Holidaying in Ireland, Terri MacEgan is warned not to ride
out on Midsummer's Eve. But the contrast with her life in
Washington has infused her with adventurousness and she
insists, cantering on a beautiful grey hunter mare to a
Tipperary hill known as a fairy fort. Under the spell of
the stars, she is drawn back in time....
In QUEEN OF THE SUN, Conaire the king of this land has
lacked a queen but no maid seems worthy of the task. On
Midsummer in his time he and two friends are riding when a
lady on a tall grey mare appears out of nowhere. Terri's
frightened by the strangely-clad men and gallops off, but
her mare finds an empty hill instead of her barn. Houses
have vanished, and the warrior men catch up so panicking,
Terri gives them her gold wristwatch. Speaking Gaelic,
they calmly hand it back. Thinking they must be gypsies,
Terri rides off again to lose herself in woods until
daylight. Conaire decides to guard her while she sleeps,
then using the druid lore manages to bestow a gift of
communication on the lady. Now he can tell her that she's
going to be his queen. Whether she wanted the position or
not....
I thoroughly enjoy all of Janeen O'Kerry's books and QUEEN
OF THE SUN
was no different. Right from the start we know Terri is
going to land in trouble and the ancient ways are not to be
considered lightly. The descriptions of landscape and
nature are gorgeous and as a horse lover I admired the grey
mare Firelair and the rest of the horses. The dun or
fortified village is carefully reconstructed as we see it
through the tourist's eyes - and the locals disapprove of a
woman not wearing skirts. The pampering doesn't last and
it's amusing to see the proud girl adjust to the simple
life being offered. Everything was hard work hundreds of
years ago.
What would you do if you had to make your way in the past?
Terri chooses to be a horse trainer and so would I; that's
a job that would never go out of style. Negotiating the
tribal politics is a more difficult matter and this is
bound to lead to major trouble. For more Celtic romances
by Janeen O'Kerry try Daughter of Gold or Goddess of
Eire and another time-travel story is Lady of Fire.
QUEEN OF THE SUN is a finely-detailed and exciting read
with good historical background.
Drawn back in time to the man of her dreams, Terri must
become the Queen she is meant to be.
American Terri MacEgan, vacationing in Ireland for the
summer, rides out for the afternoon on the beautiful grey
Irish hunter mare called Firelair. But this is no ordinary
day—it’s the Summer Solstice. And as the sun sets, Terri
gazes upon a beautiful conjunction of stars and thinks of
the warriors and heroes of days gone by.
On a Summer Solstice hundreds of years in the past, King
Conaire gazes upon that same conjunction of stars and thinks
of how much he desires to find a strong and noble queen to
rule beside him.
The stars work their magic, and Terri and Firelair find
themselves drawn back to ancient Ireland and King Conaire.
The strong and resourceful Terri soon carves out a place for
herself at Conaire’s side, but his people do not trust this
strange new woman and refuse to accept her as his queen.
Terri knows she must earn their acceptance, or return to her
own time without Conaire.
This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in July
1998 by Dorchester Love Spell.