When Olivia Doyle’s father dies under suspicious circumstances, rather than inheriting a family fortune, she inherits a new identity. She learns they were placed in the Federal Witness Security Program when she was five years old. Her father was involved in an art forgery ring and testified against the mob. Brought up not to trust anyone, Olivia has a difficult time relying on U.S. Marshal Ethan Ryder to protect her, and to keep her secret. She fears her father may have continued his life of crime through her art gallery. She has little choice but to depend on Ethan when she realizes someone is now after her. Olivia’s search for the truth leads her and Ethan across country to a family and past she doesn’t remember.
At the age of ten, Ethan witnessed a brutal murder. He vowed when he grew up, he’d protect people in danger. Protecting Olivia is difficult when she won’t trust him. He soon realizes his desire to protect her goes beyond doing his job, but if his judgment becomes clouded by emotions, her safety could be jeopardized.
Can Ethan and Olivia learn to trust each other when they uncover secrets that will change their lives forever?
Identity Crisis is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, All Romance, eBooks.com, and Kobo
The Irish in Me and My Books
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh! I’m a day late in wishing you a happy St. Paddy’s Day, but I’m sure people are still celebrating somewhere in the world. I have to admit, I’m still recuperating from yesterday’s festivities. My sister Sandy came to town and we kicked off the day with a full Irish breakfast and a Magners—Irish Cider—and then did a pub crawl to all of Milwaukee’s Irish bars, enjoying traditional Irish music and a few beers. It was great craic!
My mom is Irish and my dad is Irish and Scottish. In 2007, we took our first trip to Ireland. We knew very little about our Irish ancestors except that the Flannerys were from Castlebar, County Mayo, and the Dalys were from Kilbeggan, County Westmeath. We visited a cemetery in Kilbeggan where my ancestor’s brother is buried and his tombstone provided some genealogy leads. I said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be neat to come back one day and visit living rellies rather than dead ones?” And so my ancestry research began. I have traced three family lines forward and have been back to Ireland twice with my mom to visit our living rellies.
My Irish background often makes cameo appearances in my books. In my romantic comedy, Under Her Spell, the book’s hero Reed is part Irish. He reminisces about taking his mother to Ireland and participating in a sing-along at an Irish pub. I have a few Irish pub CDs, which I sing along to in the privacy of my car. The first time Reed and Monica make love, there’s a bit of Irish involved. Hmm… You’ll have to read the book to find out. In my current romantic suspense, Identity Crisis, the heroine Olivia discovers she was placed in the Federal Witness Security Program when she was five years old. She meets her newly discovered family and learns about their Irish background. Her grandma’s maiden name is Flannery (sounds familiar) and she was born in Ireland. Olivia’s grandpa is second generation Irish American.
I decided that rather than merely sprinkling my books with wee bits of Irish, I am going to set an upcoming women’s fiction book in Ireland. My ancestry research sparked a story idea. While researching the small town in County Westmeath where my Coffey rellies lived, I came across an article about a group of Irish land tenants that conspired to kill their English landowner and mistakenly killed his sister-in-law. Thankfully, I didn’t find any skeletons in my Coffey closet, or at least they weren’t charged with the crime. In my book, the heroine is descended from an Irish tenant family and the hero is from an English landowner family. Secrets are discovered which will either end a century-old family feud or deepen the conflict. I think I should probably rent a writing cottage in Ireland for inspiration and research purposes.
Thank you so much to Fatin for having me here today and helping me celebrate the release of Identity Crisis. I will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to one commenter. To enter to win, please leave a meaningful comment or question–writing related or personal. The winner will be announced March 22. Thank you for stopping by!
Author Bio
Eliza Daly’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie’s Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. Fast forward to the present, she’s still writing stories about beautiful women who always get their men. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn’t an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.
When Eliza isn’t traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Milwaukee working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley, Frankie, and Sammy.
You can find Eliza on the web at Website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
Honorary Mention of Book Sluts 'R' Us Blogger Awards by 
I’m new to your work. I’ve added this book to my TBR pile.
What a great trip for you to be able to make and extra special because your mom was able to go. I would love the opportunity to visit Ireland one day as we have a family from there also.
Thanks,
lorih824 at yahoo dot com
It was very special being able to take my mom to Ireland Lori. I will treasure the memories and photos forever. I’ve met so many rellies living there and I will stay in touch with them for years to come. I hope to travel back again soon! Thanks for stopping by!
My grandmother’s father was from Ireland but I don’t know where he was from but it would have been something to trace his family.
