Jewels of the Sun

Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts

In the small village of Ardmore, Ireland, Gallagher's pub is the center of the lively seaside community and the home of three passionate siblings: Aidan, Shawn, and Darcy. As a world traveler and a barkeep, the eldest brother Aidan has just about seen and heard it all, but when a quiet professor from Chicago enters his tavern, he is instantly intrigued--and certain that there is more to Jude Murray than what meets the eye.
Jude has returned to her grandmother's ancestral home to sort out her thoughts, know her heart, and "find Jude F. Murray in six months or less." After a life of deliberate security, Jude finds herself recovering from a failed marriage and a disappointing career. With the pretense of a research expedition, Jude leaves her life in Chicago and moves into the charming house on top of the faerie hill. Surrounded by the awesome scenery and relieved by the simplicity of life, Jude excuses her visions of ghosts and faeries as signs of her mental recovery.
But the inhabitants of Ardmore, and Aidan Gallagher in particular, don't dismiss these apparitions with such convenient logic, and Jude learns to listen more carefully to the messages in the world. As Aidan and Jude draw closer to each other, Jude struggles to discover, balance, and define the complex parts of her soul.

--Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts, Copyright ©2000 by Nora Roberts

My Review

I think Nora Roberts’ trilogies are wonderful and this one is no exception. She manages to recreate in words the visual beauty of an Irish coastal village and the lives of the people and families that live in it. The story weaves in traditional Irish folklore as the female protagonist, Jude F. Murray, researches the tales for a psychology paper that quickly turns into a novel, the kind of writing she’s always secretly longed to do but never had the courage to try. She meets Aidan Gallagher, the proprietor of Gallagher’s, a village pub and family business that he runs with his younger brother and sister, Shawn and Darcy.

Aidan is drawn to the shy, pretty visitor from Chicago and begins to court her with his charming smile and knowledge of the tales she wishes to research. One of those stories is of Carrick, prince of the Faeries, and Lady Gwen, whose ghost haunts Jude’s cottage. Carrick fell in love with Gwen, but because he couldn’t give her what she longed for the most, he lost her to the whims of time. They can be reunited, but only if Aidan and Jude will cooperate and fall in love.

But love cannot be commanded by a prince, no matter how much he may wish it. Can Jude and Aidan find their hearts’ desire, both within themselves and with each other? And can their love set Carrick and Gwen free?

I give this story THREE and a HALF STARS.

And I’ll make a promise to my readers. Once I finish this trilogy, I’ll lay off the Nora Roberts for a while, though it will be hard…I have so many of her books and I love reading (and re-reading) them.