Awakening the Gods by Kristin Gleeson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Saoirse is a young woman with flaming hair, green eyes and fair skin who wears her hair in the style of a braided coronet has just been fired from her job as a barista, she enjoyed it, but it didn’t fulfil her, but being late one too many times meant that she was not the model employee they were hoping for. Smithy is a man who lives in the rural countryside outside of Cork, he has been a blacksmith for as long as he can remember and he loves what he does, but the magic he used to feel while doing it has gone, it has left him with a hole in his heart and a lack of enthusiasm. He likes to spend what time he can playing in the local village pub with some session musicians and spending time with them, as well as having a bit of banter and good craic with them too.

Saoirse’s lack of a job does not help her pay the rent on the flat she lives in, or the fact that the lease on it will finish in a couple of months, so she will have to find somewhere cheap to live as well as a new job, so to help ease the depression of her situation, she does what she enjoys most and goes to a local bar and joins in with the other session musicians gathering there. Saoirse is just getting ready for bed when she hears a knock on the door, it turns out that it is a couple of Garda who have come to deliver some sad news, they have come to tell her that her father has died in a car accident and that she has their sympathies, she asks some questions, however, when the answers aren’t the ones she is looking for, she agrees to speak to his solicitor, however, when she goes to see him, he drops a bombshell on her about her heritage and how it is complicating the probate proceedings, but that he will be in contact at to let her know how things are progressing.

The next day she receives a phone call from a woman claiming to be her grandmother, she is apprehensive and doesn’t quite know what to make of it, but she agrees to meet her for a coffee and talk to her, this conversation leads to an invite to go and stay with her, Saoirse isn’t sure what to do, but agrees to go anyway and see where she comes from. When she arrives, she has a tour of the farm her grandmother lives on and makes an acquaintance with the woman who lives next door and when she finds out that she is a musician too, it is another thing they have in common. One day, Saoirse goes for a walk in the local area and is caught in a downpour when she comes across a man working in a forge who invites her in for tea and to dry off a bit, they find conversation easy and talk about music and the local area, but agree to meet soon at one of the sessions in the local pubs.

As the two keep running into each other and realise that as they make music together, it isn’t just music that draws them together, there is a deeper connection that neither of them can explain, however, they are both about to be pulled into a world which Smithy would rather forget and avoid and Saoirse doesn’t want to believe exists, but will they be able to fight the summons of Eire and come to her aid, or will they try to avoid a fated path and the danger which it holds? This is an Irish urban fantasy which keeps you entranced with tales of myth and legend, as they are woven into a modern day setting, which will keep you hooked throughout.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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