Midsummer Lightning [Paperback]

American hotel executive Kelly Sullivan is one move away froma promotion-by coordinating the sale of Whitlock Castle in the village of County Cork, Ireland. With its lavish banquet halls, minestrel galleries, dungeons, and rich Celtic tradition, it could be converted into more than a luxury hotel-it could be moneymaking magic. Unfortunately, the nineteenth-century Gothic treasure has been entrusted to Conor O' Meara, an Irishman as stubborn as he is handsome. And for Kelly, as much of a challenge as he is a temptation.....

This book was great, I liked the main characters Kelly and Conor a lot. I laughed at the parts where the book mentioned "scandelous" red underwear by the Irish woman who wear knee-length bleached white cotton underdrawers!

American hotel executive Kelly Sullivan is set to become the next VP of her company. Before jetting off to Ireland, her boss implies that the promotion is all but hers after she cements the sale of Whitlock Castle and turns it into a luxury hotel for the company. The O'Meara family, who Lawrence Hotels is buying the castle from, has lived at Whitlock for generations. They don't want to leave, but finances dictate otherwise. They agreed to the sale not only because they had to, but also because the CEO of Lawrence Hotels promised on a handshake not to dissemble the castle's interior.

When hard-nosed, strictly business Kelly arrives at Whitlock, she tries not to involve herself with the O'Mearas on a personal level. She has a promotion at stake, after all. But the O'Meara clan--which consists of the sinfully handsome Conor, plus his father and two spinster aunts--are hard not to love. The elders treat Kelly like family and make her feel more welcome and at home than she has ever felt in her life. Between her burgeoning affection for the elders, her growing love of the Irish countryside and the castle itself, not to mention her steamy affair with Conor, Kelly is done in for. So when her boss outlines his intention to gut the interior of the O'Meara family's precious Whitlock in order to turn it into a medieval theme park, she vows to do all she can to stop him.

Conor O'Meara is physically attracted to the snooty Yank the moment he lays eyes on her. He doesn't do anything about their mutual attraction at first because he finds Kelly too prickly to warm up to, but he quickly realizes that she is all bark and no bite. During the time Conor and Kelly work together to figure out a way to save Whitlock Castle from being rendered extinct, Conor grows more and more attached to the feisty American and realizes he now has two problems. Not only must he save his family home from Lawrence Hotels, but he must figure out a way to fix his broken heart if Kelly decides to leave him for her glamorous job when all is said and done...

Midsummer Lightning has a lot to recommend it. Great characters, engaging plot, and a vivid setting. Stop by the bookstore and pick this one up the next time you feel like indulging in a little Irish escapism.

- full review originally published in The Romance Reader