Cormac is the second of Jane’s Irish mafia books. It follows the second of the McCarthy brothers, Cormac, and Aileen.
So, here’s the story. The Martins killed Cormac’s father, who was the Clan Chief for the McCarthy family. That put the two families at war with each other, but Keenan, as the new chief, was able to negotiate a cease-fire, partly because the Martins offered a virgin daughter of their clan to the McCarthy clan for a bride. And since Keenan was already married, it was either going to be Cormac, the second son, or Nolan, the youngest son. Cormac knew that he had to do his duty to his family, and as the second in command, he would have to step into Keenan’s spot if anything were to happen, and you can’t be the chief for the clan without being married, so, he’ll do it.
Meanwhile, we have Aileen, who hates her family. She is the youngest of 6 daughters, all of whom have been sold off to be married to other people, none of whom are happy in their marriage. Her parents are nasty creatures, and her brother is a vile rapist, and I’m not lying on that one. The whole Martin clan is manky. So, she overhears her parents arguing, and tries to find out what’s going on. It turns out that she’s to be married on Saturday, and that night is Wednesday. She doesn’t want to be there anymore, and she definitely doesn’t want to marry someone from her clan’s enemy and someone who she doesn’t know at all. So, she does the only thing she can think of to do, she runs.
And no one tells the McCarthys until they show up on the day for the wedding. War nearly starts until Aileen’s brother says that he found her, but she needs to be punished before the wedding. Cormac steps in because both Blaine and Martin look a little too excited to punish her, and he says if anyone is going to do it, it’s going to be him because she’s his bride.
I like Aileen’s fire. I felt really sorry for her, because you can tell how her family traumatized her. She really didn’t have a lot of experience with the world outside her immediate family and the Martin Clan, so when she’s dealing with anyone else, she’s seeing them through those lenses, which makes it hard for Cormac to get to her a bit, because she’s way, way behind walls. I really liked her later in the book while she’s trying to figure out all kinds of things, because I think that she was slightly freer then, and not quite as guarded.
I had some issues with Cormac. I liked him most of the time, but there were a couple of times when I wanted to smack him into next week because he was being either very stupid or a raging asshole. Or, you know, both. I think that some issues could’ve been handled better if Cormac had looked more at Aileen’s side of the issue before he did or said anything. But, overall, I think that he was a pretty good man.
You know, I don’t think I have anything I can safely put down here. So, go check out the book! Happy reading!
In Between the Pages 