BLURB:
Connor MacEgan is a fighter; it’s in his blood. But when his hands are crushed in a brutal
attack, he finds he may never wield a sword, or touch a woman, ever again.
He becomes reliant on Aileen Ó Duinne, whose
determination matches his, for Aileen can no more ignore a person in
pain than Connor can stop being a warrior.
But she also holds a secret, one of passion and deception that could break their hearts, long after she has mended his hands….
REVIEW:
This is the second book I’ve read of Michelle’s.
I have the next one and plan on reading it soon. I was blown away by
the amount of research I’m positive Michelle must have put in to being
able to write this book. The amount of healing information with not
just references to a ‘potion’ being mixed but the actual contents,
herbs, plants ect… was extensive. And like I’ve indicated, remarkable.
There was a bit of history in this book I’d not come across before
concerning fostering of children, which I know she has promised to
explain more about on her blog…
a state of existence that apparently was a norm back then that isn’t
now. And that she couldn’t conceivably explain in the story unless she
were to have made it a time travel or something, which its not. I’m
looking forward to learning more about it.
I enjoyed this book, perhaps not as much as her first but I do recommend it.
Cole
Nicole Reising
www.nicolereising.com
www.nicolereising.com/blog
Imagination... the magical whispers from within.
Warrior books
I loved these books and emailed Michelle questioning the fostering. This was her response:
In regard to fostering, this was a surprise to me as well, when I began the research. Children in Ireland were fostered almost as soon as they were weaned, usually to close friends of the family or to a family they wanted to make an alliance with. Girls were fostered until the age of 14 and boys until the age of 17. Primarily it was to bind families closer together and to create strong alliances. They could foster their children to several families and that family would often reciprocate, giving their own children over to be fostered. Sometimes the children were closer to their foster parents than to their blood parents, which I thought was interesting. I imagine for the girls it was also a way to introduce them to marriageable men, by sending them to live with another tribe. There is more information about it in the book A Social History of Ancient Ireland by P.W. Joyce (a 2-volume set).
She also said that she may be writing more Warrior books since there are more brothers!
"It is to the credit of human nature that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates."
Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter
The cover alone
makes this worth looking into, but your review snagged my interest fully. I loved the research part and knew about fostering from other reads down thru the decades I have been reading.
I have added this to THE LIST. What was the first book?
Jeannie
Yes I am a readalholic and I don't want the 12 step program!!!
Warriors
The first book is Her Irish Warrior.
"It is to the credit of human nature that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates."
Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter
I wasn't surprised about the fostering
as I knew about it from the legend of CuChulainn, but as you say it proves she did her research and got her details right
the sign of a good writer - I'm looking forward to the third book. I really
enjoyed the first two, and not just because she's a pal from the SWC
Hugs
Sadhbh
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs
No more excuses, just READ!
Thank you Leanne
Thank you Leanne for answering Jeannine's question. Life got really busy here suddenly and I didn't get online.
Jeannine -- Her Irish Warrior has one of the best beginnings I've ever read. Unusual maybe is the word for it. Or maybe its the twist... I don't know, something about it really caught my imagination anyhow. I read her first chapter somewhere before the book came out(maybe on her blog, I can't recall) and I was sold. I HAD to read the book.
The fostering was a bit of a rub for me... this has nothing to do with her writing or the book. But more with... I would NOT hand my child over... type feelings. Obviously if I was raised to believe this is the way to do things... I'd more than likely not think anything of it. But this concept was hard for me to relax and accept throughout the book. Maybe also because it was new information to me. The combination kept making me 'think' instead of relaxing. I have read her explanation on this and thanks Leanne for more! I do really like that she obviously didn't write the story any old way she wanted but followed history, obviously did a lot of research. And that is really cool.
I am continuously impressed by the research information she has in her books. I saw a lot of it in the first as well... maybe not as much because this one had an abundance of healing information but I can still recall certain scenes from her first book and remember distinctly thinking... wow, now that's a cool tidbit of information. 
Let me know if you get it Leanne! Her Irish Warrior that is. I'd love to hear what you think.
Sadhbh -- Do you have her third book already? I have it but haven't started it yet. I meant to then got sucked into a Presents because it was handy at that moment and the same with the Suzanne McMinn's series I'm now reading
I had my pda handy on those and next thing I knew, I'm in a series... so it will be a few days before I get back to Michelle's. 
Cole
Nicole Reising
www.nicolereising.com
www.nicolereising.com/blog
Imagination... the magical whispers from within.