The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance

Cin Craven #0.1 - The Eternal Warrior

by Trisha Telep (Editor), Shirley Kennedy, Claire Delacroix

An enthralling collection of romantic tales set amidst beautiful Ireland's lush ancient landscapes: pre-Christian ruins, green hills, rugged cliffs, and pounding Atlantic surf. These stories--by writers such as Roberta Gellis, Bertice Small, Jennifer Ashley, Claire Delacroix, and Mary Jo Putney--honor Ireland's rich heritage as a land of poets, magic, and mystery. The publication will be just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

THE BLUE PEBBLE by Shirley Kennedy
THE BALLAD OF ROSAMUNDE by Claire Delacroix
ORACLE by Margo Maguire
THE TRIALS OF BRYAN MURPHY by Cat Adams
NIA AND THE BEAST OF KILLARNEY WOOD by Cindy Miles
BEYOND THE VEIL by Patricia Rice
SHIFTER MADE by Jennifer Ashley
DAUGHTER OF THE SEA by Kathleen Givens
THE WARRIOR by Jenna Maclaine
ETERNAL STRIFE by Dara England
QUICKSILVER by Cindy Holby
THE FEAST OF BEAUTY by Helen Scott Taylor
COMPEER by Roberta Gellis
ON INISHMORE by Ciar Cullen
THE MORRÍGAN’S DAUGHTER by Susan Krinard
TARA’S FIND by Nadia Williams
THE SKRYING GLASS by Penelope Neri
THE HOUNDMASTER by Sandra Newgent
THE SEVENTH SISTER by Sue-Ellen Welfonder
BY THE LIGHT OF MY HEART by Pat McDermott

Genres: Romance, Anthologies, Historical Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Historical

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2010

About the author

Trisha Telep was the romance and fantasy book buyer at Murder One, a London crime, mystery, and romance bookstore; she's now co-owner of the virtual bookstore www.murderone.co.uk and an editor of romance and supernatural anthologies for Mammoth. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, she now lives in London.

Reviews

[Melindeeloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not everyone likes these BIG short Story collections but I love anthologies and when I think of Ireland I think of Fae legend and magical romance, so I was eagerly awaiting the release of the Mammoth Book of Irish romance and its twenty magical short stories. And it couldn't have arrived at a more perfect week in my time challenged life - these shorts were just the thing to allow me to sneak in a few short reads when I really 'should' have been doing something else.

While I am more of a paranormal romance reader, many of these romances had paranormal elements and I recognized a fair number of authors. I didn't sit down and read the book end to end - I jumped around and read the stories by the authors I knew first - so I am not sure if that would have changed my perceptions of the stories. My favorites were by Cat Adams, Jenna Maclaine, Nadia Williams, Sue Ellen-Wolfender and Penelope Neri, and I found a few new favorite authors I'll have to explore more.

Overall most of the stories fell between a 4 (I liked it) 3.5 (it was pretty good) and 4.5 (I really liked it) but there were a couple of 3's (just ok). There is a good mix of historical and fantasy stories, most with a touch of myth magical and love.

1. "The Blue Pebble" - Shirley Kennedy - When Evleen leaves Ireland for magicless England she vows to cast no spells, even when honor trumps love and there looks to be no happily ever after for Evleen - This was a nice little lead off for the anthology, both leads are appealing and I was rooting for a way for love to prevail over the strictures of regency England (4 stars)

2 "The Ballad of Rosamunde" - Claire Delacroix - Woven around a bard's poem, is the story of pirate Rosamunde. Padraig laments the loss of the woman he had secretly loved. But when Padraig discovers that Rosamunde is not dead, he will brave the faerie realm to rescue her and maybe win another chance to share his heart - This story had a very classic feel, alternating a stanza of the ballad with the real story of Padraig and Rosamunde, but I really just do not care for this style and the back and forth (and hated italics) broke up the flow of the story too much for me to enjoy the tale (2.5 stars - I didn't care for it)

3. "The Oracle" - Margo Maguire - Ana is on the brink of taking her vow of chastity and becoming Oracle to her magical race, when she sees a vision of dark forces stirring up strife on earth. Ana will choose to leave her magical dimension to stop the impending war on the earthly plane because she has 'seen' that she has a part to play. - This is apparently a story connected to Maguires' Druzai Warriors series and I liked it well enough that I would check out the stories of Ana's cousins. (4 stars - I liked it )

