Kristy Cambron brings us to Ireland in another delightful time-jump novel, spanning the stories of three women over several centuries.
“Castle on the Rise” picks up shortly after the series’ first novel. Laine Forrester and her young daughter Cassie are attending the wedding of her dear friends Ellie and Quinn, when Quinn and his brother Cormac Foley find out their family has inherited a castle in Ireland.
With her knowledge of antiques, Laine tags along with the group to check out the castle and its many treasures. As she begins to fall in love with the castle and Ireland itself, she finds herself more and more drawn to Cormac. But as she deals with past failures and an adopted daughter with trauma issues of her own, can Laine open her heart again?
As the Easter Rising of 1916 approaches, Issy Byrne finds herself caught in the middle — English versus Irish, Catholics versus Protestants, brother Sean O’Connell versus brother Levi, and propriety versus following her heart’s desire of photography. But Issy knows she must follow her heart and her convictions, putting herself on the front lines of the Irish’s fight for freedom, armed with her Kodak camera.
In 1797, Maeve Ashford finds herself running her family’s Irish estate. With her father deeply grieving the death of her mother and brother, and her second brother away in England, Maeve must step up and meet the needs of those who depend on her family. And when she meets the mysterious Eion O’Byrne, she must decide if she can trust the man who could be a thief, or her savior.
As each of the three women — Laine, Issy and Maeve — grow in their strength and perseverance, they each learn to follow their hearts and convictions.
Cambron does a great job of weaving together the stories of three women — all connected by Jack Foley’s pub and their longing to fight for freedom. “Castle on the Rise” is a great romantic time-jump novel, but it’s also filled with an important historical message. The story brings to life two Irish rebellions, the fight for freedom and the battle between the Irish and English, as well as the Catholics and Protestants. The story reminds us that sometimes rebelling can be a good thing, and that we must be patient in the fight for peace.
“Castle on the Rise” also contains many other wonderful themes: we need to live every moment, not letting opportunities pass us by; there are no coincidences with God; we must stick to our convictions while not interfering with others’ convictions; God always has a plan; the impact of regret and pain and anchoring through life’s storms; the impact of assumptions and misunderstandings; and what happens when we allow ourselves to be “haunted by past doin’s.”
Another major theme that runs throughout the novel is the question does God see us in the middle of our worst moments?
Cambron always delivers an amazing story with well-researched plots and characters that are truly relatable, as they each deal with very real problems — whether insecurities, sicknesses or failures.
Fans of authors like Kate Morton will love this book.
Five stars out of five.
Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.
“Castle on the Rise” (“Lost Castle” series #2) by Kristy Cambro