May your life be as full of joy as we were.
It's the first week of March. St Patrick's day approaches.
Could I tempt you into reading a bit of humor and a love letter to Ireland? Available in eBook, Paperback and Audio
Irish Magic - Susan B. James
This is such a wonderful story. I loved the history of Ireland throughout the book.
Michael and Kate are awesome characters. I also really liked Brad. The fantasy characters are a lot of fun too. All of the characters are well-developed. It is easy to feel their emotions.
The book cover and title of the book are a perfect match for the story.
I highly recommend this book to others. It is a wonderful read.
I give it a literary rating of 5/5
Blurb
A romantic comedy with a touch of magic.
What do you do when everything goes wrong?
Make
a wish on a four-leaf clover, right?
There’s no other logical way out of it!
There’s no other logical way out of it!
But a clover wish is a heart
wish. Everyone knows that.
When part leprechaun, Bradley
Flynn is charged with finding Kate’s true love, he calls on retired
matchmaker, Essie O’Callaghan, who happens to have a mission of her own.
Dr Michael Walshe had a ring in
his pocket when he walked in on his girlfriend sleeping with her costar. He
wants no part of Essie’s plan to find him a wife.
Fate – or something more
leprechaun-shaped – has Kate and the doctor both heading to Cluhalaugh, home to
Ireland’s most famous matchmaking festival. And somehow their paths keep
crossing. The more they see of each other the harder it is to resist exploring
their reluctant attraction. Will Kate realize that Michael could be far
more than the cure to her writer’s block?
EXCERPT
Irish Magic
By Susan B.
James
Madison Square Park. New York City
Hanford House wants its advance back.
Kate’s author mind edited her agent’s
six-word text down to two. Panic now.
Blowing the last of her book advance
on a ticket to Ireland to do research might be her worst idea to date. If you
didn’t count getting engaged to Eric and using him as a model for her hero. Or
quitting her day job before turning in the revisions on her second book. Did
bad luck come in threes?
From her seat on the grass, she
focused on the barely visible triangular point of the Flatiron Building. She was
supposed to leave for Ireland next week. She was pretty sure her trip insurance
wouldn’t accept needing a new job as a reason for a refund. The brownie she’d
bought to celebrate her last day as a bookkeeper tasted like ashes. What was
she going to do now?
Batten Barton and Dunston had already
replaced her. Her savings would take her through the next two months, but she’d
been counting on the second part of the book advance to tide her over till she
finished her next book. And now they wanted the first part back?
She fisted a handful of grass for
comfort, praying for an answer to stop this disaster. None came.
Advance spent, Kate texted back. Stall them.
You broke contract. Revisions due last
month.
Almost done. Just one thing to fix.
One major thing. The ghost of her
ex-fiancé tainted
her hero’s every word. Physically Eric had been the perfect inspiration for
dashing, mysterious Lord Rotherham, but . . . Kate’s throat constricted. She
was no Jane Austen, turning the real-life man who broke her heart into a hero
that haunted readers’ dreams. Her Lord R was a complete ass.
Why did she have to be the kind of
writer who needed a real person to hang her fictional character on? Her
thoughts raced till they crashed into the wall blocking her creative mind.
Traveling to Ireland had seemed
reasonable when she bought the ticket. She’d kill two birds with one trip. Find
a new model for Lord Rotherham and research her next book, Perfect Match,
on the Bus Eireann tour she’d spent the last month planning. The plot had
already bloomed in her head. All she needed was the bus tour to nail down the
details.
Kate twiddled broken blades of grass
between her thumb and forefinger. One fell free. No. Not grass. It was a
four-leaf clover. Her first ever. In the middle of New York City?
Kate picked it up carefully. True love
might be a dead issue, but there was still the hope of magic. She closed her
eyes and made a wish. “Please. Send me the perfect hero.”
* * *
Bradley Flynn, CEO of Abbey Public
Relations propped his feet on the windowsill of his fortieth-floor office,
feeling lord of all he surveyed. He loved New York. In seven years, he’d
achieved more than he thought possible. The only thing he needed now was . . .
The intercom buzzed. “Brad, a Mr.
McPhee is on line two. He says he has a contract with you.”
Brad’s size-eight Ferragamo’s hit the
floor with a bang. He swiveled his chair to face the desk. Icicles clog-danced
on his spine. “Tell him I’m out.”
The Wearing of the Green blared from his cell phone. McPhee’s
signature ring with McPhee’s own lyrics meant to entice errant half-Leprechauns
back to the auld sod. Oh, there is a little island and our people love it
well. A place by Nature gifted with a most endearing spell— Brad switched
off the phone.
The picture on his monitor pixilated;
re-forming into the face he least wanted to see. Damn the Leprechaun Guild and
especially the Guild Master.
McPhee smirked at him. “You’re up.”
“I can’t be. It hasn’t been—”
“The woman used a clover.”
The monitor view reformed again,
revealing a woman with closed eyes speaking into her cupped hands. Her mass of
auburn hair was wound into a granny bun. She might have a nice figure.
Impossible to tell because of the oversized NYU hoodie she had on over . . . a
business suit? Seriously?
“She wants a real hero.”
“I suppose I could manage that.” At
least, he could teach her how to dress.
“You’re not what she has in mind. Find
her a hero.” McPhee’s
smirk got nastier. “And remember. No magic.”
“No magic? Why?”
“Because you’re dealing with a heart
wish. You can’t use magic to make someone fall in love. Find another way. And
remember, if you don’t succeed, you’re mine for the next seven years.” The
screen went dark.
Brad glared at the two pages his printer
spat out. Kate Carnahan. His wish client. Name, address, and pertinent history.
He scanned them rapidly. Hah. She was going to Ireland next week. Score one for
The McPhee.
Well, forcing him back to Ireland
wasn’t going to work. He’d find a way to accompany her, see to her wish and be
back in New York in a fortnight. But how in the name of Finn was he supposed to
provide her with a hero without magic?
Perhaps a bit of help? Asking a favor
didn’t count as magic. He scrolled through his contact list till he found the
name he wanted and punched in a call. The vibrant voice he remembered sounded
much older now. Humans aged so fast. “Essie, how would you feel about an
all-expenses-paid trip home to Ireland?”
Chapter 2 Michael
Parsonville, California
Dr. Michael Walshe looked at the golden leaves blowing past
his office window, wondering if he could get in a run before sunset. The
intercom buzzed. “Michael, you have a call from Mrs. O’Brian on line one.”
Michael picked up the phone. “Essie, what’s wrong?”
Essie’s voice had more spring in it than
he’d heard in months. “And can’t a body call you without being sick? I was
wondering if you could drop by today, Michael, I’ve got to go home to Ireland
and I’m not sure I can do it by myself.”
Couldn’t be a funeral. She sounded too perky. “Somebody
getting married?”
“More than one, dear boy. I’ve got a mission to fulfill.”
Not good. That sounded delusional. “Of course I’ll come.
How bout I make dinner. Spaghetti okay?”
“That will be grand.” Essie’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“It’s not just the trip. I don’t know what to do about Chloe.”
“Relax. We’ll
figure it out. See you soon.” He flicked the intercom. “Lynne, how many more
patients?”
His nurse poked her head through the door. “Prissy was the
last one. She told me she’s got a date with you for Saturday. Where was your
running pass formation?”
“I zoned out after about fifteen minutes and she slipped it
in sideways.”
“Doctor Adorable bites the dust again.” Lynne lounged
against the door frame, her rocker-punk hairstyle contrasting oddly with her
broad moon face. Her daughter must have been playing hairdresser again. “You
know they wouldn’t try so hard if you weren’t hot.”
“Stuff it, Lynne.”
“I’m serious. You look exactly like the new doctor on As
She Turns. Tall dark and dreamy.”
Michael turned on the faucets in the small office sink.
Lynne needed a new hobby. “Watching soaps will rot your brain.”
“That hint of beard on your strong, manly chin. And that
aloof but rumbly look in your eyes and . . .”
He took the last paper towel out of the dispenser. “We need
more towels.”
“Your only fault is you don’t have a romantic bone in your
body.” Lynne clasped her plump hands over her Hello Kitty scrub top. “I’m
having a fantasy here. Don’t ruin it.”
He would never understand women. “What do you need a
fantasy for? You’re in love with your husband.”
“So? Tom has fantasies too. Part of being happily married.
His is Tracy Jay.”
Michael winced. Growing up with a well-known actress for a
godmother meant he’d met lots of A-list stars, but his heart had been immune
until Lorena introduced him to Tracy Jay at the wrap party for Just the
Girls two years ago.
“Come on, Michael. Don’t you have fantasies?”
“None that I care to tell you about.” His relationship with
Tracy was classified. Tracy had wanted it that way. He exchanged his white coat
for the tan windbreaker he kept in the small closet. “I’m off to check on
Essie. We have a dinner date. I’m making her my secret-recipe spaghetti sauce.”
“Big deal. I know you use Ragu.”
“What is it with this town? You know my grocery list?”
Lynne patted his cheek. “I think there’s a town website
devoted to your every move.”
“Go home and annoy your children. We’re done for the day.”
Lynne blew him a kiss and shut the door behind her.
A quick stop at the market, and off to Essie’s. What kind
of secret mission could she be fantasizing? His phone buzzed. Another phone
call from Tracy. They’d been coming like clockwork all day. He pushed delete
without answering.
Lynne’s question echoed in his mind. Don’t you have
fantasies? His heart twisted, remembering his last sight of Tracy.
Not anymore.
Buy links Irish Magic eBook and
paperback
Audiobook links
Bio
Susan writes
second chance romances with a touch of magic as Susan B. James and children’s
books as Susan J. Berger. She writes older heroines because she is
chronologically gifted and enjoys creating characters who remember that change
is only on the outside. Inside our older shells is a much younger psyche. Her
second book, Maybe This Time, won the
2019 Raven award for Best Contemporary, the 2019 Readers favorite Gold medal in
Time travel and was runner-up for the 2019 RONE Award for Audiobook-General.
The audiobook will be out in December 2019
Susan’s
other career is acting. On IMDB She is Susan Berger.
bio
Goodreads
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links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanJames/
