Tag Archives: romances set in ireland

8 romances in ireland

8 Irish Romances Set in the Emerald Isle

8 romances in ireland

Our List of Irish Historical Romances to Read

As it is St. Patrick’s Day, we thought you might be in the mood for something a little bit Irish. These eight old-school historical romances are set on the Emerald Isle.

Most of these are available to read on Kindle or e-reader. The links are provided in the text description.

Some of these books we have read and enjoyed ourselves very much. Others are on our to-be-read list and have great reviews.

We’ll be reading Irish romances on March 17. Whatever way you spend your day, spend it doing something you love!

THE HONOR PRICE by ERIN YORKE

honor price george jones
The Honor Price, Erin Yorke, Harlequin, 1997, cover artist TBD HH #239

Alanna O’Donnell…Lucas had named her his Irish witch. For, with hair the color of the sun and eyes as blue as the sky, she had bedazzled him beyond imagining. Making him forget that she tore his heart asunder between duty and desire.

Lucas del Fuentes…Alanna’s golden Spaniard had come to Ireland with the once mighty armada. But though the fates had brought him, they could also steal him back, for Lucas held an oath to king and country that might yet prove stronger than the tumultuous love that flamed between them.

ROSE OF THE MISTS by LAURA PARKER

rose of the mists mcginnis

She Met Him Where the Reeds Bend…

He was the most beautiful man Meghan had ever seen… and she watched him, young, naked, and magnificent, bathing in the still waters of a crystal pool and the gold and green light of a summer afternoon in the Irish wilds. She loved him from that moment on and for all eternity, even though love was forbidden to her.

For Meghan was considered a changeling, a witch, marked as she was with the rose-colored spot on her cheek. And little could she dream that what once cursed her would bring her a glorious destiny — and the passion of the stranger she so wantonly desired.

THE MIST AND THE MAGIC (aka THE MAIDEN OF IRELAND) by SUSAN WIGGS

(Republished for Kindle as THE MAIDEN OF IRELAND)

the-maiden-of-ireland

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs sweeps readers away to the misty coast of Ireland in an irresistible tale of falling in love with the enemy… 

THE MIST

Caitlin MacBride, the mistress of the beleaguered Irish stronghold Clonmir, made a wish one evening at sunset. “Send me my true love,” she whispered.

THE MAGIC

As she watched, a man walked out of the mist that rolled in off the water. In John Wesley Hawkins, Caitlin saw a magic she thought had been lost to Ireland forever.

THE MIST AND THE MAGIC

Though Wesley was sent by the English to seduce the lovely Caitlin and discover the secrets of Clonmuir, her beauty and fierce spirit mesmerized him. Each time he touched her, he came closer to defying those who’d sent him.

FORBIDDEN LOVE by KAREN ROBARDS

forbidden-love-karen-robards

Forbidden Desires…

He was her guardian, absentee landlord of her neglected life–until Megan Kinkead returned to Maam’s Cross Court, determined to make Justin Brant notice her.  She finally commanded the attention of the sixth Earl of Weston when she burst into his room and caught him stark naked in the tub.  Suddenly she knew a woman’s hunger–and a woman’s needs….

Forbidden Kisses…

When had the scrawny brat from hell become a fiery, raven-haired, violet-eyed temptress?  Justin told himself she was still a child as she offered him a seductive yet innocent kiss.  He tried to remind himself that he was her guardian, her protector.  But the flashfire desire that blazed between them ignited a love neither had ever known before.  Then he told her he was married….

Forbidden Secrets…Bestselling, award-winning author Karen Robards sweeps us into Ireland’s lush landscape in this spellbinding novel of a headstrong young beauty and her aristocratic guardian, torn between passion, propriety, and…Forbidden Love.

EMERALD DESIRE by LYNETTE VINET

emerald-desire
emerald desire

She was married to another man and had promised fidelity, but her body honored no such promise. . .

As wild and beautiful as the Irish countryside, Dera Brennan knew from the first that Quint Flannery was the only man she would ever love. Ignoring her family’s warnings, she gave herself to Quint with passionate abandon. He was hers and hers alone until she found him in another woman’s arms.

