What Matters Most

by Luanne Rice

Other authorsAnn Marie Lee (Reader)

Digital audiobook, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Books on Tape (2007), Edition: Unabridged Audiobook, Downloadable WMA/MP3 Audiofile, 12 hrs 23 mins

Description

Sister Bernadette Ignatius has returned to Ireland in the company of Tom Kelly to search for the past -- and the son -- they left behind. For it was here that these two long-ago lovers spent a season of magic before Bernadette's calling led her to a vocation as Mother Superior at Star of the Sea Academy on the sea-tossed Connecticut shore. For Tom, Bernadette's choice meant giving up his fortune and taking the job as caretaker at Star of the Sea, where he could be close to the woman he could no longer have but whom he never stopped loving. And while one miracle drew them apart, another is about to bring them together again. For somewhere in Dublin a young man named Seamus Sullivan is also on a search, dreaming of being reunited with his own first love, the only "family" he's ever known. They'd been inseparable growing up together at St. Augustine's Children's Home, until Kathleen Murphy's parents claimed her and she vanished across the sea to America. Now, in a Newport mansion, that very girl, grown to womanhood, works as a maid and waits with a faith that defies all reason for the miracle that will bring back the only boy she's ever loved. That miracle is at hand -- but like most miracles, it can come only after the darkest of nights and the deepest of heartbreaks. For life can be as precarious as a walk along a cliff, and its greatest rewards reached only by those who dare to risk everything ... for what matters most.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member punxsygal

This sequel to Sandcastles begins where the other left off, with Tom Kelly and Sister Bernadette Ignasius arriving in Dublin to search for the son they left behind. It examines how the decisions of the heart can affect many lives and how deeply hearts can be bonded in unexpected ways.

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LibraryThing member coyle220

Irish children James and Kathleen are put in a Catholic Dublin orphanage as babies and are inseperable, until Kathleen's parents come back to get her at age 13. James runs away. We also learn the back-story of James' parents (unknown to him) and we find out what happens to James (now Seamus) and

Kathleen as they become adults. It's a heartwarming story, although a bit melodramatic at times. The conflict between earthly love and love of God is interesting.

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LibraryThing member c_diane_bookworm

I love reading Luanne Rice Books especially after I have read something very intense and scary. Luanne's books are so real and capture life very well. They hold your attention and bring you into the lives of people telling deeply of their hurts and longings, their happiness and hopes without

embellishment but with what seems true. This book is no different. They are a fairly quick readj.

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LibraryThing member hammockqueen

I l;ike her books but found this one disappointing. Bernie and Tom give up their child....she becomes a nun....they hunt for their son and his forever friend from the orphan home, Elizabeth.

LibraryThing member kimreadthis

A sequel to "Sandcastles." Very disappointing. Rather than deal with the issues raised by the plot, Rice takes the easy way out. A bit of an otherworldly interlude at the end that felt completely out of place.

LibraryThing member silva_44

I don't typically read romance novels, but this one sounded interesting. I liked it, but I didn't appreciate the unrealistic points in the all too repetitive plot line. How many times can we possibly be told how blue Tom's eyes are, or how much Bernie and Tom, Seamus and Kathleen love each other?

Overall, it was okay, but not earth-shattering.

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LibraryThing member IandSsmom

I liked the story. It was sweet and kept me listening.

LibraryThing member lonepalm

What Matters Most: I usually like Luanne Rice books, but not this one; in fact, I did not even finish reading it. It dragged quite a bit, and was also very depressing. Perhaps this was because it was a sequel, but it certainly did not hold my interest.

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Subjects

Romantic suspense fiction

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

2007-02

Physical description

8.4 inches

ISBN

1415938954 / 9781415938959

Local notes

Description:
Sister Bernadette Ignatius has returned to Ireland in the company of Tom Kelly to search for the past—and the son—they left behind. For it was here that these two long-ago lovers spent a season of magic before Bernadette's calling led her to a vocation as Mother Superior at Star of the Sea Academy on the sea-tossed Connecticut shore. For Tom, Bernadette's choice meant giving up his fortune and taking the job as caretaker at Star of the Sea, where he could be close to the woman he could no longer have but whom he never stopped loving. And while one miracle drew them apart, another is about to bring them together again.

For somewhere in Dublin a young man named Seamus Sullivan is also on a search, dreaming of being reunited with his own first love, the only "family" he's ever known. They'd been inseparable growing up together at St. Augustine's Children's Home, until Kathleen Murphy's parents claimed her and she vanished across the sea to America. Now, in a Newport mansion, that very girl, grown to womanhood, works as a maid and waits with a faith that defies all reason for the miracle that will bring back the only boy she's ever loved.

That miracle is at hand—but like most miracles, it can come only after the darkest of nights and the deepest of heartbreaks. For life can be as precarious as a walk along a cliff, and its greatest rewards reached only by those who dare to risk everything...for what matters most.