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Maiden Voyage
Falling in love with the charming eighteenth-century Irish townhouse she has inherited, Maura Finnegan is drawn to an elegant and handsome ghost who resides there and becomes compelled to solve the mystery surrounding his death. Original.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
44 people want to read
About the author
Judith O'Brien
19 books46 followersWriting romance novels has got to be the way to make a living in the world. What other career allows you to send the kids off to school, walk the dog, and vanish into the most fascinating of historical times and places, with the most glorious of men, to escape danger and find everlasting love for the rest of the day?
Like most writers, I knew early on that I wanted to be a writer. Well, almost. Actually, writing was the third choice on my short list of career possibilities, right after Fairy Princess and Prima Ballerina. The first two didn't work out. So after college I moved to New York, where I worked for Seventeen Magazine. Not only had I never really been to New York before, but I believe I was the only editorial assistant in the magazine industry who still wore knee socks. Soon I was promoted to Editor of the "Letters to the Editor" department. Yes, there really IS an editor for the letters to the editor column. But it allowed me to write articles, answer the personal problems of teens (boys and zits were the big topics of concern), and rummage through the back files of the magazine. I found Sylvia Plath's original carbon of a short story she submitted while still in high school. There were articles on up-and-coming talents with names like Judy Holiday, Marlon Brando and Elvis. And very occasionally I was employed as a last-minute makeover subject. That was me looking miserable after getting the "Brideshead Revisited" bob.
Then I lucked into a fabulous job - as a jacket copy writer at a publishing house called Pocket Books. There I first read Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught and Julie Garwood in manuscript form, and from those I would compose the blurbs for the book covers. It was heaven. I would read straight through my lunch hour, thus accounting for the chicken salad and iced tea on the returned manuscripts. But as much as I loved reading those marvelous stories, what I really wanted to do was to write one. Just one. Just to see what would happen.
Life interfered. I went back into magazines, this time at Self as an editor and writer. I got married, then had my son. I was still on maternity leave, writing general health articles while bouncing a newborn on my knee, that I began to dream once again of writing a romance novel. So that is exactly what I did. And I modestly claim to have written the most horrendous first three chapters of ANY book, in ANY genre, at ANY time in history. Unfortunately, still addled by the turmoil of being a new mom (hey, it's an excuse), I actually sent the wretched chapters to agents and publishers.
The rejections were polite form letters. Dozens of them. I shoved them into a bottom drawer and stuck to articles, becoming a free-lance writer and full-time mom. A few years later I gave romance writing another try. This time I sent it to only one person, Linda Marrow, with whom I had worked at Pocket Books years earlier. I certainly did not expect her to accept the manuscript. But I did hope she would let me know which editor at whatever house just might be interested in my time-travel romance.
Instead, I received a call from Linda three days later, offering me a two book contract.
Now I am a single mom. My son is twelve. I live in Brooklyn. And I'm lucky enough to write romance novels for a living. So please excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable. Such as Civil War Atlanta, or Tudor England, or Georgian Ireland, or....Did I mention how much I love this job?
Like most writers, I knew early on that I wanted to be a writer. Well, almost. Actually, writing was the third choice on my short list of career possibilities, right after Fairy Princess and Prima Ballerina. The first two didn't work out. So after college I moved to New York, where I worked for Seventeen Magazine. Not only had I never really been to New York before, but I believe I was the only editorial assistant in the magazine industry who still wore knee socks. Soon I was promoted to Editor of the "Letters to the Editor" department. Yes, there really IS an editor for the letters to the editor column. But it allowed me to write articles, answer the personal problems of teens (boys and zits were the big topics of concern), and rummage through the back files of the magazine. I found Sylvia Plath's original carbon of a short story she submitted while still in high school. There were articles on up-and-coming talents with names like Judy Holiday, Marlon Brando and Elvis. And very occasionally I was employed as a last-minute makeover subject. That was me looking miserable after getting the "Brideshead Revisited" bob.
Then I lucked into a fabulous job - as a jacket copy writer at a publishing house called Pocket Books. There I first read Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught and Julie Garwood in manuscript form, and from those I would compose the blurbs for the book covers. It was heaven. I would read straight through my lunch hour, thus accounting for the chicken salad and iced tea on the returned manuscripts. But as much as I loved reading those marvelous stories, what I really wanted to do was to write one. Just one. Just to see what would happen.
Life interfered. I went back into magazines, this time at Self as an editor and writer. I got married, then had my son. I was still on maternity leave, writing general health articles while bouncing a newborn on my knee, that I began to dream once again of writing a romance novel. So that is exactly what I did. And I modestly claim to have written the most horrendous first three chapters of ANY book, in ANY genre, at ANY time in history. Unfortunately, still addled by the turmoil of being a new mom (hey, it's an excuse), I actually sent the wretched chapters to agents and publishers.
The rejections were polite form letters. Dozens of them. I shoved them into a bottom drawer and stuck to articles, becoming a free-lance writer and full-time mom. A few years later I gave romance writing another try. This time I sent it to only one person, Linda Marrow, with whom I had worked at Pocket Books years earlier. I certainly did not expect her to accept the manuscript. But I did hope she would let me know which editor at whatever house just might be interested in my time-travel romance.
