Irish Inheritance by Paula Martin

English actress Jenna Sutton and American artist Guy Sinclair first meet when they jointly inherit a house on the west coast of Ireland. Curious about their unknown benefactress and why they are considered 'family', they discover surprising links to the original owners of the house.

They soon unravel an intriguing tale of a 19th century love affair. At the same time, their mutual attraction grows, despite personal reasons for not wanting romantic involvements at this point in their lives.

A local property agent appears to have her own agenda concerning the house while other events pull Jenna and Guy back to separate lives in London and America. Friction builds over their decision about the house and its contents.

Will their Irish inheritance eventually bring them together – or drive them apart? – or bring them together?

A selection of the 5* reviews for ‘Irish Inheritance’:

“I enjoyed "Irish Inheritance" with its wonderful descriptions of Ireland and an intriguing story that kept me turning pages.”

“Irish Inheritance is a lovely read. Family Historians will enjoy how the author has bound the two families together. Very enjoyable.”

“This story inspired me to visit the Connemara area which was gorgeous and purchase a Connemara marble pendant necklace in Clifden. The book was beautifully written and came to such a satisfying conclusion.

“Compelling, exciting, pure escapism. I simply could not put this down!”

Excerpt:

“I can’t imagine what we’re going to find,” Jenna said, as they walked along the corridor and past the balustraded landing to the room on the western side of the house.

“Dust and cobwebs?”

She laughed. “In which case, the first thing we’ll need is a vacuum cleaner.”

“Of course, it might be completely empty.”

Outside the wide oak door, Guy stopped, and Jenna turned to him. “Go on.”

He gave her a wry grin. “I’m not sure whether I’m excited or scared.”

“Scared?”

“For all we know, there might be a dead body in the room.”

“Oh wow, I never thought of that.”

“If this was a movie, spooky music would be playing right now.”

“There can’t be a body. It would smell.” She widened her eyes. “You don’t think—”

He chuckled, and put his arm around her. “You’re too easy, Jenna. I’m kidding you.”

“Oh—you—!” She flicked her fingers across his ribs. “Stop winding me up.”

His arm squeezed her to him, and she leant against his shoulder. It felt good, so good…

“Jenna—”

She twisted her head round to look up at him. The gentleness in his eyes, soft as a caress, sent a tsunami wave of heat rushing through her from head to toe. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, but could only have been a few seconds.

Guy was the first to break their eye contact. “Let’s open the door, shall we?”

With his arm still around her, he put the key into the lock and struggled to turn it. She’d started to think it must be too stiff to open, when a loud click made all her nerves tighten.

He leaned forward to twist the brass doorknob. “Do you want to go in first, or shall I?”

After her wimpish reaction to his earlier joking, she decided on bravado. “Go on, push the door, and I’ll go first. But you’d better be right behind me.”

“In case there’s a skeleton hanging from the chandelier?”

“Stop it!” She dug her elbow into him. “This really is scary. If the door creaks when you push it open, I shall probably scream.”

The door didn’t creak, but opened smoothly. Jenna took a small step into the room, and clapped her hand to her mouth.

“Oh my God,” she breathed.

Buy Links:

Amazon USA: http://bitly.com/11DtbOH  (99cents)

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1xWS7vs  (77pence)