Born in Fire

Maggie Concannon is a glass artist. She is the oldest of Thomas Concannon and Maeve Concannon. Her parents have had a bad marriage with Maeve always blaming Maggie who was conceived outside of marriage for ruining her life. She has spent most of it hating Maggie and complaining about everything. Maggie doesn't understand why her parents have stayed together, but their marriage has convinced her to never marry.

Rogan Sweeney is a Dublin gallery owner who has fallen in love with Maggie's work. He convinces her to let him manage her career and promises to make her rich. Maggie needs the money to fulfill the promise she made to her father when he died. She promised to take care of her sister and her mother.

She uses the money she earns show more after her first big show to buy her mother a house and car and to hire a companion for her to get her out of her sister Brianna's bed and breakfast. Brianna still visits her frequently, but Maggie would like to have her out of her life.

Rogan falls in love with Maggie and being a stubborn man isn't going to let Maggie's fears of an unhappy marriage stand in his way. It takes a while for Maggie to be convinced that she can have a happy marriage despite all the garbage her mother has dumped on her all her life.

I loved the setting. I loved the information about glass art and loved Maggie's talent for it. Rogan reminded me a bit of Roarke from Roberts' In Death series. He's gorgeous and a successful businessman who fights for what he wants. show less

Margaret Mary Concannon (Maggie) is an intense, feisty and gifted glass artist of west County Clare, Ireland. She is the pride of her father, Tom, the dear older sister of docile peacekeeper Brianna, and the vexing reminder to her mother, Maeve, of all that was lost by bringing Maggie into this world. Oh, Maeve surely reminds Maggie, every chance she gets, to express her displeasure with Maggie, the reason for which Maggie was inured since the age of 12.

This strong sense of anger, passion, love for art and resignation feeds the intense emotions Maggie carries inside her whole being. Her mouth-blown art-glass is the visual manifestation of all that emotion as she throws herself into her work, often for continuous days at a time. She's show more ecstatic when nearby galleries invest in her art and eagerly receive more. That is until she is noticed by Rogan Sweeney, a highly regarded Dublin gallery owner, with satellite galleries in London, Paris, Rome, Venice and New York, who believes he knows what's best for a rising star artist. He demands exclusive rights to her art which quickly rubs Maggie the wrong way. Well, with this being a romance, you kind of know where this book's headed.

This first book in the Irish Born Trilogy was my introduction to the exquisite writing style of Nora Roberts. I was captivated by her descriptive scene setting and tremendous character development. Her glass-blowing descriptions are technically spot on. Ms. Roberts beautifully captured the charm of the Irish country folk of the western isle while revealing the hurried businesslike and well-heeled nature of the Dublin folk. Can they peacefully and truly inhabit their shared island home? Can a person of one world comfortably inhabit the other? The interpersonal tension among lovers, adult child with aging parent, and siblings was palpable and carried the book right through to the glorious end. I eagerly look forward to reading, "Born in Ice" and "Born in Shame" - the remaining two books in this fantastic romance trilogy.

I am grateful to Penguin Random House LLC for having provided through Goodreads First Reads a free copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone. show less

Born in Fire
3.5 Stars

Fierce, independent and gifted, Margaret Mary Concannon is happiest living alone and giving her all to her art. That is until Dublin gallery owner, Rogan Sweeney, arrives on her doorstep with an offer that Maggie cannot refuse - money, fame, and his heart. Can Maggie put aside her troubled past to accept his love and give him her own?

Book #3 in this series was my first ever Nora Roberts novel, and I have been hooked on her writing ever since (over 20 years now). This re-read of Maggie and Rogan's story truly demonstrates Nora's skillful ability to weave an enjoyable and engrossing tale despite a less than appealing heroine.

Despite my soft spot for prickly heroines, Maggie is simply too cold and self-absorbed to be show more likable. For me, she is in possession of too many of her mother's exceedingly vicious and nasty traits although these are somewhat mitigated by her care for her sister and her love for Rogan.

Rogan is also problematic with his controlling and overbearing nature. Nevertheless, he too has a softer side that comes to the fore every so often.

Overall, it is precisely Rogan and Maggie's flaws that make them perfect for each other. Perhaps, this is the reason that their romance actually works, and their story is believable and entertaining. show less

An abbreviated review since there are already a ton of great reviews out there.

After reading the first chapter of Born in Fire, I wiped my tears, gladly parted with an Audible credit for the audio version, and completely immersed myself into the story. I'm so glad I did! The narrator, Fiacre Douglas, brings Ireland to life, instilling a teasing humor into Maggie's personality. Had I read the book without the benefit of his lilting brogue softening the edge of her temper (and Rogan's for that matter), I'm not sure I would've liked her as much as I did. I couldn't help but laugh when Rogan tried to tell her what to do, only to have the opposite take place.

