington VI knows what it’s like to be under pressure.  Groomed from birth with the relentless message that he was destined for greatness, Will has always pushed himself to succeed—nearly as much as his never-satisfied financial tycoon father pushes him. Becoming CEO of the world’s largest and most adventuresome oil company seems the next logical step on the success ladder.  But when circumstances turn, Will finds himself staring down a road that leads to Capitol Hill.  Can he trade the board room for the Senate floor?  Or will family secrets keep him from his destiny?

Review

I don’t normally reach for political novels.  Amidst the never-ending back-biting, under-handed deals, two-faced politicians, endless talk of polling, and votes, etc., I often find them rather dull and depressing read. Perhaps partly due to being centralized in a world that I’m quite foreign in, (legal thrillers on the other hand…haha), or the story just doesn’t move along fast enough; and I rather read suspense novels wherein the characters pursue justice – not a place on a pedestal. 

However, A Perfect Ambition doesn’t restrict itself to politics, campaigning, and back-room deals.  Its battles are not only waged on Capitol Hill, but also in the boardrooms of billion dollar oil companies, on the Arctic Ocean’s waters between the Navy and environmentalist groups, and even around the dinner table amongst the prestigious Worthington family members.  A Perfect Ambition sheds some light on how these battles are won and lost, and what a person stands to gain or lose. 

Another prominent theme throughout the story was the characterization of Will, Sean, and Sarah amongst their “birth order”.  The author carefully paints their motives and actions based upon the birth order theory in which your position amongst your siblings can dictate or influence your personality traits.  It was quite interesting to read.  Being one of three siblings, I can attest to some truth to the descriptions while others I disagree with.  But it’s intriguing nonetheless, and I may have to pick up Dr. Kevin Leman’s The Birth Order Book to learn more about the theory. 

While at times I found the writing a little stilted (a problem I’ve often noticed with a book that is co-authored – it’s like a battle as to whose “voice” is going to come out on top!), the story  moves along at a fairly fast clip, and various suspenseful moments kept me intrigued.  To sum it up, A Perfect Ambition is a multi-faceted, interesting novel that is more than meets the eye – and may make me a fan of political novels yet!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.