Customer Reviews

The Hawk and the Dove

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book was a perfect change from the books I read before. I adored the characters of the book especially the heroine for her scheme to become her husband's mistress.This book was the first story I read for Virginia Henley,after it I couldn't stop reading for her.THANK YOU Virginia VERY MUCH.

I read an excerpt of this book in Joanne Redd's Chasing a Dream. I was young, impressionable and eager to see what happened to the promising heroine Sara Bishop (Sabre Wilde). It was a fast-paced read, but rather disjointed. Everything the heroine did seemed to be due to her desire to prove what a colossal brat she was, and the hero was worse! Henley, like almost all historical authors who have tried to tackle the personality of Elizabeth I, made her out to be a vain and vituperative woman. At least the historical innaccuracies were not as glaring in this book as they were in her others.

I have read all of Virginia Henley's books and this is near the top of my favorites list. She has her hero chase the female lead in this book. Shane pursues Sabre with a venom. Little does he know, Sabre has their relationship all purposely planned out from the very beginning. I love books where the male lead is desperately in love with the heroine and her feelings are not entirely mutual....yet. If you like Elizabethian era historical romances you'll love this one.

READ THE ABOVE AMAZON EDITORIAL REVIEWS FOR BOOK SYNOPSIS:

My OPINION: I find this book terribly inadequate. I have read and enjoyed quite a few of Virginia Henleys work but I am sad to admit, this most certainly is not one of them.

The back book description drawned me to buy this one. Since I am fond of Ms. Henley, I didn't bother checking the Amazon book reviews either. Now, however, I wish I had... The beginning of this story was truly interesting and pulling. But as soon as our heroine, Sara, went to London to enforce her "revenge" plot to her unseen husband, Shane... that's when everything sorta went downhill. It should have been more exciting as I expected it to be but unfortunately, it didn't feel that way to me. There was something missing that I can't quite put together. Then, in the end, I was simply not satisfied. The "hearty feeling" wasn't there. I also had many questions that's left unanswered, like for instance, what happened to Queen Elizabeth's fury towards Sara and Shane? Seems that part was just forgotten. Perhaps they were both forgiven. Just like that, huh? What about the attack to Spain? How did that go? What happend to the Baron? Did he end up with Giorgianna? Perhaps I just missed these parts when I was skipping pages. Well, that fact alone, that I was skipping pages intentionally pretty much says it all about this book. I am sorry, I do love Ms. Henley's style of writing but her talent just wasn't "IN" this particular book. Mayhap this is one of her earlier works. Hawk and the Dove is a foil compared to "A YEAR AND A DAY" & "THE PLANTAGENET TRILOGY". I sure love all 4 books and recommend it!

As for the characters, well... I did like Sara in the beginning but I'll admit, I was turned off the moment she decided to "barrow" (without permission, mind you) the Queens sapphire necklace. That alone shows how ambitious and materialistic she is. I don't mind ambitious heroine but I prefer it in a practical and in an average flight not over-flown like this one. To actually go to the extent of "barrowing-without-permission", to risk such danger just to show off in a party? Hmm, not my kind of heroine. However, I decided not to judge her and tried to shove that thought aside. I tried to understand Sara by remembering her childhood, give excuses for her so that I can just continue reading this book! Eventually, I sorta accepted her character. That is how she is portrayed and so be it. Our hero, Shane, The Sea God, on the other hand is.... Hmmm, I can't even find a proper description to fit him! (shows how I am interested by his character, huh?). Well, let's see... Handsome, Intelligent, Rakish, Rich (the usual character for a hero, I guess). He also gives Sabre (Sara) everything! I mean, EVERYTHING! Tolerates her ways all the time. Except for when jealousy kicks in, of course. If not for the desire and sexual tension, I'd say Shane's like a father to Sara. He treated her more like a child. A spoiled one, at that. Again, not my kind of hero. Another thing that also bothered me about Shane is he never asked questions about Sabre/Sara past or family. Seems like he wasn't interested about her past life, childhood, where she came from for that matter. Seemed like he is in love with her the moment he saw her beautiful FACE and her luscious BODY. He wants her and that's that! I don't think he really knows anything else about Sara. So where and how did love weaved in? No relationship development at all. Again, not my kind of love-romance.

