Fantasy Romance published by St. Martin’s Press 24 Nov 20
Breen Kelly lives her humdrum life working multiple jobs and trying to maintain a low profile. The winds of change, however, are blowing in her favor when a drawer in her mother’s office blows open and a file showing Breen as the owner of a multi-million dollar account lies at her feet. Now tattooed with the word “courage” on her wrist, she’s on her way to Ireland to rekindle the memories of her Irish father with her best friend in tow. What a great beginning to a new trilogy that introduces readers to a wonderful cast of characters, parallel universes, magic, and the looming epic battle between good and evil.
With her arrival in Ireland, it’s as if Breen is awakening from a long-forgotten dream. As she writes her daily blog about her adventures in Ireland and starts to gather a following, her nighttime dreams inspire her to start writing her first novel, and it’s like she’s freed the walls that have caged her for so many years. There are some mysteries that crop up, like the lady falconer who she clicked with but can find no sign off at the falconry school attached to the hotel or the flowers that respond to her in the hotel garden. Added to that are the nightly dreams of dragons and magic that haunt her. On a personal note, I had to cancel a planned trip to Ireland this year and Breen’s adventures have just strengthened the desire to visit as soon as possible.
When Breen’s childhood friend departs Ireland, she finds a lost puppy in the woods, who attaches himself to her. Soon she’s writing about the goofy pup’s adventures, in addition to her daily blog and her novel. One day she follows the dog through the woods and ends up at an ancient tree that is a portal to a parallel magical universe, and she falls through like Alice, ending up on the other side. Disoriented, she finds herself at a farm that she could swear she remembers, and then surprises pile up as the current occupant takes her to visit a grandmother she knows nothing about.
Now she’s plunged into a new set of adventures as she discovers that magic, and fey, and weres are not a figment of her imagination and she actually has quite a bit of latent magic in her due to her blood. Sadly, her beloved father is dead, and she now might be a target of an evil god who once successfully kidnapped her in childhood and will do all he can to reacquire her.
I’ve been struggling lately to find a book that I enjoy and can read to the end, but this one I had no trouble with. In fact, I was totally disappointed to reach the end and can hardly bear to wait a year before the next one in this series will be published. What a wonderful colorful cast of characters in both worlds. The silver-haired man whom she has been seeing is not only real, but he’s her grandmother’s lover and a silver cat in his other form. Her world is expanding and she has more friends and love than she’s ever had before. To balance the fey world, the characters in the human world are just as colorful and inspiring.
Another winner from the legendary Ms. Roberts with a theme of courage, empowerment, free choice, and love.
Grade: A
Summary:
In the realm of Talamh, a teenage warrior named Keegan emerges from a lake holding a sword―representing both power and the terrifying responsibility to protect the Fey. In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own…
When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father―and it’s worth nearly four million dollars.
This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why she kept seeing that silver-haired, elusive man, why she imagined his voice in her head saying Come home, Breen Siobhan. It’s time you came home. Why she dreamed of dragons. And where her true destiny lies―through a portal in Galway that takes her to a land of faeries and mermaids, to a man named Keegan, and to the courage in her own heart that will guide her through a powerful, dangerous destiny…
No excerpt available.
