Rose Hawthorne:The Irish Wanders
by Shannon O'Gorman
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GENRE: Mystery (from the author: genre - mystery-- It is a bit hard to define as it combines elements of a YA adventure and her grandmother’s cozy love story.)
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BLURB:
Rose Hawthorne: The Irish Wanders follows Rose, a celebrity author in her
early seventies, who dislikes the limelight but does like Hermes scarfs, round
violet sunglasses, and old colonial hotels. One day, she receives a letter
asking her to visit Newgrange, Ireland and discover something that has been
hidden there for a thousand years.
She asks her granddaughter Samantha to accompany her, but she hadn’t expected her to continually post photos of their progress on her Instagram account. An encounter with an old love and an unexpected discovery leads Rose deeper into the past, where she finds she must make a hard decision about her future.
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EXCERPT
At first, the music the fiddler played was lively, his fingers deftly danced
across the strings, and a few couples got up to spin around the floor. Towards
the end of his set, he played exquisite notes that washed over the pub, making
the dust dance, and it rose in the air like magic. The cheering and conversation
quieted down for his last song. It was a slow piece that most of them
recognised. The fiddler hit the final note with such poignancy that it echoed
throughout the pub. When the music stopped, the whole pub went quiet.They
cleared their throats and blinked back tears, and then took a few last swallows
from their pints.
“Nothing like a bit of Irish music to bring out the tears,” Bill admitted wiping
an eye.
“It's something so special,” Rose agreed with a small sniff.
And all around the pub, they raised their glasses to the fiddler and his music.
As people began to leave the pub, Rose realized that it was getting late and
neither of them had eaten yet.
“Shall we eat something? Maybe grab some fish and chips?” Bill said, reading her
mind.
“Perfect,” she replied in a low, quiet voice.
They bought some greasy fish and chips at a nearby takeaway. It was wrapped in
brown paper and covered with the Dublin news.
Then, they walked the streets until they found a bench under the stars away from
the shouts, laughter and the lights. Beside the river, they were alone. They
unwrapped the greasy paper and ate the cod hungrily, stuffing the vinegar
smeared fries quickly into their mouths.
“Do you want the last chip?” Bill had said softly, holding it up in his greasy
fingers.
Shannon O’Gorman is a retired ESL teacher who has recently completed her second
walk on the Camino de Santiago. She is currently training her dog to accompany
her on a Camino one day. She lives in California with her husband and daughter
when university is not in session.
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Shannon O'Gorman will be awarding a $40 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn
winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteI like the cover art, blurb and excerpt, Rose Hawthorne:The Irish Wanders sounds like a must read for me. Thank you for sharing the author's bio and book details
ReplyDeleteShannon, congratulations on your recent release of The Irish Wanders! Great excerpt and I enjoyed following the blast and learning about your book, which sounds like an exciting mystery for me to read and enjoy! Good luck with your book and I hope the blast was a success! Thanks for sharing it with me and have an amazing TGIF!
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