This started a little slow for me. Though not due to lack of plot(s). Don’t worry out there. Donnelly has outdone herself with plots. So many intertwined threads it wasn’t until about page 250 that I realized how they were beginning to be combined. Thus, it’s actually the multitude of plots…some left over from The Winter Rose…that clog up the reading speed.

There just isn’t that “I can’t put this down” feeling in the beginning of this one. I think it’s because that spark of love between the main characters, Seamie and Willa, happened in the last book. I was hoping that Donnelly would shake up her plotting a bit because she seemingly began her third book in her second. But alas it seems as though The Wild Rose simply picks up Donnelly’s general plot pattern from book 2. You begin the book in the mires of separation and you stay there…locked in that desperation for a love that can’t connect.

Where the book begins to sing is during Part 2. I beg you…hold out for it. Part 1 is all set up and Part 2 shows Donnelly’s gift for connecting people and events. It’s full of adventure, impossible situations, and tears of both joy and sadness. Sid and his big heart and Willa’s escapades were two of my very favorite parts of Part 2. It’s here that we begin to see what we’ve been expecting from The Wild Rose.

I’m content with the ending. I think that of all the romances Donnelly has done in her trilogy Seamie and Willa had the roughest path. Not that others didn’t run into some pretty fantastic road blocks. But Seamie and Willa seem to live with more tragedy than happiness throughout their journey. This is a haunted couple. I think that’s why their ending was not joyful…not an impossible reunion a la India and Sid or a chance meeting at the perfect time like Fiona and Joe. I think that Willa and Seamie had the most to learn through their experiences. Acceptance, forgiveness, and learning to simply ‘be‘ and be happy are the hardest lessons for these two driven explorers to learn. Their ending is a quiet one…soft and tentative. Perfect for the couple.

As an end to the series I think it feels complete. I don’t hunger for more from the Finnegans. It could very well be because they’ve seen more drama in three behemoth books than anyone truly gets in 5 lifetimes, lol. They all deserve a break…a little Happily Ever After. And with the ending of this third book I’m willing to let them have it.

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