1911, Long Island, New York
Faced With an Uncertain Future, Sometimes
All You Have Left Is the Courage to Dream
Brianna 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, … 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?
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I love the time period and development of characters
I enjoyed this book very much. Especially enjoyed how the family rlationships played out in the book, There was enough tension and suspense in the book to encourage me to continued, without the plot being ridiculously unreal. Jealousy and long standing wounds in relationships were mended as the power of God stirred their hearts
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. A demanding father wants to control his children’s future while trying to save his horse farm in Long Island. He causes his children to rebel to be able to follow their own dreams. Can they get their father to understand what is most important?
Easy to read.
Good characters with good character have confounding problems to work through. Will it come out as you expect? Very enjoyable reading.
Great bedtime reading! Loved the contrast between the tragic and the optimistic.
Enjoyed reading.
Hard to get into, I wanted to like the book. It put me to sleep.
Irish Meadows #1 Courage to Dream series by Susan Anne Mason
James O’Leary owns a horse farm—Irish Meadows on Long Island, New York in 1911. When the future of the horse farm becomes ever closer to ruin, James becomes even more desperate. He pushes hard for his two daughters, Brianna and Colleen, to make a prosperous match and marry as soon as possible. Even though the sisters are very different and often clash, they both have their own dreams. Brianna wants to attend college and Colleen has her own ideas of what a perfect groom is, once she does get married that is. Will they give up their dreams and give into their father’s demands?
Gilbert Whelan returns to Irish Meadows from business school, but he has plans for his own future…away from Irish Meadows. How long does he need to stay in order to repay James for his education? He soon finds out James has very definite ideas of what he wants Gilbert to do. But can Gilbert go against his principles and integrity to do what James demands? To complicate matters more, a distant relative, Rylan Montgomery is staying at Irish Meadows during his seminary training.
Irish Meadows has strong, real-to-life characters—with flaws just like we all do, family dynamics, strong emotions, some humorous moments, anger, betrayal, sibling rivalry, heartbreaks, integrity, romantic chemistry, love—which doesn’t always go smoothly. Deception, forgiveness, jealousies, strong faith and so much more all weave a captivating story. I wanted to shake James regarding his treatment of his daughters and Gilbert, as well as those affected by his actions. I enjoyed James’ sister, Fiona’s courage going against what was expected for females in 1911 and following her own path. There is an orphaned girl that captured my heart and I was hoping she would find a loving family to adopt her—had my own idea who that should be….I’m not telling. I did not like Colleen very much—she was not a very nice young woman or sister for that matter, but as the story develops her eyes and heart were finally opened and she was starting to become likeable. I had my suspicions about what was going to happen with Rylan, which I will not share, don’t want to spoil anything. I look forward to reading A Worthy Heart, the second book in the series coming in 2016.
~I received a copy of this book from the author via TBCN, (no monetary gain were exchanged), this is my honest review~
Likeable characters, interesting time is the U.S’s history. I liked the historical fiction aspect.
Well written. Kept you wanting to come back for more of the story.
I loved this book. Yes it was a page turner, and unpredictable, and I shed some tears reading this book. It was yes inspirational as well. I loved it and want to read more by this author.
This was a pleasant story to read with lots of things happening throughout that kept me reading. I loved the New York setting and the different ways the plots wove together.
I really enjoyed this book. I am a stickler for proper and correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I found only one glaring error in this book.
The story line was excellent, and the setting was realistic. The research put into the time period of the book was obvious.
All in all, I would recommend this book if you just want an enjoyable and ease-to-read book.
The characters were well-developed and realistic. The story flows making the reader able to become thoroughly engaged.
The writing was adequate, but it didn’t hold my interest after the first chapter.
Loved this book and the everyday life lessons expressed in the characters stories.
Liked the Irish heritage woven into the story. Mixture of relationships made it a page-turner. Unpredictable as to what characters secrets will be revealed when. Loved the book.
I liked the characters…most of the time! I liked the fact that each character grew as a person, learned from other characters, and modified their behavior! Great story…great action…great human themes!
Loved it! Will differently read more from author!