I did read the first book in the series and I have to admit that I liked this one a little bit better.

Mary Kate and Moira are back - opening up their boarding house to various waifs and strays in Dublin and not before time, as there were several young women who really benefitted from the love and care that these two ladies gave to all of their boarders. I really love that the residents in this boarding house become family :)

Naturally enough, there are some bumps along the way, but all in all, it was a very positive book and I think I really would have liked every one of the main characters. Obviously, I didn't like James one little bit, but that shouldn't have come as any big surprise to anyone! Norah, I had mixed feelings about.

A really solid read and I hope there is a book 3 coming up.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

Great to be back to the reopened boarding house and to revisit all the old characters and make new friends. Full of warmth and friendship this is a perfect feelgood easy read

It was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once! This was so hard to read but I didn't want to put it down. So amazing!

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

An emotional tale about the ties that bind, the power of friendship and finding somewhere to belong, Return to the Irish Boarding House is a superb 1950s historical novel by Sandy Taylor.

Mary Kate Ryan has just lost the love of her life and is completely devastated. She is not sure how she will manage to keep on going, but her friend Moira persuades her to re-open her Boarding House for Single Ladies, which had helped so many women in the past. Now that Mary Kate is the one in need of some compassion and understanding, she decides to heed her friend’s advice and open her house up again. As Mary Kate begins to get into the swing of things, she begins to find a sense of purpose and renewal and nothing gives her more pleasure than being there for those who need her. Mary Kate starts to feel lighter and more engaged with the world than she has felt in a long time – thanks to her friendship with Moira and her adorable adopted daughter, Abby.

However, Mary Kate’s newfound happiness is threatened when a devastating secret about Abby’s birth mother begins to unravel. With the well-being of her found family in jeopardy, Mary Kate must fight to protect her friends, the reputation of her boarding house and the well-being of a young girl who is about to be cruelly snatched from the people who love her more than anything else in the world. Will Mary Kate’s world be turned upside down again? Or will she manage to keep her family together and her boarding house?

Sandy Taylor’s Return to the Irish Boarding House is the kind of book you will love losing yourself in. A beautifully written tale about women’s indomitable strength, second chances and finding the courage to fight for the ones you love, Return to the Irish Boarding House will make you laugh and cry as you find yourself completely engrossed in Sandy Taylor’s hugely enjoyable page-turner.

Readers who still miss the late great Maeve Binchy will fall in love with Sandy Taylor’s Return to the Irish Boarding House.

If you ever are down on luck this boarding house with take you in with no questions asked. The book is a feel good one that recounts how various female characters get their lives back on track after experiencing difficulties. The book is endearing if you like things working out but for me it was a blah read.

A heart warming and colorful story that is impossible to not enjoy. The characters really come to life and make you want to jump into the book and become part of the story. I would highly recommend this book!

Having loved the first book in this series I was delighted to see a sequel. Once again we share the ups & downs of the women who come through the red door of the Irish Boarding House. There are humorous moments, touching moments & reach for the tissues moments leaving the reader all the better for having visited. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I really wanted to love this book but there were too many religious references like He, His and so on and that is just very off putting to me. However, if that doesn’t bother you then I think this book would be great for you!

In this multiple perspective fiction novel, readers travel to a small Irish town and focus on the lives of those interacting through the same boarding house in Dublin in 1956. With a host of charming and complex female protagonists, readers have many narrative threads to follow as the novel progresses. Mary Kate Ryan and her longtime friend Moira Kent run the boarding house, and both of them are restarting their lives after a big change in each of their lives. The other major characters are the guests at the boarding house and Moira’s adopted daughter Abby, and all of their stories are connected in some way. As the novel progresses and secrets threaten to upset the peaceful balance at the boarding house, Mary Kate, Moira, and the rest of the lodgers must band together to keep their found family safe. With incredible characters and a complex plot, the lives of those at the Merrion Square boarding house are fascinating, charming, and mysterious, and readers will enjoy seeing the plot of this novel unfold. The complex backstories of the characters are gradually revealed, and Taylor does an excellent job bringing them to life and keeping the storylines from overwhelming each other.

