My life has revolved around the two things I’ve always loved: whiskey and rugby. Now the marriage clause in my Da’s will has me putting both on the back burner if I want to save the Murphy’s Pub empire and find a wife. As the last brother to get married, I need a little help, and that’s where my sister-in-law’s American best friend, Leah, comes into the picture. She could use a little Irish luck … Irish luck after the deceitful things her ex did to her that brought her to Ireland. With her take-no-shite-attitude, she’s just the type of girl to help me find a wife.
That is, if I can remember she’s the matchmaker and not the match.
Each book in the Murphy Brothers series is STANDALONE:
* Straight Up Irish
* Irish on the Rocks
* Dirty Irish
more
4 Stars
Review by Leah
Late Night Reviewer
Up All Night w/ Books Blog
Ok, I may be a bit biased here because how many times do you get to read yourself into a book, HA! Bonus is a freaking hotty Irish rugby player. Dirty Irish by Megan Vernon is a sweet read. A romance you can see a mile away even though they cannot and you cannot say anything.
Sean Murphy has less than a year to get married, thanks to dear ol’ dad. Due to his Rugby schedule, dating is a little hard. Finding a wide, even harder. Add to that the fact that he just got dumped by his latest girlfriend Sean is at a loss as to where to look to find someone who is marriage material. Who will deal with his crazy schedule? Heck, who will deal with him, lol. Walking out of a restaurant, he sees Leah, his sister-in-law’s best friend, working in one of his families pubs. Things could get interesting….
Moving to Ireland from the US, Leah is ready for a new start after a disastrous breakup with her cheating ex. The dynamic between Sean and Leah, in the beginning, was perfect. The playful and flirty Sean knowing she is not interested but still uses his best moves type of relationship. Once he hires Leah on to find his “future wife” it almost becomes whiplash of hot and cold. I get it in a way, Leah trying to stay professional around a hottie knowing he needs to be married within the year. Which is the last thing on Leah’s mind, much less even a boyfriend. The chemistry when it is there is hot. Then the professional blinders pop up and you just growl at the book because you know in the end they end up together. The whole cat and mouse game runs rampant.
But, in the end, you get your HEA. Leah gets her Dirty Irish.
Dirty Irish by Magan Vernon is book Three in the Murphy Brothers Series. This is the story of Sean Murphy and Leah Harlowe. I haven’t yet read the previous books, so for me this was a standalone book.
Leah had to start fresh after breakup of her personal and businesslike. Sean’s father had put in a clause in his will that him and his brother must marry to keep the Murphy’s Pub empire. Now being the last brother standing he needs to find his wife. Leah takes the job to work for him and to help him find that women that will fit his needs. But the more they look toward finding someone, the more it starting to look closer to home.
Well here we are as the last of the Murphy brothers, sexy Sean, looks to find his HEA. I really enjoyed this story! It is a nice, light read with a wonderful balance of humor, heart and steam. Sean is conflicted because while his rugby career consumes him, and he loves it, he also knows what he must do to help he and his brothers secure their legacy. But he is only 23 and the hard thing for him is that because he has been so busy with rugby, he hasn’t left much time for other things like dating or finding someone to settle down with. Enter Leah, Fallon’s friend who is now living in Dublin and is a bartender at Murphy’s. Sean hires her to be his personal assistant and find him dates so he can find a wife. Sounds easy enough right? Problem is they are attracted to each other and have been since they first met. This makes for a fun and entertaining story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC
I absolutely loved this book! Leah & Sean’s inner dialogue, as well as their banter, was absolutely hilarious!! This book was raw, emotional, passionate, realistic, heart, and humor it is an absolute must read. Overall, it was amazing & will tug at your heartsrings. Elizabeth Klett & Richard Sawyer do a wonderful job portraying & bringing the characters to life. I recommend reading or listening to this book (and series!)
A fun wrap-up to the series!
I debated on how to rate this one, and eventually settled on 3 stars. The writing was repetitive for the first 50 or 60 percent of the book. Sean and Leah liked each other, but couldn’t have each other. Over and over again. Also, I didn’t count, but “the hair on the back of my neck stood on end” had to be used at least 10 times. I did like Sean and Leah together when they weren’t in their own way, but when the drama happens Leah WAY overreacted. Sean was in pain, and maybe losing the thing that he’d worked his whole adult life for, and he did say somethings that were not nice. Should it have been held against him like he belittled her the whole time they were together? Not in my opinion. I really thought Leah was going to be this take no crap heroine, but she ended up passive and running at the first sign of trouble. The ending was very sweet, and I was happy to see these 2 get their HEA.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
I received a Netgalley copy for review purposes.
I so wanted it to be Leah for Sean since they first met in Straight Up Irish. Sean was so different throughout the story than I had expected. There was more to him than a playboy rugby star. Leah was always my girl. She’s so stylish and spunky I love it.
Both of them are a little edgy and have the biggest hearts. I loved them trying to figure out their relationship to each other. Great story for the final brother in the series.
