Series: Irish Trilogy (Book 2)
Destined To Rule
Banished from her home, Fionna O'Donnel is powerless to
intervene when mercenary English knight Raymond DeClare is awarded GleannTaise
Castle. An outcast among her clan and her gift of enchantment feared, Fionna
cannot stand idly by as her people come to harm at the hands of a man whose
life she once saved--a man who holds her kin's destiny beneath his sword while
offering dangerous temptation with his searing kisses...
Bewitched By Desire
The cost of DeClare's reward for valiant combat is
twofold--he must safeguard GleannTaise, and take an Irish bride. Yet he can do
neither with Fionna's bewitching presence haunting him at every turn--and he
will not accept her faith in magick to restore the castle to its former glory.
But as passion burns like a flame between them, the cloak of Fionna's secrets
and shame is torn away, and DeClare must choose between the dictates of pride
and the love of a woman who has enchanted his heart...
Terrific book. I loved the inclusion of the Old Ways of
Ireland, bits of its magical past, and the respect that the author shows it
all. Fionna is the daughter of the previous holder of GleannTaise Castle. Ten
years earlier, she was banished from her home after falling in love and using
her magick in ways that were against the rules. At the same time, a curse fell
over the land, causing the earth to wither and a perpetual cloud to cover it.
I ached for Fionna, who loves her people and her home.
Because of the banishment, she is an outcast among them, even when she uses her
healing abilities to help them. She has a five-year-old daughter, Sinead, who
is being raised by friends because Fionna fears what would happen if people
knew Sinead was hers. To further complicate matters, the English king gave her
home to one of his knights, the very one whose life she saved years earlier. She
never forgot him or the feelings he stirred in her.
Raymond is appreciative of his reward from the king, but
the headaches it causes are countless. He was ordered to restore the castle and
prepare for its defense. He was also commanded to take an Irish bride to cement
his position. Marriage is the last thing on his mind while the castle is in
disarray, and it is about to move even further down the list.
I loved the first meeting here of Raymond and Fionna. To
protect some children from being run down by galloping horses, she used her
magick to stop them, causing one rider to fall off. That rider was Raymond, who
was furious at what she did. She is equally angry at what she sees as his
recklessness and doesn't hold back as she tells him so. It doesn't take long
for him to recognize her as the one who saved his life, and also remember her
claim of being a witch. Raymond doesn't believe in magick and holds a
"witch" responsible for his mother's death. But neither can deny the
sparks that fly between them.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Fionna
and Raymond. It is a stormy one, as Raymond refuses to admit to the reality of
what she is, and Fiona will not give herself to someone who will not accept her
as she is. Raymond's refusal to believe in magick and the old ways puts him at
odds with the people as he rides roughshod over their traditions. Fionna tries
to show him the error of his ways, but he refuses to see what is in front of
him. I enjoyed their confrontations, even though I frequently wanted to shake
him for being so stubborn. I had to laugh when one of his knights arranged for
the arrival of a bunch of potential brides, and Raymond found himself hunted
from morning until night.
Then the sentence of Fionna's banishment came to an end,
and she was able to enter the castle once again. I loved the effect she had on
everyone around her, as her natural leadership made a significant difference.
It was fun to watch Raymond fight against his feelings for Fionna, while she
tried to break through his stubborn refusal to admit the truth. I loved seeing
them finally come together and confess to their feelings. I especially loved
the side effects of their passion for each other and the reactions of those
around them.
However, fate does not make things easy for them. There
is someone out there who is wreaking havoc on Raymond's lands, destroying and
killing indiscriminately. The tension mounted throughout the book as the
attacks increased in frequency and viciousness. Matters come to a head when
both Sinead and Fionna are taken by an unforeseen enemy. I was on the edge of
my seat as Raymond raced to save them. An exciting twist provided help from an unexpected
source. The final confrontation was intense and emotional. The epilogue
provided a nice wrap-up for the book.
The secondary characters were as interesting as the main
ones. Fionna's daughter, Sinead, tops the list. Even though she is only five,
it is evident that she has inherited her mother's abilities. She is sweet and
loving, but also mischievous and impulsive, which gets her into frequent
trouble. She also wiggled her way into Raymond's heart, and there were some
adorable scenes between the two of them. Fionna's cousin Connal is also the son
of Raymond's best friend. He comes to Raymond for fostering, anxious to become a
squire, then a knight. Connal is big for his age but still young and frustrated
by Raymond's refusal to start his training immediately. Connal also finds
himself the subject of Sinead's adoration. The last thing a twelve-year-old boy
wants is a little girl tagging after him, and their confrontations are highly
amusing. Raymond's knights all have their unique places. Alec ended up in hot
water because of the whole bride thing, but he was always there to back Raymond
up when necessary. Nikolai was an interesting character. A prince of Kiev, but
with no homeland any longer, he has a fair amount of pride. I loved his
interactions with one of the potential brides and how that worked out for him
later.
It wasn't until I was well into this book that I
discovered it was the second book in a trilogy. I have already ordered the
other two books and can't wait to read them. The first is the story of Fionna's
friend Siobhan and the knight that Raymond worked for. There are things
referred to in this book that occurred in the first book, so I am anxious to
read the backstory. I am especially looking forward to the third book, which is
the story of Connal and Sinead and seems to be as wild a story as this one was.
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