Claire Mahoney has a gift; she "sleeps with fairies". Claire's great great grandmother angered a powerful witch when she stole the witch's true love. In her anger the witch cursed the entire line of Mahoney women. Once they find their true love, they get pregnant the first time they are intimate and if they marry their love, he will die within a month. Claire's gift allows her to help out friends and neighbors in her village using her landscaping business and "fairy gardens." Once a fairy garden is installed, on the next full moon the owner of the fairy garden makes a wish and the fairies grant it. Claire's business really takes off when the town's staunchest bachelor asks his girl to marry him after she has Claire make her a fairy garden. The villagers have gone crazy for the gardens and the wishes become stranger every day.

Michael Finnegan and his daughter Rachel have just moved to Findale from Dublin and into the house next to Claire. Michael's wife died last year after a long illness. Michael has no intention of getting married again. However, his daughter has other ideas and their neighbor Claire figures high in that equation.

Michael and Claire have fallen for each other, yet both are fighting it for different reasons. When Michael and Claire are asked to work on the same hotel complex together, they are thrown into each other's way repeatedly. Can Claire overcome the curse and can Michael open his heart to love again?

This is a wonderfully creative work. I love the way the fairies are used in this story and the surprise ending is definitely a shocker. At times the wording seems slightly repetitive, but the deepness of the characters overcomes that. The struggles that Claire has trying to avoid Michael because of the family curse and Michael's issues over getting involved with anyone after his wife's death are true to life and sometimes heartbreaking. A time or two I felt like the troubles went slightly overboard. On the whole it was a thoroughly enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Very sensual

Reviewer: Pam D.
March 4, 2010