What Matters Most: A Novel

Star of the Sea Academy #2

by Luanne Rice

New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice works her singular magic in this deeply felt novel about two unforgettable couples, linked by a shared history, separated by decisions made long ago. What if you could relive one time in your life? What would you choose if you could make one thing right? For Bernadette and Tom, it is a return to their roots in Ireland and a love that broke every rule and could have withstood any consequence—but the one that broke their hearts. For James and Kathleen, whose indelible bond was forged in a Dublin orphanage before one was adopted and carried across the sea to America, it is a reunion they’ve dreamed of all their young lives, even if it defies reason. From the Emerald Isle to the Connecticut shore, four lives  are about to come together in a confrontation that will challenge each of them to leave behind the past and all they once thought was important, and to embrace at last what matters most.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Relationships, Religion, Ireland, Womens Fiction

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Luanne Rice is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-eight novels, translated into thirty languages. Rice often writes about love, family, nature, and the sea. Most recently she has written thrillers, including one based on a murder that affected her family. She received the 2014 Connecticut Governor’s Arts Award for excellence and lifetime achievement in the Literary Arts category.
Connecticut College awarded Rice an honorary degree and invited her to donate her papers to the College’s Special Collections Library. They are archived in the Luanne Rice Collection.
Rice has also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Joseph University in West Hartford, Conn.
Several of Rice's novels have been adapted for television. Her monologue for the play Motherhood Out Loud premiered at Hartford Stage and has been performed Off-Broadway in NYC and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.
Rice is a Creative Affiliate of the Safina Center. She lives in southeastern Connecticut.

Reviews

[Rebekah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst love story I've ever read. I actually stopped to read portions to my husband and we laughed out loud at the sappy, ridiculous events.

A woman who is now a nun, and the groundskeeper at the abbey, take a trip to Ireland to see how the son they had together is getting along. Horror of horrors, they find that instead of the happy family they envisioned him gaining from the orphanage, he was never adopted and ran off to be on his own. This starts a search for the son, a questioning of the nun's previous choice to give up the child and take her vows, and raises hopes in the groundskeeper that he may win his lady yet. Laugh out loud awful, and I haven't even spoiled the best (worst) parts.

[Lesley-gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first introduction to Luanne Rice, and I think it will be my last. I enjoy books with characters that I can relate to, that are believable and conceivable regardless of the genre or setting. The story surrounds four characters, two couples - Bernadette Sullivan and Thomas Kelly, and Seamus Sullivan and Kathleen Murphy. The first couple Bernadette and Thomas are in their forties, and have been in love since childhood. I get that, I can understand the depth of the love and friendship between them. What I don't get is everything after. Bernadette wants to enter the convent, she sees a vision of Mary which she perceives as confirmation as her destiny to become a nun. She follows Tom on a trip to Ireland in search of their roots. Here they fall more in love and she gets pregnant, has the baby and gives it up for adoption under the influence of an "evil" novice mistress. They go back to America, and for 23 years he works as a caretaker at her Convent while she rises to the position of Mother Superior. After 20 plus years, she decides she wants to search for their son. Are you kidding me? Seriously, maybe I can't relate because I'm not Irish Catholic like the characters in the book. But I can not see how any woman who is determined to keep her child, is that easily manipulated. Then she names the child Thomas James after his father and paternal grandfather, yet chooses to give him her surname. Secondly the character Tom, is highly fictional. I can not perceive any man, who wants his child, is going to allow you to give it away. No objections, just to please you. Then you enter the convent and he waits by your side for 20 plus years for you to realize that you made a mistake and the both of you can be together. Whilst all the time you are playing games with his emotions because you don't know whether you want him or Jesus. Wow! So in this supposed depiction of enduring love of the other, what about love and respect for the self. The desire for peace of mind and personal strength. Total hogwash! Let me not go on further. Completely unrealistic, blue people who mate with their tails as in Avatar are more believable.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that I have never encountered a more self-centred, self-pre-occupied nun in fact or in fiction than in this book. Sorry, but I would like to have smacked the wonderful Sister Bernadette silly. Her complete lack of awareness and sensitivity make me very sceptical that she would be chosen for anything - least of all for visions or visitations.

