The Falcon's Bride
Thompson's romantic time-traveler begins in 1811 with Thea Barrington, a young Londoner living with her fiancé, Nigel Cosgrove, on his remote Irish estate. Thea's family has much to gain from the wealthy Nigel, so she makes the best of the arrangement despite Nigel's increasingly violent treatment. Thea has another reason to stay on at Nigel's castle—a mysterious gypsy has told Thea that she is destined to become the bride of Ros Drumcondra, also known as the Black Falcon, a half-Gypsy, half-Celt clan chieftain who lost Cashel Cosgrove to Nigel's grandfather more than a hundred years before. Wondering how she could be linked to the fate of this long-lost warrior, Thea stumbles on a portal that takes her back to 1695, the same year Drumcondra disappeared. She is promptly kidnapped and brought to Drumcondra, who, believing she is intended for the Cosgroves, holds her for ransom. Appalled at first by Drumcondra's rough treatment, Thea begins to warm to the handsome chieftain. Though eager to return to her own time, she decides to do what she can to save Drumcondra from the betrayal she believes cost him his life. Readers hoping to make sense of Thompson's time-shifting plot line might find themselves with a headache, but those looking for passion and escape will be pleased.(Sept.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.