I have mixed feelings about Seven Letters.  This is the first book I've read by J.P. Monninger, and I was very impressed with the setting of the story. I could so vividly imagine the Irish isles in my mind. Could practically taste the salt air. I loved everything about the setting, and thought that Kate and Ozzie's romance was a unique one.

But here is where my mixed feelings come in: I just didn't think they had an EPIC love story. And I think a lot of that has to do with not knowing more about Ozzie. I wish we got more inside his mind, what he was going through. He was clearly tortured as a result of his time at war, and those demons were hard for him to shake. It manifested in many ways, the worst of which had him and Kate splitting. But when they split, I was sad, but I wasn't gutted. And I wanted to be. So when the rest of the story unfolded, I didn't feel the tug at my heartstrings that I wished I would.

There is a nice cast of supporting players. Milly is a great friend, Gran was a darling old woman. I enjoyed the story very much, but I didn't think it was the epic love tale that i expected it would be.

I received an advanced copy via Netgalley and St. Martin's Press and voluntarily left a review.

Kate is working on her PhD. She has decided to research the history of the Blasket Islands. She takes a sabbatical and takes off to study in Ireland. She never planned to fall in love.
At first, I did not feel a very strong connection between Kate and Ozzie. Basically because I thought of Ozzie as self centered and self absorbed. And Kate should have never accepted some of his excuses. As a matter of fact, I almost abandoned this tale because I disliked Ozzie so much. However, as their love grows, so does my belief in him.
 The scenery and the rich history of the Blasket Islands is what makes this tale. This is a beautifully written story. I bet the movie will be fantastic with the Irish coast as a setting. Nothing like researching a new place!

J.P. Monninger has crafted an exquisite novel in Seven Letters.  The author has a gift for making readers feel that they are on a journey with the characters.  Places including Ireland and Italy come to vivid life in the novel.  In addition, there is a good history lesson on the Blasket Islands in the book.  I want to visit there and know more about the people who once lived on the islands.

The main characters in the novel are Ozzie, a damaged war vet and Kate, a professor at Dartmouth College.  Their meeting, their relationship, their pasts all are beautifully described.  The reader roots for them and wishes for their hard earned happiness...but can it be?

I highly recommend this lush beautiful novel.  Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the wonderful read in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel On August 4, 2019, from Netgalley, J. P. Monninger, and St. Martins Press - Griffin.  Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.  I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest personal opinion of this work.  This is a book I will want to read again, by an author I will follow. 

Kate Moreton is a member of the teaching staff at Dartmouth working on her dissertation, a close family history of the settlement of the Blasket Islands off the south and west coasts of Ireland, and then the removal of those settlers by the Irish Land Commission in 1953.  She has received a scholarship that will allow her to spend a semester in that area, doing research and taking oral histories to add those stories of her father, deceased these last 4 years, and the memories and histories of the enclave of  Blasket Islanders who immigrated and settled, along with her family, in the Springfield/Chicopee areas of Massachusetts. She has already a lot of information and feels that a few months on the site will finish her work, and she can move on.  

J. P. Monninger takes us to those isles, that isolated part of Ireland, her words providing a clear picture of that area, making real the heartbreak being removed from those islands and that way of life was for her family and others. Kate meets many interesting people on her travels to Dingle Peninsula, the dropping off place for the Islands. Most notably she is touched by ancient Nora Crean and her sidekick Shamus.  Not to mention Nora's grandson Ozzie Ferriter, a fellow American and military veteran who recently served in  Afghanistan.  Already she is feeling immersed in the lore that is Ireland.  From Dingle, she makes her way to the University of Limerick, where she will live in a small apartment and have a free hand at the associated library to work on her research.  It is summer, so many of the carrels at the library are not being used, but Kate gets along well with the occasional drop-in and finds herself with growing friendships among the staff at the university.  And then she meets again Ozzie and finds herself falling hard, almost against her will, for this troubled man. And as are most who love those deeply damaged by war, she cannot find a way to reach him, help him, even understand him.  

But once back home, neither can she forget him.  This is an excellent novel with much information and interaction with the refugee problems in Europe and Africa, an exceptional look at what can and cannot be done to help those refugees find asylum, all tied up in an interesting tour of New England Winter and Italy's involvement in the Syrian crisis.  It sounds complicated, but it all folds together through seven letters, to and from various protagonists.  This is a special read.

