Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely fantastic!
Review: Yesterday's Dreams pulls the reader in from the very start with it's clear-cut characterisation and page-turning plot development.Ackley-McPhail shows her in-depth knowledge of Celtic mythology throughout the book, and shows it in a way that appeals and teaches even someone who knows little-to-nothing themselves. She also has knowledge of the power of words and description, both of which remain outstanding the entire time. A hard book to put down, though not gripping in an action-packed way, it is a story that intrigues and fascinates as much with the plot as the well-drawn characters featured within. There is little more to say without repetition - a fantastic book, and one not let down by it's own ending as so often happens. Ackley-McPhail is an extraordinarily talented writer, add to that her knowledge of people, literature and the mythology she wields so well, and the whole package is one not to be ignored! I cannot udnerstand why she has trouble finding somebody to publish the sequel! Truly, these people are idiots. -- taken from angiehulme.com
Rating:
Summary: Yesterday's Dreams
Review: Yesterday's Dreams
By: Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Vivisphere Publishing
ISBN: 1-58776-112-2 Danielle Ackley-McPhail brings the richness of Irish legend, the myth and magic of Eire to the streets of New York in her first fantasy novel, Yesterday's Dreams. Danielle has used in depth research into the legends of Carman, an Athenian goddess and her three sons. The Tuatha de Danaan stepped in to stop the terror and destruction that Carman and her sons were wreaking on the mortals of early Ireland. They chain Carman and force her to watch as her sons are destroyed. But.....Oclas (evil) the third son has not been totally destroyed, and has set his minion Lucien Blank lose on the unsuspecting humans. Cliodna of the Tuatha de Danaan-the fairy folk of Ireland also known as the Sidhe-runs the quaint antique shop Yesterday's Dreams, as Maggie. She collects and protects items that have a "bit 'o' the magic." And she waits, for those of her line have sworn to aid and protect the clan O'Keefe. Kara's father's illness and treatments have driven Kara to pawn her legacy from her grandfather, Quicksilver, her violin. And give up her dream of attending Juilliard. While looking around Yesterday's Dreams, Kara is shocked to see a picture she later discovers is of her grandfather dancing with a woman who looks exactly like the young woman running the shop. It doesn't help knowing that Maggie's ancestor might have known her grandfather. Kara feels as if her soul is being torn from her, and pours forth all her pain and sorrow when she plays a final tune on her precious instrument before leaving it in Maggie's hands. Maggie knows Quicksilver is more than just a violin. There is power here, as there is in Kara, and she knows she must protect them both from the evil that stalks them from the moment Kara and Quicksilver enter her shop. Maggie knows she must gather her forces for a desperate battle against evil. For it now walks the streets of modern New York in the form of Lucien Blank, and he wants what he senses behind the walls of Yesterday's Dreams, and he wants the power he senses in Kara.
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Danielle Ackley-McPhail turns fantasy to plausible reality in Yesterday's Dreams. The characters in this story are so charming and alive they spring from the story to haunt and taunt like a soft Irish mist long after the final page is read. I found Yesterday's Dreams a delightful page turning adventure into imagination, and certainly look forward to reading more works by this author. Charlene Austin
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