Historical Romance released August 2013
Bethany House Publishing
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Synopsis from Goodreads:
Ana Kavanagh’s only memories of home are of fire and pain. As a girl she was the only survivor of a terrible blaze, and years later she still struggles with her anger at God for letting it happen.
At a nearby parish she meets and finds a kindred spirit in Eoghan Hamilton, who is struggling with his own anger–his sister, Cara, betrayed him by falling in love with one of his enemies. Cast aside by everyone, Eoghan longs to rejoin the Fenians, a shadowy organization pushing for change back in Ireland. But gaining their trust requires doing some favors–all of which seem to lead back to Ana. Who is she and who is searching for her? As dark secrets from Ana’s past begin to come to light, Eoghan must choose which road to follow–and where to finally place his trust.
My Thoughts...
This is the second book in the Edge of Freedom series. Originally, when I decided to review this book, I thought it was a continuation of Cara and Rourke's story. It is not. This is a new story that takes place just after the events in the first book. The main characters in this book are Eoghan, Cara's twin brother, and Ana a young woman who lives in the boarding house that Cara lived in during the first book. This book is a continuation of the the whole Fenians/The Celt story line, however.
Ana is a damaged young woman who has been in America for some time after being more or less "spirited away" as a young girl to save her from someone who would do her harm. As a child she lost her mother and younger sister to a house fire. She didn't escape unscathed, however. She is physically and emotionally damaged and is trying very hard to work past all her anger, most of it directed at a God whom she believes abandoned her.
Eoghan has found himself in a situation where he is working in and living at the local church. He basically turns up on the doorstep in a miserable state and is put to work in exchange for a place to sleep and eat. He is bitter and angry with his sister for marrying someone he considers to be a traitor and an enemy. He has kept his distance from her not even allowing her to have a chance to explain their side of the situation. He is having some trouble working in the church because his faith is just as shaky as Ana's.
Ana finds herself, at first against her will, volunteering at the church. She meets Eoghan and is drawn to him immediately, but keeps her distance at first when she learns that he is Cara's brother. She doesn't like keeping things from her friends and she wants more than anything for them to reconcile. There are extenuating circumstances that tie Eoghan and Ana together, events that are tied to her past and his dealings with the Fenains. Even when they try to keep their distance there are things bringing them back together over and over again.
In order for them to be happy they each have things they have to reconcile. Ana with her past, Eoghan with his family and both of them with their faith. I didn't like this book as much as I did the first one. I wasn't as connected to the characters in this one for some reason. The religious aspect of this book was way more "in your face" than in the first book. In this one each character was dealing with issues concerning their faith and that's the reason it's more prevalent. I didn't dislike that, it was just different than the previous book. I felt like this book was a little more predictable and at times cliche. For me, it lacked the suspense and excitement of the first book.
This was a good clean historical romance. If you like this kind of book then you may want to give this one a try. I would recommend reading the first book though since that one give a lot of the history of the Fenians that isn't really re-covered in this book. Also, the first book is pretty good!
*Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book courtesy of Bethany House Publishing in exchange for an honest review.*
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