Irish Meadows {Litfuse Review}

 

About the book:
Irish Meadows (Bethany House, July 2015)

Faced with an uncertain future, sometimes all you have left is the courage to dream.

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, IrishMeadows, 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?

Susan Anne Mason’s debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA. A member of ACFW, as well, she lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.

Find Susan online: website, Facebook, Twitter

 

 

 

 

My thoughts:

 

I loved this book.  This was a wonderful debut from this new author and I am so happy to have read it already!  I could envision myself as young Brianna.  Wanting to further my education and not content to marry a man unless I loved him.  And then there is Colleen going about finding what she wants all the wrong way.  Both women love men their father would not choose.  Daddy wants them to marry rich men to help save the farm.  Will they choose love over family?  Will Colleen settle down or end up ruined?  What about her punishment?  Will she survive?

 

This book was so addicting!  I couldn’t put it down and read it straight through.  I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good historical fiction read.  You’re going to love it!