My Review
Ooohhh....I am delighted to be back with all the characters in this lovely boarding house..
I adored author Sandy Taylor's first book The Irish Boarding House when it came out in 2022 so I was quite surprised and delighted to see she was delving back in to Mary-Kate's story and the people that come to her boarding house.
Mary Kate is grieving for her beloved Sean. She thought they would have a happy life in their small cottage and now he is not here to enjoy it with her.
The opportunity arises for her to come back and open up the boarding house and she takes it albeit a little apprehensively. While the house was a safe haven for so many before, she wonders does she have what it takes to run it again.
But she has her friend Moira beside her along with her adopted daughter Abbey whom they both love. Guinness, her gorgeous dog is still keeping her company too.
Will people still come to her boarding house for help, will she be able to help them if they do.
The story got quite emotional when Abbey's birth mum turns up. Mary Kate and Moira must protect Abbey at all costs but for a time it was difficult to know how it would enfold.
I feared for Abbey and her future.
It was so beautiful to be back amongst all the characters from The Irish Boarding House and the new ones that arrived on its doorstep.
It felt more like a family returning than anything else.
Mary Kate is a wonderfully kind woman and this extends to everyone she brings in to her fold. I simply adored her. She is one of these people who has the ability to bring out the very best in everyone, to make them shine.
Well worth your time..

Return to the Irish Boarding House is the second in the Irish Boarding House series by Sandy Taylor and what an emotional, gripping story it is.

Mary Kate is devastated by the death of her one true love when Mora persuaded her to reopen the boarding house. She soon realises that by helping others, she's also helping herself. But soon, a secret threatens their whole existence. Can Mary Kate save them and the boarding house?

I was captivated from the beginning - I loved being back in Ireland with Sandsend of the area - I felt like a friendly neighbour! I loved it but be warned : tissues may be needed!!

It’s been a number of years since Sandy Taylor published The Irish Boarding House and it is a book that has always stayed with me. So I was thrilled to discover that she had written a follow up book, Return to the Irish Boarding House, and I had high hopes that it would be just as good as the first book. There is absolutely no need to have read the previous book as the reader is brought up to speed in a conversational/storytelling style from the main character as to who featured before and what their stories were. That’s not to say great detail is gone into which would result in ruining said book for readers who haven’t read the first story surrounding Mary Kate. Not at all but it also served as a handy refresher for me as it had been over two years since I had read that book. But things started coming back to me pretty quickly and the story is very easy to follow along with. I always remember the Maeve Binchy vibes/tones that I experience whilst reading book one and I’ve been searching for books and authors like that ever since we lost such a wonderful writer. Again these elements are present and what follows is a series of interconnected stories and an assortment of characters which all centre around the boarding house with the red door in Merrion Square, Dublin.

Mary Kate had been the stalwart/matriarch of book one but when we first encounter her again she is in a place of great pain and loneliness ever since the death of her beloved husband Sean. He was the one who helped her renovate the boarding house which became like one big family with all the people that came and went and those that stayed and became firm friends. Her beautiful cottage and garden in the Wicklow Hills is not the same place it was since Sean went from her life and she questions how can she go on without the love of her life? Her future is filled with sadness and she is angry that she was given a precious love only for it to be taken away from her so cruelly. The history surrounding Mary Kate is detailed in the first chapter which I won’t go into as it forms a big part of book one but her background and the circumstances she found herself in have always inspired her and ever since she was fortunate enough to be able to buy the boarding house she has never taken this for granted and always done her best to help those in need. But now she has stayed away from all her friends and shut herself off from the world but when her great friend Moira comes calling at the door with a proposal there is a slight awakening in Mary Kate.

Moira is solid and wise and having spent several years running the house as a school since Mary Kate moved to her cottage she feels now is the time to finish up with the school and return the house to its former use. Really Moira had an ulterior plan in mind and knew that it was the turn of Mary Kate to receive the help, love, support and guidance that she had offered to so many others of the years. Through reopening the boarding house Mary Kate comes back to life and the sparkle returns to her eyes as she navigates a whole new set of adventures with friends old and new. Mary Kate is a deep and soulful person whose mantra is, the love you give always comes back in so many ways. The themes of the church and love are two very strong elements to the story as they had been with book one. The role of the church affects several characters here and it’s quite impossible to comprehend that these events were ongoing until recently. The shadows of which are still being felt across Ireland to this day.

