Book description
Applauded as ""a forceful writer of character and
conflict"" (Publishers Weekly), Jeanette Baker uses her
""exceptional gift for storytelling"" (Romantic
Times) to create satisfying, evocative novels that resonate with rich
tradition and the passions of the human heart. SPELLBOUND Life is hard
for outlanders on the island of Inishmore, a lesson Mollie Tierney's
mother learned long ago. After eleven years, Emma Tierney took her
infant daughter and headed home to America, leaving her resigned husband
and defiant son behind. Nearly three decades later, eager to know her
Irish kin, Mollie accepts a temporary teaching position on the island.
Before she can even pack her bags, word comes that her brother and his
wife, Kerry, have died, leaving Emma custody of their young children.
Heartbroken, Mollie vows to help care for her nieces and nephew until
Emma can send for them. But Mollie has reckoned without her feelings for
Sean O'Malley, Kerry's grief-stricken twin. Determined to keep the
children, he sees Mollie as the enemy even as he yearns to hold her
close. It's up to Mollie to teach him to trust his heart -- and her own.
There is no greater pleasure for me than to wake before dawn, turn on my
computer, reenter a world I've created and watch a story grow before my eyes.
From as early on as I can remember, I've always appreciated a good
story. I'm of Irish descent, from a small island off the coast of
western Ireland, and I hail from a long line of famous storytellers,
among them Liam and Robert O'Flaherty. The Irish have a unique
relationship with the literature, oral and written. Our single
greatest claim to fame is found in the immortality of the words
written by our writers: Synge, Yeats, Joyce, Beckett, Shaw, O'Casey,
Swift and Heaney, Behan and many, many others. More than any other
race on earth, the Irish appreciate a story well told. My fondest
childhood memories are of when my father would come home, gather his
children around him, and create a story as rousing and complicated and
touching as only he could tell it.
I have always been a writer, a journalist of both feature and news
articles, but it wasn't until 1992 that I penned my first romance
novel. I had visited Scotland and become fascinated with the
hauntingly brutal events of the massacre at Glencoe. I wove a story
around the historical event, creating characters and motivations. The
book truly seemsd to write itself and unbelievably, it sold. After
that I wrote two more Scottish novels, paranormals, before I attempted
my first Irish novel. Ireland's history is a fascinating and
complicated one. After my venture into Scottish history, I felt I was
ready to tackle Irish politics and Irish Lady as born, followed
by Nell and Irish Fire.
Inishmore is home for me. It is a place where newborns are christened
in traditional celtic tradition, with tiny tastes of soil to cement
their relationship with the land, an ancient Druid custom. It is a
place where the journey is more important than the destination, where
mists blur the line between heaven and earth, where it is easy to fall
back into the easy comfort of the pace, the language and customs of a
world where legend abounds, where the tales of Cuchulain, King Conor,
Queen Maeve and the Warriors of the Red Branch take on new meaning and
where every castle beckons with the promise of a story behind the
crumbling walls.
My books are filled with the rich detail I find in the Irish
landscape, in the conversations of her people, in the pain and pride
of her history. Each time another book is published, I feel the same
thrill I felt the first time. I marvel at how incredibly privileged I
am to be able to write the kinds of stories I love to write, to have
my work edited and enhanced by a wonderful editor who feels honor
bound to maintain the integrity and essence of my words, to have my
work reproduced, bound with a beautiful cover and offered to readers
on booksellers' shelves.
The most rewarding part of writing for me is the respnse of my
readers. Romance readers are intelligent, sensitive and especially
insightful. It is validating to know that my books appeal to such an audience.
More information on my individual titles appears on my website: www. jeanettebaker. com
Please visit as often as you like. I love hearing from readers.
