Michael was a bit pushy in his concern, which was off-putting at first, but once he settled down, I warmed up to him and found that he meant well. His chivalry concerning Magee’s abuse of Brianna was especially enjoyable.

Adeline was loathsome for a good chunk of the story, but I enjoyed her later in the tale.

Magee was bitter and well written, but I felt like the full explanation of her history was withheld. There were glimmers of it, but I definitely wanted more.

The premise was lovely.

Brianna was the perfect Gothic leading lady: innocent and curious and bent toward adventure.

These notes from the author’s note were shocking and disappointing to me:

“but I did take some creative license with the timeline and some of the details.”

“The house was taken over… by a band of antitreaty IRA forces—not British forces.”

“… none of the Boyd family members were harmed…”

Why blame an entire country for the actions and behaviors of a small group of people?

Why should a family who didn’t have any members harmed be featured as a family that had several people killed?

These sorts of “creative license” alterations to historical facts always leave me feeling a lot like Brianna in this story: lied to and betrayed. Why not use the real history instead of creating a “more dramatic” one? Usually, the real history is plenty dramatic if written well.

I closed this book disappointed. I hope the next one is more accurate to historical accounts.

Content: altered history, tobacco, derogatory term, expletive, profanity, replacement profanity, replacement expletives

The Maid of Ballymacool is a very enjoyable read, with a little mystery. of who is Brianna Kelly and why is the headmistress of the Ballymacool House and Boarding School so cruel and hateful towards her. What are the secrets that Ballymacool has?

The Maid of Ballymacool is a quick, entertaining read with a unique spin on the Cinderella story and a gorgeous setting. Anyone looking for a sweet read, a swoony love story, and a good ending can't go wrong with this one.

Overall Rating: 4
Romance Rating: 4

Everything about this book was an absolute delight. The setting, the storyline and the characters all mingled beautifully to create a true work of art. This was my first time reading a book by this author, but I will absolutely be picking up more of her books!

Excellent book filled with surprises. I so enjoyed this Cinderella like story set in Ireland! Huge fan of this author’s books set in Ireland

The Maid of Ballymacool is a delightful retelling of Cinderella, set in Ireland in the 1930s. I loved the quest of Brianna to discover her true past. This added a depth to the traditional telling of Cinderella.

The Maid of Ballymacool surprised me. After reading the summary of this novel, I expected a rags to riches type of story. But instead, I encountered a story that was more along the lines of from riches to rags back to riches again. Quite a read, this novel!

Set in 1930s Ireland, the jolting first appearance of the maid Brianna Kelly instantly glued me to the mysterious pages of The Maid of Ballymacool. Jennifer Deibel skillfully crafted an engaging first chapter that paved the way for a story wrapped in haunting secrets, hidden treasures, and sweet romance. The story is ultimately about finding one’s true identity, which was nicely done through the individual and shared growth of the leading characters. Brianna Kelly and Michael Wray were an interesting pair to read about! Deibel’s fictional play on historical events created some pretty dramatic challenges for them throughout the novel, but their nearly instant connection kept the story well balanced. The highlight of the entire novel for me, though, was reading the author’s note. Some of the characters held some disturbing secrets, to be honest. So finding out that the author took creative license with certain events described in this novel caused me to release a big sigh of relief!

With that said, I wasn’t completely won over by The Maid of Ballymacool. I enjoyed its story, I was pulled in by its characters, and I was touched by its heartwarming message. But somehow I could not fully get into this novel. Try as I might, it was hard at times to stay connected. Yet despite that, I’m willing to give this novel a re-read. Who knows, maybe I’ll completely love it in the future. 😉

Thanks to Revell and the author for providing a free copy for my honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

2.25 stars
This one was a miss for me. It's a Cinderella retelling, which I didn't know up front, but which was pretty obvious soon. As a fiction novel, though, I felt like the story relied too much on an idea of "this is her life because she is Cinderella" and never told me the "why" of the reason she is staying there instead of going elsewhere for a job. Likewise, the story didn't elaborate the "why" of what made Michael who he was; he just had quirks without reasons.

The story did keep me reading as I liked the plotting and was curious where it was going. Maureen's bits were strange and only puzzled me more about her role; I think the story would have been stronger without her odd scenes.

There was a lot of Gaelic and I think if I hadn't been learning Gaelic, I'd have been quite mystified as to the meaning of some of the phrases. Perhaps the final copy has a glossary to help with this.

Questions I'd have liked to know...
-Why Michael took the time to learn Gaelic
-Why Michael prefers being casual and old-fashioned
-How Brianna got a good education
-Why "gathering eggs at age four" was considered abusive
-Why no church services are ever thought of in the school
-Why the school was considered acceptable to the upper class
-Why the line of punishment was chosen for Adeline (other than to throw the MCs together)
-What happens next with Adeline to make her grow up
-Why Brianna has been to the tree in the past many times but all of a sudden seems unable to tell how long she's been there.

