Nora Roberts - Born in Fire

The first book in the Concannon Sisters Trilogy series, published first under the name Sarah Hardesty, on October 1, 1994.
Genre: contemporary romance
Cover: lovely landscape



Margaret Mary, the eldest Concannon sister, is a glass artist with an independent streak as fierce as her volatile temper. Hand-blowing glass is a difficult and exacting art, and while she may produce the delicate and the fragile, Maggie is a strong and opinionated woman, a Clare woman, with all the turbulence of that fascinating west country.
One man, Dublin gallery owner Rogan Sweeney, has seen the soul in Maggie’s art, and vows to help her build a career. When he comes to Maggie’s studio, her heart is inflamed by their fierce attraction―and her scarred past is slowly healed by love…


It has been years since I read this series for the first time in Dutch, and I remembered a lot. I loved this series in Dutch, and I still love it now.
Maggie is such a strong characters, she knows what she wants, and she goes after what she wants, and more especially, she knows what she doesn't want. But successful gallery owner Rogan Sweeney doesn't take no for an answer, and when she won't answer his letters or his phone calls, he is finally angry enough to just fly over from Dublin, rent a car and find her in her tiny village in Clare.

Maggie is an amazing artist, but she refuses to make something on demand, her art comes from within her. Somehow, Rogan convinces her to sign up with him, as he can make her rich. And Maggie needs a lot of money, to get her mother out of her life, and that of her sister. Their mother never loved her, even loathed her, but her father adored her and her sister Brianna. Still, her mother is a huge hypochondriac and feels entitled to every moment of Brianna's time, even though she is busy running a bed and breakfast. She does nothing but complain and talk Maggie and Brianna down. Mother never forgave her, that Brianna inherited the house from her father, and not she herself.
If Maggie can make enough money, she can buy her mother a house of her own, in a nearby (but not too close by!) village and hire a nurse/companion to look after her.

Soon Rogan wants more from Maggie, he wants her to come to Dublin and be present at his first showing of her work. But Maggie craves solitude, she doesn't feel at home in a busy city, let alone rub elbows with the people who might want to buy her work. And then there is the attraction between them. Can they work it out, with Rogan's life in Dublin, and hers in Clare? And do they even want to try it?
There is a secondary plotline with Rogan's widowed mother, and Maggie's single and loud uncle, who where once childhood sweet hearts, and are now rekindling their "acquaintance", to Rogan's embarrassment. That was fun!


I really enjoy this series, the characters are so lifelike, so very well written, and the stark atmosphere of the county comes through. I do feel with Maggie, and understand her unwillingness to commit to a relationship. But Rogan just doesn't give up, and although I often dislike that in a hero, he does it skilfully, and she knows what he is doing, and I love how she teases him and confuses him endlessly.

A good romance, and of course you should read all three books in this trilogy. Old, but never dated, even though there are no cellphones and such.

10 stars.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian