Rate this book

Blackhawk (2011)

by Joanna Bourne(Favorite Author)

4.17 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Berkeley Sensation

series

Spymaster

review 1: Taken alone, the pacing of this book is a little off. The mystery of who is killing former French spies and trying to frame Hawker is not quite enough of a focus. The backstory is the most important part and feels a bit excessive.But taken as the fourth in the series, having just reread the whole series in chronological order and watched Adrian and Justine grow up, it is remarkable. All the way through, I've been paying attention to Pax, though he has a much smaller role, because his book is finally out next month.
review 2: This series came to my attention because one of my favorite authors cites this series as one of her favorites. So, you can imagine how excited I was to win this book through a goodreads giveaway. SUPER excited!! Ecstatic really!!That being ... moresaid, I decided to read the entire series. Since this is the 4th book in the series, it only made sense to start at the beginning, and I'm glad that I did. This book would have FAR less appeal to anyone trying to read it as a stand alone book. It wouldn't make near as much sense or be nearly as sweet. Hawker, the hero, has been the comic relief and really the heart of the series since the beginning and we've watched him grow from a child to a man over the previous 3 books. The heroine, Justine, likewise was in the first book and is alluded to in later books as being the French woman he loves. They really are a great couple and you really need to have read the previous books to fully appreciate all that they go through. I loved getting both of their points of view and really seeing the 20+ years of their relationship grow. It was a very fulfilling read and, for me, capped off the series beautifully.Is the book perfect? No. It is told largely in flashbacks, with dips back into the primary timeline. And, a good 12 years of their history is sort of glossed over in one paragraph and side comments in later dialog. While, unlike with the previous books, the author does supply dates for these jumps (THANK YOU!), the reader was left trying to remember who and what was going on in this book, in this timeline, and how it fit in with the same events in the previous books. However, unlike in previous books, there is no real imbalance of power between the hero and heroine. They both function independently and neither one seems to be too stupid to live. It is by far the strongest and best story of the series, with a good balance of humor, mystery, romance, and adventure. Overall, I quite liked this book. The entire series has given me a soft spot for Hawker and I loved seeing him get his happily ever after. I would happily recommend this book, and the entire series, to anyone interested in English/French politics (particularly Post French Revolution), spy novels, and those who want more than a traditional run of the mill romance. less

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