I'd have also liked to see deeper scenes with both MCs instead of them seeming to always be reacting to events.

I did like that the retelling is non-magical.

I'd expect older teens to be the best audience for the book, especially if they enjoy Melanie Dickerson's works.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

This was absolutely lovely!

The Maid of Ballymacool had a slow start, but once I got into it I just didn't want to put it down. It's a Cinderella retelling of sorts, set in a boarding school in Ireland in the 1930s. The setting was lovely, and though I did appreciate the Gaelic words and phrases used throughout--they really helped to set the scene!--they also made reading a bit challenging because it wasn't always obvious what was being said, especially when entire sentences were spoken. (There is a glossary at the end, so if you're reading this review first, find it and bookmark it before you start to save yourself some head scratching!) I'm not at all familiar with the historical events that play into the plot here (the Irish War of Independence factors into Brianna's history); the author explains a bit of it in her note at the end but I'd almost have liked to have had an explainer a little earlier.

Brianna and Michael are wonderful characters, and though the whole hey-thirteen-year-old-girl-we're-bringing-your-older (adult)-male-cousin-to-your-boarding-school-to-make-you-behave part seems odd (is that really something they did then?) it's hard to argue with the results, because of course that's what brings our main characters together. Their entire courtship is very sweet (it is a Christian romance, after all) and takes its time, much like the eventual reveal of Brianna's history.

Though at times the characters seem a bit *too* much--Brianna is amazingly sweet tempered, despite what her guardian puts her through; the guardian is over the top awful to her; Michael's cousin Adeline acts like a miserable brat much of the time--the author balances them out somewhat by the end, making them seem more real. Brianna is (rightfully) angry when she finds out what was done to her, we find out (probably) why Adeline acts out (plus, she's grown into a lovely person by the epilogue), and seeing some scenes from the headmistress' POV helps us understand her motivation somewhat--though she has still made some pretty indefensible choices with her life in the end.

Knowing that this is billed as a Cinderella-inspired story makes it fun to look for the little touches throughout that might correspond to the original as you read. For those who might not read a lot of Christian romance, this one isn't overly preachy and though the characters do talk about God's presence in their lives and doing His will, it's not on every single page.

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I was excited to read this book as I love a good Irish setting, but unfortunately, the book just wasn't good. I got about halfway through and then abandoned it.

The writing suffered from a lack of direction and poor pacing. Instead of slipping bits of information to the reader and letting us do the work of guessing, information only ever points in one direction, and it usually comes in info dumps that wreck the pacing and give too much away. The pacing is otherwise slow and the plot seems to circle rather than slowly reveal. Repetition of both prose and dialogue is a significant issue, which unfortunately adds to the unpolished texture (if that makes sense) of the book.

There is something a bit unnatural, strained, even forced about some of the characters, especially the upper class ones; lacking dimension, they stray towards stereotypes, even caricatures. The main character is herself a damsel in distress.

But my biggest complaints are the historical, cultural, and linguistic inaccuracies. The representations of accent are ham-fisted; not only are they overdone, they are sometimes inaccurate. On top of that, upper class people of the early 20th century in the UK were quite often trained not to have regional accents as part of their education. Also, "OK" is an Americanism that these Northern Irish characters seem to use a lot.

I'm fully open to being wrong on this next point, but I've never heard "the Ascendancy" used as a neutral identifier. I'm not sure that that's really how people would have referred to themselves or other people of their class (unless their tone was accusatory or republican).

There are some cultural terms the author misses. The book has references to things like "turf briquettes" and "chalets" — these are things for which Irish people (and Irish English) have specific terms ("turves" and "cabins," in this case), and more than just that, they are often region-specific.

And speaking of language and regional specificity, the Irish language parts look like they were lifted from Google Translate. It's riddled with grammatical errors and sometimes the phrases literally translate an English phrase/idioms that doesn't really exist in Irish. Furthermore, the Irish language in the book is not the dialect they actually use in that part of Ireland.

The Maid of Ballymacool is an unfortunate miss. I don't recommend it.

Brianna is the servant at Ballymacool, an all girls school run by a tyrant of a woman. When Adeline, one of the girls, begins acting up, her cousin Michael is sent to the school to keep an eye on her. Michael’s arrival causes some changes in the school and in Brianna’s life. I am hoping for a companion book to learn more about Adeline and what happens to her.

