The Bookshelf: The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne

This week I'm featuring Joanna Bourne's new release, The Black Hawk. For those of you who are familiar with this series, this book is about Adrian Hawker.  In Joanna's words: "This book is about hard times and staying true to your ideas, hanging on and hoping and the triumph of love in the end. So even though the book takes place long ago and far away, it speak to what is going on right now." Wow, doesn't it sound like a terrific read!

Here are two reviews that Joanna sent me which will tell you more about the characters and the plot.

Black Hawk is a starred review at Publishers Weekly:

Bourne mixes heart-pounding mystery and romance in her spellbinding fourth Spymaster historical romantic thriller (after 2010’s The Forbidden Rose). From childhood, Adrian Hawker spied on France for England while Justine DeCabrillac gathered intelligence for the Police Sècrete. They were teens when they met in Paris in 1794, and as they grew up, their paths crossed often in a changing world. Sometimes they were on the same side, and sometimes they were opposed, but it was inevitable that they fall bittersweetly in love, knowing that any minute duty could take precedence over passion. Their tempestuous love affair unfolds in flashbacks, alternating with scenes from 1818 London, where somebody tries to kill Justine and frame Hawker, now head of the British Intelligence Service with as many enemies in England as in France. Just the right amount of intrigue makes this vivid romance a gripping page-turner.

Library Journal says

Attacked and badly wounded by an assassin's blade, former French spy Justine DeCabrillac ("Owl") struggles through the rain to the home of the only man she can depend on to save her, English agent Adrian Hawkhurst, her longtime adversary—and unforgettable lover. But Justine is not the only one in danger; the killer is out to bring down Hawk as well. And it will take all of their finely honed skills and wary, hard-won trust to unearth—and destroy—the elusive, brutal villain. Vivid, illuminating flashbacks fill in the missing years of our protagonists' bond, developing the passionate, deeply conflicted relationship between Justine and Hawk with unparalleled insight and craft. VERDICT Beautifully flawed, intensely human characters, a deadly puzzle, and a love that survives incredible odds combine to make this another emotionally riveting page-turner from Bourne (The Forbidden Rose), whose novels always deliver. Fans of historical romance will be all over this one.

The Black Hawk goes on sale today!  I also recommend The Forbidden Rose, the story where Adrian and Justine meet.  And The Spymaster's Lady is one of my all-time favorites.  You can visit Joanna at her website: http://www.joannabourne.com/