Thanks to my daughter, Shannon, for her work with chatGPT!
If I don’t have yours yet, now’s your chance!
I know you probably listed your ten (or twelve?) favorites. But perhaps there was one that was just an edge outstanding.
That’s the one I want!
Running out of time, I need it before the 20th. Send your title to my website in the comments or the email addy noted in the About Me page. I’ll include your favorite book of 2025. (I noted mine in the December Recap.)
(N.B. I already have two responses naming the same book! Stay tuned to discover that title. Maybe yours also?)
As the dark clouds of war finally begin to break, Grace Fitzgerald and Richard Lewis glimpse the possibility of a future together after years of turmoil. Their hard-won love has withstood so much already.
Now, as the Allies launch their final assault on the European continent—determined to rid the world of Nazi terror at whatever cost—Grace must say goodbye once again. Richard has a dual mission: to witness and report on the invasion that will decide the world’s fate, and to fulfil a promise to find someone who vanished without a trace.
But in Richard’s absence, Grace faces her own reckoning. Drawn back to an old adversary, she must fight one final battle. Will their love survive not just the war, but the ghosts of their past?
My Review:
Hard to believe the journey that began with the toss of a bottle by distraught Grace Fitzgerald. Then the bottle with the note in it was found by the dog belonging to an equally disquieted Richard Lewis on one of his solitary walks along the coast.
Tis a long journey that belonged to the pen pals of nations across the pond from each other, one the victim of childhood polio in a small Irish village in Ireland, the other a man of family means and money.
The Knocknashee Story – Book 7
It’s only the spellbinding Irish storytelling pen of the author that the following years would be chronicled in a tale that would see Grace outliving her tyrannical older sister to find the strong, intelligent, and resourceful woman she becomes. Richard with his own pen, along with his Jewish buddy and rabid photographer, finds redemption as well as life-shattering journalistic experiences during the horrors of WWII.
It’s in this installment that Grace and Richard finally manage a short-celebrated wedding when he’s called immediately back to France to fulfill his last life-threatening assignment. There is egregious loss. The war conditions and the evil incarnate that Hitler ascribed to especially near the end when it became apparent of the German loss of the war painted gruesome scenes in the mind.
Grace, hampered by the mores of the time and the church, has learned how to deal with the church and Canon Rafferty specifically to achieve the safe custody of another victim. (The country and continent may change, but it’s remarkable how the people confront the same issues.)
The novel beautifully describes both locations, Savannah, Georgia, and the little town of Knocknashee—so like any little town in the US with the varied characters from scalawags to saintly. The characters are engaging and getting to know them a joy. It’s a deeply emotional narrative, pulling all the strings.
Can Richard safely return to Knocknashee? Can they ever settle into a real married life? What becomes of your favorite support characters? Can there be a happy ever after here?
Many thanks to the author for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
The Author:Jean Grainger is a USA Today bestselling author with over 100,000 5* reviews of historical and contemporary Irish fiction. She is acclaimed for her authentic portrayal of Irish life and history. Born in Cork, she draws from her experience as a history lecturer, teacher, and tour guide to craft characters that feel like friends, and sometimes foes. Grainger’s works span multiple series and standalone novels, covering significant periods in recent Irish history, but told from the perspective of families, the humans behind the headlines. Her stories often intertwine historical events with personal journeys, exploring themes of family, friendship, and human resilience. Grainger’s writing style, characterized by its warmth and authenticity, has earned her comparisons to renowned Irish authors like Maeve Binchy. Her dedication to research and character development has resulted in a loyal readership who feel deeply connected to her stories and characters.
Yes, I did get my Goodreads stat data (I’d missed it’s arrival) and it shows 149 books read, 49,775 pages read. Oops!
I love to see the new numbers though there’s an error or two (again—i.e. Last Book of the Year was not How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley. It was Killing Me Softly by Sandie Jones on December 30.
Also, Goodreads shows Mark Twain by Ron Chernow as the longest book at 1,200 pages. I suppose the book was 1,200 pages, but the CE gave up at approximately 46%. The shortest book was The Builders by Maeve Binchy at 93 pages.
The real problem with showing 149 books read with 49,775 pages read, however, is that the landing page correctly showed 187 and the successful challenge of 150 books.So far this year, the landing page shows 4 books of a challenge of 175 books, but the widget zero. I have no idea why it stopped counting my books last year at 149 or why it’s failing to count my Challenge books this year.
Rosepoint Publishing 