Instead, I received a call from Linda three days later, offering me a two book contract.
Now I am a single mom. My son is twelve. I live in Brooklyn. And I'm lucky enough to write romance novels for a living. So please excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable. Such as Civil War Atlanta, or Tudor England, or Georgian Ireland, or....Did I mention how much I love this job?
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2025
For such a young person, the heroine has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. After her fathers death it's up to her to run the family business that he built up from nothing. But the company is close to bankruptcy and she keeps secret just how bad off they truly are. So when a miracle happens, that she's been named heiress to a shipping company in Ireland, she thinks that this is finally the answer to her problems. Though she's never been the Ireland before people say she wear a map of Ireland on her face what with her complexion and red hair. And though it may be clinch, when she sees Irish soil and finds herself surrounded by the Irish people, she feels like she's finally come home.
The factory may be completely run down and on verge of collapse itself and the house that comes with may be just as down and beaten, but she feels so attached to her new surroundings and happy for the first time in a long time. She meets a lot of charming people, her solicitor as one- a warm and inviting man, always quite with a smile. As well as one of the factory workers, a man who speaks so thick with the Irish accent that she has zero notion of what he's actually talking about.
But then there's the hero. He's returned to Ireland after living and working in Germany with the idea of buy her factory. Unfortunately for him he allows his prejudice for Americans to overshadow his manners and their first meeting goes horrible- making the heroine vow to forever dislike the man. But one thing about the heroine is that she's naturally forgiving. She may be mad but she can't hold a grudge. Despite they bad beginning, the hero makes an effort to get to know the heroine and finds himself attracted to her.
Quickly following any decent interaction however is the hero quickly sticking his foot in his mouth and upsetting the heroine yet again. But they have a common interest. The factory, first of all, but also the founder of the business, a man who the hero's mother studied extensively and whom the heroine is not being haunted by. Living the house where Fitzwilliam was murdered, the heroine is plagued by dreams and visions of the past so much so that she imagines herself going crazy.
The hero certainly thinks she's unwell as he doesn't believe in ghosts or the notion that she's traveling back in time in her sleep. But as the past and present intertwine the heroine and hero are in very real danger of meeting the same end as Fitzwilliam and his bride.
This book had a lot of charm. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the heroines interactions with not only the frustrating hero but also all the Irish residence she comes to know and love. Maybe a bit on the stereotypical side and I doubt Dublin is in fact of the mentality of a small Irish village as the author would have us believe but that didn't bother me too much.
The tug of war between the hero and heroine was just too interesting to mind much about the setting. Gotta love the hero who could be so charming at times and the very next second say something that could come out wrong and horribly insult the heroine. Poor man truly had no idea how to express his feelings. He was more of an action kind of man. He service up peace offering in the form of dinner and of the research she was interested in.
I also really liked the heroine. She was a very sweet woman who tried her best to do right by everyone around her despite her complete inept business sense. It was a perfect novel mind but I really liked it all the same.
The factory may be completely run down and on verge of collapse itself and the house that comes with may be just as down and beaten, but she feels so attached to her new surroundings and happy for the first time in a long time. She meets a lot of charming people, her solicitor as one- a warm and inviting man, always quite with a smile. As well as one of the factory workers, a man who speaks so thick with the Irish accent that she has zero notion of what he's actually talking about.
But then there's the hero. He's returned to Ireland after living and working in Germany with the idea of buy her factory. Unfortunately for him he allows his prejudice for Americans to overshadow his manners and their first meeting goes horrible- making the heroine vow to forever dislike the man. But one thing about the heroine is that she's naturally forgiving. She may be mad but she can't hold a grudge. Despite they bad beginning, the hero makes an effort to get to know the heroine and finds himself attracted to her.
Quickly following any decent interaction however is the hero quickly sticking his foot in his mouth and upsetting the heroine yet again. But they have a common interest. The factory, first of all, but also the founder of the business, a man who the hero's mother studied extensively and whom the heroine is not being haunted by. Living the house where Fitzwilliam was murdered, the heroine is plagued by dreams and visions of the past so much so that she imagines herself going crazy.
The hero certainly thinks she's unwell as he doesn't believe in ghosts or the notion that she's traveling back in time in her sleep. But as the past and present intertwine the heroine and hero are in very real danger of meeting the same end as Fitzwilliam and his bride.
This book had a lot of charm. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the heroines interactions with not only the frustrating hero but also all the Irish residence she comes to know and love. Maybe a bit on the stereotypical side and I doubt Dublin is in fact of the mentality of a small Irish village as the author would have us believe but that didn't bother me too much.
The tug of war between the hero and heroine was just too interesting to mind much about the setting. Gotta love the hero who could be so charming at times and the very next second say something that could come out wrong and horribly insult the heroine. Poor man truly had no idea how to express his feelings. He was more of an action kind of man. He service up peace offering in the form of dinner and of the research she was interested in.
I also really liked the heroine. She was a very sweet woman who tried her best to do right by everyone around her despite her complete inept business sense. It was a perfect novel mind but I really liked it all the same.
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March 21, 2016Great
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews