Fair Haven

This was my 1st JoAnn Ross to read- and it won't be my last! After arriving home to spend some time with her family, Dr. Erin O'Halloran receives a request from a dear friend to travel to Western Ireland. After years of working on the front lines of war, Dr. Tom Flanner is now dying at a young age from the effects of gas warfare. He says that his reason for requesting her to come is for her to help with his medical practice as he slowly loses his strength and becomes bedridden but there's a hidden agenda. Michael Joyce has come home after spending years as a Pulitzer Prize Award photographer from the front lines of war needing to recover physically and emotionally from the effects of war. He has escaped to his family farm but the ghosts are even there. His childhood friend Dr. Tom Flannery is dying. While Michael is having to face the future loss of his best friend Tom, he is approached by his old girlfriend's mother accompanied by a little girl. He discovers that the past girlfriend/lover was killed in a bombing at her wedding and has left a daughter who she claimed was Michael's by blood. Michael who never wanted to marry, much less have kids, now finds himself with a daughter he did not know existed to raise. After leaving Coldwater Cove, Washington, Erin travels across the world to Castlelough, Ireland. She is introduced to Michael at the airport by Tom and her first impression of Michael is one of his being a cold- hard man. But as time goes by she learns that he does have a warm heart and they have a lot in common from what they both experienced with war. As time goes by Erin feels she has come home and known Michael forever, which can not be since they just met- and there is a little mystery there that I will leave for the reader. It is a story of the love between friends, father-daughter, lovers, family, etc. The setting being in Ireland is delightful. I really enjoyed this story! and highly recommend it to the reader. I will go back and get the prequel A Woman's Heart- I enjoyed the story that much.

This book was wonderful! All the characters - Michael,Erin, Tom, Shea, - were "real" and the whole story was believable. Even the Irish magic that was woven in. Michael and Erin's love story was sweet and passionate. My special favourite was Shea: what a litle charmer! She had all the insecurities 8 year olds have, though. Sometimes kids that age act so mature and grownup that you forget they need to be constantly reassured about family security and love. Ross' style reminded me of Nora Roberts and Maeve Binchy. She's an excellent writer and this is truly an exceptional novel. Bravo!

After years of work as a relief doctor, Erin O'Halloran is burned out. When her best friend and fellow doctor who is dying requests she come help him out in his surgury in Ireland, she goes with no questions asked. Never did she realize the draw that Ireland had for her, nor what was in store.Michael Joyce has seen his share of war also. After leaving his life as a photographer behind, he's happy to live the quiet life tending his farm. When an unexpected daughter is dropped on his doorstep he is surprised by the strong feelings he has for this little eight year old girl. But upon meeting Erin both are surprised and reluctant to act on the strong feelings they have for eachother.Eventually the American doctor and the Irish farmer fall in love, but have they loved years before? The sequel to A WOMAN'S HEART will have the reader wishing for the lush landscape of Ireland and the mysteries that surround it. Highly recommended.

From the start readers will feel as if they have been taken on vacation to western Ireland when they meet Michael and Erin who share the friendship of their dying friend. His last gift to them is their discovery of an incredible love for each other through the tears of saying goodbye. A love reflected in those around them, espeically the children. This is an exceptionally well plotted ensemble piece but the romance is never lost to the reader and will certainly leave a well satisfied sigh along with a few tears. With FAIR HAVEN, JoAnn Ross returns readers to her magical Ireland; an Ireland she knows so well readers are sure to feel the sweet mist on their faces as their hearts are warmed by the lyrical sound of an Irish brogue. FAIR HAVEN is easily the best book published this year.

Michael Joyce has seen the world through the lens of his camera . . . seen the horrors of war firsthand. He's put that life away and come home to Ireland to forget. But some memories can't be erased. The ghosts of the dead haunt him, each day stealing a little more of his soul until he wonders if there's anything left of the man he used to be. He's ready to give up, but fate isn't. A daughter he never knew he possessed is his first gift from heaven -- a woman he never knew he was missing is the second.Erin O'Halloran has seen the what war does to people first hand, but nothing has prepared her for what a fatal illness is doing to her friend. She travels to Ireland hoping to save his life and while she searches for a cure, she finds her heart and soul in Michael Joyce. Two world-weary, lonely souls find each other and through their love find salvation in this breathtaking novel by JoAnn Ross. Fans of Ross's Coldwater Cove books (Far Harbor and Homeplace) will enjoy seeing another O'Halloran find true love, this time in the Irish setting of Ross's A Woman's Heart. Magic and passion ignite on the Emerald Isle, weaving a tale as gentle as an Irish rain as Ross joins two of her most enduring families, the Joyce's and O'Hallorans, in a story that will make you believe that magic does exist.