A ring lost for almost a century. A woman who needs a purpose and a fresh start. Allegra leaves the USA to travel to Ireland to try to reunite the ring with its proper owner.
The Lost House of Ireland is the fourth book in the Starlight Cottages series. It can be read as a stand alone novel although there are characters that feature in the earlier books.
Allegra is devastated by her father’s death. The chance discovery of a ring on a beach set her off on a trip to Ireland to distract herself from her grief. The ring has an inscription and she heads to Sandy Cove to find the owner of the ring or their descendents. I felt a huge emotional pull to Allegra’s story and that of the engaged couple who lost the ring.
The mystery of the past give Allegra a chance to forget her own troubles. She meets a family emboiled in a legal dispute over a will and the addition of the ring and the story behind it creates more tension. Meanwhile, she has the opportunity to heal her heart with the possibility of new love.
Once again the Irish landscape is brought to life through vivid descriptions. I enjoyed catching up with the characters I had met in the earlier books. Susanne’s books always play to the emotions and take the characters on a journey leaving the reader with an uplifting feeling overall.
The Lost House of Ireland is an enjoyable and warm novel about love and loss.
An enchanting story about forgotten family secrets that will transport you to the charming village of Sandy Cove on the beautiful Irish coast.
Allegra Casey is searching for a new beginning. So when she discovers an engagement ring buried in the sand near her home in Cape Cod, the last place she expects it to lead her is to the west coast of Ireland. But when she arrives in the tiny village of Sandy Cove, she finds herself falling in love with the crashing waves, the picturesque coast and the warm-hearted people.
As soon as she settles into her cottage at the old coastguard station, Allegra meets her eccentric neighbours. They believe the ring belonged to Davina Courtney, whose family still live on the Strawberry Hill estate just outside the village. And when Allegra visits the old mansion, she meets the charming, enigmatic Max Courtney-Smythe, the great-nephew of the former owner.
As they try to solve the mystery of the long-lost ring, Allegra and Max grow closer, and it soon becomes clear that their feelings for one another are mutual. And as she spends more time with the local community, Allegra wonders if she’s finally found the place she can call home.
But the reappearance of the engagement ring causes problems among the heirs of the estate and, as Max suddenly grows distant, Allegra wonders whether she should never have travelled to Sandy Cove. Is thiswhere she will finally find true love, or is she destined to leave this magical place alone?
Fans of Mary Alice Monroe, Debbie Macomber and Sheila O’Flanagan will fall in love with this delightful, feel-good Irish romance.
AUTHOR BIO
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre. She has been the wife of a diplomat (still is), a fitness teacher and a translator. Susanne now writes full-time from either of two locations, a ramshackle house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or keeping fit in the local gym, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
A ring lost for almost a century. A woman who needs a purpose and a fresh start. Allegra leaves the USA to travel to Ireland to try to reunite the ring with its proper owner.