I received an ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley. 

Synopsis: 
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.

Beside the sea, with Ireland’s beauty as a backdrop, the two fall deeply in love and attempt to live on an island of their own making, away from the pressures of the outside world. Ireland writes its own love stories, the legends claim, and the limits of Kate and Ozzie’s love and faith in each other will be tested. When his demons lead Ozzie to become reckless with his life—and Kate’s—she flees for America rather than watch the man she loves self-destruct. But soon a letter arrives informing Kate that her heroic husband has been lost at sea, and Kate must decide whether it is an act of love to follow him or an act of mercy to forget. (less)

Review: 
This is the first book I've read by J.P. Monninger.. After reading this one, it won't be the last! It is a book that gives you all the feels.  It is an emotional rollercoaster that goes full throttle. It is almost hard to find words to actually review the book since it left me in that sad space of not having more words to read. The book is very moving. The tale it tells is magnificently done and may be one of 2019's best reads for me this year!

I was totally drawn to this book by the book synopsis. At the start of the book, Kate is an academic who is travelling to Ireland to do some on-site research. She has a connection to family there, and she's looking for ... something. She finds her adventure and more.

When she meets war veteran Ozzie Ferriter, it's more like a small explosion. Ozzie has some issues of his own. Kate and Ozzie fall for each other and marry but it's not an easy relationship since they don't really know each other. When Kate returns to the US, she's ready to begin a new life, but when her life in Ireland comes calling she will need to resolve all that she left behind there.

Seven Letters is a love story that has it all -- a great location, interesting characters and the highs and lows of living a life. It's told all from Kate's perspective, and I would have loved to have a little bit of Ozzie's perspective as well in the story. One aspect of the story I really enjoyed was the descriptions of Ireland and the islands. It made Ireland almost another character in the story and I love it when that happens.

Overall, a satisfying and enjoyable romance.

An ARC was provided for review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Griffin, and JP Monniger for the opportunity to read and review his latest book.  Like The Map That Leads to You, which I enjoyed, this book is also part travelogue, letting me experience the beauty and history of Ireland.

Kate Moreton is a PhD student at Dartmouth, studying the Blasket Islands of Ireland.  Kate grew up listening to her father's story of Ireland and these islands and is thrilled to be going there to complete her dissertation.  But fate has a different path for her - she meets and falls in love with Ozzie, a fisherman with emotional scars left from his time in the war.  Their romance is fast and furious and they end up getting married, until Kate wonders who she actually did marry and flees the country and Ozzie.  

Besides the beautiful visions of Ireland this book revealed, the story of Kate and Ozzie was one to fall into.  They both were real characters with real emotions and flaws.  I loved the seven letters too, leading the story into the next phases.