I just was not a fan of this book. It sounded so good in the blurb I read, but I ended up not being able to connect with either of the characters. Sean and Leah just seemed so cliched to me. The story revolves around a clause that was included in Sean’s father’s will. In order for him and his brothers to inherit the family business. Both his brothers have found their happily ever after, so it falls to Sean to find a wife so they can keep the business. The book takes place in Ireland, where Sean plays rugby and Leah is living after leaving the US, where she had a failed relationship and business of her own. There were a number of things that were off-putting to me about this book, though I hesitate to mention them for fear of spoilers. Let’s just say the tropes in this one didn’t do it for me. And I was so turned off by Sean and his language. I don’t mind when a character uses profanity, but it seemed to me that almost every other word out of his mouth was a curse. It just got so tiresome and made Sean sound less intelligent. I’m afraid I wouldn’t recommend this book.
Note: I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Overall, a 3.5-star read for me. Story started off slow, and it took me way too long to figure out why Leah was so reluctant to consider having a relationship with Sean. If I’d stopped and reviewed it at the halfway point, I would have given it a lower rating. But after finishing it, I find I really enjoyed Leah and Sean’s story, and the entire Murphy family.
I read the other two books in the series and I’m glad Sean finally gets his turn finding a wife. Leah was a little hit or miss for me at times but I still really enjoyed them together.
Okay, the attraction is instant and they are both fighting it. Leah has a strong mind for business and she’s good at what she does, and is determined to not be the next Mrs. Murphy. The writing is on the wall when playboy Sean halts his former ways. I mean the Murphy boys come off as jerks sometimes when trying to push along the marriage clause, but I get not wanting to lose the family business. Sean really does try with Leah to form a genuine friendship and I think it was a good base for their story to start. As like any story there are ups and downs, but I enjoyed reading this one.
I have not read the two previous books in this series but I believe it’s not necessary because I figured out fairly quickly whom everyone was. I’m a big sports romance fan. This book follows the youngest of the three brothers of the Murphy clan in Ireland where he is a pro rugby player. There wasn’t much rugby beyond his traveling for matches and a cute scene where he teaches Leah the rules of the game with her shoes as stand-ins for the player positions. Leah is a fiery Latina American in Ireland hiding/escaping from a failed relationship and clothing boutique business in Chicago.
I’m sad to say, Leah was not easy for me to like. She is responsible and helps out her family with tuition money for her sister disguised as rent money. Honestly, I was a bit put off with the constant inner dialog about money and AP class fees. (The tests at the end of the year have a fee of about $100 each and if the sister is that smart she might take eight, ten at the absolute max. I get that she was also helping to save for college but that AP part was like a worm in my brain that yanked me right out of the story. Sorry.). Leah is guy shy after just being burned in a bad way, but it’s clear these two have been flirting with each other from the previous books and kept in touch by playing Words with Friends and using its chat feature.
Sean is a cliche Irish athlete, whiskey and women in every city but a stipulation in his Da’s will has him scrambling with five months left to find a wife in order to keep the family bar business/corporation. (The two older brothers have found their brides in the previous two books.). Hiring Leah to be his PA and help him find a wife is problematic in that he’s got a serious crush on her. She’s stellar at organizing his life and being a stand-in for him at company meetings but the dates aren’t successful at all.
They can’t resist their attraction and a one nighter becomes the new constant inner dialog back and forth. There is some cute friend bonding with Leah and Fallon, her bestie and wife of one of the brothers. There’s a big secret, a misunderstanding and hurt feelings. The family are all involved and that’s kind of sweet. I enjoyed the epilogue very much and love how it all wrapped up in a nice HEA.
Dirty Irish is a cute read–it has a really strong start, with Leah and Sean determined to resist each other at the same time they’re going forward with a crazy plan that continually pushes them together–always a solid plan, right? 😉 Once Leah figures something out (not going to spoil it, but you’ll know it when it happens) things fall apart more than a little; fortunately Sean pulls a pathway to an HEA out of his pocket (almost literally!) and saves the day for a cute ending that almost makes the reader forget how crazy the two of them were making you just a few pages earlier… 😉
This is the third book in the series, and for the most part this wasn’t a problem–it’s pretty easy to figure out who’s who and what’s going on with the brothers, their company, and their father’s infamous will. I do kind of wish I’d read the series from the beginning, though, just to get the impact of the brothers learning about and coming to terms with all of those details–I’ll bet Ms. Vernon really piled on the drama there, and I’d love to see all of those brothers scrambling, not just Sean…
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Lots of mixed feelings. This book had potential, I just don’t think the execution conveyed it properly. In this book we meet Leah and Sean, the hot Irishman and the stubborn Latina. Sounds like a good match for banter and steaminess, right? They did have their moments of flirtation and intimacy that then led to a good sexy scene, but it was overshadowed by the repetition of why they couldn’t work. I didn’t love the fact that just about every other page there was mention of the marriage clause or finding Sean a wife or the consequence that would be losing the company. Not a fan of getting that information drilled into my brain from start to finish. Sean has some redeeming qualities that made it easy to make through. I will say that towards the end of the book, the story picked up and I enjoyed them making it to their HEA. Very sweet and endearing end to their tale.