I used to enjoy reading Luanne Rice's books and was looking forward to renewing my acquaintance, but after this one I think it's best just to pass her books by. I'm not sure who changed - probably me, but this one had me muttering. I persevered, thinking that it would get better. In my estimation it didn't and I'm sorry I wasted my time.

[Kinsey Breland .: avid_midnight_reader :. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The friendship between James and Kathleen as children was so cute. They were both left at the orphanage as babies, and grew up together. I can’t imagine how confused and hurt James must have felt when Kathleen’s birth parents came by the orphanage to take her back, leaving James there alone.

Even after Kathleen’s parents came back for her, these two kept thinking about each other over the years; still hoping to find each other again. Their love story was both sad and inspiring.

Though this book is technically the 2nd book in the Star of the Sea Academy series, it can be read as a standalone. I haven’t read the first book, and I didn’t feel like I was missing any information.

[Liliana Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opinião: https://alilianaraquel.pt/2022/12/a-m...

[Mindi · Rating 2 out of 5]

My library is slim with books on tape. I picked this up for the pretty picture as I had not heard of Luanne Rice.

I apologize to anyone who bothered with my in progress reviews. This book was tedious. By the 7th cd, I was vested enough to want to finish it. During the 8th cd, I was angry and turned it off for a couple days. Then I listened to portions of the last CD and decided to go back and finish.

I think the end was sufficiently acceptable. I did require a generally happy ending to tie up loose ends after all the hearts breaking, pounding and bleeding, the hands shaking/quivering/tingling and oh, the eyes. Luanne Rice loves some eyeballs. NO ONE worth a shit has anything but intense eyes. Everyone speaks some special passionate annoying eye language that isn't taught in school, not in Indiana anyway.

This might be a fine book for those that are Catholic, Irish, believe in signs from God, ghosts, or who are remarkably patient or can suspend reality during a book that is supposed to read real. I am none of those things so I half want my hours and hours back. I liked some of the characters well enough. Rice moves between times very well, but she is R-E-P-E-T-I-V-E to the point of reader exhaustion.

Sister Bernadette was a pain in the ass to the bitter end. She got slightly better but a pain none the less.

I was glad for the characters in the end. I am enough of a glutton for punishment that I might read or listen to a sequel.

[Mónica Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luanne Rice possui uma mestria evidente ao abordar o amor nas suas obras. Neste livro, a sua escrita é capaz de tocar o coração do leitor de uma forma simples. Mais do que um mero romance, é um livro sobre encontros e desencontros, vidas que se cruzam e interlaçam sob o poder do amor.
Bernadette, ao abandonar o seu filho para seguir a sua vocação e tornar-se freira, alterou não apenas o rumo da sua vida mas também o do homem que mais amava. Agora, juntos, Bernadette e Tom vão percorrer um caminho árduo em busca do seu filho. No fundo, esta é uma estória sobre redenção e expiação pelos erros do passado.
Talvez a escolha de Bernadette possa parecer desconcertante e egoísta; afinal, a sua fé sobrepôs-se ao seu amor pelo filho. Contudo, ela acreditava que seria a escolha mais adequada para proporcionar uma boa vida ao seu filho. E não será este o propósito de qualquer mãe? Agora numa tentativa de comprovar se tomou a opção correta, Bernadette alterará mais uma vez o destino das pessoas que a rodeiam.
A dualidade dos romances na estória também torna a leitura bastante dinâmica: ao mesmo tempo que estamos perante um romance jovem e apaixonado capaz de ultrapassar fronteira, também encontramos um romance maduro e marcado pelo tempo e pelas decisões do passado. Este é, pois, um livro para ser saboreado com calma, mas principalmente com emoção.

Opinião originalmente publicada em: http://howtoliveathousandlives.blogsp...

[Rhonda Rae Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome story...loved the characters and what they went through touched memories that I have.

Emotionally charged and beautifully written. Luanne Rice has a way of digging deep within the soul and challenging your beliefs.

We are all affected by choices...from our ancestors, our parents, our siblings, our spouses, our children, even our friends...it's what we do with those events that can either make or break us.

I felt such controversy with what happened to these children while growing up and even wondered what my life would have or could have been like if I wasn't adopted.

If you like family stories, adventure, moral issues, or just something meaningful to think about...this is a great weekend read.

