Books : Heart of the Sea (Gallaghers 3)

Rating: - A waste of time
Absolutely hated the book and myself for reading it till the end. Admittedly, I skipped quite a lot of it - just wanted to get to the end (which I knew anyway by page 6). Very very very annoying characters and hated the writing style. I can't even say it's good beach reading because all this will do is annoy you for wasting your time on a highly irritating book - which then might ruin your holiday.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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Rating: - Best book of the Trilogy
Darcy Gallagher has a yen, no, make that many yens: To travel, to live the high life and to find a man that can make this happen. In the meanwhile, she's content to make a living at the bar with her brothers, Aiden and Shaun.
Then, Trevor Macgee comes on the scene. He's a rich yank coming back to Ireland, to reclaim his roots, and to build a business venture with the Gallaghers at the same time. He's just as cynical as Darcy is, and both of them meet and decide to have a bit of fun, as it were.

The outcome is as expected, but there's an emotional maze from both parties to get there. This book has the sort of magic that Ms. Roberts seems to to be pulled towards nowadays (an Irish Faerie Prince and his love), and the sort of male/female archetypes that Ms. Roberts is fond of. Darcy is the 'simply female' girl, the one who knows what she's about, whereas Trevor is the guy with money who's all shades cool, cynical and remote.

I liked this book because the characters were really funny, spunky and lovely to know. It's a good read, and you don't need to read the other books to appreciate the scope of the tale.

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Rating: - Disappointing
As the third book in the trilogy - you have a pretty good idea how it's going to end before you even start reading. Because of that, I thought that the story should have been stronger.

Darcy is the last of the Gallagher siblings and this book is her story. Trevor Magee is the man responsible for building the theatre on the back of the pub and as soon as he sees Darcy he wants her, and for her the feeling is mutual. The story follows these two characters as their relationship develops and is, once again, intermingled with Carrick and Lady Gwen. For me, I felt that more should have been made at the end of the story about Carrick and his love, but Roberts only devoted a single line to them which I found disappointing.
I can't say I didn't enjoy the book, I did - I just felt that it could have been so much more. I'm glad I read it but won't be in a hurry to re-read.

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Rating: - I want to live in Ardmore!
I bought this trilogy on a whim which certainly paid off! I am a fan of Nora Roberts (including her J D Robb series) and thought I would give this a try, a little light reading for the train journey to work - however it pulled me right into the story. I didn't want to leave the train, I wanted to stay there all day just so that I could read about Aidan, Shaun and Darcy and their exploits at Gallaghers, their pub. Having visited Dublin many moons ago, I could totally relate to the lively atmosphere in the pub and the spontaneous bursts of song that seem to be an every day part of life in Ireland. A definite buy for those who want to escape into the realm of faeries and magic!

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Rating: - don't be put off by discouraging reviews
Darcy may seem to be the least likeable of the Gallaghers, but she has a bigger heart than she gives herself credit for, as she discovers when Trevor Magee brings a breath of New York to the quiet Irish scene.
How the "ambitious and mercenary" Darcy and the "efficient businessman" Trevor cope with finding that they are capable of love after all - and with the added complication of Prince Carrick, impatient to be free of his own 300 year old spell - makes an entertaining and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I agree that it is not among the author's more exciting books, (some of them are rather too exciting for me!), but even in her gentler moods she has a special talent for blending passion with humour, and the mundane with the unexpected. Her decriptive passages are also well worth a second reading. (This brings the score to two disappointed reviews and two enthusiastic ones - It'll be interesting to see which way any further reviews go!!)