Familiar characters make a reappearance and all add to the story as a whole. Mrs Lamb is the cook and her daughter Eliza, a child in the body of a woman, was so sensitively written. There was the absolutely perfect balance between seriousness and humour with her. I felt as if I was laughing with her not at her and the way she took everything so literally and spoke literally also was brilliant. The bond she had with ten year old Abby was fantastic and would go on to play a crucial role within the story. Moira features too as she is the adoptive mother of Abby but her story had more or less been previously told so although there are a few bits that she is essential to I wouldn’t have called her a dominant force throughout the book. James Renson, the lawyer friend of Mary Kate, is on hand once again when needed and it is almost like he has stepped into the role vacated by Sean (even though he is married) that he will protect and guide the women when they need it. He was definitely someone that Mary Kate could rely on when she had ideas that needed some help with their execution.

I have to admit that there was a flurry of new characters introduced that at some points it did become overwhelming. Simply because their stories were introduced and then some detail was given. Mary Kate would solve their problem quite easily and then bang it was on to the next new person. It felt too rushed and it became a bit formulaic and expected and I wanted a few twists and turns. I think shortening the number of new characters by one or two would have been beneficial and would have allowed space for the other new people to breathe and share their stories in greater depth. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed reading of each new character but I felt I was just getting to know them and then with a turn of a page to a new chapter someone else was introduced that I had to get to know and I hadn’t the previous new character quite sorted in my head yet. Also, I felt with Mary Kate there was a lot of repetition she constantly referred back to her grandparents and the advice they gave her and whilst valid it was said over and over again in different paragraphs with just some words changed. Sometimes, I thought I had gone back a page whilst tapping my kindle rather than forward as I was thinking hold on haven’t I already read this? It did become slightly annoying at some junctures but I learned to push past this and seek the stories of the new characters.

Perhaps Emma and Nell Gavin, sisters from Cork, are the two newest characters that caught my attention. Theirs is a story, elements of which would ring true for a lot of people from the Ireland of the past. But Emma was loyal and devoted to Nell and I loved how Mary Kate could see that but also that Emma needed to seek independence at the same time without feeling guilty that she wasn’t doing a disservice to her sister. Alana Kennedy’s story was heart-breaking and inspirational in equal measure and I only wish that people at the time had the courage to do what she did. For I believe there must have been lot of people individually and as a pair who experienced something similar to this and wish they could have been as brave as she was. Norah Clancy was a very divisive character who I didn’t think I could see any redeeming features in. She is the key to an already familiar character but I know I wanted things to go a certain way and feared it could have gone in the opposite direction. Both Isobel and Megan were the two characters I felt could have been left out or in Megan’s case more detail could have been given or her story could have been fleshed out more once she arrive at the boarding house. Although it was clever how the author had me thinking one thing when in fact it was the complete opposite. Isobel’s connection to the house was tenuous at best and it came too late in the story for me being truthful. I’ve been purposefully vague with details of each new character because I feel it best for readers to discover them for themselves.

All in all, Return to the Irish Boarding House was a good read and a worthy successor to book one even if there were a few points that niggled at me as mentioned above.That ending well all I can is it was apt but heart-breaking and will bring a tear to many a readers eye. Forgiveness, kindness, acceptance, breaking down barriers and love are all what matter in life and Mary Kate and all her friends that she has come to call family show this in abundance in this charming and heart-warming read.

Sandy Taylor is one of my absolute favourite authors, so I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was going to be a wonderful read . And yes that’s even before I started reading it ! It’s the second book in the ‘Irish Boarding House’ series but can be easily read as a standalone . Reading this book I was immediately brought back to 1950’s Dublin and Merrion Square. The author has such a fantastic way of writing you are literally transported back in time as you read this book . This is one of those books that I was hooked on right from the prologue . A story of friendships and helping others in times of difficulties. I loved all
the character with one or two being particular favourites . An uplifting but at times emotional read . I had a smile on my face at times reading this book but also I did shed a tear or two with one very tear jerking moment . I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future .

