Five Days in Ireland and a Scavenger Hunt... Once Upon an Irish Summer by Lisa T. Bergren (Guest Post & #Giveaway) @LisaTBergren


Welcome to this fun scavenger hunt for Lisa T. Bergren's newest! Check out a guest post about
Ireland, a live event, other info for this new release, and grab my clue for the giveaway below...

Once Upon an Irish Summer
(Once Upon a Summer #4)
By Lisa T. Bergren
Inspirational Contemporary Romance,
Paperback & ebook, 278 Pages
July 1st 2020 by BCG Press

Summary

You Can’t Embrace Your Future Until You Deal With Your Past…

Fiona Burke has long been obsessed with Ireland’s famed, sixteenth-century pirate queen, Grace O’Malley. Now that she’s on the final stretch of earning her PhD in history, all she needs to do is finish her dissertation—with Grace O’Malley as her subject—then return home to Boston to defend it. Once that’s done she can compete for a highly coveted history professor position.

Fiona arrives in western Ireland aiming to interview the locals and find additional folklore to flesh out her work. But when she encounters Grace’s distant relative—the handsome, commanding Rory O’Malley—she gets seriously distracted. Rory shares her passion for history and Ireland, and cares for his grandfather and great-uncle in a winsome way. Unfortunately he also carries wounds beyond his injured leg…wounds that threaten to dismantle every little bit of a relationship that he and Fiona begin to build.

As a famed TV host becomes intrigued with Fiona—as well as convinced she should do guest appearances on his show—Rory starts to figure out that he might be as interested in his own personal romantic future as he is in Ireland’s epic past. But can he take the steps toward the healing he needs before it’s too late? It all remains to be seen…Once Upon an Irish Summer.

ADVANCE PRAISE:

""Lisa Bergen has penned an immersive read laced with intelligence and steeped in the myths of Ireland. Transportive and warm, Once Upon an Irish Summer is a thoughtful escapist romance featuring a clever, relatable heroine, an unforgettable hero and intercepted by the history of legendary pirate queen Grace O’Malley. With just enough vulnerability to loan it a deft human touch and backed by impressive research, this is a treatise on quiet heroism and finding home in lush, new places." —Rachel McMillan, author of Dream, Plan, Go and The London Restoration 

"Lisa Bergren took me on a glorious trip to Ireland...and I didn’t want to come home! Wonderful characters, a beautifully painted setting, and an intriguing mystery were only the beginning. But it was the romance simmering between Fiona and Rory that truly stole my heart and made me turn the last page with a contented sigh. Highly recommended." —Deborah Raney, author of the Chandler Sisters Novels and A Nest of Sparrows

“Ireland comes alive – the history, the scenery, the people – in this delightful contemporary romance from Lisa T. Bergren. Rory’s vulnerability and Fiona’s tenacity had me celebrating every gentle step and stumble in their blossoming love story, all while enjoying the historical mystery they hope to solve.” —Rel Mollet, RelzReviewz.com 

(Affiliate links included.)

Guest Post: Our "Five Days in Ireland" Itinerary

Last November, I scored amazing airline tickets for my hubby and son to Ireland--$500 roundtrip from Denver! We nabbed ‘em, knowing I was about to write ONCE UPON AN IRISH SUMMER, even though we’d only be gone a week—giving us just five days on the ground. But hey—five days on Irish soil is better than no days, right? 

We flew into Shannon (West Coast), because that’s where my story’s based. Our first night we spent the night at a B&B in Shannon, knowing we wouldn’t want to drive far in the DARK and on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD. That stuff is best done during the light of day. That said, keep in mind we were there mid-November, when the days are very short (dark by 5pm).

It’s awesome to stay at B&Bs in Ireland, especially because they include a full Irish breakfast! If you stop for some snacks, that can tide you over until dinner, which saves some money. But you have to like eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, and white and black pudding! (They can make you any part of that plate, but that’s a “full Irish.”) 


DAY 1: Flew to Shannon, Ireland from Denver (16 hour flight); stayed in B&B; first dinner at Durty Nelly’s—the oldest pub in Ireland, right at the foot of Bunratty Castle. Fish n’ chips and salmon on brown bread—SO good.


DAY 2: Morning alongside the Cliffs of Moher and wandering the Burren; drove up to County Mayo; got lost in Galway (and not the picturesque part) trying to buy some groceries in the midst of 5:00pm traffic—madness! Finally escaped the city and made our way to lovely Letterfrack for two nights—a favorite stop. County Mayo is where IRISH SUMMER largely takes place, so I was taking notes like crazy! Note: This drive is epically beautiful, reminding me of the Highlands of Scotland. So if your weather’s good, don’t stop/get lost in Galway. You’ll want to see the mountains and sea as you drive the Wild Atlantic Way (yes, they really call the highway that). 


DAY 3:
Blessed with sunshine, we went hiking in Connemara’s National Park in the morning, then had lunch and a tour at the iconic Kylemore Abbey, a very relaxing day. Dinner was at one of the few pubs open in town.


DAY 4: Drove south toward Dingle Peninsula along Lough Corrib (a big locale for a key scene in IRISH SUMMER); stopped at Aughnanure Castle (It was sadly closed! We poked all around the walls, which gave me a great scene idea); stayed at Ballyseede Castle (Eeep! Our first real-castle stay!). Dinner in their atmospheric, in-hotel pub. 



DAY 5: Drove the Dingle Peninsula—amazing! (From my research, travelers tend to recommend this peninsula over the Ring of Kerry tour, but I’d love to do that sometime too.) We took the at-times-one-lane Connor Pass road. Amazing! It’d be even more amazing if it hadn’t been clouded-in/raining! We stopped at the iconic Gallarus Oratory and stacked-stone huts similar to those on Skellig Island, where the last “Star Wars” movie was partially filmed (where Luke is hiding out). These buildings are tied to early Christians in Ireland! Yummy lunch and shopping in Dingle-proper. Stayed at a B&B near Castlemaine; had to search hard for an open pub to feed us!




DAY 6: Drove back to Shannon; stop at Bunratty Castle—an amazing castle with a turn-of-the-century village outside it to tour, included in your ticket price! One last dinner at the amazing Durty Nelly’s pub before we sadly said goodbye to Ireland.

DAY 7: Flew home, seriously wishing we had at least five more days. (See LisaTawnBergren.com for a future “12 Days in Ireland Itinerary” post!)

Due to the short “winter’s-coming” days and the fact that many smaller historical sites, pubs, and some shops are closed by mid-November, I’d recommend you travel by the end of October. However, we were blessed with off-season prices for lodging and NO crowds, which was a serious bonus. All in all, we’re so thankful for our dip into Ireland and can’t wait until Covid is over and can someday return! While you wait to go yourself, check out Once Upon an Irish Summer—hopefully it will provide a bit of “armchair travel” for you.

---Lisa T. Bergren

LINKS:
“B&B’s in Ireland” https://www.bandbireland.com/
“Durty Nellys” http://www.durtynellys.ie/
“Hiking in Connemara’s National Park”: https://www.connemaranationalpark.com/national-park-connemara-walk/
“Ballyseede Castle” https://www.ballyseedecastle.com/
Skellig Island: https://skelligislands.com/history/ 

Facebook Live with the Author


Stop on by Facebook on Friday for a live event with the author! Go join the event HERE!

Other Books in the Series

(Linked to my review or an Amazon affiliate link.)

About the Author


Lisa T. Bergren is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 60 books in a variety of genres, that have sold over three million copies combined. She lives in Colorado Springs, CO with her husband and three big kids. You can find out more about her at LisaTawnBergren.com.


Tour Schedule

July 12: STOP #1–An Excerpt from IRISH SUMMER on Faithfully Bookish
July 13: STOP #2–An Author Q&A on Reading Is My Superpower
July 14: STOP #3–A Character Spotlight on Relz’ Reviewz
July 15: STOP #4–Lisa's “Five Days in Ireland Itinerary” on Wishful Endings
July 16: STOP #5–Lisa's Favorite Season on her Blog—and the Grand Prize Rafflecopter form!


ENTER TO WIN ALL 3 previously released books in the Once Upon a Summer series—plus 3 other LTB books of choice—(over $80 in retail value!) by collecting all the clues in our mini-hunt, adding them all up, and entering on Lisa’s site on the 16th! (Open to international contestants too (but if someone outside of the USA wins, they will be sent ebooks.) Prize winner chosen on July 17 after the Facebook Live party!

SCAVENGER HUNT CLUE: 5

Good luck!

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