The Falcon and the Flower [Mass Market Paperback]

Virginia Henley (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Dell (1989)
• ASIN: B001J6X13M
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,250,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times best-seller Virginia Henley is the author of 26 lush and lusty historical romances and 5 short stories. Her books are published in 16 languages around the world. She is the recipient of a dozen awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times, A Maggie Award for Excellence from the Georgia Romance Writers, and a Waldenbook Award for top-selling long historical for 1994.

The St. Petersburg Times calls Henley "The Queen of Steamy Romance."

Kathe Robin, RT Book Reviews says: "Henley's gift for bringing remarkable women to life in colorful, turbulent times is what turns her romances into keepers. Henley heats up the pages with her love scenes, and her skill at portraying actual historical personages with humanity while maintaining historical accuracy wins our minds. Henley knows what historical romance is all about and always gives the readers what they want."

Henley says: "My hero is always dark, dominant and dangerous. Then I create a woman who is a match for him...or more than a match!
Men come up to me at conferences and thank me for writing my books. One man said, "I don't read them, but I always know when my wife is reading a Henley!"

My next book The Dark Earl goes on sale September 6 and is the third in the series following The Decadent Duke, and The Irish Duke.

I have just turned two of my backlist books into Kindle ebooks. Wild Hearts and Bold Conquest are historical romances. My novella Hot As Fire, also available on Kindle, is my only contemporary. I have a short story up on Kindle called Letter of Love that is FREE.

Next month I will be offering a new ebook that is a Southern family saga.
MASTER OF PARADISE tells the story of Nicholas Peacock who is disinherited of his title and wealth in England. He sails to Charleston, South Carolina, and starts a cotton plantation just before the Civil War disrupts everyone's life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More like 4 1/2..., August 12, 2001

By 

Abbys (Moreno Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Falcon and the Flower (Paperback)

This is my second book of Virgnia Henley and once again, I was entertained and is impressed by her style. I am almost finished with The Dragon and The Jewel, the 2nd book of this PLANTAGENET TRILOGY. The last book is THE MARRIAGE PRIZE. Basing it on her books that I've read, Virginia Henley really knows her plot. She corporates history with romance in the most factual way. She is straight forward and doesn't use a lot flowery words even in the hero/heroine's story. I do enjoy flowery words from time to time but on this occasion, Her style was a welcome change to me that I didn't mind it at all.

The Falcon and the Flower affected me in the most bizarre ways. No doubt, I enjoyed this book. I find the PLANTAGENET interesting so the added history in this book thoroughly pulled me in. I love Falcon and Jasmine love story as well... but then I also felt guilty enjoying their story to the fullest because I don't like men hitting their wives. I feel if they did it once, they will do it again... and indeed, even towards the end of this book, Falcon did hit her again. ugh. Perhaps that is why I rated this book a four stars (4 1/2 if I could). That could have been omitted to proved he changed... I wanted to not like this book mainly for that reason but shamefully, i find my heart in spastic mode cuz I can see how much Falcon was drawn to Jasmine. He was VERY MUCH in love with her. It was a love at first sight. Jasmine didn't have a Title nor lands to offer, she wasn't trained to be a chatelain or a wife nor can she supposedly bore him sons or children... meanwhile, Falcon De Burgh could choose any bride he wants. There were many beautiful heiress who were fully trained to be chatelain and a submissive wife. There were many who could bring advantage to him but he chose Jasmine. Without Falcon realizing it, that alone says it all. Most of the books I've read have marriages cuz of convenience or with an advantage. However, Falcon's offer of marriage to Jasmine have no advantage to either of them. Love wasn't confessed in the beginning either so naturally it was confusing for both party, most especially for Jasmine who have ambition of her own to achieve. She feels that Falcon is ruining her life by marriage. I know a lot of reviewers here don't like Jasmine and I admit, I didn't particularly liked her in the beginning but this is also where I saw Ms. Henley's impressive talent. She wasn't afraid to put a flaw on her hero and heroine. Both Falcon and Jasmine have flaws of their own, which eventually made me liked them and admire them. Jasmine is also very young, only 18. She acted her age which is more realistic. I've read books where the heroine is only 18 or younger yet acted so maturely that it becomes too good to be true. Not Jasmine...Besides her beauty and her white magics, she WAS totally spoiled and useless as a wife! She likes nice clothes, to look her best and wants to be a Lady-in-Waiting for the Queen. She has her own plans and she's also living in a fantasy world, but mainly because of her grandmother ways of bringing her up. In the end, you will see her trying to be USEFUL, so to speak. That's when she becomes more lovable in my eyes.

Another part which actually amuses me more than anything is Falcon's lusty appetite towards Jasmine. Testosterone Machine, Indeed! I know others are annoyed by this but not me. I enjoyed the idea of Falcon's strong desire for his wife, and I mean strong! To top it all, Jasmine is PRUDE and won't have anything of that! Perhaps it's the challenge and the anticipation that makes Falcon even more lustful for his wife. I tell you, I've never read such a book. Most of my books have mutual desire and enjoyment when it comes to their lovemaking. Once again, Ms. Henley proves her unique ideas and implemented it well. I don't know if I should envy Jasmine or feel sore for her... oh I mean, SORRY for her. lol.

My sister suggested this trilogy to me. I didn't check the rating before reading it which I am glad I didn't, I might have been discourage and would have missed a good novel. I was surprise the overall rating of this book is only 3 1/2. In my opinion, THE FALCON AND THE FLOWER is full of NEW concepts and representation for me. It is a unique read and I totally enjoyed it.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.75 stars, June 1, 2000

By 

Tina "tinaellorascave" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Falcon and the Flower (Paperback)

As is usually the case with Henley, I found this book to be compelling and intriguing. This author has a real talent for reeling me in and keeping my attention. However, as is the case with "Enticed", I don't think her publishers did her any favors by reprinting this 1989 novel. The heroines in her earlier books are typically willfull, spoiled little brats you can't stand reading about.

The heroine of "The Falcon and the Flower" downright got on my nerves for over 2/3 of this book...no, more like 4/5 of this book. I think Ms. Virginia was trying to make her seem feisty, but she came off vastly different. She was an icy, mean, spoiled little girl I couldn't stand.

The heroine got on my nerves so bad that at one point I was actually routing for the hero's ex-mistress to win him back. I have never wished that on any other heroine I've read to date...that's tantamount to watching "Jaws" and routing for the shark.

Another thing that disturbed me about this book was that there were a couple of scenes in which the hero slapped the heroine. Unfortunately, I disliked her so much that I didn't care...then I felt guilty about that since I consider myself a feminist and abhor violence against women!

If you are a major Henley fan, you will probably enjoy this book at least somewhat. The book, with all its faults, was still quite engaging. As long as you go into this knowing what to expect, it probably won't be so bad. And as your reading, don't be surprised if you hear the theme song to "Jaws" playing in the background of your mind...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but a bit aggravating, February 27, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Falcon and the Flower (Paperback)

I have read several Henley books. I loved The Marriage Prize. As with that book, this one contained wonderful, fascinating historical facts and a story that I couldn't put down. My only complaint was that Jasmine was so unlikeable. As another reviewer said, she was a spoiled brat and I had very little sympathy for her. If you can put up with a herione like that, the book was well-written and the story comes to a satisfying ending.