The reason why I haven't rated this book a 1 star after all my negative comments above is simply because of the unique plot. It really does have potential and like I said, I did enjoy the first part. It also made me want to look into Queen Elizabeth I. Despite my skipping pages towards the end, I did finished this book and for me, that counts... that matters. However, If you are a first time Virginia Henley reader, please, I beg you not to start with this one! Of course, that is only my opinion.

MINI-REVIEW. The Hawk and the Dove is, in my opinion, one of the most tautly written, emotionally satisfying, outrageously entertaining romances in Henley's large canon. If you fall into Henley Camp #2 (see below), you will absolutely revel in the book's many delights.

THE HENLEY PRIMER. First things first. Read the Henley Primer in the Comment I've added to the bottom of this review (to avoid taking up space). If you fall into Camp #1, there's a good chance The Hawk and the Dove will ruffle your feathers ...and not in a good way. But if you fall into the second group...get ready for one of the juiciest historical romances in print.

PLOT. Sara Bishop is a minister's stepdaughter in Elizabethan England. But proper and pious this redhead isn't! When wealthy nobleman Shane Hawkhurst marries her via a third party proxy just to get her land, Sara (calling herself Sabre Wilde) goes to Queen Elizabeth I's court to get her revenge. In a plot echoing Shakespeare's comedies, Sara makes it her mission to become the mistress of her own, unknowing husband...all while undercover as Sabre!

HERO and HEROINE. I have little doubt that if you fall into Henley Camp 2 you will be cheering on the indomitable Sabre Wilde, a truly memorable character who is not run-of-the-mill feisty but is genuinely, deliciously outrageous!

Henley is an expert at getting readers to empathize with and warm to even the most no-holds-barred, sweepingly self-confident heroines and heroes. In Hawk and the Dove, she draws us into Sabre's character on page ONE, immediately showing, not telling, how the eye-catching and witty Sabre is disfavored by her jealous, spiteful half-sisters and thunderous preacher stepfather. It's a device as old as the Brothers Grimm--but, hey, it works just as well for Henley as it has for them. You might be made of stone if you don't absolutely fall down with glee over Sabre's "farewell" scene to her hateful family.

Sabre's character only gets better as we learn of the vulnerability she feels over her position in the family. Throughout the book, she is self-confident and aware of her attractions while always being warm, generous-hearted, and bubbling with wicked good humor and schemes. Some reviewers have called her "selfish" and materialistic. Most of Henley's heroines go after what they want with a vengeance--and I love that about them; no simpering misses here! But, she is usually careful to temper her characterization with vulnerability and generosity, as she does here with Sabre.

One reviewer complained that Sabre borrowed the Queen's jewelry without permission. Personally, I loved the fact that she has the gumption to do this, given the abusive treatment the ladies in waiting are forced to endure. I also love this glimpse into the behind-the-scenes world of being lady in waiting to a demanding queen (reminds me of the movie Gosford Park, where we go deep into the lives of the servants). The ongoing rivalry between the Queen and Sabre is a ton of fun and extremely compelling, as well.

The hero, Shane Hawkhurst, is the Queen's favorite nobleman, the captain of his own ship, and undercover spy for the Crown, and S-E-X-Y. Readers will share Sabre's outrage over his highhanded marrying of a young woman just to get her land, without even doing her the courtesy of meeting her in person. But Henley, in her skill, spends the rest of the book building up our regard for this powerful Alpha male who meets his match in Sabre Wilde, and by the middle of the novel, when he loses his heart to the woman he does not know is his own wife, you'll love him.

PACE. Henley walks a fine line with this book between depth of historical detail/relationship development and swift pace. She succeeds. I would say this is the quickest-moving of her classic "heavy historical" works. Not a lot of battles are gone into in detail and most of the history comes in the form of the royal court of Queen Elizabeth I. The whole thing plays out like a witty Shakespearean farce.

HISTORICAL SETTING. You'll enjoy how Henley presents the Virgin Queen's court and the queen herself, who's a real hoot--both intimidating and imperious and hilariously eccentric. (For a more empathetic portrait of Her Majesty, see Henley's novel A Woman of Passion). There's a very exciting and daring rescue from the Tower of London towards the end of the book, and you'll LOVE the "role" that Sabre plays in it!

