Playing With Fire

by Mary Larkin

Susan's boyfriend of six months, Jim, is a Catholic and her parents haven't yet found out. Jim has said all along that their romance is doomed and she must understand this - but, in fact, neither can bear not to see each other. Finally, Jim realises Susan is angling for a marriage proposal and he knows he must end their relationship. Susan is distraught and ends up being comforted (too much so!) by her sister Alison's current boyfriend, Graham, resulting in a pregnancy. Susan flees to her aunt in Darlington in shame, but has to return to Belfast when her mother has a stroke and Graham is in a car accident.
Susan gives birth to a beautiful son but still refuses to tell anyone who the father is. And there are now three men in her life - Jim, who doesn't want to be the stepfather of someone else's son; Graham, who believes he is the father and who loves Susan and believes she loves him; and Donald, a man she met in Darlington...

Genres: Ireland

480 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2008

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in paperback. I liked the first few chapters, where the emphasis lay on describing the community and how a Protestant girl was facing an uncertain future with a Catholic boyfriend.

However the story then became so general that I felt it could have been set almost anywhere. That was a pity after the good start. That is why I am not giving it a higher rating although it was still a passable romance. I have read a few by this author but I think some are better read in sequence as one book harks back to secrets in a previous one. Certainly it is good to see historical romance set in Northern Ireland.