2.5*This is the third and final installment of the Ardmore trilogy. Darcy has always dreamed of riches and her dreams are about to come true when rich man, Trevor Magee, comes to her little village... I was actually looking forward to this book, thinking it will be much better than the previous two - because of the unusual female character. Darcy has been described as extremely shallow and materialistic in the previous two books, so i kept wondering how the author would redeem her in this one - at least make her likable! Well, she didn't! Let me tell you a little about Darcy: - Darcy tells Trevor to his face (when thinking he is just a poor construction worker) "I can have some fun with you, but too bad you aren't rich - only then would i marry you!" Then she goes to clarify that she has expensive tastes and her husband will have to be rich to cater to her. This was only moments after they met! Why would Trevor, who seemed like quite a catch in all aspects, even look at this materialistic little tramp?! - Trevor seems smitten and wants to spend more time with Darcy, so when he asks her to show him around town - she says she will but for money!!! She charges her potential boyfriend $15/hour for going out with him to show him the sites!!! Disgusting... She is completely prostituting herself and is unapologetic about it! And everyone is acting like this is normal: "Oh that's our Darcy!" - Darcy finally thinks she is in love, but how selfish and self centered can she get?? She drags Brenna away from work and bursts into Jude's house interrupting very-pregnant Jude & Aidan's breakfast. Then she KICKS Aidan out of his own house and says she and Brenna need to talk in private with his wife. Brenna then asks pregnant Jude how the birthing classes are going and when Jude starts to answer - Darcy rudely interrupts to say "Excuse me! I came here because I needed to say something and I hoped my two best friends would have a care to hear me out!" > Umm, a woman is PREGNANT, talking about her BABY and you think that your whoring around for money is more important than all else just because now you finally think you are in love? WOW! - Darcy continues disgusting me with shallow attitude and comments like "She'd box him right in, damn if she wouldn't... and before she was done, she's be rich, famous and married!" > bittttch!So the whole time I absolutely hated her! I also wasn't quite clear on why she was complaining about money so much! It was mentioned numerous times that she and her two brothers run their pub! So if her two brothers' financial situation was never mentioned in previous books nor is it implied that they are poor, why is Darcy soooo poor?! She is constantly complaining about money, her empty 'hope jar', how little money she makes waitressing - why is she getting paid a waitressing wage?! Shouldn't she be making equal money from their pub as the two brothers are, as she is part owner?! Anyways, bottom line is - at the end, Trevor falls for her and wants to keep her any way he can. He offers her money and houses and traveling the world with him - only to have her start swearing at him and throwing things at him, saying she will not be his whore?! This was completely weird, considering she was asking for this all along! Yes, I understand that the author wants the readers to think Darcy has changed her attitude and wants to marry for love, not to be a pampered mistress - but this came too little, too late - like 5 pages from the end of the book!!! I totally did not believe in Darcy's transformation...
