Rating: 
Summary: Dorien Kelly has an Irish gift for storytelling...
Review: ...and the Last Bride in Ballymuir is a fine example of just what a gift it is. A rich, warm story of healing old wounds, of what it is to be a family...of love. Both Kylie O'Shea and Michael Killbride have painful pasts. Together they learn to put them aside and look to a future...a future that holds a true and everlasting sort of love.A great read by a gifted storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Dorien Kelly has an Irish gift for storytelling...
Review: ...and the Last Bride in Ballymuir is a fine example of just what a gift it is. A rich, warm story of healing old wounds, of what it is to be a family...of love. Both Kylie O'Shea and Michael Killbride have painful pasts. Together they learn to put them aside and look to a future...a future that holds a true and everlasting sort of love. A great read by a gifted storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful love story
Review: After reading the reviews for this book, I had to write my own--especially after reading the one that was so negative. I'm always surprised when non romance readers pick up a romance novel and find themselves disappointed. It's as if they aren't sure what they're buying when the package tells them very clearly what they're in for--a beautiful love story. Ms. Kelly delivers that love story with wit, gentleness and generous dose of warm tenderness. I loved this book. The land was lush and the characters were multi layered. Kylie O'Shea was the perfect match for Michael Kilbride. She was tempered steel cloaked in softness to his prickly outer covering, shrouding a wounded heart. If you like your romance with a bit of angst and a lot of atmosphere, be sure to pick up, THE LAST BRIDE OF BALLYMUIR. You won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful love story
Review: After reading the reviews for this book, I had to write my own--especially after reading the one that was so negative. I'm always surprised when non romance readers pick up a romance novel and find themselves disappointed. It's as if they aren't sure what they're buying when the package tells them very clearly what they're in for--a beautiful love story. Ms. Kelly delivers that love story with wit, gentleness and generous dose of warm tenderness. I loved this book. The land was lush and the characters were multi layered. Kylie O'Shea was the perfect match for Michael Kilbride. She was tempered steel cloaked in softness to his prickly outer covering, shrouding a wounded heart. If you like your romance with a bit of angst and a lot of atmosphere, be sure to pick up, THE LAST BRIDE OF BALLYMUIR. You won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: strong contemporary romance
Review: After spending the last fourteen years in prison as a terrorist convicted of killing children and a garda, an amnesty program frees Michael Kilbride from his incarceration. With no place to go as his parents want nothing to do with Michael the convicted terrorist, he moves in with his sister Vi, an artist to Ballymuir, Ireland. Michael takes a walk and sees a woman lifting rocks. He joins her learning that Kylie O'Shea is a schoolteacher at the local Irish elementary school. Unable to resist, Michael kisses Kylie goodbye. Vi informs him that Kylie is the daughter of a con artist spending time in prison. Michael and Kylie begin seeing each other, but she cannot deal with his pariah status until he is accused of murder. Knowing she loves him, Kylie risks all she has worked to achieve in Ballymuir for the sake of her beloved. Though the subplot focused on a terrorist from Michael's past seems weak; the tale provides an interesting look at the controversy that has torn Ireland and Northern Ireland apart. Readers see deeply into the distrusts of everyone towards one another through the efforts of two people simply seeking a place together. Michael and Kylie are a delightful duo and Vi makes a thundering secondary character deserving of her own novel. Readers will not believe that THE LAST BRIDE IN BALLYMUIR is Dorien Kelly's debut novel and will be looking forward to more novels from this series of contemporary romances featuring foreign locations. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful novel!
Review: Dorien Kelly has created a beautifully written story that's so rich with detail I could practically smell the Irish tea. However, the richness in detail doesn't overshadow Kylie and Michael's love story. These opposites do more than just attract--they sizzle and practically jump right off the pages. This book has it all. Old secrets, old wounds and a tender story about healing and moving on. There are also some interesting secondary characters, including Michael's sister, Vi. I can't wait for her story.
Rating:
Summary: Passion, healing and the Irish countryside too!
Review: Dorien Kelly's Irish roots are showing, and the results are wonderful. She's really captured the feeling of Ireland with this book. The writing is rich with details that draw you in and make you feel at home. To top it off, Michael is a hero to die for! This is the perfect book for the beach, or, if it sits in your To Be Read stack long enough, for curling up with by the fire. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Passion, healing and the Irish countryside too!
Review: Dorien Kelly's Irish roots are showing, and the results are wonderful. She's really captured the feeling of Ireland with this book. The writing is rich with details that draw you in and make you feel at home. To top it off, Michael is a hero to die for! This is the perfect book for the beach, or, if it sits in your To Be Read stack long enough, for curling up with by the fire. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: thanks for taking me home...
Review: I don't read romance novels, but in the case of Dorien Kelly's "The Last Bride of Ballymuir," I made an exception. To my great joy I found a tale of haunting truth told honestly, a message of hope forged into being, where none should exist, and a new writer of whom I shall expect much. The lion's share of the action in this tale is internal: that of the struggle of its two main characters. Both seek to overcome reputations earned, rightly or wrongly, find the courage to stand for themselves, one another, and the right to eek out a bit of happiness in a small town which holds staunchly to its quirky ways. Michael Kilbride's evolution throughout this novel is nothing short of heartwrenching. He is a "throw away" child who must learn not to give up on himself. Kylie O'Shea, in classic Irish form, is fighting the ghost of a past not of her making. She is a true heroine, willing the carry the cross of her shame, rather than run from her home. One could compare this work the the epic Irish classic "Deirdre of the Sorrows," wherein two lovers must run the risk of tearing apart the very fabric of thier lives for the hope of a love that will stand for all time. Dorien Kelly's Ireland is the one I remember, the one I ache for, and through her writing, the one I can find myself standing upon once more. Only twice have I read a novel in which I have missed the characters for days afterwards. The Last Bride in Ballymuir is one of those two.
I sense, the next two in Kelly's triolgy will do likewise. Sean OTuathal
Writer, Poet, Literature Teacher
Rating:
Summary: thanks for taking me home...
Review: I don't read romance novels, but in the case of Dorien Kelly's "The Last Bride of Ballymuir," I made an exception. To my great joy I found a tale of haunting truth told honestly, a message of hope forged into being, where none should exist, and a new writer of whom I shall expect much. The lion's share of the action in this tale is internal: that of the struggle of its two main characters. Both seek to overcome reputations earned, rightly or wrongly, find the courage to stand for themselves, one another, and the right to eek out a bit of happiness in a small town which holds staunchly to its quirky ways. Michael Kilbride's evolution throughout this novel is nothing short of heartwrenching. He is a "throw away" child who must learn not to give up on himself. Kylie O'Shea, in classic Irish form, is fighting the ghost of a past not of her making. She is a true heroine, willing the carry the cross of her shame, rather than run from her home. One could compare this work the the epic Irish classic "Deirdre of the Sorrows," wherein two lovers must run the risk of tearing apart the very fabric of thier lives for the hope of a love that will stand for all time. Dorien Kelly's Ireland is the one I remember, the one I ache for, and through her writing, the one I can find myself standing upon once more. Only twice have I read a novel in which I have missed the characters for days afterwards. The Last Bride in Ballymuir is one of those two.
I sense, the next two in Kelly's triolgy will do likewise. Sean OTuathal
Writer, Poet, Literature Teacher
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