It’s never to late Maureen. The only thing I knew about my Coffey ancestor was the info on his tombstone,which was his birth and death dates, and even those weren’t accurate. I obtained his naturalization papers and learned he was from County Westmeath and the search began. Good luck to you if you decide to research your Irish heritage. Thanks for stopping by!
I have 2 daughters-in-law who are tracing our family tree. So far we have Irish, German and Swedish in our background. I remember as a child my grandmother was trying to find our ancestors, but she found a horse thief who was hanged, and she STOPPED. She was mortified! Thanks for the giveaway!
Oh Trish, I’ve uncovered several skeletons also. Some will remain in the closet.
Luckily, the good info has far outweighed the bad. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story!
Hi eliza,
is this book a first book in this series?
Sounds interesting
No, this won’t be a series Eli, but thanks for asking. Thanks for stopping by and reading the book blurb and my post!
Thanks so much again for having me here today Fatin and helping me celebrate the release of Identity Crisis!
Thank you again for having me here today Fatin and helping me celebrate the release of Identity Crisis!
Like you my dad has Irish and Scottish roots and though we’ve never been to either country – I would love to visit. I love the scenery that I’ve seen on the television of the Irish countryside and can see why so many people want to go back and visit their ancestors homesteads. Love the sound of Identity Crisis and it’s very cool that you were able to write a book using a familiar name:)
Thanks for the giveaway
Ireland’s scenery is truly breathtaking. I plan to visit Scotland next year with my husband and from what I’ve seen in movies and pictures I think the scenery will be just as spectacular. I hope you make it to both countries one day. Thanks for stopping by!
I apologize for chiming in late here, but I’m having trouble leaving comments for some reason. I will pop back later in the day and hopefully I’ll have better luck. Thanks again for having me here today Fatin and thanks so much everyone for popping by!
Your romantic suspense book sounds very good, and I think the idea of a women’s fiction book set in Ireland sounds great! My dad’s side of the family came to the US from Ireland. I have never been there but would love to travel there sometime. My sister’s friend moved there for several years, lived in a small village and was a teacher. The entire village welcomed her and she fell in love with all the wonderful people she met there.
I bet your sister’s friend had a wonderful experience while living there. The Irish people are very welcoming. Last fall we visited the home our Coffey ancestor was raised in and the current owners welcomed us in and served us dinner. It was an incredible experience. I’ve made so many friends while visiting Ireland. I hope you make it there someday. Thanks for popping by and sharing!
Love the pic with the sheep. We hail from Galloway area, or at least that’s what I’m told.
Z
My cousin’s Lynch family is from County Galway. We went there a few years ago and drove through most of the county, which is very diverse. Kylemore Abbey, one of the most breathtaking buildings I’ve ever seen is located there. Thanks for sharing!
I am a mutt – my grandfather was adopted out of an orphanage in England after the first World War… the American family who adopted him never got any legal papers; he was a baby when saved from who knows where and learned English in his years at the orphanage… he married my wonderful Grandmother who found upon her parents death her own adoption papers in the attic of her childhood home. She never attempted to find her bio parents… My fathers family history is equally as muddy although there are a lot of Hardakers in England.
I have fantasieis that there is either Irish or Scottish blood somewhere in that history – because there is NO accent that I am more fascinated with than that of an Irish or Scotsman.
How wonderful for you that you were able to trace your roots with your family. I admire you for making it such a wonderful adventure.
What a fascinating story about your grandfather. He may have come from Scotland or Ireland, since a lot of people were traveling back and forth between the countries at that time. I found many of my Irish rellies living in England in the early 1900s. My grandpa Watson’s father abandoned him when he was two years old and we always thought the Watson’s were from England. Then I located my great-grandpa a few years ago and traced his family back to Glasgow, Scotland. That was quite a surprise. And I discovered that the Watson men married Irish women up until very recent generations. So you just never know. Maybe one day you’ll obtain his adoption records and embark on your ancestry research. Good luck if you do!
Thanks so much for sharing your story!
I am impressed by your dedication to learning about your roots and using this in your writing! I believe that knowing about our unique heritage adds to our sense of identity and individuality. Renting a cottage in Ireland sounds like a wonderful goal! I enjoyed reading Identity Crisis!
It definitely took dedication to research my Irish ancestry, since Ireland’s records prior to 1900 are scarce, including no census until 1901. But I was determined! Thanks so much for reading Identity Crisis. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m not even a wee bit Irish, but I’ve always loved all things Irish, even from when I was a kid. (Might be that Catholic school education having rubbed off on me somehow
) I’m glad you had a chance to dig into your past and really make it part of your present! Thanks for the great post, Eliza!
You can always be Irish for the day.
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my post!