The story begins in Ireland as 6-year-old Mary Fallon Delaney listens to her dying mother tell her the legend of Ciaran of the Mist, a mythical Celtic warrior who promised to appear at the hour of Ireland's greatest need. And her mother gives her a magical brooch that will summon Ciaran.
In 1808, Fallon, now grown, on Beltane eve, goes to a castle ruin where she hid the brooch years ago. When an English officer appears and threatens to destroy the castle ruins, Fallon waits for the moonlight and summons Ciaran and a naked stranger stumbles out of the mist.
The man (who accepts the name Ciaran) insists he is no Celtic warrior from the fairy realm, but he has no memory of who he is. He knows nothing of his life before he stumbled out of the mist, a gash on his head, and he has no intention of getting swept up in the clash between the Irish and the English. But Fallon, still lost in her fairy stories, has other ideas.
Captain Redmayne is looking for a smuggler call “Silver Hand” and thinks it just might be this guy named Ciaran. When Fallon claims he is her fiancé, the English officer forces them to wed, thinking the ruse will be up. But it isn’t and they marry, knowing nothing of each other.
This is historical romance ribboned with fantasy and Irish mythology. Cates writes in lovely, lyrical style that weaves the fairy tales Fallon believes in with the fictional characters. The heroine is very sheltered and naïve and does some unwise, if unlikely things, but inevitably manages to succeed. Even the hero comes to believe in her legends. There’s a twist at the end and a heartwarming Epilogue. Fans of Irish mythology will love this one.
The Celtic Rogues series (I've read them all and recommend them; the first is my favorite):
Black Falcon's Lady
Her Magic Touch
Briar Rose
Stealing Heaven
Lily Fair
Stealing Heaven
Lily Fair
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