Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Hearts in Ireland
SERIES: World of Love
AUTHOR: J.C. Long
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 119 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2017
BLURB:
When the future is shrouded and it’s hard to find direction, maybe it’s time to let the heart lead the way….
Ronan Walker stands at a crossroads, unsure how to pursue his education… unsure if he even wants to. Now that his mother is gone, all he has left are the wonderful stories of her youth in Ireland, and he’s drawn to the land of his ancestors. There, he seeks out his mother’s family and meets Fergal Walsh, who works at Ronan’s aunt’s bookstore. A love of literature facilitates a fast friendship between the two men, and even though Ronan cannot deny the potential—and his desire—for more, he cannot see a future for the two of them when he leaves Ireland. Fergal must persuade Ronan to give school in Dublin a chance—and convince Ronan that his heart has already found its home.
World of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the globe.
REVIEW:
Still reeling from the death of his mother and in serious need of an escape, Ronan decides to do the one thing he and his mother had always meant to do: go to Ireland. Reconnecting with family is one goal of the trip but getting the chance to see the country that his mother loved so much and spent so much time talking about is the real draw for Ronan. Maybe somewhere amongst the rolling hills he’ll manage to find some peace for the heartache that continues to plague him as well. With his future uncertain, meeting Fergal Walsh is a blow to Ronan’s already bruised heart; the man makes Ronan want things he in no way thinks he can have and as the days turn into weeks, Fergal becomes more than just a friend. With Ronan’s impending return to the states, he’s afraid the Irishman is fast turning into the one thing he won’t be able to leave behind and he’ll have to choose what’s more important; returning to the home he left or staying with the one he’s found.
I’ve always enjoyed books that feature Ireland; the descriptions and imagery you get is really appealing and everything just seems so welcoming somehow. This was a really sweet story that starts off as a journey of healing for Ronan but ends up turning into the search for home. It takes him a while to start to move on from his mother’s death so things are fairly slow moving on the relationship front with Fergal but I really enjoyed the sweet nature of their interactions. I do, however, think an alternative title for this work should be ‘An Irishman’s guide to stealth dating an American’ since Fergal and Ronan were totally dating regardless of Ronan’s protestations otherwise. Despite the overall laid back nature of the story, there is a bit of personal drama on Ronan’s part as he fights with himself over what he wants to do versus what he thinks he needs to do that I liked seeing; it added a little more depth to Ronan as a person as he strove to work out and around his problems.
The story ends with a lovely little happy ending that was totally heartwarming and made me smile; this was just a really nice read and was a great way to de-stress. If you like your books without a lot of drama and are looking for something with a sweeter romantic element, I’d recommend checking this one out. 🙂
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
I love the photo… how many times have each of us stood at a crossroads and had to make a choice… and then years later looked back and wonder if we made the right one?