Tears of the Moon

Brenna, a strong willed woman who's style is to take action to get what she wants, realizes she's sexually attracted to her childhood friend, Shawn, a musically-talented dreamer who prefers to mull things over until the time is ripe. Don't ask her to admit she's in love!
Some predictability, but you've gotta love a romance author who finds an appropriate epigraph for her book.

I don’t believe in “guilty pleasure” reading because: hello, I don’t feel guilty about anything I read. But I bet anyone that uses the term frequently would definitely say The Irish Trilogy by Nora Roberts classifies…

Seriously you guys, I have reread these books so. many. times. Mostly when I was in high school, but still. They are constant fall-back comfort reads to this day.

Jewels of the Sun brings Jude Murray to Ireland. She is recently divorced and in need of a break from her life. She certainly finds that in the little Irish village of Ardmore. She quickly begins to settle into her cottage (borrowed from a family member) and make friends. Many of those friends stem from the Gallagher family’s pub around which our show more trilogy is centered (especially the oldest brother in this case…).

Besides Jude’s growing relationship with Aidan, the biggest part of the book focuses on how Jude learns to fit in her own skin and appreciate herself. I don’t think she ever had the right people around her in her ‘old life’ for that to happen. The book definitely makes it seem like Ireland is her perfect fit! I loved watching her character figure out what it feels like to have real friends and a real relationship, both of which she can depend on.

Tears of the Moon is my favorite of the three, and the one I’ve – by far – read the most often. Brenna O’Toole, tomboy extraordinaire, has loved the other Gallagher brother basically forever…but he never noticed. But really, why does the man always have to make the first move? (Answer: he doesn’t.)

Brenna shocks Shawn to no end with an intriguing proposal (not of the marriage kind), but the longer he thinks about it the better it starts to sound.

Brenna is seriously one of my favorite characters ever – funny, smart, loyal and above all: really really brave about fighting for what she wants. I don’t know how anyone could read this book and not absolutely fall in love with her.

Heart of the Sea is, in my opinion, the weakest link. Probably because the heroine, Darcy, appeals to me the least. She is the only sister of the Gallagher trio and she is pretty darn self-confident. She is also seemingly very shallow. She does have a lot of depth to her, but I think the shallow card is played a little too well.

Trevor comes from America as the owner of a large company building a theatre addition to the Gallagher’s pub – Darcy is always up for gallivanting around with a rich man so things heat up for them pretty quickly. (See? Shallow!) When they both start feeling attached, things start getting a little rocky…

Okay, so now we’ll get to the crazy-cheesy part of the whole thing that I’m not so fond of. The books all feature an old legend surrounding the town of Ardmore about two doomed lovers from the past (the guy was the prince of the faeries who didn’t know how to properly show the woman he loved her). Her ghost haunts Jude’s cottage and he constantly shows up in the graveyard where she is buried and where our trilogy’s heroes constantly turn up. It turns out that once all three of our happy couples fall in love the curse will be broken.

Now, I’m obviously by no means a paranormal/fantasy hater but in my opinion, these books don’t need this element. There is something timeless and mystical about both the characters and the setting without bringing actual magic into the mix.

Jewels of the Sun, Tears of the Moon and Heart of the Sea are fantastic contemporary romance reads in their own right, and to be honest I usually skip the scenes that the prince of faeries shows up in when I reread them. Does anyone else that has read these books agree with me?

Anyway, that being said – I obviously still think The Irish Trilogy is worth reading, weird paranormal elements and all. These characters will grow on you quickly and you’ll want to see them all through to their happy endings!

If you’re a fan of contemporary romance, you’re probably already familiar with Nora Roberts. But if you haven’t read The Irish Trilogy, I definitely think you’re missing out! show less

This one has a different feel from the first in this trilogy, Jewels of the Sun. I think it's that it starts out in omniscient, with a slightly Irish voice. Add to that the fact that I don't like slow deliberate heroes (or perhaps I just don't like them the way Nora writes them)--they always seem a little stupid to me. And I didn't like that Brenna didn't respect Shawn, though that was a conflict between them that was worked out in the course of the story, but still. To me, love without respect is pretty much just lust. And of course, there were the dreams. I hate, hate, hate dreams in fiction. They're just as boring in a book as they are when somebody's telling you about a dream they had once. It's fascinating if it's your own dream, show more but not otherwise. A couple of other niggles as well--why do all Nora's heroines faint when they're pregnant? I'd be a little worried about that. And what was so freaking urgent about taking flowers to Maude's grave? She was still going to be there tomorrow. Gah. Anyway, most of my quibbles are just matters of taste, so I'm only docking this one a star. Once we get past the beginning with all its 'poetic' language (Not a direct quote, but this sort of thing: "For he was ever a poet." Who talks like that?), then it's typical Nora, with the community relationships, etc. Oh. I also loathed Brenna's sister, and thought Brenna was a twit for letting the little bitch bother her. But again, that's just me. show less

I was a bit cheesed by the way the romance happened between Aidan and Jude in the first book, but in here, the romance feels more natural, in fact I feel this book is the best of the trilogy. Aidan's brother and Brenna are a lot of fun to read about, especially when they fight. Oh yeah.

In the second book in Nora Roberts' Irish trilogy, Shawn Gallagher and Brenna O'Toole have their turn at love, much to the delight of Prince Carrick of the fairies, whose spell is that much closer to being broken. Having grown up together, and having always been the best of friends, Shawn doesn't realize he has taken their relationship for granted until it is questioned, when Brenna propositions him. What ensues is an often hilarious and always breathlessly romantic story that will leave you wanting more. Which Heart of the Sea superbly provides.

Publishers Weekly Review: The prolific Roberts adds a second installment to her trilogy set in the village of Ardmore, Ireland. In order to break a centuries-old spell that keeps him from his true love, Carrick, Prince of Faeries, must help pub-owners Aidan, Darcy and Shawn Gallagher fall in love. In Jewels of the Sun, the first step of Carrick's plan was completed when Aidan married Jude Murray. Now Carrick has turned to Shawn, a handsome daydreamer who spends his days composing music in his head while cooking for the pub. The faerie prince hopes to match Shawn with Brenna O'Toole, a fiery-haired carpenter with a longtime secret crush on Shawn. The problem is that Shawn is perfectly happy as a single man; he informs Carrick that he show more will have nothing to do with his plan. But, as anyone familiar with Irish lore will tell you, mere mortals don't stand a chance against the whims of the faeries. Robert skillfully draws out Shawn and Brenna's courtship and spices the tale with descriptions of Darcy's many flirtations and an entertaining subplot concerning an expansion of the pub. Delightful to the core, this novel once again proves that Roberts is a storyteller of immeasurable diversity and talent. show less

The second book in the Gallagher series and it's pretty typical Nora Roberts Romance, with the background of the family pub and the expansion plans that I ruined for myself by reading book three before this. Provided you ignore the annoying Oirish-isms littered throughout it's an enjoyable story.

Brenna is an interesting and fun character and is very self-determined and it's interesting to she her wrestle with the issue of being true to herself and trying to please others in order to find love and fit in.