For fans of The Holiday & Letters to Juliet comes a delicious story about losing your way and finding your life . . . in Ireland. Book 1 of The Irish Heart Series Original Trilogy.
Elizabeth Lara built a perfect life as San Francisco’s top divorce attorney, but when she loses her great-aunt Mags, the woman who raised her, she boards a plane and leaves it all behind.
Mags has left Elizabeth a box of seventeen letters—expressly written to help guide Elizabeth back to herself. The first reveals a shocking truth, kept secret for thirty-five years.
Reeling from the revelation, Elizabeth thinks Ireland will be the perfect place to find some peace.
But her serene Irish escape isn’t the respite from reality she expected. Fate instead delivers an embarrassing encounter with Irishman Connor Bannon—the striking cottage owner, Ireland’s most eligible bachelor, and her nearest neighbor.
Elizabeth’s aching to feel like herself again, but escaping her life of black and gray and learning to live again won’t be easy. The letters help, the fresh Irish air too, but nothing moves the needle quite like the man just up the lake . . . Connor.
With the help of Mags’ letters, the colorful townspeople of Dingle, and Connor, Elizabeth uncovers decades-old family secrets, kicks up her heels to the Irish music, lets her hair down, and finds a way back to who she really is.
Come journey with Elizabeth in a story that explores the twists and turns of life, the magic of new beginnings, and the timeless allure of Ireland.
This is more than a romantic story—it’s an invitation to rediscover life’s possibilities.
Lose your way and find your life in Ireland.
READING ORDER:
The Irish Heart Series Original Trilogy:
The Irish Cottage: Finding Elizabeth (Book 1)
The London Flat: Second Chances (Book 2)
The Paris Apartment: Fated Journey (Book 3)
The Irish Heart Series Continuing Trilogy (5 Years Later):
The Irish Castle: Keeping Elizabeth (Book 4)
The Irish Secret: Wild Fire (Book 5)
The Irish Wedding: A Novel Romance (Book 6)
Juliet Gauvin’s books are feel-good romantic women’s fiction. They include international travel, holidays, contemporary women, and epic love.
A Note From Juliet:
Be forewarned you might not want to start this book late at night—several readers have reported “gobbling it up” and going on to the next book immediately. This book is literary women’s fiction, it is not a traditional romance.
It’s a trilogy, not a standalone. All three books are vital to the story: The Irish Cottage, The London Flat, and The Paris Apartment. That being said, I’ve found that traditional romance readers are VERY happy at the end of London. So take a ride with me, first to Ireland and then the world.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Q: How did you come up with The Irish Cottage?
Juliet: Well the story came together in pieces. I love Ireland, I've always been attracted to the country, the people, the music, the dancing. I've spent time traveling the country so I knew I wanted to set the book there. And then the character of Elizabeth was based on a lot of the experiences I had when I was in law in San Francisco. When I was immersed in that world--it was a very dark time, and I really did lose my way--like Elizabeth. I even let long-time relationships die because I was in such a dark place, it was difficult to see anything past my own nose. So yeah, I knew I wanted my heroine to be a "recovering attorney" and I knew that I wanted her to have this great love affair in Ireland that would open her up to the truly great possibilities life has to offer.
Q: And what about Connor Bannon? Is he based on anyone?
Juliet: Ummm...he might be an amalgamation of several people, but I think I'll refrain from commenting further--have to keep some of it to myself, don't I?
Q: Why did you elect to write literary women's fiction as opposed to traditional contemporary romance?
Juliet: I knew I wanted to write in the literary women's fiction space because writing a story where the heroine's evolution is paramount--not just her relationship with Connor--is what really gets me, drives me--I love those types of stories. I like writing herstory--women's lives and journeys are so complex--I wanted to write a series that included a great love story, but didn't sacrifice the heroine's journey in any way. It's about Elizabeth finding her way--we all need to find our way. Sometimes people help with that, but ultimately each of us has to find our own path...and we all need love too.
Q: Why London and then Paris?
Juliet: I lived in London for a time--I love it so much. It's one of the best cities on the planet, really. When I closed my eyes and thought about where Elizabeth's journey would take her I knew London would be next. And Paris--I lived in Lyon for a time as well and I've spent a lot of time in Paris so it seemed only natural for the final book to be set there. I also set certain things in motion in The Irish Cottage that make it impossible to end anywhere else--I knew I wanted to end it in France. Plus, Elizabeth has a major sweet tooth, like me, and Paris has the most amazing dessert masters in the world. I spent many hours pouring over the websites of my favorites and discovering some new ones. Those were the hardest and best research nights--I'm nocturnal, I write at night--and pouring over the websites of my favorite masters was heaven and hell. I wanted to get on a plane already. My sugar intake definitely went up while I was writing The Paris Apartment--and my waistline with it.
