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GALWAY GIRL
Author: Cathy Mansell
Length: Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Digital Price: $4.99
Print Price: $11.99
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Feisty Irish gypsy girl, Tamara Redmond is just sixteen when she overhears her parents planning her wedding to the powerful and hated Jake Travis. In desperation, she leaves Galway, a place she loves, and stows away on a ship with disastrous consequences. On her release from a cell in Liverpool, she takes refuge in a travelling circus and falls in love with Kit Trevelyan, a trapeze artist.
Accused of stealing, she is thrown out. She sleeps rough in Covent Garden where her fear of Jake Travis finding her dominates her waking hours. When he kidnaps her and keeps her captive, her life spirals downwards. Then Tamara hears a truth, a truth that will change her life and her very existence forever.
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| Excerpt |
1900
The girl lay in the sand dunes, her green cape camouflaged by the tall grasses. Her breath came in gasps. She was lucky to have come this far. The gypsy camp was only a couple of miles behind her. It wasn’t far enough, and if her escape failed, she wouldn’t live to see her seventeenth birthday.
She could hear the sea lapping the shore, taste the salt spray of the waves lashing the rocks below. Seagulls screeched overhead. Black-horned rams roamed the hilltops. Turf smoke curled from chimneys in the stone cottages in the nearby village. Straining forward, she looked down at the deserted beach. She watched and waited.
The September sun faded and a bitter wind blew in across the bay. She drew her cape tighter around her shoulders when the vessel came into view. The sight of its white sails made her excited. She turned her head as the ship moored alongside the pier and anchored in the bay. She could hear the raucous laughter of the men. They climbed from the vessel and strode towards the beach, their boots crunching the shingle.
They passed by with jute sacks slung across their shoulders. Two bearded and bareheaded, the rest wore caps and rough sea-jackets. She knew they were on their way to the tavern in the village.
The moon was rising over Claddagh; a sight she would never tire of, a place she loved but doubted she would ever see again. Listening to the tide receding, she waited until dark. Then, with one last look at the wild coastline and the misty shapes of the Aran Islands in the distance, she scrambled down the slopes, slipping and sliding in her haste. Her legs stung from nettles, and her bare feet were numb and bleeding. She stepped across the uneven pebbles, her feet squelching the seaweed, her cape billowing, and her red curls tumbling around her shoulders. Making sure no one saw her, she lifted her long skirts and waded through the water. The sea was cold as it rushed over her bruised feet and ankles. Close up, the ship was not as big as she had thought, but it was the only one moored that night.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she used her hands and feet to clamber onto the pier. Her feet slipping on the wet stone, she raced along the jetty, only pausing long enough to read the name, Maryanne, on the side of the ship. She climbed down onto the deck of the cutter with no idea where it would take her; she had nothing but the clothes she stood up in and a small bundle under her arm. In it, she carried a change of clothes, a hairbrush and a copy of Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, given to her by her grandmother when she first learned to read.
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| Top Reviews |
Excellent read
I'm a book worm and this Galway Girl is another one to be recommended. ~ Ella Bella, Amazon UK
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A change of direction for Cathy
Galway Girl is a refreshingly different book from Cathy whilst maintaining the high standards of her earlier works . . . the same eye for character, intrigue and romance, now mixed with a heady sense of excitement and adventure which rushes the reader through the pages! . . . The characters in Galway Girl are, as ever, clearly defined and interesting, but in keeping with the slightly different tone of the book, Cathy cleverly portrays them in such a way that things are not always as they seem . . . I highly recommend Galway Girl to readers of Cathy's books, and for all fans of the romantic suspense genre. If you've purchased one of Cathy's novels and enjoyed them, don't hesitate to add this to your collection, or if this is your first taste of a Cathy Mansell story, prepare to be hooked! ~ Stephen, Amazon UK
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Brilliant read!!!
This is another 5* book from Cathy Mansell. Really enjoyed the story line as there was so much going on and keeps the reader guessing all the time. Loved the characters and the descriptions throughout are excellent. Highly recommended. ~ Samantha Russell, Amazon UK
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ANOTHER GRIPPING READ
ANOTHER FANTASTIC READ CATHY. I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN !! IT KEPT ME GRIPPED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE READ
FANTASTIC !! ~ Rachel Smiles, Amazon UK
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Great Reads
I absolutely love Cathy Mansell's stories she is a wonderful storyteller , I have enjoyed Shadow across The Liffey and her Fathers Daughter, Hoping for more Books from Cathy. ~ Monica Sherry, Amazon UK
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AN ABSORBING STORY!
This lovely cover attracted me instantly, and I found this a pacy and absorbing read. Well-written with well-drawn characters and set in a variety of vividly described backgrounds, the courage of Tamara had me rooting for her from the beginning. Cathy Mansell writes with both warmth and perception - a great storyteller. Highly recommended. ~ Minskip, Amazon UK
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Another really good read from Cathy Mansell
Galway Girl is exciting from the very first page. Once again as with all Cathy Mansell's stories, it is unputdownable, and it remains exciting right up to the very last page. Cathy is a good story-teller, and Galway Girl lives up to this reputation. ~ L.B. Buckingham, Amazon UK
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Galway Girl is a gripping page-turner of a read. Tamara's character practically leaps off the page as we follow her back and forth across the Irish Sea. We see what a strong willed and courageous woman she is, even as the story begins in her 16th year. Cathy's way with words awakens a vision of Ireland at the turn of the last century, and of England. It's not difficult to hear, in Cathy's words, the creak of the ship's hull as it sails across the sea, or the jangling of harnesses in the confines of a circus tent. This is a deeply engrossing story which draws readers in on many levels, letting us experience the life and times of the early 20th century Ireland and Great Britain . . . a time shortly before Ireland's Easter Rising, when tempers were hot, cultures clashed, and in the background, and oft-forgotten segment of the Irish population made their own laws. I dare say, Galway Girl is Cathy's best story yet! ~ Heart of Fiction
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Loved it could not put it down
I have read both Cathy's other books, Shadow across the liffey and Her fathers Daughter, and this one is just as good I could not put it down , Cathy puts so much in to her characters you can experience their emotions, I loved to hate Jake and could not stop reading until I found out if he found Tamara, It had suspense romance and drama,I loved it, i cannot wait for her next book. Well done Cathy you put so much into your books. ~ Dawn Hnylycia, Amazon
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