Born in Shame is the third and final installment in the Born In trilogy by Nora Roberts. In this book we meet Shannon Bodine, the third daughter of Tom Concannon. The only thing, she doesn’t find out that the father she grew up with wasn’t her biological father until after he passes away. Shannon is has been taking care of her mother who is on her death bed, but before she dies, Amanda Bodine tells her daughter the truth. She tells her about her trip to Ireland and the wonderful man she met and fell in love with. After she tells this story to her daughter, she passes away.
Finally, after a year of searching, the investigator hired by Rogan Sweeney finds Shannon Bodine just after her mother passes away, and just after she’d learned about her actual heritage. Initially she wants nothing to do with her sisters, but when she receives a letter from Brianna she agrees to take a trip to Ireland to meet her sisters and their families.
Back in Ireland, Murphy Muldoon close friend of Maggie and Brianna is doing what he always does. He works hard all day on his farm and can regularly be found playing music in the local pub at night. He’s been waiting for the right woman to come into his life to settle down.
The last thing the two expected was to fall for each other. And though it takes Shannon some time to accept the idea of a relationship with Murphy, she eventually lets herself love him.
My Thoughts?
Though it wasn’t my favorite book of the trilogy (which I suppose is obvious considering I can’t stop praising Born in Ice) I still liked this one. I guess its all Murphy. I really liked getting to know his character better. He was there in both Born in Fire and Born in Ice, but we didn’t get to know him as anything more than the farmer who lives next door. I also liked getting to know Shannon. Going from being an olny child to having two older sisters can certainly be a bit rough on the emotions. This is shown here especially in the relationship between Shannon and Maggie. Though their relationship is a bit strained at first, they learn to get along.
There was the usual humor, as well as man on a white horse dreams and the occasional ghost story. Two people from very different lives once again come together, work through their issues, and have a happy ending. I’ve been in love with happy endings as of late.
In Born in Shame, there is also the update, for lack of a better word, of Brianna and Maggie. Both women from the first two books are still happily married. Maggie has her two year old son Liam and also announces she is pregnant with her second child. Brianna has also just had her first child. A daughter named Kayla.
Overall, I liked this one quite a bit and would recommend reading it for a quick happy love story with another happy ending.
Among Stories 