4 stars-- Loving Irish (The Summerhaven Trio #3) by Katy Regnery

Oh, yall. Loving Irish was an interesting read. It's not too often you have a character that's an alcoholic and working their steps.

The Gist: A decade after a misunderstanding blew up their teenage romance and left them devastated Ian and Hallie...are having to deal with each other and the past since his brother and her best friend are get hitched. And...they're less than thrilled over this turn of events.

Oh these characters. They were something.

• Ian is a man trying to fix everything he's done for the past decade. Addiction, hitting rock bottom, accepting he needed help, going to AA meetings and making amends to those he'd hurt over the years. I liked him. He's got a good heart and trying his best to be a better healthier person. 

• And Hallie. Well her life has become a shitstorm. A cheating spouse, starting over as a single mom, broke after paying off her ex's debts. She's got some strength to her dealing with everything and not giving up. Trying to make the best of a horrible situation. Girlie can hold a grudge, though. Lordy!

• I loved her kid, too. It was sweet seeing her and Ian bond. Seeing her deal with her dad abandoning them. With being angry at her mom and them finding a way to heal. I did think every now and again she was a bit too "old" for 4 but she was a cute addition overall. 

The romance was slower going since Hallie is nursing a serious hate-on where Ian is concerned. But I enjoyed watching them slowly work through the past-- lordy teenagers are idiots-- and as Ian made amends by helping restore her small cottage and getting it livable for her and her daughter. And goodness once everything was revealed.

Overall, Loving Irish was a good read. I liked the characters, liked seeing them work through the past and deal with the present. There was some heat once things got going and a lot of sweet tender moments, too. An overall win! Yay!

Ian Haven and Halcyon Gilbert haven't seen each other since Hallie's 17th birthday...the same day Hallie pledged she would never, ever speak to Ian again as long as she lived.

Hallie Gilbert has had an especially awful year. When her husband of five years left her, Hallie’s 4-year-old daughter, Jenny, essentially stopped speaking. Add to this, she had to sell her Boston apartment to pay her husband’s exorbitant credit card bills. What Hallie needs is an uncomplicated autumn at Colby Cottage, her family’s summer home in Sandwich, NH, where she and Jenny can re-group and figure out what happens next.

But Colby Cottage, located adjacent to the Summerhaven Camp, has not been well-maintained and Hallie finds it in such disrepair, it's almost unlivable. When nearby camp owner, Rory Haven, arranges for his brother, Ian, to handle renovations for Hallie, her plans for an uncomplicated autumn suddenly get a lot more challenging.

Amazon | Goodreads | Regnery on HCBS

  

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