I've already chosen my next book by this author, she really knows how to take you to another place and time.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know that many reviewers really did not like this story for various reasons. I agree with some of them: style of writing, outlandish plot, etc! However, I loved the story. I love when stories come full circle and I can finish my life with the characters. As a Catholic, I understood the struggle of the decisions that were made by Bernadette and Tom; as an adoptive mother, my heart was wrenched with the struggles of Kathleen and Seamus. I even get the adult issues of the adult children. I'm glad that I didn't "listen" to the low reviews - this one really struck my heart!

Go Cards! L1C4!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know that several reviews cited the somewhat 'sappy' nature of this book. Perhaps it was the timing of my reading it but I got drawn into the characters of the story and couldn't put it down. There are a few parts that may make you roll your eyes but I enjoyed the book and cried at the ending, which would go right along with the known fact that I cry at things like the Budweiser commercials with the puppy and the hero being welcomed home!

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This almost reads like a trashy romance novel. Other than James/Seamus the characters are not really very likeable. I've enjoyed other novels by Rice, but this one left me feeling yucky about the story and the characters.

[Mafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorei!Devorei o livro, ao contrario do que pensava não tive qualquer problemas com as partes religiosas do livro. Mas gostei mesmo muito, achei as personagens cativantes e adorei a historia do James/Seamus e da Kathleen.

[Patti Kirkpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of her work!

I don't know if it's my Irish heritage, or this story just tugs at my heart strings but this is my favorite of all of Luanne Rice's work.
(And I've read almost everything that she's written. )

[Babete · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fraquinho, não lhe encontrei qualquer sentido!
( Biblioteca )

[Meghan McDonald Carlson of Texas, Maryland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven’t read a romance in a long time (shout out to adolescent self reading all my stepmothers Danielle Steel novels 😳)…

this was like a soap opera & I couldn’t stop reading it 😏 All the fantastical, crazy stuff—just take it in stride, folks! 🤣

[Silvana Martins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opinião: https://pordetrasdaspalavras.blogs.sa...

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, a struggle between love and your calling in life. The things she gives up and cannot ever forget when she chooses.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, I did enjoy the book. However, it was very unrealistic and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a few times throughout.

[Maura Smuszkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love an Irish cutesy love story

[Jenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Matters Most is another great work of Luanne Rice . I have read few of Luanne’s books and so far there wasn’t a single book of hers that disappointed me. That was the way I felt with What Matters Most, from the moment I picked up the book, it got hard for me to put it down, I needed how it would turn out in the end. I loved the way Rice portrayed everyone’s emotions, I felt myself being able to feel what they were filling. Top of it, the scenery she set, described, especially of Ireland was beautiful and I felt that I was actually there. Even though most parts of novel were sad, they were also ones that made me smile. Rice brought the story to life to me. I’m looking forward to reading rest of her novels.

What Matters Most is follow up of Sandcastles which I read. This sequel follows story of Bernadette Ignatius and Tom Kelly. Sister Bernadette and Tom Kelly return to Ireland, in search of son they left behind 23 years earlier. It was also the place for a lot of memories for both Tom and Bernadette before her calling, to become Nun. Devastating Tom, he took job as groundskeeper in Star Of Sea so he could be close to her, to the one women that he never stopped loving. Will search of their son, bring them closer together?

Seamus ‘James’ Sullivan also is hoping and dreaming of reuniting with his one true love, Kathleen Murphy who he hasn’t seen over 10 years, not since she was taking by her parents from St Augustine’s Children’s home. Kathleen was the only family that he ever knows. While Kathleen, cook in Newport is dreaming the same thing, dreaming for miracle to bring the one boy she always loved, back to her. All four lives are about to come together.

When I picked up the novel, I haven’t realized that I was reading a sequel to Sandcastles, that I read a year earlier. As I read on, I realized that the names seemed somehow familiar and then it came to me. I was actually happy that she made the sequel, I loved Sandcastles and I was curious about the other characters as well. I found myself loving Bernadette right from beginning, and her dedication to go back to Ireland to find their son. However I found myself frustrated with her at times, I wish she would just be with Tom, she saw how much he loved her. I could feel the tension between two of them, but that’s what I enjoyed about their relationship, the fact that they were obstacles. I didn’t actually read description before picking up the book, I found myself curious what Tom and Bernadette where hiding when they arrived to Ireland, especially how Tom was acting with his cousins.

