Clover by Nicole Kilpatrick is that magical book that grabs your attention while leaving you to hang on to every word. Nick O'Leary unknowingly gambles with a leprechaun and loses. He not only lost any luck he would ever have, but he gambled away his unborn daughter's future. The sneaky leprechaun made it look enticing; she would have good luck until she was eighteen. The trick was he got to name the unborn child, allowing a spell to be placed on her. Clover O'Leary's life had been golden until she turned eighteen. Now she's thrown into a world of mystical beings that fight over her. No one knows the power and potential of the spell. Finn has watched over Clover for these last eighteen years; can he protect her with all the unknown between them?

I found Clover to be one of the best Irish folklore novels I have read. Nicole Kilpatrick brings our favorite fairytale characters to life as they fight to possess the innocent Clover O'Leary. As the Unseelie's army trains to use her for their evil purposes, Finn introduces her to many paranormal creatures. The creative writing and fascinating plot blend the present world with a magical one. The action moves smoothly from one revealed secret to the next while the intensity builds between warring opponents. Not all are warring for Clover's life; some are battling for her heart. The characters step out of the perceived expectations, forging their unique paths. I loved that leprechauns were handsome and loyal, though you still had some who loved in excess. I highly recommend this novel to those who enjoy folklore with a touch of romance.

Clover by Nicole Kilpatrick is a glorious young adult fantasy aflame with magic, coming of age, romance, and an homage to Irish myths. Join Clover O’Leary in her adventure to take her life back and rectify matters in order to break an evil spell. It all starts when she turns eighteen. Finnegan Ryan appears in her life and introduces himself as a leprechaun—a faerie leprechaun. One of the new twists here is that Finn is contrary to what you are used to imagining; a short, unattractive creature guarding a pot of gold. Finn can assume any form he desires and he chooses to be a hottie. Everything is revealed to Clover. Her father once made a deal with a leprechaun named Alistair to give her luck for eighteen years. In exchange, her father allows Alistair to name her. In the supernatural world, to name someone is to have control over that person. Now that the deal has expired, Finn and Clover will join forces to stop Alistair from whatever devious plans he is hatching.

The Irish otherworld presented here is a fluid, ambivalent place that transcends spatial and temporal boundaries where time is perceived to have stopped, as even extinct creatures still exist. As far as a good fantasy setting is concerned, Nicole Kilpatrick has created an idealized mirror image of the human world where magic and enchantment abound. She has conjured up Irish folklore creatures and made them appear out of the pages with their distinct personalities. Garrett, the shape-shifting pooka, for example, seems devoid of any inhibitions so that he sometimes comes off as embarrassing, but he has fought side by side with Finn and they have always prevailed. Many writers are using classic myth and folklore as sources for contemporary fantasy fiction, and Kilpatrick has effectively written a page-turning plot. As a debut novel, Clover may well connect the modern youth with age-old traditional myths and put Kilpatrick on your list of new authors to watch.