FALCON'S BRIDE

Author: Dawn Thompson ISBN: 0505526794 9/2006 HISTORICAL/TIME TRAVEL Publisher: DORCHESTER
Time Period: 1695, 1747, 1811

At twenty-one, after two Seasons with no takers, Theodosia Barrington should have been grateful to snare Nigel Cosgrove. The earl-to-be was a blue-eyed Adonis, a true catch—and surely the incident in Covent Garden was exaggerated. And yet, upon her arrival at Cashel Cosgrove, Thea found herself more intrigued by the Irish castle’s legend, the tragic warrior Ros Drumcondra, than by her intended. “The Black Falcon” Drumcondra was called. Part Gypsy, part Celt, the warrior had been conquered by betrayal alone. His ghost was reputed to wander these halls, making women tremble with fear and desire—for who could resist those burnished copper eyes? Hadn’t he stolen away the betrothed of Cian Cosgrove, made the woman his love slave? If only Thea herself could suffer such a fate. If only magic were a reality. If only that Gypsy woman had spoken the truth, and Thea was a woman out of time, the one meant to be…The Falcon’s Bride.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE FALCON'S BRIDE is a complex time-traveling tale about a pair of soul mates, one a Gypsy Warlord alive in 1695, and the other a Regency miss in 1811. Fire and spirit mark them both, and they struggle greatly to find happiness together.

Thea Barrington is almost on the shelf, and her father seals the bargain for her to marry a man who is rumored to be a murderer. She travels with her brother to the man's Irish castle. Her fiancé is soon showing his true colors, but as he's threatening to rape her, a great bird comes out of nowhere to rescue her. It's one of a list of strange things that have happened in the castle—she's had an elderly Gypsy woman show up in a storm to give her a fortune, and has seen the ghost of Ros Drumcondra, the fabled warrior who had once owned the castle. Escape is her best hope, and she achieves it in the most unusual of ways. The area around the castle is riddled with time corridors, and it is all too easy to get lost in them...

THE FALCON'S BRIDE is an absorbing read. It is part historical, part adventure story, and always a compelling romance.

Heather Hiestand