RELATIONSHIP DEVLEOPMENT. You will believe in this couple's love for each other. Henley takes pains to show us that, although Shane's attraction to Sabre is originally purely sexual in nature, he gains respect for her quick wit, her courage, her generosity, and her all-encompassing love of life. It is one of the best examples of "hate and love are two sides of the same coin" romance I've yet read. At times, you will swear they hate each other more than they love each other. But one thing they never are is indifferent to each other. And in the end, you realize they are each other's perfect match, each other's "twin" of the soul.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE (!!!Spoilers!!!!) This book would be absolutely perfect if it weren't for the rape scene. The interesting thing about Henley's rape scenes is that many of them are riddled with extenuating circumstances (i.e. the hero has to consummate a marriage to save the heroine's life) that make it easier for the reader to get past the hero's actions. I would say this one in the Hawk and the Dove is a straight-up rape scene that has NO such extenuating circumstances. Hawk mistakes Sabre for a "trollop" and forces himself on her in anger. It's a clear moment of misogyny (a woman being considered worthless if she has been sexually "despoiled"). The thing that might make it bearable for some readers is that he immediately sees the horror of his assault and withdraws, identifies what he did as "rape," and admits that men should never take women in anger, as he did. Although this of course does NOT excuse his assault, Sabre later has the satisfaction of getting sweet revenge on Hawk (she even cracks a whip on him).

CHEATING: The hero has mistresses, but only BEFORE he gets together with Sabre, not after. Sabre does not stray. Now, some people might be angered that Shane BELIEVES he is cheating with Sabre (who is secretly his real wife). I can understand why this might bother you, but to be honest, I appreciate the fact that a nobleman in the 16th century would never be expected to even pay lip service to fidelity to a wife he's never even met and whom he married by proxy for her land. There are some interesting bits later in their relationship when Sabre, troubled by this very fact, urges him to meet and stay by the side of his wife, and even chastises him for keeping Sabre as a mistress! Interesting psychological material here, IMO.

PROFANITY: As usual with Henley, there's a lot of spicy language.

NEGATIVES. Henley's usual weaknesses are one-dimensional villains, and we see a bit of that here, with the man who betrays Shane. Again, the assault above is regrettable in a romance novel.

TWO WORDS
Sabre: Outrageous and Always-Game
Shane/Hawk: Cocky and Bold

VERDICT: This book, like the other "best of Henley" works, will get your blood up and keep it up. Like all Henley works, it is not for the faint of the heart, and demands a reader eager to be taken over the top and into the realm of the earthy, the outrageous, and the hardly-to-be-believed.

I admired Sabre Wilde's spunkiness and daring. She turned out pretty well, considering her annoyingly snobby sisters.

I was laughing at the plot. Imagine that, a man cheating on his wife with...his wife! I loved the way Sabre kept mentioning that she wanted to be married to Hawk.

Endearing story, this one is a keeper.

This book will keep you turning the pages even when you should be doing the dishes! Virginia Henley's ability to create unforgettable characters is one of a kind. This book will not only make you hot for your husband again, but it will also give you a wonderful idea of what it was actually like living in Queen Elizabeth's Court. Only Virginia Henley can make me visualize everything I am reading with such detail; I can even smell the food on the table and feel the beautifully described materials of Sara's wardrobe on my skin. I recommend every one of Ms. Henely's books. If you like to read Historical Romance, you will be hooked on Henely!

I have read almost all of Henley's works, and have loved almost all of them(with the exception of Falcon and The Flower).

I think the thing I like best about Henley's books are the heroines. They are strong willed and they know how to stand up to their men. I hate stories where the men treat the heroines to verbal abuse, rape and other various cruelties and they just take it all the way up until the end. Virginia Henley's heroines do not tolerate this treatment for a second. I loved reading about the clash of wills between the hero and heroine in this story and Sabre(the heroine) does some of the most outrageous things that will have you laughing out loud.

If you are a Henley fan, don't skip this one.

Luv it, Virginia Henly's ability to create un-forgetable characters is amazing. With this book you'll find yourself sharing the emotions, and forgetting to sleep.

Married by proxy, and abandoned, Sara Bishop is determined to wreak revenge.As flame-haired, emerald eyed Sabre Wilde, she would scandalize Queen Elizabeth's court as she sets out to seduce her unknown husband, become his mistress and make him her slave. But will her plan backfire and leave her hopelessly in love with him?

I was disgusted when I read this book. Most of it would have been okay if the "Sea God" hadn't raped Sabre. It was completely unforgivable, but of course she ends up in love with him. Sabre is not the kind of woman who would let a man get away with that or fall in love with him after raping her. She is too proud and self-respecting.