A New World

Wyoming Wildflowers #4

by Patricia McLinn

Eleanor Thalston refused to be charmed by the twinkling eyes and lilting brogue of the Irish balladeer she'd hired to strum up business for her restaurant. She was far too practical to fall for a fantasy spinner like Cahill McCrea. Yes, his commanding presence, his manly ways, wove a tantalizing, arousing spell, but bitter reality had taught Eleanor that dreamers always drifted on, dealing in only one future: heartache.

Cahill longed to settle down in America. In headstrong Eleanor, he found the woman to share that future with. But he'd have to convince her of his staying power. And his time in this precious new world was rapidly running out....

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Wondering what unites 75-plus books of mystery, romance, women’s fiction? My readers– Patricia’s ReadHeads –say it’s strong characters you’d like to know, touches of dry humor, smart plots, connected stories, and settings that make you want to move in.

Try my most popular mystery series -- Caught Dead in Wyoming -- for that dry humor along with understated romance added to twisty-turny whodunits. Or visit me in Northern Kentucky, where I live now, in the cozy Secret Sleuth mystery series -- with a dog, of course! For a bit more of an edge, try the Innocence Trilogy of romantic mysteries.

Want more romance? Wyoming Wildflowers series, A Place Called Home, and the Bardville Trilogy will also let you experience the West. Then come along as I return to my Midwestern roots in the Marry Me, Seasons in a Small Town, and The Wedding Series.

There's more -- women's fiction, historicals, non-fiction -- because I love to explore.

After BA and MSJ degrees from Northwestern University, I was a sports writer (Rockford, Ill.) back when women weren't, then assistant sports editor (Charlotte, N.C.), and — for 20-plus years — an editor at the Washington Post.

I've spoken about writing from Melbourne, Australia, to London, with lots of stops in between, including being a guest-speaker at the Smithsonian Institution.

You can connect with me on my direct shop, website, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. YouTube is where you can also find me interviewing authors and talking about other bookish matters on the podcast Authors Love Readers. Hope you'll stop by!

Website: shop.PatriciaMcLinn.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaMcLinn

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6kq...

Reviews

[Mireille Duval]

This poor book (and all the others I'm currently reading) suffered from me finding a new TV fandom right in the middle of it, which meant that I only wanted to watch more episodes / read some more fanfiction. (Watch Leverage, you guys!) It was perfectly fine - I love marriage of convenience stories, though I prefer when the attraction isn't as obvious as it was here pre-marriage. The characters were interesting, although I could have done without all the "tragic past" thing, and without the "lying to my wife to protect her!" at the end (thankfully, that last part was dispatched quickly). I liked the inn setting, too, and Val was a fun sidekick. But otherwise, I took too long reading it to have a coherent opinion!

[Frankiejohnny]

The always practical Eleanor Thatcher has been disappointed by Dreamers her whole life. She does everything she can to avoid her growing attraction to the hunky dreamer Cahill McCrea who is saving her restaurant one Irish song at a time. When the INS is about to send Cahill back to Ireland, Eleanor comes up with a practical solution to keep him in the USA. Propose marriage?!

I fell in love with the ballad singing Cahill. He's handsome, smart, strong, and had an Irish Brogue to die for. Eleanor is a real woman, with real curves, a sense of humor and intelligence making her extremely likable. I was sad when I finished, because I wanted more.

[Mackenzie]

In order to bring more business into their restaurant, ever practical Eleanor listens to her cousin and hires Irish ballad singer, Cahill McCrea. Cahill has been battling to keep his visa so he can stay in America. When immigration tells him they can't give him any more extensions, Eleanor proposes to marry him. He gets his visa and she keeps her profits coming.

However, the more time they spend together, the more the attraction between them grows.

I don't know why, but I just couldn't get in to this story! I really wanted to, but the story just seemed too generic and never had that "awesome" moment that made it stand out from all the others out there.

[Nydia Salas]

Can this hot irish man get any hotter? Wow I loved hiw he never gave up on his dream and live for Noreen! i couldnt put this book down because i wanted to find out if he could break down that wall Eleanore put up for years.

[Sarah]

It was ok but not spectacular.

[Akina]

A decent book. But parts of it felt a bit rushed. And I truly could not get past the Irish accent.

[Cheryl]

Wrapped up too quickly and easily.

[Leyns]

Not her best.

I really enjoy Patricia McLinn's books but wouldn't recommend this one. It's okay but not as good as her others.

