Ballycroy (Pirate Queen #3) Jennifer Rose McMahon

Jennifer Rose
McMahon
Genre: 
Other

TIME TRAVEL/FANTASY:  Maeve has been haunted by visions of the clan chief from the 1500s for her whole life and has recently been named the current clan leader. With her hallucinations taking on a new tone and actually transporting her to her tribe’s past she must make several large decisions quickly. Discovering that not only the fate of her own kinsfolk but also neighboring ones are in her hands adds to her mounting stress and worry, making her question her own worth, importance, and just how she’s meant to pull all the pieces back together. Fighting her heart and her mind, she makes the decision to travel back in time once again, knowing it would be her last — and surprising herself with the results.

This rare novel sweeps one off their couch and plunges them into Ireland with a force of endearing, individualistic characters that happily take a hand to guide the audience through the lives in the narration. It manages to thoroughly engage all five senses making it difficult to remember it is merely a story. The book itself is part of a trilogy, however, it is written in a way that minimizes confusion if read on its own. The accents are portrayed well and accurately to the extent that when one character is agitated his speech patterns become more pronounced. The storyline is slightly convoluted, but it adds to the tale’s charm rather than detract from it. Several surprises are woven throughout which cause involuntary gasps, tears, and cheers, which makes it hard when the end inevitably arrives; it feels like saying good-bye to beloved family.

Yannie Sorensen