Interesting main characters. Main characters that are kind of living in the land of denial when it comes to their attraction to each other. It does cause some funny moments as they get to know each other. She has that assistant job to do for Sean but no matter how much they resist it they begin to become friends. It becomes more than just a employee and employer. They really do get along pretty well. Sean finds Leah’s sass pretty funny too.
Fallon is Leah’s best friend who helps draw her into this whole thing. But all she did in the beginning was get her to the Irish pub to be a bartender. Fallon knew that Leah needed a soft place to land after what she had been through. Fallon is also in love with and married to Connor and the other brother Jack is getting married soon too. So 2 down one to go.
It was kind of fun seeing the differences in language and culture between the two main characters. Also fun was Sean teaching Leah about his beloved sport of rugby.
I did feel like a certain phrase was a bit overused. “Every hair on the back of their neck stood up” could have been dialed back a bit. I did like the fact that there were a couple of surprises in store for Sean and Leah but also there was an interesting solution to some things that were challenging them. I liked the solutions really well and the Epilogue was good too.
“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
My life has revolved around the two things I’v always loved: whiskey and rugby. Now the marriage clause in my Da’s will has me putting both on the back burner if I want to save the Murphy’s Pub empire and find a wife. As the lst brother to get married, I need a little help, and that’s where my sister-in-law’s American best friend, Leah, comes into the picture. SHe could use a little Irish luck after the deceitful things her ex did to her that brought her to Ireland. With her take no crap attitude she’s jsut the tupe of girl to help me find a wife. That is, if I can remember she’s the matchmaker and not the match.
I read the first book in this series and loved it so I was super excited to get to read this third book. Each is a standalone but the series revolves around three brother’s and their bar Murphy’s pub. I fell so in love with Sean in the first book and that didn’t chage in his story. He needs a wife. His father’s will say he must marry in order to keep Murphy’s Pub. There is no way in the world that any of the brother’s are going to let their Da’s business go. He needs help and Leah who is spunky and sassy is just the person to help him. I will say that at times you are going to want to smack some sense into her, but even then I still really loved her character. These two are perfect for each other and don’t even realize it. Will they get it together and get together or will Murphy’s Bar be lost forever? You need to read to find out. I read this book so fast it was so good. You guys are gonna love it. Now I need to go back and read the second book which I somehow missed.
The last of the Murphy boys has landed a wife. Sean is having no luck with keeping a girlfriend much less find a wife. All he wants to do is play Rugby. Leah is getting over a bad break up and trying not to fall into the depths of Sean’s blue eyes. This story, like the the previous two in the series, is filled with characters who have a wickedly witty sense of humor. The banter is easygoing and fun and allows the story to flow at a great pace. They are people you could imagine having a laugh with which makes the book a very interesting read. Sean is a lovable character who thoroughly deserved his happy ending.
I loved every moment of Dirty Irish. Sean is the final Murphy brother that needs to complete the clause his father put in his will. He is a star Rugby player trying to juggle being the President of the family business and Rugby all will trying to find time to find a wife. You met Leah a little already if you kept up with this series. I love Leah even when she is down on her luck. She is focused and has big heart when it comes to helping Sean. The have this chemistry that is a more of a surprise growing one as they spend more time together. Leah and Sean are sweet together even with everything that goes on. I love Dirty Irish and it is such a wonderful story that will melt your heart at times. I couldn’t put this down. One click this and you wont be disappointed.
This was my first Magan Vernon and I did something I never do, jump into a series at the end. However, Vernon did a great job of giving hints of the back stories for the first two book without retelling the stories.
I really liked the premise and the initial chemistry between Leah and Sean but as the slow burn caught fire and exploded the story fell off a bit. Following their night together everything became about “I want him/her but can’t have him/her because of the clause and my history.” I think the surprise that showed up was enough to create conflict and momentum for the story but got bogged down in the internal dialogue of both Leah and Sean. I wanted them to get out of their own way and fight for each other before the very end.
The big grovel was fabulous as was the look ahead and epilogue. As an ender to the series, it provided a perfect little family portrait!
I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.
3.5 Star Review Dirty Irish (Murphy Brothers #3) by Magan Vernon
Magan Vernon is a new author to me. I had no idea going in that this was the third book in the series. It can be read as a stand alone although you I think you would get more enjoyment if you were to read the previous two books first.
I was intrigued by the blurb for this one. Sean is the last brother to be married and thanks to his father’s will he needs to find a wife otherwise he and his brothers will loose everything. With this in mind he turns to his sister in law Fallon’s best friend Leah, to help him out.
I had trouble relating to Leah, there was something about her that really annoyed me. I really liked Sean, although I do think he let Leah walk all over him at times. Sure there is attraction between Sean and Leah and yet they both try and fight it and keep their relationship professional. However, the tension was not enough to get me invested in their story as Leah got on my nerves so much. Although this story wasn’t for me, it may well be for you.
Having said that I will look at other books by Magan Vernon when time permits.