This book took me to Ireland in a way that I never thought possible. With a story of love and loss and regrets.  I was not expecting all this to be in this book! That being said, I didnt love it. It is driving me mad trying to figure out why. I liked the characters and the setting but the writing style wasnt my favorite. I found myself getting a little bored.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me an ARC copy of this book that I freely chose to review. Because I read an early copy of the story, some of the details mentioned might not fully correspond to the final published version of the book.
I had never read any of the author’s work before, but the description of the setting, the protagonist and her reasons for visiting Ireland drew me in. I had read about the Blasket Islands in a previous book and become fascinated by what I came across, and, personally, I would love to have the opportunity to be a scholar researching the topic, in Ireland. The novel offered me the chance to vicariously live that experience through the main character, and I did enjoy it enormously. The beautiful writing, interspersed with Irish sayings, stories, and references to books were pure delight.
I am not a big reader of romance, and perhaps for that reason, the aspects of the novel that I most enjoyed were not the truly romantic ones, that I found a bit over the top. Kate, the protagonist, has a strong Irish (and Blasket Islands) connection, and she seems more than ready to fall in love —and under the spell— of Ireland, and the islands in particular. I did love the setting of the story, the description of her life at the university, her research, the people she meets there, and I would have loved to know more about some of the secondary characters (the Bicycle  Society members, for example, Gran, Seamus, Daijeet, Dr Kaufman, and even Milly although we learn more about her later). Also, and I suspect I might be in the minority here, I would have loved to have had more details of Kate’s research, for example, samples of the stories she reads and of the book she writes (she is studying women’s accounts of the life in the Blasket Islands before they were abandoned and the few inhabitants left there had to move out), although I know there are accounts published and available, but her work process, and her description of how she felt as she engaged in it resonated with me (yes, I have a PhD and re-experiencing that period was a huge bonus for me). 
Of course, Kate’s experience in Ireland would not be complete without a romance, and we meet the man in question very early on, and no, readers don’t need to be avid romance consumers to spot him and know where things are headed. As I said, not being a habitual romance reader, I wasn’t too convinced by that side of things. I never felt we got to know Ozzie well, but that is reasonable in the context of the story, as Kate seems to falls in love/lust with an idea or an image in her head, more than with the real man, and neither one of them give each other much chance to know what they are getting into and who with. Because we see the story from Kate’s perspective, we are expected to see him through rose-tinted glasses, at least initially, although things (and him) don’t fit neatly into the romanticized image she has in her head. (Oh, there are sex scenes as well, but they are not explicit and are overly romantic and totally unrealistic, but hey, as I don’t like sex scenes, I was pleased they were not many and didn’t mind they were unrealistic). Theirs is the perfect embodiment of a whirlwind romance. As we all know, the course of true love never did run smooth, and there are separations, trials, and many obstacles in the way, some that go well beyond what most people would expect from a typical novel in this genre, and deal in some very serious issues (like the Mediterranean refugee crisis), so although this is a romantic novel, it is not a light and cheery read (although yes, there is the mandatory happy ending that I won’t spoil for you).
The structure and the way the story is told is quite original, as it revolves around letters, the seven letters of the title, some formal and official, some personal, and they help create the backbone of the novel, written in the first person, from Kate’s perspective. In fact, although the novel is classed as a romance (and I’ve mentioned some of the more conventional romantic aspects of the story), for me it seemed to fit better into the Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story (although the character is perhaps a bit older than most of these kinds of characters tend to be), and it is written as if it were a memoir, where the letters serve as anchors, points around which the protagonist organizes her memories of the events, because although the story is told chronologically, it is not linear and there are jumps in time, during which life has gone on and settled, but the narration is only retrieved when something of some significance to Kate’s journey and to her relationship with Ozzie takes place. (There are scenes that showed potential, for example, an archeological trip Kate gets involved in, but it ends up becoming only a setting for an encounter with Ozzie, and we are given no details as to what else might have happened during the trip). Although she is not the typical innocent-abroad of many XIX and early XX century novels, she does not know herself, her trip abroad changes things and she goes back to the USA a changed woman, although there are many more things that she must learn, not only about herself but also about others, before the end of the book. Her process of discovery felt realistic, and I empathized with her struggle between her idea of what her life should be like, what her heart wants, and her attempts to reconcile the two, if possible.  Oh, there is also a prologue including a lovely Irish story about a man falling in love with a fairy woman, although, to me, in this case Kate plays the part of the man —who cannot settle in the magical land and misses home— and Ozzie that of the fairy woman.
I agree with comments that say perhaps the story would have gained in depth and become more realistic if some part of it had been told from Ozzie’s point of view, but, considering Ozzie’s backstory, that would have been a completely different book, and one that would have taken the focus away from the romantic angle. 
In sum, this is a story I enjoyed, and I don’t hesitate in recommending it to romance readers, in particular to lovers of Ireland and anything Irish. There are many elements that make the story worthy of reading even for those who are not big on romance, especially the setting, the beautiful language, and the protagonist, who although flawed and contradictory, loves books, scholarship, her friends, Ireland and has a wonderful zest for life. The descriptions, not only of Ireland, but also of New Hampshire, Italy, and other settings, take readers on a lyrical journey, and I was sorry it came to an end. Oh, and there’s a wonderful dog too.