To spite her faithless lover, Dera impetuously married Lord Fairfax, an imperious English aristocrat and Quint’s enemy. Yet even separated from Quint by a vast chasm of wealth and privilege, Dera yearned for his hungry, punishing kisses. Not even the cold brilliance of diamonds could quench a desire burning with emerald-bright intensity.

THE HIGHWAYMAN (aka LADY SELBY’S LOVER) by DOREEN OWENS MALEK

highwayman diane sivavec
The Highwayman, Doreen Owens Malek, Diane Sivavec cover art

(Republished on Kindle as LADY SELBY’S LOVER)

 LADY SELBY's LOVER

THE NOBLEWOMAN AND THE IRISH PATRIOT

It was a bold and perilous plan—disguising herself as a boy and stealing aboard a ship bound for the far-off shores of Ireland. But from the moment orphaned Lady Alexandra Cummings arrived at besieged Inverary Castle, her life and heart were no longer her own. Captured by rugged Irish rebel Kevin Burke, the daring English noblewoman became a pawn in a dangerous game of treachery and betrayal.

For she lost her heart to the one man she dared not trust, and her passion could not be swayed by reason. But cruel fate tragically plunged Kevin into exile and Alexandra into a loveless marriage. Enemies and lovers, their forbidden desires swept them across a divided realm. A man and a woman bound together pledged their lives toward liberty and love.

Highland Fire by Ruth Langan

highland fire ireland
Highland Fire, Ruth Langan, Harlequin, 191 George H. Jones cover art

A Scottish Tempest (in Ireland)
Kieran O’Mara had never seen a female wield a sword with the skill and determination of the Scottish lass he knew only as Megan. No other woman had ever touched him with such fire, yet until she regained her memory, he could not claim her heart.

Though Megan MacAlpin had fallen in love with Kieran O’Mara, the fierce Irish warrior who had saved her from certain death, she could not tell him. For she was a stranger even to herself, and she would not rest until she knew that she was, indeed, a woman worthy of his love.

NIGHTWYLDE (later published as BLACK FALCON’S LADY) BY KIMBERLY CATES

Nightwylde, Kimberleigh Caitlin, Berkley Books, 1988 cover artist TBD

A Passion As Hauntingly Beautiful As An Irish Ballad

A country torn by the flames of rebellion, Ireland held the destiny of Maryssa Wylder—a woman scorned for her willful spirit and banished from the social whirl of London.

A Love As Tender And Sweet As The Moonlight

A gentle, kind, and handsome man, Tade Kilcannon touched Maryssa’s heart with his glorious dreams of freedom—and his penetrating gaze.

A Desire As Fierce As A Raging Storm

A rival to her love, a masked patriot known only as the Black Falcon aroused a burning passion in Maryssa unlike any she had ever known—a smoldering sensuality that could not be denied. Soon, her life, her heart, and her soul were trapped in a web of intrigue—and torn by her wildest, deepest longings…

(Later published as Black Falcon’s Lady, Kimberly Cates)

Black Falcon's Lady, Kimberly Cates,
Black Falcon’s Lady, Kimberly Cates, Kindle Scribe

More Irish Romances Coming in the Future

We’ll update the site with more pages, including a page for romance settings. There’ll be a section dedicated to Irish romances, so be on the lookout for that in the future.

irish romances
Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Your Opinion

Did your favorite Irish romance make it to our list? What romances set in Ireland have you read and enjoyed?

Please, drop a comment, and let’s talk romance.

stormfire pino

Historical Romance Review: Stormfire by Christine Monson

historical romance review
Stormfire by Christine Monson
Rating: five-stars
Published: 1984
Illustrator: Pino
Published by: Avon
Genres: Historical Romance, Bodice Ripper, Napoleonic Era Romance, Regency Era Romance
Pages: 568
Format: Paperback
Buy on: AmazonAbeBooks
Reviewed by: Introvert Reader


Historical Romance Review: Stormfire by Christine Monson

MILD SPOILERS 😉

The Book

So, after a couple of decades of reading romance, in the early 2010s, I finally got around to Stormfire by the late Christine Monson.