The breathtaking conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Jewels of the Sun and Tears of the Moon...Darcy Gallagher has always believed in the pull of fate, the magic of legend... and the importance of money. She longs to find a rich man who will sweep her away - into a world filled with glamour and adventure, and the exotic life that is her destiny... A wealthy businessman with Irish blood, Trevor Magee has come to Ardmore to build a theater - and uncover the secrets hidden in his family's past. He thought he had given up on love long ago, but Darcy Gallagher tempts him like no woman ever has. She's gorgeous, intelligent, and she knows what she wants - and he's more than willing to give it to her. But as their mutual attraction flares into passion, they look into their hearts - and find out what happens when you truly believe...** Amazon.com Review Bestselling author Nora Roberts has another classic on her hands with Heart of the Sea. This final installment in Roberts's faerie tale trilogy returns readers to Ardmore, Ireland, where the Gallagher family's pub is the heart of the community. Passionate and beautiful, Darcy Gallagher works as a waitress in the family pub while looking for a way to achieve the glamorous lifestyle to which she would like to become accustomed. Enter wealthy American builder Trevor Magee, whose Irish roots have drawn him back to the childhood home of his grandfather to build a theater. As Darcy and Trevor revel in the heated sexual attraction that flares between them, neither believes that they are the final key to end an ancient spell that separated Carrick the Faerie Prince and his human lady love, Gwen. But Ireland is a magic place, where the faeries dance among mere mortals and love blossoms under starry skies. Let veteran storyteller Nora Roberts transport you to the Emerald Isle, home of the little people and overwhelming passion. --Alison Trinkle From Publishers Weekly Veteran romance writer Roberts is known for her ability to deliver a rich and satisfying story, and this conclusion to her Irish trilogy (following Jewels of the Sun and Tears of the Moon) is no exception. The final installment begins when wealthy builder Trevor Magee arrives in the Irish village of Ardmore. There he meets Darcy Gallagher, who aspires to the more lavish lifestyle that only a wealthy husband can provide. Immediately attracted, the two begin to negotiate an arrangement uncomplicated by the messiness of love. Their hearts have other plans, howeverAand so does Carrick, a brooding faerie prince who uses them to plot a reunion with his long-dead and long-lost lover, Lady Gwen. Although she could have limited her bold, beautiful and wealth-conscious protagonists to 1980s glitz-and-glamour superficiality, Roberts is triumphant in realizing fully developed characters, as both Trevor and Darcy turn out to be vulnerable human beings with appealingly ordinary hopes and dreams. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
What do You think about Heart Of The Sea (2000)?
This has been one of my favorite Nora Roberts' trilogies. I must admit that I love Ireland as a setting for any book, but no one does it like NR. The close relationships - friends, family, neighbors are present, but not dominating the love story. I love it in romance when these relationships are at least acknowledged. In so many books the H/h have no one. No friends, no family. That is just not realistic.Darcy Gallagher wants the fine things in life, travel, fine clothing, and most of all a rich husband to provide them. She sounds rather mercenary but Darcy has a great heart for her family and friends. She just knows what she wants out of life and living forever in Ardmore isn't it.Trevor Mcgee has returned to Ardmore to build a music theater in partnership with the Gallaghers. His first look at Darcy has him wanting to find out more, a lot more, about her. His time in Ardmore is also about finding out more about his grandfather and why he left and never returned. Of course, he is staying at Fairie Hill Cottage and both Lady Gwen and Prince Carrick are talking to him. He is a man who thinks he doesn't have a heart and can't possibly fall in love. Darcy wants it all, fame, fortune and love. She is determined to have it all too.
—Anita
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1852745...the happily predestined couple fall in love at first sight (on page 24) and spend the book struggling only with each other's personalities (and their own) and exploring the troubling possibility that the family ghosts are pushing them together before deciding to ignore it. Every other character (ghosts included) wishes them well, so there is no external factor to make things interesting. The anthropologist-turned-barmaid from the first book gives birth at the end of this one, in a graphically described scene which rather gives the impression that she and the baby miraculously managed without a placenta - I know that's normal for births on film and TV, but hadn't realised it extended to fluffy romance novels too.
—Nicholas Whyte
I am a fan or Nora Roberts books, and tend to gobble them up when I get the chance. This was no different, the third in The Irish Trilogy series. I have not had the pleasure of reading the first two, this book can be read alone or as part of the series.Trevor Magee is building a theatre at the back of the Gallagher pub in a tiny Irish Village. He's come to find his roots and unknowingly the answers to his dreams. He finds he's come to build more than a stone structure.Darcy Gallagher runs the pub with her two brothers and its a place of Celtic traditions of music and hospitality. Darcy has expense and luxury on her wish list for life.The area is steeped in Irish Legend and Trevor is told the tale of Lady Gwen and Prince Carrick's tragic love. The place is full of Irish magic and I was drawn away from a cold wet January afternoon, to a place of lush greens, sea mists and enchantment. The pull of Ireland was strong because of the descriptions and details of the people and places.
—Rosie Amber