4. "The Trials of Brian Murphy" - Cat Adams (Aka CT Adams and Cathy Clamp) - When Brian's half Fae wife is stolen from the human world by Fae raiders, Brian will risk death to follow her to the Faerie realm rather than live without the woman he loves - I really liked this one, even in the quick setup of the story Adams' conveyed the depth of Brian's relationship with his wife, and the trial he faces to win her freedom was well done. (5 stars)

5. "Nia and the Beast of Killarney Wood" - Fleeing her father's men who are delivering her to a convent, Nia falls into an inescapable pit with an unknown companion. In the dark they discover that neither is the 'ugly beast' that think themselves to be - Short but sweet, this is a nice twist on the beauty and the beast romance theme and I liked that the pair offer each other a new beginning and an end to loneliness. (4.5 stars)

6. "Beyond the Veil" - Patricia Rice - Mortally wounded and finding his wife dead on her birthing bed, Finn makes a plea to a goddess to spare his newborn son. - There are many wonderful elements in this story, but this really needed to be a much longer story to take advantage of them and to be truly satisfying (3.5 stars - it was pretty good)

7. "Shifter Made" - Jennifer Ashley" - This is a prequel to Ashley's Shifters Unbound series - Shifter Niall, is forced to forge a magical sword for the hated Fae as ransom for his kidnapped children. - This is the story of the forging of the Guardian's sword which plays a part in the Pride Mates, but the story stands well apart from the series and vice versa. It has a good set up and a good end but it is too short to have a satisfying middle - the starring pair just jump from being enemies to being more. (3.5 stars )

8. "Daughter of the Sea" - Kathleen Givens - From childhood Murin and Conlan had been inseparable, despite the fact that he was a woodcutter's son and she a princess, and they have vowed to be together always. When Murin's evil stepmother casts a spell to keep Conlan from her forever, Murin must travel to the Kingdom Beneath the Sea and face three trials to set her lover free - This one was a classic faery tale type story (4 stars)

9. "The Warrior" - Jenna Maclaine - After centuries together, hate, love and betrayal lie between the goddess of war and her finest warrior - I am not familiar enough with the legends of Morrigan and Cuchulainn to know how much of a spin Maclaine put on this, but I really liked the story of the history between the pair. (4.5 stars - this was one of my favorites)

10. "Eternal Strife" - Dara England - Trespassing in magical territories, a young woman bargains her life away to gather the ingredients for a magical cure, but how will she be able to pay the price? - The pieces of legend, the enchanted forest, fairy ring and merrow(fae waterfolk) lake elements,along with the final fate of the heroine, give this story the feel of a real Irish fairy tale . (2.5 stars - the story just didn't appeal to me)

11. "Quicksilver" - Cindy Holby (aka Colby Hodge) - A warrior pulls a half drowned Fae woman from the sea, but when her former jailor arrives to retrieve his prisoner, the warrior's skills alone won't be enough to defeat her legendary captor - fitting in some steamy stuff seemed a bit forced, but the premise and the warrior were appealing (3.5 stars)

12. "The Feast of Beauty" - Helen Scott Taylor - Kate finds magic and love in a trip to her grandmother's homeland - I was hoping for a story a bit more connected to Taylor's Magic Ring series, perhaps the third brother from Phoenix Charm, but this story offers a similar feel in a speed dating format. (4 stars)

13. "Compeer" - Roberta Gellis - Warrior Ailill who is besotted with Maeb's strength, brains and beauty aids the Fae and wins a boon to help him court her - I liked both of the leads, Maeb who doesn't meekly accept the fate foisted upon her by duty and Ailill who's knowledge of how one must deal with the Fae helps to win him his heart's desire (4 stars)

14. "On Inishmore" - Ciar Cullen - Cursed to spend equal time as maid and crone, Maeve falls for the new master of the house even though she knows that only heartache lies ahead - I liked the hero Brian who is kind to Maeve's crotchety alter ego and whose heart is big enough to break the curse (4 stars)

15. "Morrigan's Daughter" - Susan Krinard - With uncharacteristic mercy, a warrior maiden pleads to a goddess to save an enemy's life. - This is another story with great elements, that just needed to be a bit longer to work as a romance (3 stars)

16. "Tara's Find" - Nadia Williams - An archaelogist on a dig makes a surprising discovery - In the end this story was too short and to move the romance along it makes some leaps, so it would have been nice if it were longer. But the initial part of the story with Tara and her 'find' grabbed me to an extent that still I really liked the story, even though I would to have liked for Williams to have been able it to finish Tara's story as strongly as it started out (4.5 stars)

