THE IRISH KEY

MY THOUGHTS:

Grace remembers her grandmother Caitlin and her beautiful Irish cottage, as if it was yesterday.  On Grace’s wedding day, she was given a key to the cottage, just in case she was ever in need of an escape or a secret safe place.  She never expected to use it or need it.  But, as life would have it Grace needs a fresh start for not just her but also her daughter Olivia.  She returns to the beautiful Irish coast with its breath taking views and amazing deep emerald sea.  However, when she arrives at the cottage, the dilapidated condition is not what she expected and not the way she remembered it to be.  

She feels at home in Roone Bay, and she decides to fix up the cottage and make it livable and a perfect little place for herself and Olivia.  She realizes it’s too far gone and she can’t bring it back to life on her own.  She soon meets her new neighbor Sean Murphy, who happens to be a carpenter.  He decides to help her restore the cottage but as they are rummaging through the cottage, Grace uncovers some things about her family history, that she never knew.  When she finds a letter addressed to her grandmother Caitlin, that explains why she left Ireland all those years ago and never returned.  

This wonderfully written story of family, friendship, and filled with hope of what is yet to come.   I really enjoyed the flow of the story and it kept me flying through the pages.  The characters, Grace and Olivia, were lovely to read about and I really enjoyed the family’s secret mystery.  This story reinforces that strangers can become friends and family though acts of kindness.  An important aspect to never give up hope in others.  Daisy O’Shea is a new to me author and I look forward to reading mor of her stories.  She has such a wonderful way of pulling the reader in to the story and not letting go.  I felt like I was standing on the shores of Roone Bay and enjoying the beautiful emerald sea.  I highly recommend this story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION:

THE IRISH KEY
Author:  Daisy O’Shea

Publisher:  Bookouture

Publication Date: April 24, 2024 
Pages: 301 
Buy on Amazon

‘Take the key, my pet. I can’t ever go back. The last letter I had from Ireland was clear about that. But one day you may need a safe haven, and it’s the one thing I can give you. Ireland is in your blood, it will keep you safe.’

When Grace arrives tired, tearful and rain-soaked in Roone Bay, the little Irish village where her grandmother Caitlin grew up, she is overwhelmed with longing for Caitlin’s safe, warm arms. The crumbling wreck of Caitlin’s once-beautiful childhood cottage – whose key Grace was given on her wedding day as a secret refuge if she ever needed it – is not the fresh start she’d hoped for. But with her young daughter Olivia to look after and a painful past to hide from, Grace has to stay strong.

Plucking up the courage to ask for help from her kind new neighbours – including quietly rugged carpenter Sean Murphy – Grace gets to work making the house habitable. Soon the view of the deep emerald sea has her captivated, Olivia is blossoming, and Sean makes her laugh in a way she’d forgotten she could…

As she learns more about her family history, with Sean by her side, Grace’s curiosity unearths only further mystery. What drove Caitlin away from Ireland, never to return? But when Grace uncovers a long-lost letter to Caitlin that reveals the heartbreaking truth, she is suddenly threatened by her own devastating secrets.

Grace may have finally found a home for her little family. But when faced with everything she ran from, will the past tear her apart once more? Or will Grace find the strength to stand up for her daughter, her love for Sean, and her new life in Ireland?

ABOUT daisy o’shea

Sue Lewando was a teacher for several years before migrating to the office environment, where she was PA to the Treasurer of Clarks Shoes, a multi-national company, then, briefly, PA to Susan George, the actress best known for Straw Dogs. Sue had many genre books published (M&B and Virgin), under pseudonyms, and self-publishes her crime thrillers. She was on the committee of the Romantic Novelists’ Association in England, for whom she assessed typescripts. She has been a fiction tutor for the London School of Journalism for twenty years. She has two grown-up children, a happy second marriage, and a bundle of cats and dogs. She moved to West Cork with her husband to undertake a farmhouse refurbishment project, foster their joint passion for playing Irish traditional music, and to invest time in their individual academic projects. She recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at UCC, taking the opportunity to explore diverse writing genres. She works with the Jeremy Murphy Literary Consultancy in the capacity of typescript analyst, ghostwriter, editor, and online publishing advisor. She loves good commercial fiction, and is a devotee of the Oxford comma.

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