Maggie Ryan is newly single and decides to revisit the past by renting a cottage in Sandy Cove that her parents owned thirty years ago. This stirs up nostaliga for a teen romancw she had with Paul which fizzled out when he went back to America and stopped writing to her. Can she find Paul or are some things better left in the past?
The plot revolves around Maggie who is nursing a broken heart. Now in her 40s and single again, she wants to find some answers about her lost love Paul. By coinicidence he has also returned to Ireland and is looking for Maggie but with thirty years in between contact, will the pair rekindle their affection for each other?
Our sympathies are instantly with Maggie as she struggles to come to terms with the changes to her life. However she doesn’t feel the joy she expects when she reunites with Paul. There is a twist which was fairly obvious but it was enjoyable to watch how the events of the plot unfold.
The descriptions are vivid and bring the characters and landscape to life. There is a warmth to the writing and the author obviously loves her stories, settings and characters. It was great to catch up with characters we have met in her previous books to see how their lives have developed.
The Lost Promise of Ireland is a richly descriptive and warmly toned novel about love and second chances.
A completely gorgeous story about lost loves and small-town secrets that will sweep you away to the Irish coast.
Maggie remembers her summers in the village of Sandy Cove in Ireland like they were yesterday. She and her family would swim in the crystal-clear waters, collect beautiful seashells and relax on the sand. So when she sees that her family’s old coastguard cottage is available, she wonders if renting it for the summer will finally help her move on from the man who just broke her heart.
As soon as Maggie arrives she is delighted to find her childhood best-friend Sorcha and Sorcha’s cousin Brian still living in town. They enjoy cosy nights in the local harbour pub, with its stunning views across the ocean, as if no time has passed. And when Brian reveals he had a fierce teenage crush on Maggie, she can’t help but notice just how handsome he has become.
But then Maggie finds a worn metal box hidden in the attic of the house, full of love letters she exchanged with a sweet American boy she met one summer. During their last night together, star-gazing on the beach, they promised to find each other again. Soon it becomes clear that Maggie is not the only one returning to Sandy Cove.
Torn between her growing feelings for Brian and the romance she’s held in her heart for many years, Maggie realises that her summer may be more complicated than she’d expected. Will Maggie finally find a true love who can sweep her off her feet or will this holiday in Sandy Cove be her last?
Fans of Mary Alice Monroe, Sheila O’Flanagan and Debbie Macomber will fall head over heels for this enchanting, feel-good romance.
AUTHOR BIO
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre.
The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling 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 doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
