12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent stoytelling-as usual, October 24, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Lily Fair (Sonnet Books) (Mass Market Paperback)
The Bard announces that the unborn female child will cause the downfall of the High Chieftain of Glenfluire. He recommends to Conn the Ever Truthful that he destroy the lass. Though Conn loathes the fetus, sired by the legendary warrior Fintian MacShane, he sends the baby when she is born to live in a nunnery.
For the next twenty years, the nuns raise and love Caitlin. Everything changes when Conn sends Niall of the Seven Betrayals to retrieve Caitlin. Niall is on his seventh quest to cleanse the dishonor brought to their family by his father. Caitlin is the final quest that Conn has assigned him. On the trek back, Niall falls in love with his charge and she returns his feelings. Still, loyalty dictates he complete his mission. That seems simple to Niall until he learns that Conn wants him to kill his beloved.
Award winning Kimberly Cates shows why she is so highly regarded by historical romance fans. Her latest novel, LILY FAIR, is a superb tale that demonstrates the magic of a Cates novel. The story line is filled with action, passion, and dilemmas. The lead characters are a charming duo while the support cast propels the fast-paced plot to its wonderful climax. Fans of Celtic romances will feel Ms. Cates has bestowed them with a bit of heaven.
Harriet Klausner
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lily Fair, November 21, 1999
This review is from: Lily Fair (Sonnet Books) (Mass Market Paperback)
I had the pleasure of attending a romance writer chapter meeting and heard Kim do a reading from Lily Fair. She read the portion called The Prophecy. IT GAVE ME CHILLS!
I HAD to come home and read this book and let me tell you - it was EXCELLENT! Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down! Give yourself an early Christmas present and go out and buy this book. You will be as captivated by Caitlin and Niall and the story they have to tell as I was! There's nothing like a good love story and this certainly fits the bill.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
can't anyone have simple names anymore?, April 27, 2000
This review is from: Lily Fair (Sonnet Books) (Mass Market Paperback)
Chieftain Conn the Ever Truthful owes his glory to Fintan, a blind warrior who has the gift of making his spear hit its mark with unfailing accuracy. Imagine Conn's horror, then, when a druid announces that Fintan's unborn child will be responsible for Conn's destruction. Fintan and his beloved wife, Grainne, cannot believe that the child they have waited for all their lives could cause the demise of their leader. With no other choice, they accept Conn's decree that the child should be sent to live in a convent. Conn's plans for the baby girl are far darker than anyone could imagine - let's just say that "Ever Truthful" is the least appropriate nickname for this man.
Twenty years later, Caitlin of the Lilies leads a peaceful life with the nuns of St. Mary's. Once a year, she travels to the spot where she was left as a newborn and finds a perfect lily there, a sign that whoever her family is, they are still watching over her. This time, however, Caitlin finds not the flower she expects, but a warrior who tells her he has come to the Abbey to fetch a wench by the name of Caitlin of the Lilies. After many tears and much grief in being separated from the only family she's known, Caitlin leaves with the man, and they begin the journey toward Conn's lands.
Niall of the Seven Betrayals is appalled by the menial task he has been given. By God, he's a warrior! What's he doing playing messenger and fetching wenches for Conn? In reality, his task is a grim one, but he only finds out after he's been thoroughly captivated by Caitlin. His decision is to take Caitlin to his family home - where he hasn't set foot in years - and where they are received by his mother and his young sister, who'd like nothing better than to bash Niall's head against a rock.
The attraction between Caitlin and Niall grows despite - or maybe because of - the huge difference in their personalities. Their first interaction sets the tone for how I saw them throughout the book: Caitlin skips toward the sea she is seeing for the first time; Niall saves her when she nearly drowns, and then gruffly pushing her away so he won't reveal how attracted he is to her.
Lily Fair has its share of problematic details. Caitlin can be precious and melodramatic at times, going from heartbreaking grief to innocent delight in a nanosecond, and by the fifth time I read about her "lily fair" skin, or some variation on that theme, I wanted to scream "Okay! The girl's white, I got it! "
Niall, on the other hand, is a dark and tortured hero, but unwittingly naïve, given Cates' treatment of Conn; it would have been much better had Conn not been so obviously evil from the very beginning. Niall is also confused - was his father a good man or not? Was Conn responsible for his family's ruin or are his mother and sister lying? Unfortunately, the reader figures out the answers much, much earlier than Niall does.
This book is not for everyone, the writing is sometimes overtly lyrical and lush, and if this is not your style, you might not have the patience to stick with it. However, the story beneath the ornate gilt is an interesting one, and while Lily Fair does not match the quality of Gather the Stars, it is a read that will be sure to transport you to the pagan Ireland of long ago.
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