17. "The Skrying Glass" - Penelope Neri - Seeing a vision as a child of her groom's death on their wedding day, Shoban vows to never marry. - I liked this one for Shoban's secret magical nature and for the gorgeous groom-to-be who Shoban fears she will lose much too soon (4 stars)

18. "The Houndmaster" - Sandra Newgent - As a child Branna's mother is murdered by hounds, now grown-up she seeks a magical object lost during the attack. Her search brings her to Devlin on his last night as a mortal. - Devlin's struggle with his attraction to Branna and his impending fate appealed to me (4 stars)

19. "The Seventh Sister" - Sue-Ellen Welfonder - The magic of Ireland calls to Maggie and, on vacation there, she loses her heart to the country and to the gorgeous Conall. - I liked Maggie's struggle between the practical and the haunting draw of what she's left behind and also the bit of magical help she needs to win her a HEA (4 stars)

20. "By the Light of My Heart" - Pat McDermott - A young man goes to Faery to rescue a healer, and then wakes up and meets her again in the normal world - so was his trip to Faery just a dream? - This story starts promising enough, but once the rescue is accomplished it looses its magic as the characters resume their mundane lives and for me it just fizzles (2.5 stars - it didn't dislike it, but I didn't like it either)

[Zee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stopped on page 222. It's not that the book is bad, it's that I have too many other books to read and the stories in here aren't grabbing my attention enough.

[Trianna Hyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are alot of stories in this book but ill go thru them add a little blurb and how much i liked it:

The Blue Pebble By Shirley Kennedy - After the death of her mother, a lady travels from Ireland to England to teach the son of her mothers widowed cousin but finds so much more. 5 out of 5.
The Ballad Of Rosamunde By Claire Delacroix - A journey of a man hoping to free the love of his life from the king of faeries. 4 out of 5.
Oracle By Margo Maguire - A trainee oracle gets a glimpse of the past that is part of her future. 3 out of 5.
The Trials Of Bryan Murphy By Cat Adams - The story of what would a man do to save the woman he loved from the capture of the faeries? 5 out of 5.
Nia And The Beast Of Killarnay Wood By Cindy Miles - Fleeing from captivity, a woman discovers a man who comes born from legend who becomes her protector and her savior. 5 out of 5.
Beyond The Veil By Patricia Rice - A warrior sacrifices himself to save his son and finds love in his quest to protect him from harm. 3 out of 5.
Shifter Made by Jennifer Ashley - A Fae contracts a shifter to fashion a sword in exchange for the release of his kidnapped sons, yet they both find something else along the way. 5 out of 5.
Daughter Of The Sea By Kathleen Givens - When the love of her life is cursed, a woman must travel into the depths of the ocean to free him. 4 out of 5.
The Warrior by Jenna Maclaine - The prequel of the Cin Craven series. The story of the king of vampires and his goddess love. 5 out of 5.
Eternal Strife By Dara England - A daughters quest to save her mother from death. She faces tests from the Fae, centaurs, and the sidhe. 4 out of 5.
Quicksilver By Cindy Holby - A Sidh women escapes the capture of a mythical creature to fall into the hands on a lone warrior. 4 out of 5.
The Feast Of Beauty By Helen Scott Taylor - After the death of her grandmother, a woman travels to Ireland with a pendent her grandmother left her, where she meets king Lir and finds love with the god of the sea. 5 out of 5.
Compeer By Roberta Gellis - A pregnant queen in an unhappy marriage finds love with a stranger who later comes to try to make her happy. 2 out of 5.
On Inishmore By Cair Cullen - Mauve of fairy legend, charms a writer from Boston who falls in love with her as both an old woman and an young lady. 3 out of 5.
The Morrigan’s Daughter by Susan Krinard - A woman warrior goes against her kin to save an enemy of a fallen army who came to her willing to die. 4 out of 5.
Tara’s Find By Nadia Williams - A budding archeologist finds a man buried in the desert and discovers that he captures her heart and that hes one of the faeries on a mission hes waited hundreds of years to finish. 5 out of 5.
The Skrying Glass By Penelope Neri - A child sees her wedding day and vows never to marry; years later she is to be married and the man whom she loves will do anything to keep her safe and prove to her just how strong their love can be. 4 out of 5.
The Houndmaster By Sandra Newgent - A woman who wishes to bring back her dead mother through a magic cup and finds love with a man whom she thought was her enemy. 3 out of 5.
The Seventh Sister By Sue-Ellen Welfonder - A woman travels to Ireland to learn more of the history of her family & falls in love in the short time shes there. 12 years later she returns to try to forget the man she fell in love with and move on with her life when a higher power brings them together hoping to bring love to both of them. 4 out of 5.
By The Light Of My Heart By Pat Mcdermott - A man hoping for a quiet afternoon by and old well, embarks on a quest to save a woman from captivity by the king of the faeries.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read the story by Sue-Ellen Welfonder but couldn't find her single so I'm posting the review here. Her story is The Seventh Sister. It's a beautiful story of second chances. Maggie and Conall meet in Ireland when Maggie visits the place of her ancestors right before she enters college. There is definitely a soul bond between the two. She goes back to the states and for twelve years they don't see each other or speak until she revisits to let her past go and they find each other again. There is a beautiful story about the standing stones that weaves it's tale around Maggie and Conall. It may be a short story but it's smack full of setting, atmosphere, and love.

