March is finally  here, but we at TRRC are not yet ready to concede that spring is at hand. There is far too much snow still on the ground and to many predictions of more snow to come. So, instead we are going to celebrate March being the month of the Irish and turn our readers attention to romance novels that clearly celebrate the Irish heritage.

 

The most well known romance author that comes to mind when discussing Irish romances is Nora Roberts. Who can forget meeting Adelia Cunnane and Travis Grant in a very early Silhouette Romance titled, IRISH THOROUGHBRED. This was a story written in 1981 and introduced us to a horse-breeding dynasty.  Seven years later when the sequel was released, IRISH ROSE, we still found ourselves in love with Irish traditions and horse racing. The love affair carried on and in the summer of 2000, nearly twenty years later, we welcomed another generation of Irish horse breeding characters to our bookshelves with the release of book three in this series, IRISH REBEL.  

 

    

 

 

 

Nora Roberts continued the tradition of Irish Romances in the mid 1990s with the release of her "Born-In" trilogy, BORN IN FIRE, BORN IN ICE, BORN IN SHAME. Three books that gave us the story of the Concannon sisters who share a heritage deeply rooted in County Clare, Ireland.

 

    

 

 

 

 

Let's not forget the most famous and sexiest Irishman of all times, Roarke, who was introduced to us in NAKED IN DEATH, and can be found in all the J D Robb In Death novels.

 

 

 

 

 

 Kathryn Shay is another romance author that has written stories that are based on Irish families, one series in particular deals with the O'Neil Clan, a family that owns a big city pub. If you haven't read SOMEONE TO BELIEVE IN, CLOSE TO YOU and TAKING THE HEAT, you might want to give these stories a try. 

 

 

    

 

 

 Lastly, if you love mystery, murder and mayhem with your romance, you might want to try Victoria Thompson's historical "Gaslight Mystery" series. The timing is end of the 19th century and our handsome hero is a  New York City Irish cop named Frank Malloy. The sleuth is a young widow named Sarah Brandt and when the two meet in MURDER ON ASTOR PLACE, the romance begins subtly and continues throughout the series. There is quite a bit of angst in this series as well because, Sarah is from a wealthy family and a well respected citizen of New York, while Frank is a "crooked" Irish policeman. If you are aware of the reputation of the 1890s NYC police department then you can understand why the books in this series pack a punch each time they are read.

 

 

 

So this month as you are preparing for that traditional Irish Holiday, St. Patrick's Day, maybe you might want to take a break and read a good Irish romance to put you in the celebratory mood.