[Ashley]

Eleanor is a very practical woman in her early thirties who owns a bar/pub with her cousin Valerie. They aren't making much money, so Val spots a hot Irish bar singer named Cahill McCrea and suggests that he come sing at their bar. McCrea has a Tortured Past and is planning on managing a hotel in Rhode Island, but the construction has been delayed and his immigration visa is about to expire.
Eleanor REALLY wants to be practical ALL the time because her mother and stepfather were shiftless dreamers who never followed through on anything, and she lumps McCrea in with them. McCrea doesn't trust Eleanor enough to tell her about his plans. And then his visa runs out and he's about to be deported, and Eleanor's like, "he's bringing a lot of business in to the bar, and if we get married he can stay here..." so she suggests that they get married. (After all, this is part of a "marriage of convenience" boxed set.)
Eleanor and McCrea are super attracted to each other, even before the marriage, and the wedding itself takes place in a Catholic church like everything's actually legit, and he wants to have a real marriage and babies and all of it. But their agreement was to just do it for business, and then they start having sex, and... yeah. She falls for him and he had already fallen for her but of course they have crossed signals.
Plot B: someone's sabotaging the pub. McCrea figures that out, but Eleanor doesn't tell him, because she wants to handle it herself. You'd think she'd learn. This is definitely one of those books where THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS SHOULD JUST HAVE AN HONEST CONVERSATION.
Anyway. McCrea manages to defeat the bad guy by becoming a spy at his competing bar, and he and Eleanor reunite, and they're in love. They go to Ireland and she's pregnant and they have a real marriage and hooray.
McCrea: is hot but he has an anger problem (which he's trying to work on, to his benefit, but anyway). He tends to stomp out instead of talking about what's upsetting him. And, again, he doesn't really trust people. Eleanor accuses him of just teasing her when he's putting the moves on her, because she believes he's a total horn dog, and McCrea doesn't correct her (??!?!??).
Eleanor: SO STUBBORN. Just so damn stubborn and refuses to let anyone help her ever pretty much. Which, I mean, I get that. Ahh well.

[Marcia Haskell]

This story examines the conflict between people who are dreamers and practical, organized down-to-earth people who know better than to trust any possibilities that aren’t backed up by practical plans and hard work.

Eleanor grew up with parents who jumped from one opportunity to the next, but none ever came to fruition. She needed stability and turned herself into a practical planner who spent her days working to ensure everything was completed before she could rest. When she meets and hires an Irish musician to draw customers to her restaurant, she feels an attraction but is determined to ignore it. She has had enough of living with dreamers whose dreams always failed. Cahill wants to live in America, but needs a route to citizenship. The attraction is strong, but each is afraid of personal history repeating itself. Can they overcome their past? Will they be hurt? Can you trust the future if you can’t trust your past not to be repeated?

A fun read with characters you can like and wish were friends.

[Slugpuppy3]

A NEW WORLD is a lovely, sweet romance between a dreamer and a practical woman who simply cannot imagine any dream coming true. Will stubborn disbelief cause her to lose out on her happy ending?
I enjoyed this book.

[Joan]

McLinn always gives the reader her best. She refines her storyline, revises for clarity, produces well-developed characters, and presents us with a polished and interesting story.

[Reading with Cats]

Couldn’t get into it. DNF’ed at page 56.

[pinK]

Okay, the blurb for this book is really pathetic and does NOTHING to tell about the story, so of course, I went in fairly blind. This is the story of Eleanor and Cahill and how their marriage of convenience turned into something much, much more.

Cahill is a Scottish immigrant that is about to be deported as his visa is expiring. He's been singing in Eleanor and her cousin's pub, and completely turning around their business, so of course she doesn't want him to leave! When she goes and talks to the man in charge of the extension for his visa, she finds that the only way that Cahill will be allowed to stay in the country is if he marries a US citizen. Ever the practical woman, Eleanor decides that it's in the best interest of Cahill and her pub to bite the bullet and marry the Scottish bloke.
The marriage turns into something more as the two work hard to fight off their feelings and remain neutral.

This was a lovely story, and I have to admit, I love Scottish men! The characters were well developed and the love was well written, and slow to build. Trust me, although this blurb needs some help, the book itself is a fantastic read!

[Kbee]

Cahill is from Ireland and wants to stay in America but his visa as expired and can't be renewed so the only thing that can keep him here is to wed an American girl. Eleonore volunteers so he can keep bringning in costumers in her in with his signing. Liked the story didn't like Eleonore's character. The plot was ok.

[Jane Geltzer]

Great story. Characters are well written and fully conceived. The romantic relationship between Cahill and Eleanor is sweet and real.

[Mjtraggis]

Kindle/Amazon had a deal on a collection of 4 Summit Author books called Marriage Of Convenience: Cry Uncle, Falcon's Fire, A New World, and Of One Heart.

[Laura]

2.5*

[Poliana Gomes]

easy reading

[Lori Morse]

own