[Amy Watt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to review every single story as that would take forever, seeing as there's roughly 20, but I thought that they were all roughly the same sort of standard - that is, not very good.

It seemed to be that the stories were fine...until the romance started. Then it just got cheesy.

Also, quite a few of the stories seemed like they'd been written by children. They pointed out the obvious quite a lot and everything they needed suddenly fell at their feet. Bit dull, really.

Wouldn't really recommend this book, unless you want some nice, cheesy short stories

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, loved, loved this collection. My heart melted. My soul sang. And I had a constant smile on my lips throughout the tale.

Irish folklore has always fascinated me and pulled me in. Probably because some of my family is originally from there. And so I collection of romances that are guaranteed to make your heart melt all based in the folklore and mythos of this beautiful country… well, for me, it is a dream come true.

I mostly read each of these beautiful short stories when I was up late at night and struggling to sleep. The short stories guaranteed that I couldn’t get too involved in the storyline. But the romantic and beautiful angle of the stories meant that I was guaranteed to have pleasant dreams and drift off with a smile on my face.

For individual reviews, head to: https://earthandskye.org/categories/s...

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of stories, probably one of the better collections I’ve read. However, the “romance” element was very thin in some stories. A lot of the stories were
More like fairytales or folk tales and yes the people “fell in love” but it was very glossed over. That said all were entertaining.

[Lauren Callahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't mind anthologies. The book unfortunately didn't keep me engrossed. The romantic writing was cheesy. The editing was poorly proofed and at times annoying. Some of the stories were good. Hence the 3 stars.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

20 passionate tales of Myth, Magic & History. I got this book in order to read Jenna Maclain’s Cin Craven story “The Eternal Warrior” (It’s called just ‘The Warrior’ in this anthology.) But being as I’m a voracious reader, I read the whole book. (BTW: it says 21 stories, but there are only 20.)

1)‘The Blue Pebble’ by Shirley Kennedy. 2 stars. Jane Eyre with a Merlin sidekick.

2)‘The Ballad of Rosamund’ by Claire Delacroix. 3 stars. Jewels of Kinfairlie trilogy 3.5. I reviewed this as a separate book. Please refer to that.

3)‘Oracle’ by Margo Maguire. 3 stars. A Druzai oracle princess sees a vision of a dark magic attack on the Kings of southern Ireland and goes to help. She finds she has to make a choice between making her final oracle vows or to claim the King of her heart.

4)‘The Trials of Bryan Murphy’ by Cat Adams. 4 stars. Bryan is a human who has to rescue his half fae wife Bridget from her fae captors by facing three trials. He’s already won two by just reaching her. Can he win the third?

5)‘Nia and the Beast of Killarney Wood’ by Cindy Miles. 4 stars. Due to Mia’s face being scarred by a fire, her father sends her unwillingly off to a lonely life as a nun. But Nia escapes into the nearby haunted wood only to fall into a dark cave, trapped inside with the ‘Beast’ of the forest.

6)‘Beyond the Veil’ by Patricia Rice. 3 stars. Finn, a mortally wounded warrior returns home to find his wife dead leaving behind his newborn son. A hundred years later, a princess attends the stillborn birth of the last male O’Brion heir. But the sidhe have other plans and replace the dead child with Finn’s son, leaving Finn there as his protector.

