#TheLastSummerinIreland – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap—And I’ve Gotta Yell Uncle!

Rosepoint Reviews October Recap

October flew by and it would seem my schedule weighs increasingly heavier. I thought I could relax a bit after achieving the 500 review badge for NetGalley but that achievement coincided with harvest and I got embroiled with juicing, walking trails, and the search for a good used bike. We got our much revered Indian Summer and just couldn’t resist getting out of doors. Now, of course, we are looking at the upcoming holidays—all designed to be time sinks. Let’s face it—something has to give. First, I’ll try giving up one post a week.

Together we read or listened to seventeen books in October, most from NetGalley, but also audiobooks, and several author requests.

October reads

Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta (CE review)
How the Wicked Run by Annabelle Lewis
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (audiobook)
The Gods of Sanibel by Brian Cook (CE review)
Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas (CE review)
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
Beartown (audiobook) vs The Winners by Fredrik Backman (CE review)
A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley (CE review)
Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni (CE review)
Fries and Alibis by Trixie Silvertale
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (audiobook)
The Last Summer in Ireland by Noelle Harrison (CE review)
The Quadrant Conspiracy by James H Lewis (CE review)
Murder at an Irish Bakery by Carlene O’Connor
Bullet Train (movie) vs Bullet Train (audiobook) by Kotaro Isaka
No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller Kamada
O’Brien’s Law by John McNellis (CE review)

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed Bullet Train, but in a head-to-head which one? Would still have to go with the book. The movie, despite a dead-panning and understated Brad Pitt, was just too much flash bang Hollywood. I preferred the psychological study of the great mix of characters in Isaka’s book.

Did you see the movie or read the book? Both? Did you read any of the others above? I saw many thought The Winners was indeed a winner while the CE could not finish it—and as you know—very unusual for him.

Reading Challenges

My usual battle with trying to catch up the challenges. Lost the battle again, but you’ll see—I’ll eventually catch it up and win the war. My challenges for 2022 are all listed and linked in the widget column on the right. Please check out their progress by clicking the Reading Challenges page. I’m now at 92% of the Goodreads Challenge of 180 books at 166. I’ve already achieved the Audiobook Challenge, Historical Reading Challenge, and the NetGalley Challenge with a 98% Feedback Ratio. Phew! I’m feeling a bit like my granddaughter with our great-grandson—see that face? Yeah…

But speaking of getting older; our little Bichon Frisé, Frosty, will have her seventeenth birthday in January 2023. I’m not sure she’ll make that as she is declining before our eyes. Breaks our hearts and we watch her every day for signs she is suffering. So far, so good; eating and drinking her water, getting me up one to three times during the night to piddle. Maybe it’s not the books and blog that have me exhausted, but we love her too much to give up quite yet.

Thank you for joining me if you are a new follower and as always I appreciate those who continue to read, like, share, and comment—especially comment! Let me know if you saw something above that got your interest.

The Last Summer in Ireland by Noelle Harrison – #BookReview – #WomensFriendshipFiction

“A gripping and emotional page-turner.”

Book Blurb:

A lost girl. A mysterious house in Ireland. An invitation that changes everything.

Twenty years ago, at the end of a long hot Irish summer, three sisters submerge themselves in the cool lake at their home, Swan Hall. As the elder two watch their beautiful younger sister Nuala laughing and splashing, droplets of water clinging to her dark hair, they can hardly hide their envy of her. But later that day, when Nuala tragically drowns, they appear devastated…

Now, as Iris scatters the ashes of her beloved mother onto the golden leaves of Central Park, she feels very alone. But then hope comes in an invitation across the sea to Ireland from her aunt – the woman her mother left behind after a terrible tragedy and never spoke to again.

Swan Hall is more than Iris could ever have dreamed, sitting on the edge of a lake, full of history. But its dark corridors and staircases are caked in dust, and Iris’s unease deepens when she finds a diary belonging to her aunt Nuala, who she has never heard of.

Why did Iris’s mother never mention Nuala? As Iris reads Nuala’s slanting script, she uncovers dark secrets and shocking betrayals from a long hot summer long ago, and begins to wonder: was Nuala’s death really an accident? Can Iris find the truth, and will it change everything she knows about her mother… and herself?

His Review:

Ireland is a verdant landscape with lovely lakes and ocean scenes. Three daughters are being raised at Swan Hall, a lovely three-story home built on nearly 200 acres of farm/ranch land with its own lake. One would think it is a wonderful place to raise three daughters but there was trouble.

These three daughters were the target of a handsome Irishman who wanted to bed them all. One of the daughters, Aisling, becomes pregnant and is able to escape to New York to raise her daughter Iris. Iris never knew her father is not aware that she has any aunts or uncles.

Conrad, a tall and good-looking man sought after by many of the young women in the area, has a bit of a problem with the drink. Also, he is working with the I.R.A. to rid Ireland of English rule. When he is not drinking, he is pursuing the three young ladies. He professes true love for each of them, depending on which one he is able to get alone. Jealousy between the sisters splits the family unit.

Iris is invited to come to Ireland for the Christmas season after her mother is tragically killed in New York and is met at the airport by her “Uncle Conrad” whom she had never heard of! He drives her back to Swan Hall. She brings with her some of her mother’s ashes to spread in the country of her birth.

Iris is apparently the spitting image of one of the sisters. The mystery of Nuala’s disappearance and presumed drowning in the family lake called Lough Bawn is a big mystery and spawns questions that Iris will confront.

The author has developed a very interesting and tragic novel of life among the Irish. The fine beers and spirits of Ireland contribute to the ensuing calamity. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Friendship Fiction, Women’s Literary Fiction, Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Bookouture
ASIN: B0B5LYRFFW
Print Length: 334 pages
Publication Date: October 3, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Last Summer in Ireland [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble

The Author:

Noelle Harrison - author — Noelle Harrison – author

Welcome to my Author’s Page!

I’m an Irish author who’s been writing novels and plays for nearly thirty years. My first novel, Beatrice was published in August 2004 which was a bestseller in Ireland. This was followed by A Small Part Of me in 2005, I Remember in 2008, The Adulteress in 2010, The Secret Loves of Julia in 2012, The Gravity of Love in 2018, and The Island Girls in 2020.

My books have been published in over 12 different countries.

I am also published under the pen name Evie Blake and my Valentina Trilogy hit the Der Spiegel Bestseller List in 2013.

In 2014 I was one of 56 Irish Writers included in the anthology and exhibition Lines of Vision Irish Writers on Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, and published by Thames & Hudson.

I have also written five plays – Northern Landscapes, Black Virgin, Runaway Wife, The Good Sister, and Witches’ Gets, which featured in Cymera and Audacious Women Festivals in Edinburgh to sell out houses.

I currently live in Edinburgh in Scotland, and I am one of the founders of Aurora Writers’ Retreats, and part of the wellness hub The Space To BE.

If you like stories written from the heart, historical with contemporary timeslip, family mysteries and secrets, and always, always a love story set against evocative landscapes, you might like to pick up one of my books. My aim is to tell women’s stories from the past and present and to give voice to those who are rarely heard. Want to know more about me and my writing, go to http://www.noelleharrison.com