This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
My Review:Title: Fighting Irish
Author: Katy Regnery
Series: The Summerhaven Trio #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: February 25th 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 190
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: the author
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 #LetsReadIndie Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter Switch 2017/18
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:
Blurb:Rory Haven and Brittany Manion knew one another as children...
...but it's been a long time since their childhood summers at Summerhaven.
The Havens weren't the children who attended exclusive Summerhaven Camp in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. They were the children of the owners, expected to “pull their weight” and absolutely forbidden to fraternize with the paying guests. But that didn't keep Rory from having a quiet, unrequited crush on gorgeous, popular, insanely-rich, Brittany Manion for three tortuous summers.
When all-grown-up, recently-engaged Brittany books the off-season summer camp for her upcoming spring wedding, she immediately recognizes Rory as the scorching-hot boy who wouldn’t give her the time of day. Meanwhile Rory, who senses that Brittany’s nuptials are less about Mr. Right and more about Mr. Right Now, launches the fight of his life to win the heart of the girl he’s always wanted.
I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4.5 stars — As a huge fan of Ms. Regnery’s Blueberry Lane series of series, and one of the readers saddened that that series was ending, this felt a bit like coming home. It’s not that this was a reiteration of that series, but it had the same feel and flow to it, the same style I guess. This was a book that was just so effortless to read and love. It’s the style of writing that I love most from Ms. Regnery: fairly straightforward romances, with just enough conflict to keep it interesting, but not too much to bog me down as a reader. Characters that are easy to love, with easily forgiveable flaws, who really work well together. A strong secondary cast to help give balance to our main characters (and intrigue me enough to want their stories), and a beautiful setting so that I end up loving the place as much as the people. Fighting Irish gave me ALL OF THAT.
Rory was everything I wanted in a hero. He was just so freaking good and upstanding. It wasn’t that he didn’t have resentments, and his own set of feelings to struggle with. But when it came down to it, he loved his family and would do anything for them. You could FEEL his love for his siblings. I loved the way they would banter and tease each other, but they were ultimately invested in each other’s lives. And he didn’t let his resentments taint his love for them. And beyond all that, he was just so adorable with Britt. I loved how much he cared for her, and wanted what was best for her, and wanted to prove that his love was true and not predicated on anything else.
And Britt was a bit of a surprise for me! I don’t know what I was expecting, but I just loved her. I almost would have expected her upbringing to have made a different mark on her, but she was sweet, down to earth, and just so freaking earnest. And hilarious! She could give as good as she got. My heart hurt for her with the Ben situation, even if it was a bit of a product of her own making…so I guess her upbringing did affect her, b/c she didn’t seem to know what a good relationship looked like. She had a lot of growing to do in that aspect, but I was willing to grow with her, I wanted her to succeed and find the better life she deserved.
And I loved the way their relationship progressed. From the blurb I was a bit concerned about any potential cheating aspects, but I had no problems with the way things moved along. I LOVED that it kind of allowed them to become friends first, which I’ve really been missing in some of my couples lately. I LOVE a good friendship bond. And their more-than-friends stuff gave me butterflies!! I was also happy that their conflicts could have gone in a stereotypical place, but they didn’t quite…and they weren’t drawn out unreasonably.
As I mentioned above, fabulous secondary cast. And it wasn’t just Rory’s siblings, though I’m so curious about them and can’t wait for their stories…Ian’s journey really surprised me in particular!! But Mrs. T was amazing as well! And even the little glimpses of a few other resort staff rounded it out nicely.
So yeah. Exactly what I was hoping for, and exactly what I was in the mood for. I LOVE it when that happens, especially b/c I was concerned I was hitting a slump. NOPE! Just needed me some Irish triplets to turn things around!
Leave a Reply