Irish Meadows (Courage to Dream Book #1), by Susan Anne Mason
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Irish Meadows (Courage to Dream Book #1), by Susan Anne Mason
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1911, Long Island, New York Faced With an Uncertain Future, Sometimes All You Have Left Is the Courage to DreamBrianna and Colleen O'Leary know their Irish immigrant father expects them to marry well. Recently he's put even more pressure on them, insinuating that the very future of their Long Island horse farm, Irish Meadows, rests in their ability to land prosperous husbands. Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.Brianna, a quiet girl with a quick mind, dreams of attending college. Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry--as long as her father's choice meets her exacting standards of the ideal groom. When former stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from business school and distant relative Rylan Montgomery visits Long Island during his seminary training, the two men quickly complicate everyone's plans. As the farm slips ever closer to ruin, James O'Leary grows more desperate. It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to avoid being pawns in their father's machinations and instead follow their hearts. And even if they do, will they inevitably find their dreams too distant to reach?"Mason's Courage to Dream debut about the O'Leary sisters' love entanglements brings readers early American romance at its finest."--RT Book Reviews"This engaging debut is part historical romance, part family drama, and all about the power of faith and love to move mountains. The spirited O'Leary clan is well drawn and appealing, ready to band together during times of trouble. Mason's enjoyable read lays the groundwork for the next installment, which promises to be just as strong as the first."--Library Journal starred review
Irish Meadows (Courage to Dream Book #1), by Susan Anne Mason- Amazon Sales Rank: #149680 in eBooks
- Published on: 2015-06-30
- Released on: 2015-06-30
- Format: Kindle eBook
From the Back Cover 1911, Long Island, New York Faced With an Uncertain Future, Sometimes All You Have Left Is the Courage to DreamBrianna and Colleen O'Leary know their Irish immigrant father expects them to marry well. Recently he's put even more pressure on them, insinuating that the very future of their Long Island horse farm, Irish Meadows, rests in their ability to land prosperous husbands. Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.Brianna, a quiet girl with a quick mind, dreams of attending college. Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry--as long as her father's choice meets her exacting standards of the ideal groom. When former stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from business school and distant relative Rylan Montgomery visits Long Island during his seminary training, the two men quickly complicate everyone's plans. As the farm slips ever closer to ruin, James O'Leary grows more desperate. It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to avoid being pawns in their father's machinations and instead follow their hearts. And even if they do, will they inevitably find their dreams too distant to reach?"Mason's Courage to Dream debut about the O'Leary sisters' love entanglements brings readers early American romance at its finest."--RT Book Reviews"This engaging debut is part historical romance, part family drama, and all about the power of faith and love to move mountains. The spirited O'Leary clan is well drawn and appealing, ready to band together during times of trouble. Mason's enjoyable read lays the groundwork for the next installment, which promises to be just as strong as the first."--Library Journal starred review
About the Author Susan Anne Mason's debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA. A member of ACFW, as well, she lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children. She can be found online at www.susanannemason.com.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Mixed emotions. By luv2read Irish Meadows is the first book in Susan Anne Mason’s, The Courage to Dream series. This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Mason, so I had no idea what to expect. What I found satisfied, but didn’t go beyond that, as I always hope a book will. I didn’t “hate” this book, but it won’t be finding a place on my keeper shelf.Ms. Mason does an excellent job with the descriptions and historical details, but I actually found them overwhelming after a while. In her desire to bring the story to life and color it with words, it ended up leaving me with a sense of bombardment. While I really appreciated her descriptive wording and the imagery it provided, I found myself skimming over the seemingly unnecessary words toward the end. The historical detail is wonderfully done and I appreciated the research time Ms. Mason put into making the story historically accurate, even going so far as to include a letter at the end, noting her discrepancies and the literary license she’d taken.I have mixed emotions regarding the characters. This was an odd book for me, because I started out preferring one sister and then about half way through the story, I noticed that my affections had changed and I liked the other one better. That being said, I never really disliked either one. Both are interesting and well-rounded characters, though I rarely felt I connected with them. The story does come from Brianna’s perspective a little more often, but I actually found more depth in Colleen’s and felt I knew her better. I really liked both of the heroes. While very different characters, they both have all of the marks of great heroes. I honestly did have a preference, though I won’t share which, lest I affect your opinion before you read the book.I’m sorry to say that I found the spiritual side of the story rather lacking. Though prayer is touted often and God appears a key component, I didn’t see much change in Brianna or Gilbert. Colleen is definitely the redemptive story here and I loved watching her grow and change. That being said, we didn’t actually witness much of the transformation. It was almost like flipping a switch, the way her behavior changed. And though prayer is the often recommended method of working through problems, there was a lack of follow through. They may pray about an issue, but then they handle it themselves, without considering the consequences or God’s will until much later. Which, truth be told, is probably what we all do. I just wanted to see some instances of faith in action, rather than simply talking about it.The romance was interesting and wasn’t overwhelming, what with so many other things going on, but toward the end it simply felt drawn out. One couple had everything worked out (for the most part), but the other was still being pulled apart by slight misunderstandings. I found the lack of communication annoying and it definitely altered my opinion of that particular heroine. She seemed more and more self-centered and I found her very irritating. It was realistic for a while, but after about the fifth disagreement, it just became frustrating. I wanted someone to sit them down and tell them to work it out. I really wanted to skip the last twenty or so pages, but I had come so far, I didn’t want to give up then.If I’m being completely honest, I have to admit that my biggest point of discord with this story is the fact that it reminded me of a series by one of my favorite authors and that comparison undoubtedly ruined me for loving the book. So, anything I comment on, please, take with a grain of salt. This story is actually very little like the others, but there were just enough similarities for it to catch my attention and bother me for most of the book. The authors have very different writing styles and even with the major differences, my mind kept going back and forth, making it very difficult for me to really get into the story. I’m not sure there’s anything Ms. Mason could’ve done differently so that I wouldn’t have had that problem, short of changing the entire book.My parting opinion is this: I don’t regret the time I spent reading this book, though I am sorry I didn’t enjoy it more. I honestly doubt I will read the rest of this series, solely because of my comparison issue. I would recommend this book to those who love historical fiction and are looking for a unique read.I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review, which I have given. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. and a little disappointed, both in the publishers and in the author By Brooke Barenfanger Irish Meadows was by a newly published author named Susan Anne Mason. Honestly, I wanted to read it simply to see why Bethany House chose this book to be published. To tell the truth, I wasn’t all that impressed, and a little disappointed, both in the publishers and in the author. There were some good points. But it should take more than a solid plot to sell a book.Susan Anne Mason has published a few books before this one, but as she has never published with any major publishing company I had never heard of her before I saw this book. I like reading new authors to see what the publishers nowadays are particularly looking for. Irish Meadows was a good read. It kept me entertained since there always seemed to be something happening. I was never bored with it.The characters were all well-developed, Though I will say that some were perhaps a little too developed. Colleen and Brianna’s father had such a strong character, that he overshadowed and overpowered everybody else’s character somewhat. The plot was excellent. I really liked that the author interwove the love story of both Brianna and Colleen together.One thing I noticed even on the first page were the trite expressions the author used over and over and over again. I cringed with each one. Just a few expressions she used were, “as vivid green as the waving grass around them”, “as brightly as the sun beating down on his head”, “as strong as a lumberjack”, and “like a magnet, his gaze was drawn…”She literally had hundreds of overused similes! But then, I do read a lot, so maybe I just noticed it more than other people usually do. I was a little annoyed by the end of the book, though.Another thing that bothered me was, that though (spoiler alert) all the main characters reconciled themselves to God by the end, there was no mention of Jesus Christ or the saving blood He spilled for us. I believe the author may be Catholic, or wrote this from a Catholic viewpoint as there seems to be many Catholic overtones throughout the book. If someone unsaved read this book, he would not be saved by the end of it. The blood of Jesus is the only way a person may be redeemed. It is sad to me that supposedly Christian books are being published without preaching Christ.Though this book was an entertaining read, I don’t believe I’ll be reading anything else by this author in the future. The type of books she writes just isn’t for me. Not because it isn't entertaining, but because I feel as though I've read it before.I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.**I received a review copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers, for my honest opinion, which I have given. The opinions expressed in this novel are mine and mine alone.**
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Disappointed by the Content By Stephanie Warren I recently read Irish Meadows, Ms. Susan Anne Mason’s debut novel. Irish Meadows is the first in Ms. Mason’s Courage to Dream series. The book follows Brianna and Colleen O’Leary, two daughters of an Irish immigrant. Most of the book is set in a New York horse farm named Irish Meadows. Brianna is a quiet college hopeful whose feelings for former stable hand, Gilbert Whelan, are reawakened by his return to the farm. Colleen is a flirtatious beauty who develops feelings, surprisingly, for an aspiring priest named Rylan Montgomery.Meanwhile, the girls’ desperate and diabolical father, James O’Leary, is planning financially advantageous marriages for both of his daughters. Can Colleen and Brianna escape unhappy marriages? Or will their father save his business by ruining his daughters’ lives?I have mixed feelings about Irish Meadows. I thought it was well written; I wouldn’t have guessed it was the author’s first book if I hadn’t already known. Ms. Mason has a talent for guiding the readers’ emotions. When the characters were happy or guilty or sad, I was happy or guilty or sad. She really conveyed the characters’ emotions in a relatable way.But I had a lot more trouble relating to the characters themselves. Only one out of the four main characters was truly likable. Brianna O’Leary started out as a mouse who was terrified of expressing herself to her father, and ended up stubborn, rebellious, and feministic. Her love interest, Gilbert Whelan, was likable enough at first but quickly showed himself to be a weak-willed wimp of a man who wouldn’t live up to his own integrity.Colleen O’Leary was a bit better than Brianna or Gilbert, but it was still hard to understand her or relate to her. Colleen started out as a manipulative, shallow flirt. We learned that she’d been hurt by someone at a young age and that gave me a little more compassion for her. After she develops a relationship with God she drastically changes. Of course God changes people, but the change was so sudden and extreme that I had a hard time buying it. Maybe Ms. Mason will develop Colleen’s changes in character a little more in the next book. The fourth and final main character was my favorite. Rylan Montgomery, Colleen’s love interest, is an aspiring priest. This presents obvious problems for their relationship. Rylan is a man who truly loves God and who is really likable, without being boring. A true Irish gentleman.On the whole, though, I was disappointed with the characters. They were extremely imperfect. The upside to that is that God’s forgiveness was highlighted. The downside is that it isn’t very easy to route for such unlikable people. I wanted a hero (or heroine) and I didn’t really find one.I also didn’t enjoy the romantic process in the novel. The romantic aspect wasn’t how the characters fall in love so much as how much conflict surrounds their love affairs. Instead of enjoying the process of two people falling in love I had to endure what felt like one long lovers’ quarrel. There was more fighting and drama between the lovers than there was tenderness and joy. Having the drama so drawn out was a little stressful.Though there were things I enjoyed in Irish Meadows, the overall experience was pretty disappointing. I would have liked more Irish culture and more likable characters, and less drama and conflict between people who supposedly love each other.*I received a free copy of this book to honestly review it.
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