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emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Having a book added to a series that is the older parental unit’s love story doesn’t always work for me. This one did, though. While I’ve enjoyed this series, these stories are by no means my favorites from this author. They were a little harder for me to get into than her other books. But I sank right into this tale and loved living through the young love of Fiona and Tommy.
The Blackburn family isn’t small, but this book doesn’t include all of the current Blackburns. It’ll be easy to read as a standalone, but it will spoil a few things from the previous books if that matters to you. Other than the initial setup, this story sweeps you back to the 1970s and Ireland, where Fiona was born and raised, and finds the restrictions her father put on her to be miserable. Tommy is in the country for the summer to work for Fiona’s uncle and it is love at first sight.
Tommy is only a couple of years older than Fiona, but she’s been so sheltered by her father that he knows she is really quite naïve about certain things. Yet, at the same time, Fiona has a maturity about her because of her father. She’s had to learn to play his mental games and skirt around his watchful eye to do something as simple as ride a horse on a flipping horse breeding and training farm. These two fit together like two puzzle pieces. They balance each other and support each other from the very beginning.
This story moves fast. The love story is a whirlwind and the feelings are intense. I cried along with the characters when there was tragedy, but I also got swept up in their joyous love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief