Rowena’s review of Haunting Beauty by Erin Quinn.
Hero: Sean Ballough
Heroine: Danni Jones
Danni always believed she was an abandoned child. Then the seductive Sean Ballogh appears out of nowhere with a startling story challenging everything Danni thought was true. He claims that Danni’s family has been searching for her ever since she disappeared twenty years ago. He’s come to bring her home to Ireland. Now, Danni must rewrite history to save her family, to fight a force more evil than she ever imagined, and to reunite herself with the man she was destined for-or risk living forever in time as nothing more than an ethereal memory, a tragic and haunting beauty.
This is one of the most complex books I’ve read in a long time. It’s a time travel that had me gripped and very much captivated at the same time. I had to know what happened to Danni, to her Mother and brother and then finally to Sean.
It’s not a book that I would easily recommend to everyone. I spent a good deal of the book confused because I couldn’t tell what was vision and what was real because it went back and forth quite a bit. I will say that Quinn did a great job of sucking me into the world she created for Danni and Sean. Their story wasn’t an easy one but it sure was intriguing.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the relationship that blossomed between Danni and Sean. They were both complex characters who were going through their own separate issues and they both wanted and needed answers that they had to go out and get themselves. The answers that they were seeking was actually the main draw for me as I was curious to see what Sean wasn’t telling Danni and I wanted to know what happened to Danni and her Mom and then brother all those many years ago. I thought that the way Quinn had Danni and Sean go about finding their answers was an interesting road to take. To travel back in time together and go about their business trying to get some answers? All the while talking and getting those answers from their younger selves. Then the powers that the both of them had was another interesting bit of goodness.
Sean was a good hero. He was one of those mysterious heroes that you have to keep reading to get. He was also one of those heroes that you wanted to keep reading about to find out more even when you didn’t understand the why’s of his madness with his father. He was mysterious and yet charming. It would have been nice to see him wield his powers or find out more about his powers as well but not knowing it didn’t take too much of the story away for me.
Danni was a normal heroine who did idiotic things from time to time but I liked her character. She did what she thought she had to do to get the answers she sought and I enjoyed getting to know her. One of my favorite scenes in this book is watching Danni interacting with her younger self and her brother in the kitchen. To see the things come to light about things that Danni had forgotten from long ago made for an interesting addition to the story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story. So much so that I’m looking forward to reading Rory’s book, Haunting Warrior, which is coming out May 4, 2010. There were some things in the story that gave me pause while reading like the connections between Sean and Danni with his father and her mother. All of this “keeping it in the family” things were kind of off putting but I didn’t pay it too much mind and ended up liking the book.
Grade: 3.75 out of 5
This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here.
This sounds really good. I’m going to see if I can find it. I think I’d like to read it.
I wasn’t able to get into it the book the first time I tried to read it. But the second time I tried I was able to read it all the way through. It was confusing at first but interesting. I am really looking forward to Rory’s story since he will have added emotion and suffering. Who doesn’t love a tough guy in pain being redeemed by a woman’s love?!
It was interesting, Holly.
Chanpreet,
That’s exactly how I thought and felt throughout my reading of the book.