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I love historical romances, rich in perfect period detail, well researched, and lushly written. The Irish Healer, Nancy Herriman’s debut novel, is all of that and more.
I will be honest and say I would normally have bypassed this one since it’s billed as “inspirational/Christian” romance. That is way outside my reading comfort zone as a non-Christian. And that would have been a tragedy. I would have missed a tender, beautiful, glorious romance that made my heart sing and left me with happy tears at the end.
Rachel Dunne,the Irish healer of the title, is running away. Although acquitted of murdering a child under her care, she’s come to London to escape the scandal of her past, vowing to give up her gift of healing, believing it’s really a curse. She finds work with Dr. James Edmunds, a man with tragedies of his own in his past, a physician who is also in the process of giving up his medical practice. Rachel vows only to work as a sort of secretary for him. She will not help him in medical matters, will not sit at the bedside of patients, will not trust or use her own special gifts.
James and Rachel have each in their own way given up on God, as they believe God has abandoned them. This love story is about healing, not only the bodies of those they comfort and serve, but their own hearts and faith and each other.
Inspirational references are woven in subtly, without browbeating the reader with it, which was what I had feared from an inspirational romance. Again, I could not have been more wrong. This is a book about the universal themes of loss and forgiveness, about finding redemption, and most powerfully, about finding love. It transcends a specific, single belief system. It’s about learning to forgive yourself, and love yourself; about accepting love and forgiveness from others.
And make no mistake, this is first and foremost, a romance, as sweet and delicious and yummy as you could want. There is no overt sex in this book; there’s barely a single kiss. But oh, the yearning! The longing! Ms. Herriman beautifully, powerfully builds the tension, page by page, a glance, a touch, a sigh at a time, until the reader is as wound up as Rachel and James, an ember about to burst into a conflagration. This is a truly romantic romance.
The power of faith is the backbone of this feast of a novel, but love, God’s and man’s, is the heart and soul of it. I’ve never been happier to have been wrong about something. Missing out on this wonderful book would have been a tragedy indeed.
This book is an intoxicating historical fiction about the (real) royal court of 16th century Ferrara, and the second duchess. It was inspired by Browning's famous poem "My First Duchess" (the first duchess also appears, and we are as drawn into her story as much as we are the story of Barbara, the second duchess). This debut is as rich and lucious as the cherries that are a repeating motif in it. It's a brilliantly crafted piece of art that includes not only history, but suspense, a love story, and a delicious murder mystery.
In Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans, the central plot is summed up nicely by the hero’s best friend (and intriguing, mysterious, delicious sidekick) Phineas Connor: “Have you considered the absurdity of it all, Rafe? That you, a son of Ireland, are traveling to America to impersonate a British minister in order to catch a fellow Irishman?”
Michael (Rafe) Rafferty is an Irishman working as an agent for the Crown to develop a peaceful, political solution to the question of Irish Home Rule. Ranged against Rafferty are the Home Rule League and the Fenians, who killed his parents and who believe violence is the only way to achieve Irish independence. Rafferty, with his network of street urchin spies, is more at home in the rough alleys and taverns of London than in its ballrooms. Unfortunately, the new role he’s been asked to play, as a British diplomat in Washington, D.C., requires something more than native intelligence and rakish good looks.
It also requires someone to play his hostess. And that “someone” would best be a wife.
Lady Arianne Chambers, the daughter and sister of a duke, has lived her whole life in diplomatic circles. Polish, politics, and protocol are in her blood. But like Rafferty, there are secrets in her past and she has very good reasons for wanting to escape London and head to Washington with her reluctant, recalcitrant, delightfully roguish protégé.
As danger creeps up on them, just how far will this couple go to make their pretend marriage look real?
I loved this sensual, sexy, and slyly funny romance. Best of all, it included a solid mystery and interesting plot to drive the story. The historical scaffolding on which Ms. MacMeans builds the romance doesn’t overwhelm the central love story, but provides a solid framework for it. She deftly mixes real and fictional people with a believable tale of danger and intrigue. I was rooting for Rafferty and Arianne from the first pages. My heart broke right along with Lady Arianne’s (yes, 2:00 in the morning, I’m flipping pages as fast I can and crying my eyes out). Just as she did, I fell in love with Rafferty. And of course, because this is romance, the ending made my heart go pitty-pat. Le sigh.
Redeeming the Rogue is the third book in the Chambers Trilogy (book #1 is The Education of Mrs. Brimley and book #2 is The Seduction of a Duke). The only question remaining is, when are we going to get the story of Phineas Connor? I can hardly wait for more!
