The Last Bride in Ballymuir is a fairly average contemporary read with characters who inspire no great dislike – but aren’t what you’d call compelling either. It has an nice Irish setting, and mercifully, the author doesn’t attempt to write the whole thing in dialect (I’ve read a few too many heavy-handed dialect jobs lately).

Michael Kilbride has come to live in Ballymuir with his artist sister, Vi – after a fourteen-year stint in prison. Michael was an innocent dupe of a terrorist cell, unknowingly ferrying explosives in his car. The biggest thing he was really guilty of is being stupid, but since the explosives were used to kill innocent people, he still feels pretty guilty about it. Nonetheless, he’d like to make a new start in a new town.

Shortly after his arrival he takes a long walk and meets Kylie O’Shea, who is building a stone fence on her property. He starts helping her, is treated to her very inexpert cooking, accepts a ride home, kisses her in the car, and falls in love. She does the same, right back. This is not one of those books where anyone goes through agonies of the damned trying to figure out his emotions.

Okay, so boy meets girl, and they’re in love. But of course, there are problems to overcome. In this case, the external conflicts are legion:

• No one in town trusts Michael. Everyone hears the gossip that he’s a killer, and everyone believes it. Their high regard for his sister doesn’t really figure into the equation.
• Kylie’s ardent admirer is a member of the Irish National Police. Bent on abusing his power, he likes to follow Michael around and harass him.
• Michael has two little brothers he hasn’t seen in years. They seem to need him, as they are having trouble dealing with their mother. The mother doesn’t like Michael either, and hasn’t spoken to him since his release from prison.
• And speaking of prison, Kylie’s father is there right now because of some nefarious business dealings, but he’s about to get out.
• Kylie works at a very conservative school where all the children are taught only in Irish Gaelic. Parents and fellow staff don’t look very kindly on her involvement with the shady Michael.
• The man who set Michael up (but got off scot free) is making threatening phone calls.
• Oh, and Kylie’s elderly neighbor/friend is injured in a fall and comes to live with Kylie for a while, which makes it difficult for Kylie and Michael to find time alone.

I’m all for external conflict, and sometimes it’s nice when the hero and heroine realize they are in love quickly so the plot can move on to other things. The problem in this case is that there are too many little subplots going on for the author to do justice to any one of them. The sheer number of them necessitates brief treatment and a quick, pat ending for each. That’s exactly what the author serves up. The plot would have been better served had the author focused on two or three of those problems and given them a more attention.

Aside from this problem, the book’s not all that bad. Kylie and Michael are likable enough, and I liked that they were honest with their feelings. And while they weren’t what I’d call riveting, they did have their moments. The secondary characters are somewhat weaker, partly because there are quite a few of them, and partly because the villains are too evil to have any real dimension.

One different feature of the book is that the hero and heroine are both relatively inexperienced sexually. It’s a nice counterpoint to the many sexual dynamo hero/virgin heroine romances out there. And although the sensuality is heated enough to be warm, it’s the very subtle end of warm; a lot of the emphasis in the love scenes is on feelings rather than actions.

The Last Bride in Ballymuir is the first single title release for Dorien Kelly, who has written several series romances. There’s at least one book to follow, which features an American restaurant owner in the same town (Michael does some carpentry work for her in this book). I don’t know that I will be rushing out to get that one, but I wouldn’t be entirely adverse to reading it either. Though I’d characterize this book as pleasant rather than riveting, fans of Irish settings may find it worth a look.