Mary Brady

Good book. A little slow moving, but I enjoyed the story. Delainey is a paralegal at a local law firm. She has just gotten into law school, a dream that was put on hold six years earlier when she became a mother. The plan is for her to become a partner when her boss retires in a few years. So she is stunned when she comes in to work one day to find that her boss has stepped down and his spot given to someone else. Not just anyone, but her old boyfriend, who had left her behind when he went to law school, and who hasn't been back since.

Hunter needed a place to go, away from Chicago and the mess he'd made of his career there. He had made the mistake of getting involved with a client, one who turned to stalking when he broke things off with her, and who then disappeared, implicating him. When Shamus asked him to come to Bailey's Cove for a year, he was happy to do so. He didn't expect to run into Delainey, and to find out that she has a six year old daughter.

Their initial reunion doesn't go very well. Delainey is furious and hurt that he has taken her job. All she wants is for him to go away so that her life can get back on track. It doesn't help anything that she's still as attracted to him now as she was then. Hunter is suspicious about Delainey's daughter. She's the right age to possibly be his, but why would she have told him? And if she isn't, that means that Delainey might have been seeing someone else. It looked like it was going to be a long year if they didn't find a way to settle their differences.

I liked the way that they didn't let the situation fester for very long. Both of them are mature enough to talk through their issues and decide to resurrect their friendship. Their romance was another thing entirely. Hunter remembers just how determined he was to escape the small town and how much he loves his job in Chicago. Once the scandal dies down, he has every intention of going back. At the same time, Delainey loves Bailey's Cove. Her family is there, her friends are there, and it is exactly where she wants her daughter to grow up. But though their heads say no, their hearts and bodies seem to have other plans. I loved watching them grow close again. Delainey sees how good Hunter is with the locals and that he could easily fit in there again. And though she's always been certain that Hunter isn't Brianna's father, seeing them together has her wondering if she was wrong. If she is wrong, would Hunter want to be a father to Brianna, and maybe more? Hunter is surprised by how comfortable he is back in town, and how quickly Delainey and Brianna work their way into his heart. But he's afraid that if he stays he'll start to miss what he had and grow to resent them, so it's better if he doesn't start.

There are some pretty intense scenes, including one where his past shows up in Bailey's Cove. A scare involving her and Brianna brings out the protector in Hunter. I loved the scene in the restaurant when he handles the situation perfectly, thanks to a little advice from a friend. I ached for Delainey when Hunter went back to Chicago. It was satisfying to see him realize how much he had changed during the short time that he was in Bailey's Cove, and what he decided to do about it.

I also enjoyed the secondary characters, Brianna most of all. She was a pretty adorable six year old. I loved her reactions to all the names that her mom came up with for her. She had her moments of misbehavior, but that just made her seem more real. I also liked Delainey's sister Christina, and how she and Delainey were always there for each other. I'd like to know how her blossoming romance turns out. I also loved all the employees of the law firm. Each was an individual with their own quirks and seeing how they reacted to Hunter was also very real. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.… (mais)

To illustrate her point that women are appendages to the male-dominated game of Australian Rules football, Leonie Sandercock and Ian Turner symbolically place Mary Brady’s short essay ‘Miss and Mrs. Football, but no Ms. Football’ in an appendix at the back of the book Up Where Cazaly? The essay is written in a mock-serious tone by Brady, who ‘is especially qualified to speak about these matters’ because she was married to a League footballer for 21 years and bore him six daughters. Indeed, one of the first matters she raises is the desire for footballers and football supporters to have male sons. Her main argument is that women’s role in Australian Rules football, though quite substantial, goes unrecognized and that their place is in the background as supporters, adoring teenage fans, volunteers, fund raisers, caterers, cleaners, administrators and also as passive, supportive and decorative girlfriends and/or wives.

Review by Nikki Wedgwood.… (mais)

Good book. Mia has returned to her hometown to open a restaurant as a way to draw tourists to Bailey's Cove. The town is slowly dying and she wants to reverse that trend. Things are going slowly when one of her workers finds a skeleton behind one of the walls. Suddenly all her plans are on hold as an investigation into the identity of the bones begins. The anthropologist sent by the university is charming and sexy and she's not quite sure how to deal with him. When evidence suggests that the skeleton could belong to a pirate her dreams could fall apart.

Mia came back to Bailey's Cove because she was homesick. She loves her home and can't imagine being away from it again. As she sees more people moving away she comes up with the idea of opening a restaurant that will be the start of a way to bring people to their town. When one of her workers finds the skeleton she has a really bad feeling about the future of her plans. Daniel turns out to be quite a distraction for her. She is incredibly attracted to him but she needs to keep her mind on getting her project back on track. I really enjoyed seeing them work together to find out who the bones belonged to. In spite of her worry she really enjoys the research process and the time she gets to spend with Daniel. She finds herself falling for him even though he had made it clear that he isn't relationship material. Mia also is very independent and doesn't like to rely on anyone else. She doesn't like to ask for help and there are several times throughout the book where she pushes others (especially Daniel) away when they want to help her. I loved the ending and seeing Mia and Daniel come together.

Daniel has become a loner. He enjoys his job as an anthropology professor but keeps his emotions locked up since the death of his son and his divorce. Being sent to check out these bones could be good for his career at the university. The more he hears about the possible identity the more he is intrigued. He is also intrigued by Mia. In spite of all the trouble this is causing she doesn't seem to hold a grudge against him. His attraction to her is causing him his own set of problems. He won't allow himself to get close to another woman because the genetic defect that caused the death of his son came from him. But he also finds that he can't stay away from Mia. I really liked the way that he tries to find a way for his work to impact hers as little as possible. The more time they spend together the bigger the impact she has on his outlook on life. He can't stop thinking about her and his own feelings are growing also. Daniel is also dealing with the loss of his great aunt, the last of his family. She left him a ring and some family history that have an interesting impact on the mystery of the skeleton. Daniel also has some pressure being put on him from the university regarding the site and ends up having to make some difficult decisions. I got a bit frustrated with the way he kept pushing Mia away, but he sure made up for it at the end.

There was also a sweet secondary romance between Mia's best friend Monique and one of the local cops. I enjoyed the friendship between Mia and Monique and the way they supported each other. Monique had an important part in the conclusion.… (mais)

PROMISE TO A BOY by author Mary Brady is an emotional roller-coaster of a read. Abby lives with her young nephew, Kyle in a small Montana town. So when Reed Maxwell arrives on her doorstep looking for his missing brother, Abby wonders if Reed could take Kyle away, as Reed's brother could possibly by Kyle's dad. But Reed seems a good man and he wouldn't break a family, would he?

And Abby feels attracted to Reed. But things happen which are beyond their control. I was pleasantly surprised by the lighter moments in this emotion packed story.

I loved reading Abby and Reed's story and would recommend it for it's emotional intensity as well as for the light moments.… (mais)