I enjoyed this charming story immensely. It had elements of history, romance and mystery to create an interesting tale.
Many thanks to Revell and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a first time read for me by this author and it definitely won't be my last. The story presents a fresh take on the Cinderella fairy tale, and has a bit of mystery and intrigue along with romance. I was pulled into the story from the very start and remained engaged till the end. Brianna has worked at Ballymacool House her entire life. That is all she knows, as she was abandoned at left there as a baby. Michael comes to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, and is instantly taken with Brianna. The romance that builds between them is sweet and beautiful. The author really did a nice job of bringing the story and characters to life with her beautiful and vivid descriptions. It was a lovely experience visiting Ireland without even leaving my couch! The characters were well-developed and I instantly fell in love with them. Brianna is a lovely, sweet character with a pure heart and Michael just simply stole my heart. I very much enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more of this author's work.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Doesn't this book have a lovely cover? I thought the setting sounded dreamy as well. I enjoyed the basics of the story, and the characters were easy to like. I enjoyed the development we see in Michael as he begrudgingly takes on the inconvenient task, yet grows to care for the well-being of the girls at the school. He definitely shifts naturally into the protector-defender role. Brianna feels stuck in her job, and it was frustrating that she never tried to think of a way out. There is a hint of mystery alluded to, especially when we begin to have scenes from the perspective of the villainous headmistress. It's a sweet story but simple, and I struggled to connect with the characters on a deeper level.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Brianna feels tied to Ballymacool House and Boarding House. She has worked there a long time and decides to try to make more of herself. She decides to go exploring and runs across a few bits of buried treasure. When she finds a platter she decides to find out the story behind it and turns to Michael to help her find its story and what the future holds.

The Maid of Ballymacool
A Novel
by Jennifer Deibel
Pub Date 21 Feb 2023
Revell
Christian | Historical Fiction | Romance


A copy of The Maid of BallyMacool was provided to me by Revell and Netgalley for review:


As an infant, Brianna Kelly was abandoned at Ballymacool House and Boarding School. From the time she was a young girl, she has worked there and likely will die there. Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.



When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry, is sent to Ballymacool to deal with his unruly cousin, Brianna draws his attention immediately and irresistibly. There is something familiar about her. With Michael's help, Brianna investigates the origins of a piece of silver she finds in the woods. They may discover something that changes everything.



An enchanting mystery, a budding romance, and a chance for redemption await you in this fresh take on the Cinderella story from Jennifer Deibel.



I give The Maid of Ballymacool five out of five stars:



Happy Reading!

This book is set in the 1930s about Brianna Kelly who is a servant at a boarding school where she is mistreated by Mistress Magee. Michael Wray comes to assist his niece at the school who is struggling to fit in socially. A romance builds between Brianna and Michael. There is also a bit of a mystery surrounding the school and Brianna's past.

Things I liked about the book included the historic setting, Brianna's faith journey, and the way the romance unfolded.

There were several things I didn't care for about the book. 1. I thought this was a historical fiction book. I usually like my historical fiction to teach me something about actual events that happened in the past. The author's note at the end explained that the majority of the story was not history but fiction. I like to read to learn so this was disappointing to me. If you read just for a good story then this book would be good for you.
2. I felt very confused for much of the beginning of the book - why are there treasures in the forest? I would have spent less time in confusion if she started with that explanation as a prologue. If I had anticipated that this book would be a bit of a "mystery" I might have enjoyed the read better as I sought to solve it but since I thought it was just a historical fiction it just left me feeling like maybe I accidentally skipped a chapter or something.
3. *spoiler* I didn't love that it felt like Micheal could only be justified in his feelings for Brianna because of what her real identity was.
Overall, had I known I would be reading a slightly mysterious, almost entirely fictional story that happened to be set in the 1930s I would have enjoyed the reading journey more. I'll definitely still check out other books by this author in the future with this in mind.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. I was not required to leave a positive review.

Mystery, intrigue and romance! Clean read. You will enjoy turning the pages of this book! Ms. Dreibel does not disappoint with this story.

This is a Cinderella story set in Ireland in 1935.

Maureen Magee is the extremely cold and strict headmistress of the Ballymacool boarding school for girls. She is a hypocrite and treats 20 year old Brianna like a slave as punishment for things she didn’t do. Brianna was left on her doorstep as a baby with only a broken piece of a pendant around her neck.

I love Brianna’s character and the way she relies on God despite being badly mistreated and forced to work very long hours of hard manual labor. Her only friend is Finnuala, an old woman who lives alone in the woods.

Michael is part of high society but prefers interacting with down to earth working people. When his 13 year old cousin Adeline gets into trouble he stays in a cottage at the boarding school to look out for her. While there he befriends Brianna, is intrigued by her mysterious past, and uses his position in society to help her.

The story was somewhat predictable, but I still wanted to see what would happen and find out the mystery behind Brianna’s pendant and parentage along with her. I enjoyed this sweet romance with a happy ending, though I would have liked to see more consequences for Magee.

Helpful tip - There is a glossary at the back. The author frequently includes Irish words without definitions and I looked some of them up because I didn’t know there was a glossary until I finished reading.

Captivating retelling of Cinderella, It's a sweet, CLEAN, story that will appeal to many a romantic heart. Faith is discussed, very focused on God, but it's not heavy-handed. It's just a part of Brianna's life.

Well developed characters (a bookish male hero? yes!), with believable interactions. It's a predictable plot, but still appealing with its bit of intrigue. It's a relaxing read, unlike so many things marketed toward young adults, latel.