Irish Meadows + Giveaway

random retro reread

Irish immigrant James O’Leary has spent his life building Irish Meadows into a thriving horse farm and is not about to let hard economic times threaten its success. He intends for his daughters to marry prosperous men–ones who will secure the family’s rightful place in society, and at the same time, guarantee the future of Irish Meadows. Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.

Brianna and Colleen O’Leary know their father expects them to marry well. Yet despite his wishes, Brianna, the quieter sister, dreams of attending college. Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry–as long as her father’s choice meets her exacting standards. When stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from college and distant family member Rylan Montgomery stops in on his way to the seminary in Boston, the two men quickly complicate everyone’s plans. It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to follow their hearts. And even if they do, will they inevitably find their dreams too distant to reach?

My Review:

published in 2015

Double the romance doubles the reading pleasure. 

Brianna and Colleen are as different as night and day and I will readily admit to bonding with Brianna way before Colleen started to chip away at my reserve. Colleen is…challenging…at the beginning of the this story…and quite awhile thereafter. In short, she made my blood boil. But Mason weaves her magic and Colleen’s storyline becomes a beautiful testimony of the power of redemption. 

And the heroes? Be still my heart. In a word: swoonworthy. But both have to battle internal demons before they can come to grips with their pasts. Gilbert is near perfection — noble, trustworthy, a man of integrity…except when he isn’t. LOL Mason has created a flawed hero who struggles with misplaced loyalty. And Rylan is a delightful surprise. I adored his wit and ability to find joy in everyday things. And his first meet with prickly ol’ Colleen is sweet perfection. There’s plenty of scope for the imagination when it comes to these captivating heroes.

As we all know, the course of true love never runs straight and in the case of the O’Leary sisters it’s a big old curvy, tangled mess. Which makes for a blissfully emotional read. I’m still feeling kind of gutted now that it’s over. The kind of read you want to gallop through because it’s that good, but you also don’t want to reach the end because…well…it’s that good. 

Fans of Julie Lessman will find a lot to love about Susan Anne Mason’s first book in the Courage to Dream series. Highly recommended.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a gently read paperback copy and is available to any reader, any where — so, yay, another International Giveaway!

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Irish Meadows, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday March 22 2025.

18 thoughts on “Irish Meadows + Giveaway”

  1. Thank you for your retro review on IRISH MEADOWS. Evidently another, what sounds like an amazing read, that has seemed to have slipped through my TBR list “organization”. I’d love to follow the O’Leary sisters adventures in finding their true love – tangled mess and all. And who doesn’t love swoonworthy heros!

    Would love the opportunity to read this book, which is now not only on my TBR list but definitely not on the bottom. Greatly appreciate the chance to win a copy!

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  2. comp acting ugly.. can this be counted for the gift card on Monday?? I have not been able to get online all this time. Thank you Kav..

    jacsmi75 at gmail dot com

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  3. Hope your weather’s nice, sunny, getting warmer, and showing signs of spring! We’ve already got our hummingbirds back! Yay! And a yard full of weeds. Boo!

    Anyway, don’t enter me. I’ve read this entire series & loved it! I wanted to add that Susan told me they didn’t renew her contract & I was like huh??? Her books were awesome. So that’s why she’s not putting out any more books. I tried to encourage her not to give up bc her writing is exceptional, but not everyone wants to or can go Indie. Hopefully she’s still writing & will come out with another book someday, but IDK.

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    1. I do see where she has another series published by White Rose, but the last was released in 2016. I don’t recall even seeing those promoted online.

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      1. I read those White Rose contemporary novels before her Bethany House deal. I was so excited when she got the BH contracts. And all her books with them have such gorgeous covers! We’ve had wonky weather again — way warmer than normal and then dipping back down again. Today is sunny but coolish…3 C so that’s 37 F but over the weekend it was up to 50 F so that was fun. Oh and we had a thunderstorm! The snow is slowly melting away. No signs of spring birds yet. Can you believe I’ve never seen a hummingbird? We do have them up here but even though my garden is supposed to be bee/buttefly/hummingbird friendly the hummingbirds don’t stop by. Happy Reading, Diane!

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      2. Hmm. I must not have been aware of her before her BH books were published. I agree about the gorgeous covers!

        Our weather’s been up & down, but it looks like this week the 70s are here to stay. And we have 1 day where it’s supposed to get up to 80°. It seems like we just skip spring & head right into summer. Hubby insists we’ll have 1 more freeze so we’ll see. Glad you had some nicer weather & that the snow is melting!

        Get you a couple of hummingbird feeders, one for front & back. I have lots of flowers but they typically don’t pay them much attention. They love the feeders. I want you to see some! Once you do you’ll just be in love with the little critters!

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