As you might know by now, the mere mention of Ireland is enough for me to be highly interested in a book. This time however, it wasn’t only that, it was also my prior experience with J.P. Monninger’s writing that had me excited to pick up Seven Letters.
I loved the story it had to offer. It had a few twists in it, but it was heartwarming. I thought it was beautifully executed, I really enjoyed how it was laid out and paced. It was so well written, the descriptions of Ireland were masterful, and so vivid that they jumped from the page. The relationships set between the characters felt dynamic, which made the book even more entertaining.
I was engrossed in the book from the beginning and I had a hard time putting it down, eager to find out what happened next. It’s an excellent romance read that you should definitely pick up.

Seven Letters was a contemporary love story and I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in J.P. Monninger's words.   I was captivated from the outset and remained engrossed throughout this tale with its themes of love, loss and regrets.   It was a story of self evaluation, reflection and ultimately of hope and redemption. 

Kate Moreton, the central character, was beginning a 12 month research project for her dissertation centred on the Blasket Islands off the south west coast of Ireland.    Not only was she discovering the sheer beauty of Ireland and her fathers beloved homeland, but this was also a journey of self discovery. 
Without going into too many details for fear of spoiling the story, Kate met and fell in love with Ozzie Ferriter, a local fisherman recently returned from serving in the US Navy and doing his part in the Afghanistan war.     Theirs was a deep love but it was not without its challenges.  Ozzie carried dark secrets home from the war and he would not relinquish his burden of guilt.   Whilst at sea with Ozzie a fierce storm caused Kate to re-evaluate her priorities particularly what she wanted from her relationship.  However it was only after a tragedy that she began to appreciate the value of the man she had so easily let go.     Kate goes through a grieving process and there is no small measure of regret.    But the story has an element of hope too as the author touches upon the Syrian refugee crisis and the ways some people have done their part to help the children and families impacted. 

Each of the characters and relationships were well developed and provided food for thought.   I reflected on some of the hard truths Kate learned and applied them to those things I value most in life.   
In the Acknowledgements the author wrote <b> "All novels are co-created in the pen of the writer and the mind of the reader. Thanks for listening to my story.</b>    It was my pleasure and I too give thanks to J.P.Monninger, St Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.


P.S.
This author has me intrigued and somewhat impressed. Kate was a thoroughly convincing female character and I'd have sworn she was written by another woman, perhaps based upon the authors own experiences.    Not so it seems as J.P Monninger also writes as Joseph Monninger.    Kudos on transcending gender boundaries and bringing Kate to life as you did.

This was my first time reading this author, and one the things I loved the most about the experience was to be surprised by the strong narrative voice, the fantastic writing and the story itself.  The descriptive level took me to a beautiful place because it wasn’t hard to feel I was there with the characters, witnessing their story unfold. And what a story, my friends.
Kate goes to Ireland to write a thesis and ends up falling deeply and madly in love with Ozzie, and they quickly built a bubble, a little island, around them to keep the world apart from them. But there’s a thing about those “fast and furious” romances, and that’s you don’t really know the person you’re with, his or her past, his or her secrets, what will make him or her smile, and what will break you apart. And Ozzie is one of those persons that doesn’t share his burdens but keep them inside him. 
The story was pretty romantic. Heartbreaking for some moments, but beautiful nevertheless. It takes many twists and turns as Kate grows into an adult, also take us on a journey to discover what true love, trust and forgiveness are about. Seven Letters is one of those stories that will keep you turning pages and guessing until the very end. So, if romance is your jam, I definitely recommend giving this book a chance.

Seven Letters by J.P. Monninger is a full length, standalone romance novel.
Seven Letters tells the story of Kate and Ozzie.
Kate Moreton is a aspiring professor at a prestge college, about to take a leave of absence to complete her studies. Her vtrip leads her to where her roots lie, beautiful, mysterious Ireland.
There she meets Ozzie, an ex-Navy SEAL, now fisherman, a grumpy loner with some serious issues. They fall in insta-love and have a whirlwind relationship. Love conquers everything they say. Only sometimes love isn't enough.
Seven Letters is a heart wrenching, nailbiting, pageturner. I was captivated from start and read the book, cover to cover, in one sitting. I simply couldn't put it down.
It's the story of heartbreak, second chances, finding themselves, true love. It's an emotional read and I cried my way through the book. I liked the pace and the storyline, the writing is excellent and the story is outstanding and beautifully thought out and beautifully told.
There's only one question for me, what is a mushroom colored raincoat?
I greatly enjoyed reading this wonderful book . I recommend Seven Letters and give 5 beautiful stars.

