Friday, May 3, 2024

Review: A Dance in Donegal

A Dance in Donegal A Dance in Donegal by Jennifer Deibel
My rating: 💛💛💛💛

This was a beautifully written debut set in Ireland.

I enjoyed seeing the mystery unfold around what happened with Moira’s mom in the past which might warrant some characters treating Moira with unfriendliness and harshness.

There were characters to Love and characters to dislike, but all added to the beauty of the story.

I loved seeing how unconditional love can turn others from wickedness to repentance.

I mourned the loss of a strong secondary character and was shocked when I realised how the events unfolded which led to this death.

I listened to the audiobook and loved how the narrator successfully delivered the Irish accents.

*I listened to the audiobook on Everand.*

View all my reviews

About the book:


All of her life, Irish-American Moira Doherty has relished her mother's descriptions of Ireland. When her mother dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1920, Moira decides to fulfill her mother's wish that she become the teacher in Ballymann, her home village in Donegal, Ireland.

After an arduous voyage, Moira arrives to a new home and a new job in an ancient country. Though a few locals offer a warm welcome, others are distanced by superstition and suspicion. Rumors about Moira's mother are unspoken in her presence but threaten to derail everything she's journeyed to Ballymann to do. Moira must rely on the kindness of a handful of friends--and the strength of Sean, an unsettlingly handsome thatcher who keeps popping up unannounced--as she seeks to navigate a life she'd never dreamed of . . . but perhaps was meant to live.

Jennifer Deibel's debut novel delights the senses, bringing to life the sights, sounds, smells, and language of a lush country and a colorful people. Historical romance fans will embrace her with open arms.

About the author:


Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher and freelance writer. Her work has appeared on (in)courage, on

The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic Magazine, and others. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona.


Debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, releases February 2, 2021 from Revell. Follow Moira Doherty to the wilds of rural Ireland in 1921. Available for preorder wherever books are sold.

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