Captivating Tale of Irish Revenge!With her meticulous detail, Henley captures the feelings of a man whose family was destroyed due to one cruel man’s vengeance for his young wife’s infidelity, an affair he could have prevented if he’d only loved her. It’s an intriguing story of Irish revenge that consumes a life almost sacrificing the love of a lifetime.Set in the late 18th century, this is a story of Sean O’Toole, grandson of the Earl of Kildare, and brother to Joseph. The O’Toole family of Ireland was large, happy and prosperous involved in shipping and horses. On their birthdays, a few days apart, the family throws a huge party for Sean and Joseph. There, Sean sees Emerald FitzGerald Montague (half Irish/half English) when she is 15. Her father, along with Sean’s and his grandfather the earl, are engaged in smuggling guns. To Emerald, Sean was a beautiful Irish prince who haunted her dreams. Soon thereafter, Emerald’s cruel English father discovers the affair his wife and Joseph O’Toole are having and sets about to destroy the Earl of Kildare and his family. He arranges for the arrest of the Earl of Kildare, who dies in prison, kills Joseph and sends Sean to prison on the false charge of murdering his brother. Over the next 5 years of hard labor in a “death sentence” prison, Sean meticulously plans his revenge. Part of that revenge includes Emerald…I have never been disappointed by Virginia Henley and though I didn’t give this the full five stars I have some of her other books, I still enjoyed it very much. And I loved the glimpse of Ireland and its people…and the hero is an Irish hunk to die for! I recommend it.
aarrgg this book make me so angry..started out great...i was loving it so much...reading past midnight....but then the author did something that I hate the most. My no.1 pet peeve- adulterous/cheating/non-virgin heroines. In this case the heroine eventually gets married to the villain and they did consummate their marriage!!!! WTH!!!!aarrgggg!!! I can't read anymore...
What do You think about Dream Lover (1997)?
This is my all time favourite historical romance / romance novel. Virginia Henley completely lets you fall in love with every one of the characters in this book! I have read it three times! Both Emerald and Sean's fathers had been doing business for a long while not knowing that Sean's Brother had been having a secret affair with Emmerald's mother. When Emerald's father discovers their secret he takes Emerald and her brother away and lies that their mother has abandoned them for her lover! Emerald’s father also decided to ruin Sean's family by killing Sean's brother and framing Sean for it. His mother died of a broken heart losing two sons. Sean is sent to prison and after 5 years manages to escape with only one thing on his mind - revenge! He will clear his criminal record, return to England and ruin Emmerald’s family!This is where it gets exciting, he kidnaps Emerald who is all so willing to go along with him back to Ireland as she is in an awful marriage where her fiery spirit has been broken by her controlling father and husband. Sean leaves a note to Emerald’s father and husband when he kidnaps Emerald that he would only return her to England when she has his Irish baby in her.The story unfolds as Sean tries to turn the timid Emerald he has kidnapped back into the fiery Irish he had known when she was 16. Sean tries to keep his promise to avenge his brother and mother’s death but cannot as he is falling in love with Emerald. Does he keep this promise? Humm, you will have to read to find out! :o)
—Lile Drammeh