I started this novel with high hopes that were quickly dashed when this novel went from one that piqued my historical and cultural curiosities to one of a passionate, self-absorbed relationship that was hard for me to read.  Though it was told from only Kate's point of view I struggled to connect with either her or Ozzie, especially when I wasn't allowed to hear his side of the story.  The selfishness of the heroine is astounding and the Kate/Ozzie dynamic so nauseating that at about the halfway mark I felt like giving up, but I held out hope that the narrative would improve.  For me, it didn't.

Normally I am a sucker for a good romance but the entire story did not bode well with me.  The writing was good but felt choppy at times and I found myself skimming quite a bit, especially the last half, fighting to make it to the end.

In saying that, I fell in love with the imagery and reading about Ireland and the Blasket Islands, and wish the love story wouldn't have tarnished this enchanting portrayal of a forgotten history.  The story does go into an interesting direction, which at first showed promise, but then it quickly went back to being foreseeable.  

I really wanted to love this story but sadly it was a huge disappointment for me.

Seven Letters by JP Monninger is a modern romance where everything doesn't exactly work out, which is what makes it different and so good. For some reason I connected to this book and can't rave about it too much.  The letters are not connected at all. The first brings Kate to Ireland to research the inhabitants and history of the Blasket Islands on the coast. She is planning to write her dissertation based on her research there and on collected oral histories of immigrants in Massachusetts. As she travels she meets a variety of people, growing to love Ireland and its inhabitants. Especially one. Kate and Ozzie fall in love quickly. They marry. For their honeymoon they sail in Ozzie's boat around Ireland where the mistake they have made with one another quickly becomes clear to Kate and she leaves. She does write a wonderful dissertation, which is subsequently turned into a book, which sells well. Years later she gets a call from Ozzie's grandmother. It seems he had taken his boat to the Mediterranean where he was transporting migrants. There was a storm. He went down and never came back up. She rushes to Ireland to comfort her friend and discovers that, as his wife, everything Ozzie owns has come to her. She gets to know her husband all over again. 

Kate is a wonderful character. She is young and idealistic but grows and changes throughout the story. Losing Ozzie, but then getting to know the mane her had been, the one she had never seen, nearly breaks her heart. She is strong and courageous and moves forward to continue his work. Ozzie is a damaged man, mainly, but not entirely, from his experiences at war. He is not a great communicator, which is what breaks up his marriage. This is a romance for the ages. It is about two people who met at the wrong times in their lives. It is scalding, heartbreaking, and inspirational. I recommend it with my whole heart. 

I received a free ARC of Seven Letters from Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations herein are solely my own. #netgalley   #sevenletters

3.5 stars
Seven Letters is beautifully written, and Monninger certainly knows how to paint a scene. It actually felt like more time was spent on the setting than on the love story, or maybe it was that those were some of my favorite parts. The romance was good, not great, but good, but that could be due to a lack of connection with Kate. I just never quite warmed up to her. I've seen that this one is headed for the silver screen, so I'm anxious to see how it all translates to film. I'm hoping to find Kate a little easier to like, and I can't wait for the terrific scenery described. In the end, Seven Letters fell just short of a really good story and landed somewhere in the mid-range for me.

Kate Moreton came to Ireland for more than just to complete the research needed for her dissertation.  She also wants to discover more about her father’s early life before his family made their way to America. 

His death left her feeling set adrift and she thought she would find answers and maybe even a tiny bit of solace on the Blasket Islands.  But instead, she finds a man who is as beautiful and isolated as the Islands themselves. 

Life for Ozzie Ferriter wasn’t always so peaceful.  He returned to Ireland after war marked him both body and soul.  Now his days consist of being out on his boat and with his beloved grandmother.  

When he’s introduced to Kate, he suddenly feels like he’s whole again.  As the sparks fly and their passion burns brighter, it’s only a matter of time before two shattered people threaten to fall apart again.

“Do you know,” he said when I passed the bottle back to him, “that if a man or woman drinks from the same bottle without wiping it first, it means they are going to make love? It’s an old Irish custom.” 
“I thought it meant a man couldn’t keep a set of glasses clean.” 
“That, too, of course.” 
He took a solid drink. He didn’t wipe the neck of the bottle. His Adam’s apple bobbed twice. 
“And the tweed cap?” I asked. 
“I have one somewhere, but I can’t put my hands on it. Do you like Irish whiskey?” 
“I do.” 
“Well, that’s a point in your favor.” 
“Am I trying to win points? I didn’t know we were playing a game.” 
“I think Gran wants us to play a game. She was born with a caul, you know? She’s said to have second sight.” 
“Cauls were sold to sailors to keep them from drowning,” I said, calling up what I knew about the subject. “They were talismans to defend against witchcraft.” 
“I’d need one on both counts, then.” 
“And they bring good luck. Are you lucky, Ozzie?” 
“I met you, didn’t I?”

To say that I’m a Monninger fan is a massive understatement!  Ever since being captivated by The Map That Leads to You, I have waited (not so patiently) for his next gem to be released.  And Seven Letters was so much more than I ever hoped for. 

The writing is lush and dream-like, almost hypnotizing. Even Ireland and the surrounding sea become characters in their own right.  But it’s the undeniable connection between Kate and Ozzie that somehow jumps right off the page and gets a grip on your heart.  Sometimes it holds it softly and sometimes it steals your breath away.

It’s an emotional deluge of the very best kind and I’ll never forget the way it made me feel…

My rating:

Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Character development: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Overall:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Romance
Women’s fiction


Review:

This is a feel good story. The real treasure of the book is the writing. The author has managed to vividly depict the Irish landscape. While reading the book it feels like you are actually there, you feel the wet and cold, smell the ocean, and when you close your eyes you can almost see the rugged green landscape.

The character development is a little slow and didn’t really draw me in. The main characters were nice people but I found it hard to feel a connection with them. 

Overall this is a pleasant story with kind characters that allows you to escape for a few hours and makes you feel good after you finish.

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Seven Letters by J.P. Monninger and found it an emotional and amazing book. Kate Moreton take a sabbatical from her teaching so to research in Ireland the women of Blasket Island. In Dingle she meets Ozzie Ferriter, a fisherman and veteran of the American war on Afghanistan. The Ferriter family history is tied to the remote Blasket Islands and Ozzie, a citizen of both the US and Ireland, returned to the one place that might offer him peace from a war he is unable to forget and leave behind. Kate and Ozzie fit together like yin and yang, or two puzzle pieces. They each have so much love for the other, which brings them together; leaving their life in a world of their creation. When Ozzie’s demons drive him to become reckless with his life, and Kate’s, she makes the hardest decision ever; leave Ozzie and return to America instead of watching him self-destruct. When Kate receives word that Ozzie has been lost at sea she reacts as a woman still in love with her husband; searching for clues, evidence, answers to the truth of who Ozzie was. Warning: keep tissues nearby while reading this book.

Mr. Monninger wrote an amazing tale, using words to visualize the beauty of the location and history of the land. Kate and Ozzie were life-like character, sharing a love so strong, that their souls are joined. I highly recommend Seven Letters to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Falling in Love in Ireland

Kate Moreton has always been in love with Ireland from the stories told by her father. Now she has a research fellowship in Limerick to finish her dissertation about the Blasket Islands. She plans to work and immerse herself in the land, but almost immediately she meets Ozzie Ferriter, a man whose family has a long history in the islands. 

Kate has no plans to fall in love, but Ozzie is an insistent suitor. Finally, on a whim she marries him thinking it will all turn out perfectly. Ozzie, however, is a man whose demons have followed him from the war in Afganistan. Finally, Kate retreats to the safety of her academic life in the US, but the story is far from over. 

The best part of this book, for me, is the description of Ireland and the Blasket Islands. You can smell the peat fires, see the sea views, and the green hills. It made me want to go and see it for myself. The love story is also captivating. 

Kate is a conflicted character. She starts the novel not wanting an attachment. She’s in Ireland to work, but Ozzie is insistent, and she falls prey to the magic of the area. Ozzie is an interesting character. He has his demons, but he’s basically a good person. I felt even with the difficulties that he loved Kate. 

This is a wonderful romance. The writing is poetic and, if you enjoy a character driven novel, this is a good one. 

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.