**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
An Irish Flirtation by Louisa Masterson October 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 83
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
A high-society wedding planner, a hunky best man, and an enchanted elevator… who can resist An Irish Flirtation?
Jillian Baxter has worked hard to build her event planning business, and this wedding is proof that she’s made it. The problem? The bride redefines bridezilla. After months of work, Jillian now has three weeks to move a huge society wedding from New York to an Irish castle.
Luckily, Castle Tullamore Hotel is available. Although… it’s a bit odd. When Jillian arrives and meets the groom’s brother, Fin, it’s almost like magic steps in. She knows bridezilla would never stand for fraternization, but despite doing her best to keep her distance, Jillian finds herself unable to resist Fin… especially in that damn elevator!Author’s Note: This is a revamped, substantially longer version of an earlier book, and is available as part of the Emerald Isle Enchantment boxed set.
After a long week of drudging through other books, I found Masters’s novella to be a lovely, light-hearted reprieve. The novella is centered on an event planner named Jillian that has been hired to plan and orchestrate the wedding of the decade for a spoiled NYC socialite. Last minute changes bring the wedding and Jillian to beautiful Ireland where she meets Fin Dunne. An insta-love, or lust, tale with a slight paranormal/spiritual twist in the form of a romantic superstition and allegedly magical elevator.
Jillian’s interactions with the bride and desperate hold on professionalism made me chuckle several times. Having worked as an event planner myself, I can only imagine a client like this would warrant a bottle of wine a night to cope; a glass of Scotch isn’t going to cut it, sweetheart. Having read many a romance, I am able to give some leeway when it comes to instant attraction especially when the story is so short. Time is of the essence after all! The smexy scenes were appropriately steamy, not leaving much to the imagination. I truly did enjoy Masters’s work, but I do have some things that prevented it from being a five cup rating.
Ultimately, most of these critiques come down to the restrictions of a novella. I missed the slow build of tension, character development, and lack of true obstacle to the relationship that I expect from a good romance novel. I had a basic understanding of Jillian, Fin, and others but we don’t really have any clues as to how they tick. Why is Jillian an event planner? Why does Fin dislike his future sister-in-law so intensely? We know nothing about Michael. When reading a book, I often sort the characters according to how I would treat them if I ran into them at the store. Will I hide behind the cheese display? Do I wave and talk about the weather? Do I invite them to dinner and share a bottle of wine? I’m not really able to answer that with Jillian and Fin. I want to like them and spend time with them but I need to know more. As it is, the ending came rather abruptly leaving me feeling miffed that I didn’t get to experience the trials and obstacles that come with a relationship.
Overall, I am happy I was chosen to read and review An Irish Flirtation. Masters has laid the framework for a truly enjoyable novel with a nice introduction to Jillian, Finn and the castle staff.
Final Thoughts: Is Maude is stuck in the rose garden or is she in the elevator too? If so, she is a pervy ghost and I love it.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed and review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
About Louisa Masters
LOUISA MASTERS started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels. Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.
