A Falcon’s Heart – Jayel Wylie

Another book that has been gathering dust in the TBR pile for quite a while. I can’t even remember who recommend it to me but it doesn’t take much for me to put a medieval on my wish list. It was an interesting read, I liked the writing style but the story was really nothing new and I actually didn’t like the paranormal elements.

William of Brinlaw's demands that Henry II restore his birthright fall on deaf ears -- until the mysterious death of Brinlaw's current lord. Eager to maintain his hard-won peace, the new king deeds the estate to William, provided he marries his enemy's daughter. Bearing a false proclamation that their union was her father's last wish, William journeys home, where he is unexpectedly bewitched by his bride. Lady Alista stuns him with her trust and burns him with the fire of her kiss. And though he knows she will soon despise him, he weds and beds her before she can learn the truth.
Grief-stricken, Alista opens her heart to Will only to see their future threatened by treachery and the unnatural call of a heritage she can neither understand nor deny. Haunted by visions, she is drawn to the ruins of Falconskeep, where the women of her bloodline find their destiny. It is there Will must go to save her -- if he can find the faith to battle a force that defies a warrior's sword yet may yield to the power of love.

Alista and Will marry by king Henry’s command after her father is found dead and the king needs someone to secure the castle for him. Without Alista knowing Will and her father had been involved in a dispute about who was the rightful owner of the castle. She ends up marrying him and trusting him before one of her father’s servants and the king’s cousin come back to tell her that Will might have been responsible for her father’s murder.

I was a bit annoyed that she was so quick in changing sides. First she is distrustful of Will but she decides to marry him and love him, then she hears these men and she decides he is guilty… Another problem for me was that there were a lot of unexplained situations. We never discover what killed her father, why was she being raised like a boy, what was the thing lurking in the well… the paranormal elements seemed out of place and unbelievable and we are only fed tidbits of the legend supposedly justifying them. And how can we have a Franciscan monk 100 years before the order was created?

Despite that I did like the writing style. If she had written a medieval with any paranormal elements I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more even with the other flaws I mentioned.

One thing I would love to see authors writing about is medieval settings other than England. I like them but 99% of the romance novels written take place in England… It would be great to have some variety.

Grade: C+