A Woman's Heart

Rating:
Summary: Sizzling & tender romance combined with deep family values
Review: This is probably a 4 ½ star rating. It was difficult for me to decide if it deserved four or five stars. For some reason, about halfway through the book, I put A Woman's Heart down for about a month. I don't usually do this - if I don't like it, I skim it to the end. However, once I began reading this again, within a few pages, I was in love with the hero and thought the heroine was pretty terrific as well. It did have a couple of overused romance plot lines appear but they disappeared fairly quickly. I can only presume that the story had become a little repetitive and slow as I neared the middle of the book and felt I needed a break. That is the reason I am not giving this a five star rating although the romantic leads had what it took for a top rated relationship.

Quinn Gallagher, an American with Irish roots, is a famous author and has come to Ireland with a motion picture cast and crew to assist in making a movie based on one of his renowned novels. Quinn is a hero we love with his wit, good looks, totally cool personality and fame. Accommodations are hard to find in this part of Ireland and Quinn ends up taking a room at the home of an extended Irish family who has family values and love as Quinn has never seen before. A young widow and mother of a very dear six-year-old son heads the family that also includes the widow's father, her grandmother, two of her sisters and her brother. Quinn is quite a cynical guy and can hardly believe the family interaction he sees and can scarcely bear the intimacy these people share. In fact, he avoids the domestic gatherings (he was supposed to eat his meals with the family) after first experiencing this eye-opening, honestly true-life family. You see, Quinn is a very intelligent man and has a deep understanding about life until it comes to truly knowing himself and the possibility of his involvement in a real family.

Nora Fitzpatrick, the young Irish widow, is very likable as the heroine. She is self-sacrificing as we so often see in romance writing but she is not depicted as overly sweet which is the usual tendency in writing heroines in this role. Nora is hard working and even does chores on their farm such as milk the cows. On top of all this, she is a real lady, kind, and compassionate. The contrast between Nora's constant manual farm and cooking chores and her depiction as an ever present beauty seems a stretch at times but we can only assume that this is beauty as seen in the eye of the beholder, that being Quinn, as he sees much more in Nora than her beauty.

Quinn and Nora are instantly drawn to each other. They refuse to acknowledge this although Quinn is a lot more determined to resist the attraction than Nora is. Gradually, Quinn can no longer resist the allure of Nora and her precious family and becomes involved in all of their lives. He showers them with gifts (he is a rich hero as well) and begins to believe in the prospect of a more fulfilling life than he had ever imagined. But this is romance reading, and never is anything as easy as that and Quinn and Nora have some mountains to climb. But the journeys they must take make the story that much better and leave you with a smile as you experience a sense of well-being and peacefulness.

The chemistry between Quinn and Nora jumps off the page from the very beginning. The sensual scenes are very tender and rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I think one of the most remarkable things about this book is the tenderness of Quinn and Nora's relationship further blessed by Quinn's bond with her family.

I highly recommend A Woman's Heart. Although it is primarily a sweet and sexy romance, it is also a strong story of family values and bonding. Since this is my first JoAnn Ross book, I have done some research and have discovered that she has many more delightful books for me to read.

Rating:
Summary: Sizzling & tender romance combined with deep family values
Review: This is probably a 4 ½ star rating. It was difficult for me to decide if it deserved four or five stars. For some reason, about halfway through the book, I put A Woman's Heart down for about a month. I don't usually do this - if I don't like it, I skim it to the end. However, once I began reading this again, within a few pages, I was in love with the hero and thought the heroine was pretty terrific as well. It did have a couple of overused romance plot lines appear but they disappeared fairly quickly. I can only presume that the story had become a little repetitive and slow as I neared the middle of the book and felt I needed a break. That is the reason I am not giving this a five star rating although the romantic leads had what it took for a top rated relationship.

Quinn Gallagher, an American with Irish roots, is a famous author and has come to Ireland with a motion picture cast and crew to assist in making a movie based on one of his renowned novels. Quinn is a hero we love with his wit, good looks, totally cool personality and fame. Accommodations are hard to find in this part of Ireland and Quinn ends up taking a room at the home of an extended Irish family who has family values and love as Quinn has never seen before. A young widow and mother of a very dear six-year-old son heads the family that also includes the widow's father, her grandmother, two of her sisters and her brother. Quinn is quite a cynical guy and can hardly believe the family interaction he sees and can scarcely bear the intimacy these people share. In fact, he avoids the domestic gatherings (he was supposed to eat his meals with the family) after first experiencing this eye-opening, honestly true-life family. You see, Quinn is a very intelligent man and has a deep understanding about life until it comes to truly knowing himself and the possibility of his involvement in a real family.

Nora Fitzpatrick, the young Irish widow, is very likable as the heroine. She is self-sacrificing as we so often see in romance writing but she is not depicted as overly sweet which is the usual tendency in writing heroines in this role. Nora is hard working and even does chores on their farm such as milk the cows. On top of all this, she is a real lady, kind, and compassionate. The contrast between Nora's constant manual farm and cooking chores and her depiction as an ever present beauty seems a stretch at times but we can only assume that this is beauty as seen in the eye of the beholder, that being Quinn, as he sees much more in Nora than her beauty.