Now James and Kathleen, I found myself loving them even more. All through the book, I found myself rooting for them to find a way back, to each other. I could tell there was chemistry between two of them from the first page. I found myself being able to easily imagining their relationship; just by the way that Rice described their relationship through the years. Now, that’s a real bond, a bond that is unique. I did wonder what would happened with them two if Kathleen’s parents didn’t come to get her, or if she took James’s offer to run away with him. I found myself feeling sad when they were separated and horrible for Kathleen, for the life she ended up having.

Ending had a twist, as most of Luanne Rice’s books did. I just wish it didn’t have result in death. However I was happy that at least Tom knew how she felt about him, how they both got their feelings out there. Of course, his heart had go out at worse possible way. I though the very ending was beautiful, James finally got he wanted, a family with Kathleen, even if the child wasn’t his, he learned to accept it as I hoped he would. This story is totally worth checking out. If you haven’t read any of Luanne’s books, go pick one out. It’s worth your time.

[Eesha Khan Niazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom😭
... What Matters Most is Love
And the respect for the one you love. If she doesn't want it, You can bleed your heart out but not make her feel bad about it. Be there for her even if you know you can never touch her. Despite all that. never think of replacing her. I like kelly's patience for more than 2 decades, for sacrifice that spend almost all the money saved for college studies be used up to find the love of her life... sticking to one person throughout their lives The First and true love. Being their for eachother in whatever way they can and family comes first!
My First ever series

[CLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Bernadette is in love with her childhood friend Tom, she believes her vocation to the church comes first so insists on giving up their illegitimate child for adoption in Ireland (presumably in the 70s). She then becomes a nun (also in Ireland, although she is American and mysteriously ends up back in Connecticut where she ends up running a branch of her order) and Tom, strangely, becomes the groundskeeper on what was once his family's estate before it became a convent. Oddly, one would think Tom could have insisted on raising his child himself, even if it was contrary to what Bernadette wanted and perhaps before it was common for a father's adoption rights to be considered (and in this case, he reluctantly agreed to Bernadette's wishes). It takes nearly 25 years for Bernadette to investigate what happened to her son. When she eventually finds him, she is surprised and hurt that he is angry with her for abandoning him.

In the meantime, her son James grows up in an orphanage, also with a devoted childhood friend who is his true love, Kathleen (childhood friendships are a recurring theme in Rice's books). Improbably, Kathleen's parents retrieve her from the orphanage when she is 13 so she ends up in America also, but oddly, working for an unpleasant but affluent family in Newport, where she is the cook by day but by night has sex with the vicious elder son of the house. I think one is meant to understand that she misses James so much and feels she let him down by leaving the orphanage that she a) is so lonely she craves contact with anyone, and b) feels she doesn't deserve anything better than meaningless contact with vicious son. But it is unclear why, instead of cowering in the unheated attic, someone in her early 20s doesn't get a better job where she might meet someone her own age or (if she feels so unworthy) why she doesn't hire an investigator to find James in Ireland if she cannot locate him online. Granted, being named Sullivan and Murphy will not help them locate each other and we do need a plot.

As always, Rice creates interesting characters and vivid descriptions but here her two heroines were so annoying that it prevented me from enjoying the book, which Rice had kindly autographed for me in June.

[mush♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to start this review off by saying the YMCA I grew up taking swimming lessons at would occasionally have these little book sale tables in the front lobby like once a month maybe. There would be stacks of used books that people didn't want anymore, and because they were selling them for like $1 a book AND LESS, my mom would let me pick out WHATEVER to bring home since I liked to read. Now, I have a bunch of unread random books in my collection. This is one of those books.

Now that the preamble is out of the way, this definitely was an experience. Since I had no prior knowledge about this book, the fact that it was a nun love story truly caught me off guard. Definitely not something I would gravitate towards, but my innate stubbornness that's instilled in me does not allow me to DNF a book. This wasn't even hard to get through, I definitely didn't read large chunks at a time, but it's 3 stars because I was surprisingly very engaged? The dual love story was kinda wild and as always I stay rooting for love even in the most unrealistic of scenarios. And despite everything I found myself rooting for the older couple in the end, those last 50 pages I definitely found myself *almost* at the edge of my seat. I was engaged enough to enjoy it, but I definitely don't think this story stuck with me very much in the end.