Dublin, 1956 it’s been years since World War II ended, but the scars of the war will remain forever. Mary Kate Ryan is grieving from recent heartbreak and she feels as if her life has no purpose. When her friend Moira Kent, persuades Mary to reopen the Irish Boarding House. Mary Kate was once in need of what the boarding house offered as a safe place for single ladies during the war and now years later she needs it again. Mary Kate, Moira and Abby, Moira’s ten year old adopted daughter, restore and reopen the boarding house. Moira and Abby have been family to Mary Kate and she desperately needs them in her life. So, when information surface’s about Abby’s birth mother, Mary Kate and Moira must do everything possible to keep Abby from being taken from Moira. They band together, including others working and living at the boarding house, to keep Abby with Moira while at the same time keeping the boarding house running to protect those that seek refuge.

Return to the Irish Boarding House written by Sandy Taylor is a wonderful and heart-warming story. Taylor does an amazing job of reminding us that it’s never too late to return to your roots and still make a difference in someone’s life. This story had me tearing up as I flipped through the pages. I had to keep the Kleenex box near by as I read faster and faster. The characters in this story were so beautiful and I felt as if they were family members. I loved this installment to The Irish Boarding House series and the author left no stone unturned. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful series. This story is inspiring, powerful and filled my heart with love. I highly recommend it.

Wonderful heartwarming read.
I loved the Irish Boarding House and was bereft when I finished it so was delighted that there was a sequel.
So nice to be back in Merrion Square and to catch up with the old characters and get to know the new ones.
This read is as beautifully enveloping as is the welcome at the Irish Boarding house.

Return to the Irish Boarding House by Sandy Taylor is one of those stories in which you want to curl up all snug and comfy. True, it will shred your heart and soul, but it stitches it up again all nicely and even knits it a nice bobble hat. I am so very glad that I have been introducd to this series (nd writer) with this book, what a way to begin!

It is 1956, Mary Kate Ryan is bereft, her heart broken. She returns to 24 Merrion Square, her Irish boarding house where her loyal friend, the adorable Moira Kent, convinces her to re-open it just for single ladies to stay in (and of course, we need to give a little nod to Mary's dog Guinness)

Mary Late, Moira and Moira's adopted daughter happily live together, running the boarding house in a tight little unit, a found family. Sandy Taylors narrative just sparkles off the pages in these little interludes of daily life. But what Sandy Taylor really excels at, is the depth of human emotion, the highs, the lows, the all-arounds. However, their peaceful life is rocked by a discovery that could potentially fracture the family unit by Abby being removed from their home. Can Mary and Moira prevent this from happening and how can the friends move forward and protect their livelihood?

A wonderful read, truly a delight for lovers of historical fiction and an author I will be putting on my TBR list

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and the fantastic author Sandy Taylor for this heartwarming ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

A lovely heartwarming story.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read the ARC.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

very excited to be able to read this book... again a plethora of characters but each add a bit of charm to the fact that the boarding house is being opened again as a boarding house and stops being a school that was being led by moira....

mary kate is back and as the first boarders arrive the magic is there but its a sad start as we find out the reason she is back and though its thanks to moira a bit more context here would have been nice

on the whole i enjoyed catching up with the two main characters, but was puzzled about one character and was looking forward to reading about their experience in the boarding house and we didnt get to enjoy the ride it was over before it began... we had the history and backstory of that character and i was hoping to read how they intergrated with the rest of the household and experience what they felt about their time there but it was glossed over and i felt cheated....

but it was the poignant ending that caused a few tears to run down my cheeks and though i had enjoyed my visit to this boarding house i was just a little bit disappointed...

Dublin in 1956 saw Mary Kate lose her beloved husband Sean, and her grief was shattering. She didn't think she could go on, until her best friend Moira persuaded Mary Kate to reopen the boarding house; the one with the red door on Merrion Square. Gradually, the boarding house began to take shape once again, laughter filled the walls. Mary Kate and her dog Gideon; Moira and her daughter Abby; their cook and her daughter Eliza - and new people, people who needed help and caring, love and laughter. Mary Kate saw her future looking brighter.

But it was when the nuns told Moira and Mary Kate some news they didn't want to hear that things went awry. Abby was in danger and it was up to the mixed family to keep her safe. Would they be able to? Or would a horrific past come back to haunt them all?

[book:Return to the Irish Boarding House|209272776] is #2 in The Irish Boarding series by [author:Sandy Taylor|1417035] and once again I loved the story. The author has a way with words, and I always enjoy her books. Filled with emotion, laughter, happiness, love and caring, [book:Return to the Irish Boarding House|209272776] is a powerful read. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.