Whew! They do not write them like this anymore. The ultimate in bodice-ripping, Stormfire, is a tale of two mentally unstable people and their violent, intense love. And it’s great!

The Most Controversial Bodice Ripper Ever?

The main attraction of Stormfire is its writing. If it were a poorly authored book, no one would still be talking about it 30-plus years after it was published.

The chapters each have titles such as “Silken Irons,” “Into Eden,” or “The Nadir.”

When Lady Catherine Elderly meets her captor, Sean Culhane, her first thoughts are of Milton’s poetry: 

“His form had not yet lost

All his original brightness, nor appeared

Less than Archangel ruined…” 

PARADISE LOST, JOHN MILTON

The prose is evocative and compelling, but not purple. We agonize over Catherine’s enslavement; we feel the angry passion between the lovers; we grieve Catherine’s loss and suffer from Sean’s torture.

How much misery can two people take?

There is an intense love/hate dynamic between the main characters that is the stuff of legends.

I wish writers of historical romances today wrote like this. Not necessarily the same plot lines, but with action and intensity that doesn’t delve into vulgarity.

To be honest, I wasn’t comfortable with a lot of things in the book. Regardless, Stormfire is enthralling. Even those who hate this book can’t say it’s boring.

The Plot

Sean Culhane kidnaps Catherine, the daughter of a British lord, seeking vengeance for wrongs committed against his people.

He keeps Catherine captive in his estate in Ireland, where he doesn’t hesitate to rape her before sending Catherine’s bloodied undergarments to her father.

While Catherine is an innocent pawn, she is not weak. She’s a fighter who will meet Sean’s cruelties with a will of iron.

You will not believe what these two go through, what they do to each other, or what they do to others. It’s incredible, but as I said, it’s Monson’s compelling skill at writing that makes this book so special.

His spirit, like the lonely, windswept sea, was ever-restless, ever-changing, sometimes howling down to savage the unyielding land, then caressing it with a lulling embrace, inevitably wearing away its resistance.

Then again, maybe I’m a sicko because I like the plot. Yes, it’s epic and melodramatic. There’s everything but the kitchen sink. That includes: kidnapping, rape, starvation, forced slavery, multiple marriages, miscarriage, insanity, beatings, brothers fighting for the same woman, incest, castration, forcible sodomy, murder…

So much happens here!

Perhaps it’s a bit too much in the last quarter, as Sean and Catherine needed some moments together introspecting rather than acting.

Final Analysis of Stormfire

There are many detractors of Christine Monson’s controversial bodice ripper. In its defense, I say this: Stormfire isn’t supposed to be a sweet romance. It’s an old-school historical romance novel, a bodice ripper, and I use the term with great affection.

It’s a fantasy.

A dark one, definitely. Then again, so too are the vampire, werewolf, bestiality, BDSM, step-dad/ stepbrother kink, and ménage fantasies of today. Books like Stormfire present a different kind of fantasy, where the most tremendous hate can transform into love.

Would this relationship work in real life? Probably not. That’s why it’s make-believe.

Stormfire is entertaining, emotional, and unforgettable. It falters a bit towards the end, so it’s not perfect.

This is not the best romance novel ever written, but for me, it’s up there.

5 Stars

Rating Report Card
Plot
4.5
Characters
5
Writing
5
Chemistry
4
Fun Factor
4.5
Cover
5
Overall: 4.7

Synopsis

Abducted on her way to boarding school, a terrified Catherine Enderly was brought from England to the coast of Ireland, the prisoner of the angry and powerful young Sean Culhane—a man sworn to vengeance against her family.

Frightened but defiant, the young countess met her captor with a strength that belied her fragile loveliness. But even as Sean vowed to have his revenge on Catherine, with each encounter he became more attracted to her. Her fiery innocence was a seduction that lured the passions of long smoldering hostility into a blazing inferno of desire.

Locked in a love-hate duel, he did not suspect that the captivating beauty who fought him with such tenacity was struggling desperately against her own awakened desires, and that his touch had become the burning reminder that the fierce hatred she felt for him had become an all-consuming love.

STORMFIRE by CHRISTINE MONSON

Download or Read Online at Book Vooks: Stormfire PDF Book by Christine Monson (1984)