7)‘Shifter Made’ by Jennifer Ashley. 4 stars. Shifters Unbound series 0.5. I reviewed this as a separate book. Please refer to that.

8)‘Daughter of the Sea’ by Kathleen Givens. 4 stars. Snow White type story where a human princess has to preform three tasks under the sea to save her beloved from her step-mother’s spell. The magic bathing cap is interesting.

9)‘The Warrior’ by Jenna Maclaine. 5 stars. Cin Craven series 0.5 (AKA: The Eternal Warrior). I reviewed this as a separate book. Please refer to that.

10)‘Eternal Strife’ by Dara England. 4 stars. In order to get the three ingredients for the medicine for her mother, Sinead promises each group of the creatures of the Lake, Meadow and Forest to return to them next day. Who will she choose?

11)‘Quicksilver’ by Cindy Holby. 4 stars. Tired of fighting, a lone warrior seeks for a way off the island hoping to find peace and instead finds a half-drowned fae woman. She was attempting to escape from a monstrous one-eyed king who holds the key to her returning home.

12)‘The Feast of Beauty’ by Helen Scott Taylor. 5 stars. I reviewed this as a separate book. Please refer to that.

13)‘Compeer’ by Roberta Gellis. 2 stars. A bit odd and confusing. A young girl agrees to marry one of her Lord father’s peers in repayment of a debt only to find the man a brutish womanizer. She stays with intending to breed him a son, then leave the marriage. Meanwhile a young soldier, upon seeing her decides to win her for his own. He leaves to collect a matching fortune so they can be equals.

14)‘On Inishmore’ by Ciar Cullen. 3 stars. A struggling writer moves to the family home in Ireland to find an enigma in the form of a hag of a housekeeper and her young, beautiful granddaughter. They are never both in residence at the same time and neither one can cook.

15)‘The Morrigan’s Daughter’ by Susan Krinard. 2 stars. Two sides at war: The winners hunt down the remnants of the other. One warrior, who is half and half, feels himself a traitor to both sides begs a warrior daughter of Morrigan to kill him, but she refuses. Hard to remember who’s on whose side.

16)‘Tara’s Find’ by Nadia Williams. 4 stars. On an archeological dig, Tara digs up the well-preserved body of a man, but he’s not dead, he’s fae. So she takes him home. Now what should she do with him?

17)‘The Skrying Glass’ by Penelope Neri. 3 stars. While looking in a skrying glass, a young lady sees her future husband die on wedding day and vows never to marry. After she grows up she meets and falls in love with Kings’ nephew, but is afraid to marry him.

18)“The Houndmaster’ by Sandra Newgent. 2 stars. Strangely different. Not sure how it fits Ireland. A young girl witnesses the death of her parents by dogs, then years later go on a search for a valuable cup that was stolen at same time. She’s captured by a young man who’s destined to become the new master of the Hounds.

19)‘The Seventh Sister’ by Sue-Ellen Welfonder. 4 stars. I reviewed this as a separate book. Please refer to that.

20)‘By the Light of My Heart’ by Pat McDermott. 3 stars. Sweet story about a young man who has a dream about rescuing a young woman from the King of the fairies. Then he meets her on the road coming back from a trip, they fall in love then migrate to America.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some x-rated. Jaunts over centuries, centers in Ireland. Many Gaelic words, most in context. Nadia William's "Tara's Find", Gellis's "Compeer" are two of many catchy tales.

Typos: Book index 19 p44 plain is plane
Bi22 p36 ha ir is hair ; Bi23 p74 Te n is Ten Bi26 p71 and 76 To o is T

[TinaMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Inishmore - Cian Cullen - 4
A cursed woman hopes to be freed by the new owner of the house. Sweet but while set in 1890 it often felt more contemporary

The fae kidnap his wife and he chases them down a seelie mound and endures trials to save her. You could feel the love these two had for each other come off the page.

Eternal Strife by Dara England - 4
a young woman risks the wrath of the Fae to save her mother. Interesting

Compeer by Roberta Gellis - 5
Unconventional is Medb to what we normally read for that time, but the promise of passion leads to a great story

Daughter of the Sea by Kathleen Givens - 4
charming tale, read like a mini fairy tale

The Blue Pebble by Shirley Kennedy - 3
Leaving Ireland for England a young woman brings magic with her and finds love. A lot of cliché here but interesting

The Warrior by Jenna MacLaine - 4
The Story of the Goddess and her warrior, they look back to their beginning and the love they found then.

