Monday, July 25, 2011

Book Review - Haunting Beauty by Erin Quinn

Book Review by Shannan Albright

Haunting Beauty Book 1 of the Mists of Ireland

By Erin Quinn

From Berkley Sensation

Blurb:

Danni always believed she was an abandoned child. Then the seductive Sean Ballogh appears out of nowhere with a startling story challenging everything Danni thought was true. He claims that Danni's family has been searching for her ever since she disappeared twenty years ago. He's come to bring her home to Ireland. Now, Danni must rewrite history to save her family, to fight a force more evil than she ever imagined, and to reunite herself with the man she was destined for-or risk living forever in time as nothing more than an ethereal memory, a tragic and haunting beauty.

Review:

How many of us wished we could go back at some point in our lives? What would you give for the ability to change an outcome, mistake, something which shadowed your life? Danni Jones believes she has been abandoned by her mother, living in Phoenix, Arizona she is alone, being clairvoyant only adds to her feeling of isolation. For Danni sees visions where past, present and future merge and a man holds her destiny in his hands.

Darkly seductive Sean Ballagh comes to Phoenix to bring her back to Ireland and into a family who spent the last twenty years searching for her. Danni senses there is much more to Sean’s sudden appearance in her life, more even than Sean is aware of. Soon the two find themselves thrown into a tragic past which only Danni can change. With their lives on the line can she alter the past and give them the future they were meant to have?

Haunting Beauty is a book that stayed with me long after reading the last page. Her world where one can met oneself and change the past was rich in detail and through her world building made it plausible. From the first page she drew me in with characters that haunted your imagination and stole your heart. The plot is a brilliant balance of love, loss, betrayal and sacrifice. The romance between Danni and Sean was unforgettable and poignant. Their passion and love reminded me why I read and write romances.

I had the pleasure of meeting Erin Quinn in June at the Arizona Dreamin Romance Reader Event. I had just grabbed up one of her Mist of Ireland books in the hopes of having her sign it later that day when she entered the bookstore. Now you must understand I have been a fan of hers for quite awhile now and to have her standing quite suddenly right beside me was quite a shock. With a voice that shook like the San Andreas Fault just spit wide open I introduced myself to her.

Thinking back on it I cringe at the image I must have made telling her I was a huge fan of hers. Images of Steven King’s Misery flashed through my mind and I groaned inwardly and yet, she seemed not to notice at all and seemed happy to meet me. I found her to be gracious, intelligent and warm. Throughout the day and into the evening I would bump into her just long enough to get a few thoughts and hopes she had on her Mist of Ireland series and agreed to be interviewed for Digital Digest. The interview will go up July 29th.

My next review will be in August and will cover her second book in this series Haunted Warrior. Pick up her books and get lost in the Mists of Ireland.

Her fourth book Haunting Embrace is due out October 2011 and I hope many more to come.

Four Clovers ~ I gave this my highest rating. The book stayed with me years after reading it and found myself searching the web and her blog for future installments.

~Shannan Albright~

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