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The Irish Healer by Nancy Herriman
PShaw, April 15, 2012
I love historical romances, rich in perfect period detail, well researched, and lushly written. The Irish Healer, Nancy Herriman’s debut novel, is all of that and more.I will be honest and say I would normally have bypassed this one since it’s billed as “inspirational/Christian” romance. That is way outside my reading comfort zone as a non-Christian. And that would have been a tragedy. I would have missed a tender, beautiful, glorious romance that made my heart sing and left me with happy tears at the end.
Rachel Dunne,the Irish healer of the title, is running away. Although acquitted of murdering a child under her care, she’s come to London to escape the scandal of her past, vowing to give up her gift of healing, believing it’s really a curse. She finds work with Dr. James Edmunds, a man with tragedies of his own in his past, a physician who is also in the process of giving up his medical practice. Rachel vows only to work as a sort of secretary for him. She will not help him in medical matters, will not sit at the bedside of patients, will not trust or use her own special gifts.
James and Rachel have each in their own way given up on God, as they believe God has abandoned them. This love story is about healing, not only the bodies of those they comfort and serve, but their own hearts and faith and each other.
Inspirational references are woven in subtly, without browbeating the reader with it, which was what I had feared from an inspirational romance. Again, I could not have been more wrong. This is a book about the universal themes of loss and forgiveness, about finding redemption, and most powerfully, about finding love. It transcends a specific, single belief system. It’s about learning to forgive yourself, and love yourself; about accepting love and forgiveness from others.
And make no mistake, this is first and foremost, a romance, as sweet and delicious and yummy as you could want. There is no overt sex in this book; there’s barely a single kiss. But oh, the yearning! The longing! Ms. Herriman beautifully, powerfully builds the tension, page by page, a glance, a touch, a sigh at a time, until the reader is as wound up as Rachel and James, an ember about to burst into a conflagration. This is a truly romantic romance.
The power of faith is the backbone of this feast of a novel, but love, God’s and man’s, is the heart and soul of it. I’ve never been happier to have been wrong about something. Missing out on this wonderful book would have been a tragedy indeed.
The Second Duchess by Elizabeth Loupas
PShaw, January 1, 2012
This book is an intoxicating historical fiction about the (real) royal court of 16th century Ferrara, and the second duchess. It was inspired by Browning's famous poem "My First Duchess" (the first duchess also appears, and we are as drawn into her story as much as we are the story of Barbara, the second duchess). This debut is as rich and lucious as the cherries that are a repeating motif in it. It's a brilliantly crafted piece of art that includes not only history, but suspense, a love story, and a delicious murder mystery.Redeeming the Rogue (Berkley Sensation) by Donna Macmeans
PShaw, August 14, 2011
In Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans, the central plot is summed up nicely by the hero’s best friend (and intriguing, mysterious, delicious sidekick) Phineas Connor: “Have you considered the absurdity of it all, Rafe? That you, a son of Ireland, are traveling to America to impersonate a British minister in order to catch a fellow Irishman?”Michael (Rafe) Rafferty is an Irishman working as an agent for the Crown to develop a peaceful, political solution to the question of Irish Home Rule. Ranged against Rafferty are the Home Rule League and the Fenians, who killed his parents and who believe violence is the only way to achieve Irish independence. Rafferty, with his network of street urchin spies, is more at home in the rough alleys and taverns of London than in its ballrooms. Unfortunately, the new role he’s been asked to play, as a British diplomat in Washington, D.C., requires something more than native intelligence and rakish good looks.
It also requires someone to play his hostess. And that “someone” would best be a wife.
Lady Arianne Chambers, the daughter and sister of a duke, has lived her whole life in diplomatic circles. Polish, politics, and protocol are in her blood. But like Rafferty, there are secrets in her past and she has very good reasons for wanting to escape London and head to Washington with her reluctant, recalcitrant, delightfully roguish protégé.
As danger creeps up on them, just how far will this couple go to make their pretend marriage look real?
I loved this sensual, sexy, and slyly funny romance. Best of all, it included a solid mystery and interesting plot to drive the story. The historical scaffolding on which Ms. MacMeans builds the romance doesn’t overwhelm the central love story, but provides a solid framework for it. She deftly mixes real and fictional people with a believable tale of danger and intrigue. I was rooting for Rafferty and Arianne from the first pages. My heart broke right along with Lady Arianne’s (yes, 2:00 in the morning, I’m flipping pages as fast I can and crying my eyes out). Just as she did, I fell in love with Rafferty. And of course, because this is romance, the ending made my heart go pitty-pat. Le sigh.
Redeeming the Rogue is the third book in the Chambers Trilogy (book #1 is The Education of Mrs. Brimley and book #2 is The Seduction of a Duke). The only question remaining is, when are we going to get the story of Phineas Connor? I can hardly wait for more!
(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)