Irish Rising

By Marie Rose Dufour

Famous romance writer, Kim Green went to Ireland with her two cousins to research the setting of her new book and have some quality girl bonding fun. She’s in the business of writing about love. She didn’t expect it find her on the street in a sleepy Irish town with a sexy, “I want to drown in your chocolate eyes” pub owner. 

Duncan Murphy never believed in the old family legend. The idea a trapped mermaid granted his family the ability to recognize their one true love was absurd to him until he spots a sexy American across the street from his pub. Something deep within him recognized her as his other half 

They’re drawn together in an explosive first encounter. Life is blissful until a misunderstanding threatens to tear them apart. Is their fragile newfound romance something legends are made of or the misguided belief in an ancient fantasy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marie Rose Dufour
• Release date: Dec 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513059143

Book preview

Chapter One

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I think that we should split up. Kim announce to the shocked faces in front of her. They’d been in Ireland for four days now and the only thing she’d seen was the inside of numerous shopping centers. Kim loved her cousins dearly, but she needed some alone time which didn’t involve retail therapy.

What do you mean? pouted her cousin Gina. This pout had been perfected at the age of three when she couldn’t get her way and she still used it. The minute she found out it could work to her advantage, she knew how to work it. She continued working it at thirty-five. We took this trip to spend time together.

We also took this trip to experience Ireland. I’m not telling you I don’t want to spend anymore time with you on this trip, but I need to do some exploring on my own. You know what I mean, don’t you, Silvana? Kim beseeched her other cousin to get involved in the conversation.

You know, Gina, Silvana explained picking up another sweater, distracting her sister with her favorite color. Kim did come here to do research on her next novel. I think that we should let her do some exploring on her own. We’ll catch up with her again after we finish shopping.

Kim hugged both of her cousins before Gina could protest. See you later. She waved back at them as she quickly made her escape. Before she even made it one block, her text message alert went off.

U owe me, Silvana had written.

Boy do I ever, Kim thought as she stepped out onto the cobblestone street. She took a deep breath and looked all around her. Ireland, with its eclectic blending of old and new allowed an author to dream of endless story possibilities. On one corner, there was a Starbucks Coffee Shop and directly diagonally across the corner, a fishmonger sold his fresh catch caught just that morning. Kim walked by and observed all the different kinds of fish that were lying on the freshly packed ice. This certainly didn’t look like the fish you would find at the supermarket at home, all cleaned and arranged prettily in the glass case, these were the actual, whole fish, head, eyes, and all. They were swimming in the ocean just a few hours ago. The variety so vast, she’d never heard of three quarters of them.

This was the type of life she always dreamed about living: no hustle and bustle, just people going around enjoying the lives they were living. No one running around with their heads down plowing through the crowd, minds fixated on an unfinished project at the office, mumbling an obligatory Excuse me to people who unfortunately got in their way.

It wasn’t until she walked past a bakery, where the delicious yeasty smell of bread tickled her senses, did her stomach growl and she realized she had totally forgotten about lunch. She bought one of those warm, flaky rolls to eat on her journey. Carbs be damned, she thought as she nibbled at its buttery deliciousness. What are a few extra pounds on her curvy form? This past year she had given up on the idea of dieting and embraced the concept of becoming healthy. No matter how she starved herself or practically broke her neck on the elliptical machine, her body wouldn’t budge from a size twelve. It took her thirty-seven years, but she now embraced the fact that she would never be model thin, not that she ever wanted that to begin with. She finally decided she was at peace with her hourglass-shaped body with ample breasts and hips.

Kim walked and walked taking in all the local scenery. The sculpted hedgerows infused with red and white flowers. The shopkeepers sweeping the sidewalks in front of their stores; always quick with a greeting and even quicker with a smile. As she walked, she talked into her mini-recorder trying to capture as many details as possible. When she got back to her room later, she would transcribe her notes to be used later in her manuscript. Every once in a while she would stop to take some pictures since she found it helpful to surround herself with images that help her describe things in her stories.

Her walking slowed to a complete stop when she noticed a house for sale. As she peered through the gate in the hedges, she saw a wonderful stone house that was so typical in Ireland. Some people would say that the house needed a lot of work, and keep walking but Kim only saw the possibilities. A cobblestone walkway led from the iron gate over an expansive front lawn, ending at an enormous wooden front door. Attached to each window were empty flowerboxes she could imagine them overflowing with a riot of colors. Kim checked the gate to try and get a closer look but unfortunately it was locked. Too bad, she thought to herself, she wanted to explore more of the grounds for her research. Maybe she’ll call the realtor when she got back to the hotel and set up a viewing while she was still in the country.

You’re not lost now, are you, luv? A gravely voice startled her out of her revelry.

She turned around to see whom the voice belonged to when her breath was taken away, across the road she