Book Title: To Ride a White Horse: An Irish Historical Love Story by Pamela Ford
Category: Adult Fiction, 376 pages
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Aine Press
Release dates: January 2015
Tour dates: Jan 6 to Feb 2, 2021

Content Rating: PG-13: There are two pretty mild love scenes, short and not explicit. Virtually no swearing except the more common Irish versions: "Jaysus" or "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

Gold Medal Winner, IPPY Awards • Finalist, National Readers’ Choice Awards • Finalist, Maggie Awards for Excellence • Finalist, Kindle Book Awards

“A sweeping historical love story that hits all the marks.” –Publisher’s Weekly starred review

Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.

Ireland 1846. With Ireland ravaged by famine and England unsympathetic to its plight, Kathleen Deacey faces a devastating choice – leave her country to find work or risk dying there. Despising the English for refusing to help Ireland, she crosses the ocean to support her family and search for her missing fiancé.

But when her voyage goes awry, she must accept help from an English whaling captain, Jack Montgomery, who represents everything she despises – and with whom she is reluctantly falling in love. As Kathleen fights to save her family back in Ireland, she finds herself facing yet another devastating choice – remain loyal to her country or follow her heart.

Award-winning author Pamela Ford captures the anguish of a devastating period in Irish history and delivers a historical saga of hope, loyalty, the strength of the human spirit, and the power of love. With more than a half million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is known for creating stories that are emotional and moving.

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

A few years back I read Pamela Ford's contemporary rom-com series called the Continental Breakfast Club and enjoyed them. They were fun and light-hearted. I was eager to read her Out of Ireland historical fiction series. To Ride a White Horse is the first book in the series and I enjoyed it immensely! I am so impressed by how this author can write two different genres (one light-hearted and the other more serious) so well.

The story begins in Ireland, with the poverty stricken Deacey family discovering another crop of potatoes devastated by the blight. Kathleen makes the difficult decision to leave Ireland and head to Canada where her fiancé Danny is working, but whom she has not heard from. The trip is arduous and dangerous. Eventually, and almost by a miracle, she ends up on another ship captained by Jack Montgomery, an Englishman now living in America. Their lives intertwine as Kathleen makes it to America and must decide if she should follow her heart and betray all that she holds dear.

The setting makes this story an emotional one and I keenly felt the despair of the Irish as they slowly starved and were downtrodden by the English during the Great Famine. Several scenes brought me to tears. Ford adds a few scenes on the ship that brought some comical relief, balancing out the readers' feelings even as she kept the story realistic. The romance is strong, with two characters who must overcome their personal dilemmas and social status views. Ford brings the era to life both in Ireland, on the whaling ship as we witness the brutal hunt and the slaughter work of gathering whale oil, and in Boston's high society. Clearly, a well-researched novel with a bibliography that the author shares at the end of the book.

To Ride a White Horse is a well-written historical fiction novel rich in Irish lore and satisfying in its romantic plot. I enjoyed the characters, the setting and the story very much and I am eager to dig into the second book in the series A Rush of White Wings.

Pamela Ford is the award-winning author of historical and contemporary romance. She grew up watching old movies, blissfully sighing over the romance; and reading sci-fi and adventure novels, vicariously living the action. The combination probably explains why the books she writes are romantic, happily-ever-afters with plenty of plot. After graduating from college with a degree in Advertising, Pam spent many years as a copywriter and freelance writer before inserting a plot twist in her career path and writing her first book. Pam has won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best, the Laurel Wreath, and a gold medal IPPY in the Independent Book Publisher Awards. She is a National Readers' Choice Awards finalist, a Kindle Book Awards finalist, a Maggie Awards for Excellence finalist, and a two-time Golden Heart Finalist.

Connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

Ends Feb 9, 2021