My review of The Falcon and the Sparrow by M. L. Tyndall

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Mademoiselle Dominique Dawson sets foot on the soil of her beloved homeland, England, she feels neither the happiness nor the excitement she expected upon her return to the place of her birth. Alone for the first time in her life, without family, without friends, without protection, she now faces a far more frightening prospect, for she has come to the country she loves as an enemy-a spy for Napoleon.

Forced to betray England or never see her only brother alive again, Dominique has accepted a position as governess to the son of Admiral Chase Randal, a harsh man, still bitter over the loss of his wife. Will Dominique find the strength she needs through God to follow through with the plan to rescue her brother? Will Chase find comfort for his bitter heart in God's arms and be able to love again?

And what new deceptions will they both find in France when they arrive to carry out their plan?

My review:

I really enjoyed The Falcon and the Sparrow. The story contained all of the distinct Tyndall elements of depth and mood that I've grown to love and expect from her books. Intrigue, romance, suspense, and passion are always part of Tyndall's plot, which makes them page turners for me. The author successfully tortures her characters by getting them into the worst predicaments, and that always makes for incredible tension. Plus the spiritual element was tightly woven into the story's theme and into characters' lives.

I love how people actually changed in the story because they were around Dominique. She was like a light in the house full of nothing by heartache and pain, which is what Christians are called to be--light. This aspect of the story was done amazingly well. The romantic tension rocked as did the kissing scenes! That's often my favorite part of Tyndall's novels. She does a great job of pairing up two very unlikely people with intense conflict between them, which makes for some serious electricity. I dare say the pages of this novel smoked with constrained passion and deep affection. I loved how the Admiral's heart began to thaw and how his son played a key role in the entire story. As usual, this was well done! I've never read a Tyndall novel I haven't thoroughly enjoyed!

The Falcon and the Sparrow was published by Barbour and released in Aug 2008.