Alaina Ryan lives with her father in Virginia in the post Civil War years. Her father is very sick and wants to return to his home country of Ireland to see the place one more time before he dies and he wants to be buried there also. Her mother and older brother are dead and her remaining brother is married with a family of his own, so Alaina will travel with him to Ireland. She has no idea until they get on the boat that her father wants her to marry the son of his best childhood friend. The thought of being married to a stranger is absolutely terrifying to Alaina especially considering her past encounters with a man about which her father knows nothing. She is attracted to the man when he meets them at the dock, but luckily he has decided that he doesn’t want to be married. This should set her mind at ease but for some strange reason she wants to get to know him better. Will these two young people ever admit that their fathers were right in betrothing them to one another?

Torin O’Brien didn’t mind going to the dock to meet Patrick and Alaina Ryan but he dreaded what came next. Torin has decided that he will never marry, and he will have to tell Patrick his decision, along with explaining it to Alaina. After being accused of throwing his first love off of the cliffs into the sea and having half of the town think that he is a murderer, he just can’t forgive himself and go on with his life. Being found innocent of the murder charges only helped so much in his grieving process. He is very attracted to Alaina and fights the magnetism that draws them together. He explains to her why he doesn’t want to get married but like her the attraction increases, and they begin to wonder if their fathers weren’t the smartest people in the world by betrothing them.

Meg Allison is a wonderful author and she made me fall in love with the characters in this book as well as with the country of Ireland. From the roughness of the rocks to feeling the sea spray on my face, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the beautiful countryside. Alaina and Torin both have fears that they must get over before this story can have a happy ending. Alaina’s fear was only hinted at but the scene in which she tells Torin what happened to her is one of the most heart wrenching scenes in a book that I’ve ever read. The mystery as to who killed the woman that Torin was accused of killing is part of the storyline throughout the entire book. I just knew that I had the culprit figured out, but I was so wrong so if you love a good mystery you definitely need to read this book. A great job, Ms. Allison!

Reviewed by: Missy