Donna Birdsell Falcon’s Mistress

Falcon's Mistress

Donna Birdsell

Berkley, Oct 2005, $6.99

ISBN: 0425206343

In 1761, when twelve year old John Markley was already the Duke, the falconer's daughter, Serena Downing saved his life; he vowed to repay her one day. Several years later, he, as the Duke, asks her to be his mistress, as she is too beneath his station to be anything else. Though she loves John, she declines the offer. Not long afterward, he leaves England to work as Falcon, a British spy.

In 1776 John, an assistant falconer in France, learns that Serena has been convicted of murdering him with evidence provided by his family. He rushes back home to rescue her from the noose, and to confront his mother, who wants control of the estate assets, and his brother who wants the title; to achieve that, both need him declared dead; so what if a servant dies. John refuses to allow the trappings of his blood to keep him from what he always wanted. To love Serena forever. But she knows he must marry his equal, though she still desires him.

Though somewhat by the Georgian romantic suspense handbook, the intriguing twist of Serena convicted for murdering her vanished John, adds depth to an exciting late eighteenth century thriller. Serena is a wonderful harassed protagonist, who makes a perfect victim because of her relative station compared with John's family. John is a delightful champion, who needed the impetus of his family's machinations to enable him to push aside almost three decades of breeding to decide what he needs most in life, Serena. Donna Birdsell provides a fabulous historical romance that soars alongside the falcons, that bind the lead couple to each other.