A love that overcomes all boundaries.
August Grayson has secretly dreamt of the girl living on his family’s Irish estate since childhoods spent together in Killarney. Now a proper Lord of the British Empire, he knows that Maeve could never be more than just a distant fantasy. Still, if only...
Maeve O’Connor owns nothing in this world but her good name, which proves just enough to win a proposal for a marriage of convenience to a good, Irish lad. Until the wedding, however, she’s in dire straits. Rent on the cottage she and her father share is due, but there simply isn’t the money to pay. Driven to desperation, Maeve hopes Lord Grayson, her childhood-chum-turned-dashing-English-rogue, will prove lenient when she comes seeking clemency.
The temptation presented proves too much, and August offers Maeve a compromise: should she permit him twice as long on each succeeding visit to do whatever he wishes in pursuit of his pleasure, he will consider her rent paid. Starting with a mere five seconds, pulses soon out race the ticking clock, as August’s desires become Maeve’s own. Passion blinds them to the challenges closing in on both the Irish and English fronts, threatening to destroy them both.
Working to bridge that which divides them, tempting fate with each stolen kiss, and torn between desire and obligation, Maeve and August must strive to overcome all and find a love by any measure.
I hadn't read anything about this book before I started reading it. I won it in a book giveaway and when looking for something to read this weekend, I thought I'd give it a try. Because of its older setting (Ireland in the late 1800's), it's a little bit slower of a read in the beginning. Once I got used to it, and could actually hear the accent in my head while I was reading, it became easier and I found myself enjoying the story without concentrating on it too much.
This book was different from most of the books I've read. Yes, there was a love triangle of sorts and yes there was a girl conflicted, but because a lot of the angst was based on history, I felt like I was reading some one's family story. It was all so real sounding.
Maeve is a poor Irish girl who lives with her father (her mother died). She is feisty and stubborn and shows the typical Irish girl many have come to expect. She is pre-engaged to the town blacksmith who she doesn't yet love but expects to be able to someday, as she says is the case with most marriages at that time.
Owen, the blacksmith is a good man who works hard and has promised to give Maeve everything she wants; a home, a good faithful husband, and children. You can tell he loves her and is willing to do anything to make her happy, including keeping her good name by not allowing their relationship to have a physical level because it would be looked upon poorly. So, until Owen can afford the rent on his place in town and the cottage in the country, they have to settle for being pre-engaged and waiting to marry Maeve.
In the meanwhile, after her mother has died and her father has been sick, they have not been able to pay the rent on their cottage and she needs to ask for time and perhaps trade for the rent so they don't lose their home. She's known August since they were children (when his mother was brought back to Ireland when she was dying), and at that time they were allowed to play together because it kept August busy. Now, as the current Lord and property owner she will have to deal with him to get the help she needs, and they haven't spoken since he returned to England after his mother died. Things have clearly changed since they were the little kids running around the countryside.
The chemistry between the two is tangible from the beginning. But what could it matter since they would never be able to act on it in a public way. Back in those days it was not okay for a common peasant girl to be involved with an English Lord, so the angst in this book is also a history lesson. Perhaps I'm biased because I've been to Ireland and see how the country is still not healed, but putting a forbidden love against the war torn back story to me was brilliant. A beautiful story.
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