Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: The Falconer’s Lure
SERIES: Ren Faire Romances #4
AUTHOR: A.J. Marcus
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 204 pages
BLURB:
Watching birds of prey soar gives Garret Nicholson a sense of peace. It’s exactly what he needs after his recent break-up. His ex never understood Garret’s work with the raptors, but the birds have been part of his life for years. Garret spends his time between The Sky’s the Limit Raptor Rehab Center and his dad’s falconry show at the Hawkwood Fantasy Faire, trying to prove to himself and his father he has what it takes to be a great falconer.
Trevor DePalma is in awe, but he isn’t sure whether the man or the falcons fascinate him more. Watching the birds perform at the Faire gives Trevor the first taste of joy he’s had since his father threw him out two years ago. Bonding with Garret over their mutual love of birds, Trevor eagerly learns all he can, and Garret proves a willing teacher. But as feelings grow, Trevor worries how Garret will react when he learns Trevor is homeless.
Life on the street is growing more dangerous for Trevor and his friends. Garret offers him safe space to find his feet. As the world crashes around them, Garret and Trevor will need each other’s support in ways they’ve never imagined.
REVIEW:
After working the Ren Faire circuit for most of his life, Garret knows where he belongs–with his birds. And if the only people who understand this are people like him, then so be it. He has found a careful peace beneath those sharp talons and clever eyes. He can’t imagine any other life than helping heal the birds–and teaching the public how to be more careful of them. So when is latest boyfriend doesn’t seem to get it, Garret and him cut ties and go their own ways.
Trevor knows what it is like to be shot down and stranded down on earth. After his parents kicked him out several years ago, he has been living on the streets–or in the woods near the Ren Faire campground–with his two best friends. Never has he been more hungry, more tired, or just lost, than when the Ren Faire comes back into town. Looking for a way to scrounge up their next meal–or maybe just plain looking for a distraction from it all–Trevor and his two friends sneak into the fair. He didn’t know that once he caught sight of the falcons–and the man that held them–that he was well and truly caught. He can’t find it in him to mind though.
The Falconer’s Lure, while the fourth book in this series, can actually be read as a standalone. Which is good, since I haven’t read the others (though I’m probably going to end up reading them now). I don’t normally pick up books so far into a series without having read the previous ones, but, well, I couldn’t deny that the blurb just made it all sound so fascinating. Maybe it is the fantasy geek in me, but the idea of falconry is pretty cool. Harnessing all that killing power, directing it…and at times paying for it in your own blood. Yep, definitely cool. Plus, I love watching characters pull themselves out of rock bottom, and Trevor is, if not intimate friends with rock bottom, definitely a nodding acquaintance.
This book is packed full of falconry, and the where’s and why’s and how-to’s behind it. It was well written enough that I didn’t feel like I just got strapped into a lecture seat (cause heaven knows those are never comfortable) to be droned at for hours on end, but also did teach me about those birds. I’m never opposed to learning something from my books, and doubly pleased when the learning isn’t boring me to tears.
I also like it when characters communicate and don’t just blindly flail themselves into a Big Misunderstanding. And while this book definitely had all the ingredients to walk into the trap (may have mixed my metaphors a bit there), it very nicely dodged it. The guys talk, and listen, and actually don’t just run off half-cocked and ready to ruin everything with just one careless word. It was a bit refreshing to be honest. I kept expecting them to fall, to fail, but every time it came around, they dodged the bullet.
Mostly my one issue with this book is that the relationship felt a little…surface-y. Maybe not to them, but as a reader, I wasn’t really feeling it most of the time. I liked the mechanics of it, but there was just something lacking in the chemistry department. Maybe if it had a bit of a build up between first meeting and surprise shower-time handjobs, I would have felt it more, but as it was I never quite got them. One paper they are great for each other. They do all the right things, say all the right things, help each other in all the right places…but there was a certain something lacking between the pages and my imagination. It didn’t really ruin the reading experience, but I spent a lot of time hoping for something that never fully materialized.
A somewhat tepid romance aside, I did really enjoy this book. I found the circumstances intriguing, and all the characters were a lot of fun. We get hints of events that have taken place in other books (I assume, since they feel like they have deeper stories tied to them, even if we don’t get to see them in this book) but I never felt left out of this story in order to go chase another story. I will probably be picking up the other books, but I liked that it stayed mostly focused on Trevor and Garret. Overall, this was a fascinating world, and I think I wouldn’t mind going back and checking it out again.
RATING: 
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