The Skrying Glass by Penelope Neri - 4
Precocious girl sees death on her wedding day in the Skrying Glass, I didn't always like our heroine but it was a bit of flight of fancy

The Houndmaster by Sandra Newgent - 4
A well spun tale, a cursed man and the innocent lass. A wonderful romantic short

[♥ I’d Rather Be Reading ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Note: This rating/review is based on a partial read of only some of the stories in this anthology. If/when I read the others I will revise my rating/review accordingly.

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The Warrior by Jenna Maclaine: (3 stars)
(Cin Craven, #0.1)
(Read 9/23/2013)
A story that takes place in the Cin Craven world. This is about the first vampire Morrigan creates named Cullen.

It's been several years since I've read the Cin Craven books and while I remember Morrigan, I don't remember Cullen all that much. I'm not sure if he was even in the main books, but I liked him in this story.

It's really short but I liked Morrigan and Cullen together. I wouldn't call them "cute" lol, but they are definitely in love and probably a little in hate with each other too.

I wish she would write more books in this series, they were really fun. Cool world.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kennedy, Shirley - the Blue Pebble ****
Delacroix, Claire - the Ballad of Rosamunde **
Maguire, Margo - Oracle ***
Adams, Cat - the Trails of Bryan Murphy **
Miles, Cindy - Nia and the Beast of Killarney Wood ***
Rice, Patricia - Beyond the Veil ***
Ashley, Jennifer - Shifter Made ****
Givens, Kathleen - Daughter of the Sea **
Maclaine, Jenna - Cin Craven 00.1 the Warrior ****
England, Dara - Eternal Strife **
Holby, Cindy - Quicksilver **
Scott Taylor, Helen - the Feast of Beauty **
Gellis, Roberta - Compeer ****
Cullen, Ciar - On Inishmore **
Krinard, Susan - the Morrigan's Daughter **
Wiliams, Nadia - Tara's Find **
Neri, Penelope - the Skrying Glass ***
Newgent, Sandra - the Houndmaster ***
Welfonder, Sue-Ellen - the Seventh Sister ***
McDermott, Pat - By the Light of My Heart **

[SheLove2Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ended up being mostly disappointed with this anthology. The exceptions being the stories by Cat Adams, Cindy Miles, Patricia Rice and Helen Scott Taylor. 4 out of 20 is not a good ratio in my book.

The problem I have with this anthology is that this is supposed to be about Irish ROMANCE. I would classify these stories, for the most part, as fantasy with a little romance thrown in. Not every one - but the majority. One story I read didn't have ANY romance in it. Also, the length of the stories. I believe the editor could have omitted a few and let these talented authors beef us the stories a bit more.

It also seemed, sadly, that the consensus for "Irish" involves nothing more than the Fae being involved in the story somehow.

As a whole, I can only give this a very low C-.

[Lauren]

OVERALL:

Kennedy, Shirley - the Blue Pebble
Delacroix, Claire - the Ballad of Rosamunde
Maguire, Margo - Oracle
Adams, Cat - the Trails of Bryan Murphy
Miles, Cindy - Nia and the Beast of Killarney Wood
Rice, Patricia - Beyond the Veil
Ashley, Jennifer - Shifter Made
Givens, Kathleen - Daughter of the Sea
Maclaine, Jenna - Cin Craven 00.1 the Warrior
England, Dara - Eternal Strife
Holby, Cindy - Quicksilver
Scott Taylor, Helen - the Feast of Beauty
Gellis, Roberta - Compeer
Cullen, Ciar - On Inishmore
Krinard, Susan - the Morrigan's Daughter
Wiliams, Nadia - Tara's Find
Neri, Penelope - the Skrying Glass
Newgent, Sandra - the Houndmaster
Welfonder, Sue-Ellen - the Seventh Sister
McDermott, Pat - By the Light of My Heart

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Shifter Made" By Jennifer Ashley is a novella that is apart of her Pride Mates series. It takes place in Ireland in the 1400s. This is a story of a Fae princess asking a shifter to make a sword. A sword that we known of because Sean from Pride Mates is Guardian of the Pride because he carries a sword like the one made in this novella.

