Safe at the Edge of the World (The Tour Series Book 2)

Wonderful story. I fell in love with the characters and storyline. Can’t wait to start the next book in the series

This was an interesting read and brought my memory back to travel tours where the group becomes a community. Lots of great personalities and characters and the story touches your heart. Character development is Grainger forte.

Second book in the series, be sure to read the series in order for greatest enjoyment!The characters in all her books are beautifully developed (I’ve read them all and this is my third time in the Tour series)! Descriptions of Ireland make me want to go there. The storyline is compelling with some edge-of-the-seat happenings. A fair amount of violence taking place but she doesn’t give graphic detail.Again, this is my fav series!!

I read at least a dozen books by Jean Grainger—the Star and Shamrock series, the Robinswood stories, and more—because the characters were lovable and complex, the stories moving and engaging, the historic backdrop fascinating and well-researched.However, I find that her latest books are too heavy handed on moral messaging: immigrants are a blessing; the Church is evil; marriage is overrated etc. etc. It’s as if the story plays second fiddle to these “teachings.” It’s a shame, because she can (could?) be such a good story teller…I probably have to stop reading more books by her, as the last couple were disappointing…and, at times, bordered on irritating (just not a fan of being spoon fed a moral code!)Still grateful for Ms Grainger’s previous stories. Those stories moved me.

I love the series of interesting stories. The character development, the feeling that you can picture yourself in the adventure as the story unravels keeps me interested and invested.

It was not my kind of story because of the serious issues and the details of them. It centered mostly on one couple and their issues instead of more depth equally to all the travelers. The Tour had all the feelings and sights of Ireland that this book lacked...for my taste. This story depressed me.

Loving the series so far. Plan to read them all.

I was getting ready to read "Shadow of a Century" after reading "The Tour" when "Safe at the Edge of the World" came out & I couldn't wait! I enjoyed "The Tour" so much. This one didn't have as much touring & history as the first one, but the story was excellent. My husband & I spent 3 weeks in Ireland in 2009 just driving around & took 5,603 photographs.(that's what we do) We didn't stay in any hotels, it was all B & B's. What a wonderful way to get to know the people. These stories bring back so many memories of places we visited. I had an interesting experience in Galway. I had had sinus surgery 2 months before the trip & ended up with a "kink" in my neck that was very painful, almost cancelling the trip. On the 3rd day, my husband wanted to take some photographs of the interior of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Galway. I sat in the back with the sun streaming in on me through the stained glass windows admiring the beautiful church. The warmth felt so good on my neck & back. I had been taking strong pain medicine, but realized I was way past due for another pill. Now, I'm not a religious person, but the pain never came back & my neck & back have been fine ever since! I would really love to go back there but the only way we can go now is to take a tour as we are in our 70's & can no longer rent a car. Reading this makes me want to go on a small tour.Jean has a wonderful way of making you feel a part of the story. 5 stars aren't enough. Can't wait for another sequel! Now I'll get on to "Shadow".

I just finished, in two days, The Tour and am ready to sit down to read the next book in the trilogy -Safe at the end of the World. EVery time I pick up a book by Jean Grainger I know I am going to be in for a good story. Her prose is clear and concise without a lot of unnecessary hyperbole. I am tranported to another land - Ireland - I have never been there but think I would feel most comfortable visiting one of the pubs and wandering the roads. Coonor O'Shea has his work cut out for him with the mixed crowd he is leading on the tour and it is fun to read about how well he handles the various problems that arise.

At last the very much awaited sequel to the delightful "The Tour" by Jean Grainger. Here we meet again the lovely tour guide Conor, now married with Anastasia and proud father of twins. A few other characters of The Tour also appear or are mentioned, however the main focus is on the mystery couple, Declan and Lucia.Throughout the touring of beautiful Ireland we follow Declan and Lucia's stories and their spiritual, moral and physical evolution. I won't say more, not wanting to spoil other reader's pleasure of discovery...I was surprised by the various topics courageously tackled by Jean, faith, homosexuality, scandal of paedophilia within the Church, mafia and mafiosos, trust, and all the moral turmoils that dealing with such situations can bring.As in The Tour, it's very interesting to see the people interacting with each other, helping each other solving their problems. It must be lovely to have a Conor around...The characters are so well described, both physically and morally, sometimes just with a few words, or even a hint, that we easily picture them and it's like we are at the back of the coach, unseen but observing all.As in The Tour, we see the idealised and stereotyped image that some Americans with Irish blood have of Ireland. And we discover the true Irish spirit and the beautiful landscape, which renews the desire to go back and take the tour!I only gave 4 stars because I was (stupidly) expecting a kind of repeat of The Tour, that I liked so much, and was surprised by the seriousness of the topics and the depth in which they are analysed. But it gave me lots to think about and this is very interesting, it's good to get a bit out of the usual tracks.And also, and I am a bit ashamed to confess that (jealousy!), Lucia sometimes got on my nerves.Otherwise the book is well constructed, we discover little by little Declan's and Lucia's backgrounds and their common history and love story, the suspense is good (my lips are sealed).A very good book by an excellent author, I also highly recommend all her other works and I can't wait her next one. Thanks Jean.

I am fortunate to have read Jean's other books and enjoyed them all. The Tour was well worth reading, so when I read that a sequel was being written I was eager to read it. I loved the sequel. I enjoy the way Jean writes her novels, they are interesting and capture the attention of the reader without getting too bogged down in needless detail. The sequel was more in depth than the Tour, so the detail of the background of the characters was needed I felt to explain the storyline. I loved the TV series - 'The Soprano's' and I think having watched the series, the story of Lucia and Declan and Paul was more believable and understandable. It was like following up on an old friend with Conor again and I loved the way Jean wove in the characters from The Tour into this sequel. I purchase my books to read on my kindle App on my iPad via Amazon. I have to say that Jean's books have encouraged me to want to make a trip from Australia to Ireland sooner than later.

I enjoyed the first of this series so was looking forward to the second and I was not disappointed. This book has likeable main characters with enough back story to flesh them out and a cast of peripheral characters who are both interesting and disparate, as you might expect on a coach tour. I really liked the way Declan and Lucia were developed throughout the book, experiences explored and lives described which added new elements to their stories and depth to their characters. Connor is a lovely and reliable anchor to his guests yet again but his life was also expanded upon in such a gentle way it added such a lot without overpowering the story of Declan and Lucia - and what a story!No spoilers in my reviews suffice to say it was a bit of a roller coaster ride; started quite slowly, few bumps, more twists and turns and then .... You'll just have to read it!Some of the content may not constitute a 'warm story' but the warmth I refer to comes from the people rather than their backgrounds.I don't think you need to have read the first book to enjoy this one but both are great feel-good escapism and excellent holiday, or lockdown, reads.

This is the second book by Jean Grainger I have read and it didn't disappoint, this is a sequel to The Tour and I loved that book - her style of writing is exactly what I like to read, strong characters, a book that you want to keep reading, drama some romance just a good read.