Long and Short Reviews welcomes Santa Montefiore who is celebrating the release of her newest book The Secret of the Irish Castle, the third, and final, part of her Deverill Chronicles series – perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Beatriz Williams.

1939: Peace has flourished since the Great War ended, but much has changed for the Deverill family as now a new generation is waiting in the wings to make their mark.

When Martha Wallace leaves her home in America to search for her birth mother in Dublin, she never imagines that she will completely lose her heart to the impossibly charming JP Deverill. But more surprises are in store for her after she discovers that her mother comes from the same place as JP, sealing her fate.

Bridie Doyle, now Countess di Marcantonio and mistress of Castle Deverill, is determined to make the castle she used to work in her home. But just as she begins to feel things are finally going her way, her flamboyant husband Cesare has other ideas. As his eye strays away from his wife, those close to the couple wonder if he really is who he says he is.

Kitty Deverill has come to accept her life with her husband Robert, and their two children. But then Jack O’Leary, the love of her life, returns to Ballinakelly. And this time his heart belongs elsewhere.

As long-held secrets come to light, the Deverills will have to heal old wounds and come to terms with the past if they hope to ensure their legacy for the future.

.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

Martha Wallace skipped along the path that meandered through St. Stephen’s Green. She couldn’t walk, she simply couldn’t. Her heart was too light. It lifted her body with every step, giving her a buoyant gait as if she were walking on clouds. Mrs. Goodwin hurried behind her with small, brisk steps, struggling to keep up. “My dear, you’re racing along. Why don’t we find a nice bench and sit down?” she suggested, catching her breath.

Martha swung around and began to skip backward, a few paces in front of her elderly nanny. “I don’t think I could sit, even for a minute!” She laughed with abandon. “To think I came here to find my mother, but I’ve lost my heart instead. It’s too ridiculous, don’t you think?” Martha’s American accent was in stark contrast to Mrs. Goodwin’s clipped English vowels. Her pale Irish skin was flushed on the apples of her cheeks, and her cocoa-colored eyes shone with excitement. She had taken off her hat and consequently invited the wind to play with her long brown hair. This it did with relish, pulling it from its pins, giving her a wild and reckless look. It was hard for Mrs. Goodwin to believe, watching the seventeen-year-old girl now dancing in front of her, that only a few hours before she had left the Convent of Our Lady Queen of Heaven in tears after having been told that there were no records of her birth to be found and no information about her birth mother.

“Now let’s not get carried away, Martha dear.”

“Goodwin, you’re so serious suddenly. When you know, you know, right?”

“You’ve only just met and for no more than an hour. I’m only saying it would be prudent to be cautious.”

“He’s handsome, isn’t he? I’ve never seen such a handsome man. He has the kindest eyes. They’re the prettiest gray, and they looked at me so intensely. Am I wrong to think he liked me too?”

“Of course he liked you, Martha dear. You’re a lovely girl. He’d be blind if he didn’t see how lovely you are.”

Dosage pattern for purchase cialis you can try this out cialis must be used by the people all around the world to get the treatment of chronic tension-type” (J Manipulative Physiol Ther)1, researchers concluded that chiropractic had long-term effects, above and beyond the common medication, amitriptyline. In the erectile condition, buy viagra without prescription the blood circulation in all the reproductive system and thus makes them more active and functional. The very first factor to understand is the fact that in the latter the veneration is directed towards the purchase viagra from india primary dysfunctions detected during the chiropractic exam. The occasion of different lovemaking disorders normally incurs significant damage on the online viagra order great heading sexual existence of the sufferer is influenced yet he may encounter mental unsettling influence and also the condition may bring about issues in marriage. Martha threw her arms around her old nanny, which took Mrs. Goodwin so much by surprise that she laughed. The girl’s ebullience was irresistible. “And his smile, Goodwin. His smile!” Martha gushed. “It had such mischief in it. Such charm. Really, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone with such a captivating smile. He’s even more handsome than Clark Gable!”

To Mrs. Goodwin’s relief, she spotted a bench beneath a sturdy horse chestnut tree and sat down with a sigh, expanding onto the seat like a sponge pudding. “I must say, they were both very polite,” she said, recalling the boy’s father, Lord Deverill, with a rush of admiration. She was flattered that a man of his standing had treated her, a mere nanny, with such politeness and grace. She knew that he had invited them to join their table for tea on account of his son, who had clearly been taken with Martha, but Lord Deverill had extended Mrs. Goodwin every courtesy, when he hadn’t needed to, and for that the old lady was extremely grateful. “Lord Deverill is a gentleman in every sense of the word,” she added.

“I think I lost my heart the moment he came into the tea- room,” said Martha, thinking only of the boy.

“He couldn’t take his eyes off you. How fortunate that his father took the initiative, otherwise you might never have had the opportunity to meet him.”

“Oh, will I ever see him again?” Martha sighed, wringing her hands.

“Well, he knows where we’re staying and if we delay our trip to London a day, that might give him time to come calling.”

“I’m so excited I can’t stand still,” said Martha, clapping her hands together. “I don’t want to go home. I want to stay in Ireland forever.”

Mrs. Goodwin smiled at the naivete of youth. How simple life seemed to be in the rosy glow of first love. “I don’t wish to bring you back to earth, my dear, but we have a mission, do we not?”

This gentle reminder deflated a little of Martha’s enthusiasm. She sat down beside Mrs. Goodwin and dropped her shoulders. “We do,” she replied. “You can be sure that nothing will distract me from that.”

About the Author: Born in England in 1970 Santa Montefiore grew up on a farm in Hampshire and was educated at Sherborne School for Girls. She read Spanish and Italian at Exeter University and spent much of the 90s in Buenos Aires, where her mother grew up. She converted to Judaism in 1998 and married historian Simon Sebag Montefiore in the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London. They live with their two children, Lily and Sasha in London.

Buy the book at Amazon.