The romance aspect was fantastic and only part of this multi-layered story. We show more have a bitter, vengeful mother who doesn't give her two daughters an ounce of love or approval and daughters don't understand why she doesn't love them. They are more fortunate in their father, having found the love and confidence they need in his guidance, presence, and unfailing support. It's clear how much he loves and believes in them, only wanting their happiness.

You’re my bright star, Maggie, the way Brie’s my cool rose. I want you, the both of you, to follow where your dreams lead you. I want that more than I can say.

Maggie's gift for glass blowing and her artistic nature add that special something, putting this book well into my five star category. The detail and imagery leaps off the page during Maggie's dreaming phases. As a reader, I could easily envision what Maggie was thinking and doing, while at the same time understanding that her gift was like a calling...not a hobby, or a job. She's putting a piece of herself into each piece of glass she creates. When Rogan Sweeney arrives from Dublin, eager to make her a rich and famous glass artist by marketing her work to the public, he's in for an unusual first impression. Things get heated, literally. I loved it!

On a side note, it's nice to know I can pick up a Nora Roberts book and count on detailed research...not that I would know if her facts are correct as far as glass blowing, but I'm 99.9% sure they are spot on. It makes me want to get out there and take that class I've been curious about for ages. You know the one where everyone goes home with a glass lump for a paperweight?

Needless to say, I'll be moving on to the next book! show less

When I was little, I used to have this ridiculous dress purse that I'd carry around with me. Most little girls would probably fill their purses with makeup or toys, but what did I fill mine with? Tiny glass figurines. Our family would go to Vancouver and I would salivate over tiny blown glass unicorns. They were like crack to tiny Flann. I hoarded them and carried them around but I did not exercise due care with them--I'd wrap them in toilet paper to attempt to keep them whole but, in the end, I had more of a collection of maimed glass animals. The point of this story is for you all to know that I am predisposed to think anything that has to do with blown glass is awesome. Even though I no longer have an affinity for unicorns or glass show more tchotchkes, I still get a major boner for blown glass art that is well-done. Aaaaaand, that is one of the reasons I love this book so much. Mary Margaret Concannon (Maggie), the heroine of [b:Born in Fire|114145|Born in Fire (Born In trilogy #1)|Nora Roberts|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1245772074s/114145.jpg|1615784], makes fabulous glass art. (well, it is described fabulously and in my imagination it is pretty much my sweetest dream)

Maggie lives in the west of Ireland (another major love of mine) in a cottage near her childhood home. Her sister, Brianna, runs a small bed and breakfast out of Blackthorn Cottage and cares for their heinous mother, who has nothing but awful things to say about Maggie and spends her days complaining about her lot in life. While Maggie has had relative success with her artistic endeavors, she’s always hoped that she could make enough money to move their mother to her own home so Brianna could actually live her own life. Enter Rogan Sweeney, a Dublin businessman who runs an international corporation and owns several large galleries. He approaches Maggie to manage her work and make her the money she’s dreamed about.

Besides the glass art and County Clare in Ireland, I love this book because of the romantic relationship. Maggie is hard-headed, disorganized, passionate and temperamental—she knows exactly what she does and doesn’t want. Rogan seems like her complete opposite but, in reality, he’s very similar to her…only much more organized. The two fight quite a lot during the book but it never gets to the point of legitimate meanness, which is something I hate in some romance novels. The romance IS the story in this book, as opposed to many [b:Nora Roberts|114156|The Official Nora Roberts Companion|Nora Roberts|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1214285767s/114156.jpg|109924] books that center on some mystery or other storyline. If you don’t want to read about making art, describing art, and selling art, than this book will bore you. Because I eat that stuff up, I am happy that this book still performed for me, even after 3 or 4 reads.

This book is a comparative 5 stars. Is it as fabulous as lit fic books I’ve given 5 stars to? No. But in terms of romance books, I just love it.

NBN Week 2011, B2. show less

Nora Roberts books are obviously fairly formulaic but I still find them to be a good Sunday afternoon in the winter or sunny summer day beach read. I think her books are at their best when they are part of a series so she has a chance to develop the characters and story a bit more. This series is one of hers that I think works the best.

It's funny. I found this trilogy the other day on my shelf. I have a ton of older Nora Roberts books that I re-read through the years. I never went back to this one though. I think that's because book #3 fell so flat with me. And then when I started reading the "In Death" series, the main character of this one, Maggie, reminded me so much of Eve I just never had the urge to read this book again. Frankly, Maggie is an earlier prototype of Eve and the man that Maggie falls for, Rogan is Roarke 1.0. My re-read was hilarious for me. A few times I just went so Eve and Roarke are fighting, I mean Maggie and Rogan are fighting and sound just like Eve and Roarke. Frankly, if you want to imagine what Eve and Roarke's marriage with children will show more look like one day, just read book #3, "Born in Shame."

Not too much to say besides this was a solid romance. I think that Roberts and the whole mystery that swirled around this one with Maggie's father and his affair with someone should have been dropped. I just didn't have any sympathy for him or for Maggie's mother who was hard and terrible. show less