Nora Roberts, the bestselling author of Hidden Riches and Born In Fire, continues the romantic Irish saga--the story of the Concannon sisters, three modern women bound by the timeless spirit of their land.

When the harsh storms of winter descended upon western Ireland, the locals stayed indoors--and visitors stayed away. Brianna Concannon's bed-and-breakfast became a cold and empty place. But that was fine with Brianna. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, even when the icy winds howled at her window. But this year she's expecting an unusual guest--mystery writer Grayson Thane from America. A restless wanderer with a painful past, he plans to spend the cold winter alone. But sometimes fate has a plan of its own. Sometimes a fire can be born in ice...

Brianna Concannon is a woman with a rare gift for creating a home, and she makes use of this talent by running a bed-and-breakfast in a picturesque corner of Ireland. Mystery writer Grayson Thane is an American who grew up in an orphanage and has spent his life alone. A restless wanderer with a painful past, Grayson arrives at Blackthorn Cottage intent only on soaking up the Irish atmosphere and writing his next novel, but he finds far more than he bargained for. The beautiful, calm Brianna soothes his disquiet soul, and in her Grayson finds the home he hadn't realized he needed. Brianna knows that by falling for him, she risks her heart, already bruised and scarred by a young love who left her at the altar. But the yearning to let the American melt the ice around her cold exterior is irresistible. Unless Grayson can let go of his past to forge a future with her, Brianna may have gambled her heart in vain.

Roberts's second installment in her Born In trilogy (after Born in Fire) takes the reader back to Ireland, where Brianna Concannon uncovers some unexpected and disturbing details about her deceased father. While trying to turn the attic of her bed-and-breakfast into another guest room, Brianna finds a stock certificate from a nonexistent company called Triquarter Mining?no great surprise, as the elder Concannon had always had a weakness for worthless ventures. More surprising is a set of old, passionate love letters written to her father 28 years before by a woman who was not Brianna's mother. This discovery is overshadowed by the arrival of famed mystery novelist Grayson Thane, who is to be her guest?and her lover (at least until his next novel is finished). The scope of Roberts's latest offering is limited to Brianna's and Gray's affair, leaving the reader impatient about fleeting references to footprints outside Brianna's window and a messy break-in at the B&B. Still, the pace of the book is smooth and even, and the writing captures the charisma and earthy charm of Ireland and the gentleness of its people while setting the tone for Born in Shame, the final story. (Aug.
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