Since I am not someone who is religious, I just found it hard to resonate with a lot of the reasoning behind some of the characters actions and behaviors due to their practices and beliefs that charged them. However, it was definitely not a negative experience to read something out of my comfort zone and from a different perspective/ walk of life as me, as fictitious as it may be (couldn't tell you if this was even an accurate depiction of a Nun's life is what I mean). I also understood where the main character came from a lot of the time due to her beliefs/ chosen lifestyle as well, so it definitely opens up your perspective.

Final verdict: Gotta love Ireland!!

[Raquel Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A irmã Bernardette Ignatius regressa á Irlanda na companhia de Tom Kelly em busca do passado que ambos deixaram para trás há mais de 20 anos.
Antes do seu chamamento para a vida religiosa no convento, bernadette e Tom passam uma noite de amor, onde é resultante uma criança. Esta foi entregue ao convento ainda recém nascida. Chamaram-lhe Thomas, como ao pai, mas devido a haver muitos Tom's chamavam-lhe pelo segundo nome James.
Algures em Dublin, Seamus, sonha em reencontrar o seu grande amor, Kathlean. Que no outro lado do oceano, trabalha como cozinheira e criada numa casa de gente rica que só quer os seus cozinhados nos dias de visita, preferindo nos outros dias comida de microondas. Esperando ela com a sua fé que a vida lhe devolva o único rapaz que alguma vez amou.
A minha verdade é o amor, foi o segundo livro que li desta escritora, e foi a medo, pois o primeiro não tinha gostado lá muito. No entanto este livro deixou-em profundamente apaixonada por ele. E ao contrário do que pensava a parta religiosa deste livro não me incomodou nada.
Inesquecível e marcante.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very sappy and unbelievable love story between 2 couples. The first love story is between Tom and Bernadette. The young couple visit Ireland and conceive a child which is given up for adoption because "Bernie" is about to take her vows as a nun. Her child, Thomas James Sullivan,grows up in a Catholic orphanage where he falls in love with another orphan Kathleen. Meanwhile Sister Bernadette has become the Superior at a Connecticut convent where her former lover works as caretaker. For more than 20 years the two work together, enjoying a deep friendship that stays within the boundaries they've set. Then, they decide to travel back to Ireland to find their son. They discover that he was not adopted, and in fact, had lived most of his at the orphanage, only leaving when Kathleen's parents find her and reclaim her. The story deals with the reunion of parents with son, and with Seamus' search for Kathleen. It was a ridiculous plot, and the melodramatic ending was equally ridiculous.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with Luanne Rice books. She has such a gift for laying out beautiful words. This is the 4th book of hers I've read. It does start out a little confusing, I must say. I think she's trying to create suspense, but I was left wondering at more than one point just what was going on here. I'm going to stick it through, however, because it's getting better. Luanne Rice is great.

1/20/10 update: I finished the book. I did find it hard to sympathize with Bernie, without giving too much away. One can't spend their entire life having their cake and eating it too, so to speak. Are there really "Tom"s out there in this world? I realized there was another book that led up to this one. Although it did work OK as a stand-alone read, that would account for the mild confusion I felt while reading the early pages of this book.

[Karrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it ok until the end, which I think sucked! I can't actually believe that Tom died. Whatever. Plus, Bernie drove me crazy! I don't she was worth Tom wasting his life over. I don't know why Bernie couldn't make a decision about her life on her own if she was supposed to be such a strong person. She lets everyone but Tom influence what she's going to do with her life and he is the one she should be listening to, besides herself. And then, she was going to leave and never try to see her son again? OK. I guess I'll give it a 3 since I like the beginning.

[Dária · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vida é feita de escolhas e tomada de decisões que alteram o percurso da nossa vida, bem como daqueles que nos rodeiam, especialmente daqueles que são mais importantes para nós e que habitam no nosso coração. Acho lindas as histórias de amor e esta cativou-me bastante! Adoro quando um livro me envolve de tal maneira, mexendo com as minhas emoções e me leva a exteriorizá-las!

[Kelly Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a writer's standpoint, I completely and honestly appreciate the ending of this book. Well done!
From a readers standpoint, I was saddened and a bit dissapointed by the ending.
Overall, the book was well worth the read and entirely heart-breaking.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The audio book was done with Irish accents and the childhood romance is so cheesy that I quit before I really got into the book. When I read the description of the book just now, I wasn't even sure this was the book I started and quit.