"The Feast of Beauty" By Helen Scott Taylor is a novella that is apart of her Magic Knot series. Kate meets a guy claiming to be a King of the people of the sea, descendants of the God Lir. King Esras is mentioned in her first 2 novels The Magic Knot and The Phoenix Charm

[Selenity Jade (Coffee Addicts Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of short stories. Not one would I rate below 3 stars. My personal favorites:

The Ballad of Rosamunde by Claire Delacroix
Oracle by Margo Munde
The Trials of Bryan Murphy by Cat Adams
Nia and the Beast of Killarney Woods by Cindy Miles
Beyond the Veil by Patricia Rice
Shifter Made by Jennifer Ashley
The Warrior by Jenna Maclaine
Eternal Strife by Dara England
Quicksilver by Cindy Holby
Compeer by Roberta Gellis
On Inishmore by Ciar Cullen
The Morrigan's Daughter by Susan Krinard
Tara's Find by Nadia Williams
The Skrying Glass by Penelope Neri
The Seventh Sister by Sue-Ellen Welfonder

[Jenny T · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of short romance stories: some bad, some good, mostly cheesy, one delicious. Sadly it seems most of these romance writers' definitions of "Irish" involve some cliche combination of Druids and fairies, with the heroine inevitably being captured by one and rescued by the other. With one notable exception: Roberta Gellis's beautifully-written take on Irish mythology--her Queen Medb stands out as the strong-willed, sexual being from the legends rather than the cookie-cutter hearts-and-flowers heroines from the majority of the other stories.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about Ireland that fascinates and bewitches me. Perhaps it's the magic of it, the myths and legends surrounding it, and/or the tales or romance, tragedy and love. So when I saw a book that included 21 tales of Irish Romance, I couldn't resist. And I must admit that I enjoyed every last one of them. Well, the majority of them anyways! Overall, I liked the authors included and their stories. I would recommend this book to readers who like romance and magic, fey and heroes.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this huge anthology, but, the only thing about a collection of short stories is just that...they end to quickly...It's like right when the story is about to climax ooopssss....it's over and another story is starting, however, if you love celtic and irish lore with a dash of magic and the supernatural you should really enjoy this collection of stories, even though they are short....

[Cathiecaffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want more! This was fab! I picked it up to read a story each night in this anthology before I slept and it was just so beautiful to read these each individual authors! I'm so looking forward to reading more of these authors (those I read before and the new I met here) I so recommend this anthology. Its perfect to experience those authors you haven't read yet and want to try as well as looking for more to read! Perfect! I so hope there will be a second of this Irish Romance!

[Paraphrodite · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say that this took me quite a while to finish. I understand that the purpose of these Mammoth books is to showcase the different talents and entice the reader to seek out more of their work. Unfortunately in my case, it wasn't successful. There wasn't any story particularly memorable or well-written enough to make me do that. In fact, some of them were pretty ordinary. Overall, it was quite disappointing.

[C.M. Truxler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure. I am nearly finished with it, yet hope to be reading it for a great deal longer. It combines traditional historical romance with myth and legends creating the perfec t balance between the realms of reality and fantasy.

Anyone who who enjoys a good traditional romance complete with plenty of heat, not trash; or the wonderful myths and legends that have been handed down for ages, will adore this collection of stories.

[☂]

Shifter Made by Jennifer Ashley

Review on GR entry for individual story

I only read this story so far. One day I'll pick it back up and finish them all.

This is the 0.5 story to Jennifer Ashley's excellent Shifter Bound series. (one of my faves!)

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a HUGE book, as the title indicates. i can't remember the last time it took me an entire month to read a single book. And an entire month it was! I started this one March 1 and finished it March 31st.
:-) As with any collection with this many stories, there are some excellent stories, some in between, and yes, a few clunkers too.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have discovered that I really do not enjoy short stories. As soon as I started getting into the plot line, it was over. I loved the themes and connections with lore, but it was frustrating to have every single story end so abruptly. I would have loved about 3/4 of what was included as full novels, but in their current format, they were just unsatisfying.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy anthologies like this, but I felt something was missing from most of the stories. It really felt on most of the entries that they were initially longer stories and they were cut down to fit into an anthology book.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really not worth buying. Didn't enjoy any of the stories and was sorely disappointed.

[Jennifer Ashley]

Jennifer Ashley's story: "Shifter Made" (part of the Pride Mates series)

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried a bunch of stories in this one, but only ended up reading the Jennifer Ashley one all the way through. It was great to see how the swords came into being for Shifters.