Quinn and Nora are instantly drawn to each other. They refuse to acknowledge this although Quinn is a lot more determined to resist the attraction than Nora is. Gradually, Quinn can no longer resist the allure of Nora and her precious family and becomes involved in all of their lives. He showers them with gifts (he is a rich hero as well) and begins to believe in the prospect of a more fulfilling life than he had ever imagined. But this is romance reading, and never is anything as easy as that and Quinn and Nora have some mountains to climb. But the journeys they must take make the story that much better and leave you with a smile as you experience a sense of well-being and peacefulness.

The chemistry between Quinn and Nora jumps off the page from the very beginning. The sensual scenes are very tender and rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I think one of the most remarkable things about this book is the tenderness of Quinn and Nora's relationship further blessed by Quinn's bond with her family.

I highly recommend A Woman's Heart. Although it is primarily a sweet and sexy romance, it is also a strong story of family values and bonding. Since this is my first JoAnn Ross book, I have done some research and have discovered that she has many more delightful books for me to read.

Rating:
Summary: Sizzling & tender romance combined with deep family values
Review: This is probably a 4 ½ star rating. It was difficult for me to decide if it deserved four or five stars. For some reason, about halfway through the book, I put A Woman's Heart down for about a month. I don't usually do this - if I don't like it, I skim it to the end. However, once I began reading this again, within a few pages, I was in love with the hero and thought the heroine was pretty terrific as well. It did have a couple of overused romance plot lines appear but they disappeared fairly quickly. I can only presume that the story had become a little repetitive and slow as I neared the middle of the book and felt I needed a break. That is the reason I am not giving this a five star rating although the romantic leads had what it took for a top rated relationship.

Quinn Gallagher, an American with Irish roots, is a famous author and has come to Ireland with a motion picture cast and crew to assist in making a movie based on one of his renowned novels. Quinn is a hero we love with his wit, good looks, totally cool personality and fame. Accommodations are hard to find in this part of Ireland and Quinn ends up taking a room at the home of an extended Irish family who has family values and love as Quinn has never seen before. A young widow and mother of a very dear six-year-old son heads the family that also includes the widow's father, her grandmother, two of her sisters and her brother. Quinn is quite a cynical guy and can hardly believe the family interaction he sees and can scarcely bear the intimacy these people share. In fact, he avoids the domestic gatherings (he was supposed to eat his meals with the family) after first experiencing this eye-opening, honestly true-life family. You see, Quinn is a very intelligent man and has a deep understanding about life until it comes to truly knowing himself and the possibility of his involvement in a real family.

Nora Fitzpatrick, the young Irish widow, is very likable as the heroine. She is self-sacrificing as we so often see in romance writing but she is not depicted as overly sweet which is the usual tendency in writing heroines in this role. Nora is hard working and even does chores on their farm such as milk the cows. On top of all this, she is a real lady, kind, and compassionate. The contrast between Nora's constant manual farm and cooking chores and her depiction as an ever present beauty seems a stretch at times but we can only assume that this is beauty as seen in the eye of the beholder, that being Quinn, as he sees much more in Nora than her beauty.

Quinn and Nora are instantly drawn to each other. They refuse to acknowledge this although Quinn is a lot more determined to resist the attraction than Nora is. Gradually, Quinn can no longer resist the allure of Nora and her precious family and becomes involved in all of their lives. He showers them with gifts (he is a rich hero as well) and begins to believe in the prospect of a more fulfilling life than he had ever imagined. But this is romance reading, and never is anything as easy as that and Quinn and Nora have some mountains to climb. But the journeys they must take make the story that much better and leave you with a smile as you experience a sense of well-being and peacefulness.

The chemistry between Quinn and Nora jumps off the page from the very beginning. The sensual scenes are very tender and rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I think one of the most remarkable things about this book is the tenderness of Quinn and Nora's relationship further blessed by Quinn's bond with her family.

I highly recommend A Woman's Heart. Although it is primarily a sweet and sexy romance, it is also a strong story of family values and bonding. Since this is my first JoAnn Ross book, I have done some research and have discovered that she has many more delightful books for me to read.

Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Lovely
Review: This prequel to Ross' best book, Legends Lake, explores the wonderful relationship between novelist/filmmaker Quinn Gallagher and shy, winsome widow Nora Fitzpatrick. We met these people in Legends Lake, so we already know the ending, but finding out how they got there is a real summer treat.

Back to the west coast of Ireland we go, back to the rural Castlebrough, where Nora, having lost her young husband years before in a racing accident, is raising not only their young son Rory, but her own siblings and, in a manner of speaking, her father, who is loveable but who has never grown up.

Nora has her hands full, and finances are extremely shaky. That's what prompts her to reluctantly rent a room in her house to one of the "movie people" who have arrived en masse from Hollywood to make one of Quinn's books into a film. It is Quinn who rents the room. Enough said?

In the dog days of August, when the leaves are already looking melancholy and the heat is oppressive, this is the quintessential lie-down-in-a-hammock soother. I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Touching love story
Review: Years after the death of her beloved mother and husband, Nora Fitzgerald is struggling to keep her family together. When her father rents a room to an American writer visiting Ireland to make a movie, Nora is secretly happy because the money is needed.

Quinn Gallagher just plans to make his movie and leave Ireland behind, but is drawn to the beautiful widow. After a lifetime of closing his heart, can he open his heart to this wonderful and forgiving woman?

JoAnn Ross brings us a wonderful love story that brings the reader to the beautiful rolling green hills of Ireland. This is more than a romance, this is a story of family, legends and community. Highly recommended.