Title: Sparrow & Hawke Series: Birdsong Trilogy #1 Author: Nina Lane Genre: Forbidden Romance Release Date: February 22, 2022
BLURB
Darius: My attraction to her is wrong. I’m like the serpent in the Garden of Eden targeting Eve. Corrupting her.
I
understand the serpent, though. When you’ve seen the worst of humanity,
taken the brunt of evil, you crave purity and goodness. You want
compassion and courage, even when it comes in a girl far too young and
innocent for the likes of you.
Nell: He says I’m too young and he’s too experienced. He thinks I’m pure and he’s ruined. He swears I don’t know enough and he knows too much. He walks away because I’m fragile and he’s broken.
I want him, even though he can’t want me... But he does.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
The bathroom door clicks open. With a start, I turn. He’s
paused in the doorway, wearing a pair of loose flannel pants and white
T-shirt that clings to his shower-damp torso. A towel is looped around
the back of his neck, and his hair is so wet it glistens. My
gaze locks on his chest, the landscape of hard slopes and ridges
visible through the thin cotton. Water drips from his hair to his throat
and cascades downward in little waterfalls. I have a sudden urge to
become one of those droplets, winding my way over his body. A hot glow fires in a deep, secret part of myself. Tightening my grip on my bag, I indicate the stairs. “I’ll…um, wait in the kitchen.” “I’ll just be a few minutes.” I hurry downstairs. My nerves are like little electrical wires. Part of me is aware that this new level of noticing Darius isn’t right. But why does it feel so…momentous? I
imagine this is what a bird feels like right before flying for the
first time—nervous, excited, and trembling in anticipation of the wild,
exhilarating leap into the sky.
COMING SOON
AUTHOR BIO
Though
she was born and raised in California, Nina Lane now lives in Wisconsin
where the winters are freezing and the cheese is exceptional. Mom to
two teenagers and a neurotic dog, she lives in two worlds—one world of
laundry, driving, horses, Girl Scouts, and football, and the other of
epic romances between hot alpha heroes and the women who bring them to
their knees. Nina only cooks when she can’t avoid it (i.e., there are no
frozen pizzas left), binge-watches serial TV whenever she can get
control of the remote, and checks in about the weather daily with her
meteorologist husband. She’s a fan of popcorn, actual print magazines,
French Roast coffee, working out, and trying new things...especially if
it’s food.
AUTHOR LINKS
  Nina Lane never ceases to amaze me with
her remarkable and memorable love stories. Time and time again, her eloquently
written tales touch the very heart of me. I'm always excited to jump into one
of Lane's romances, where I can get lost within the descriptive worlds she
creates, and I was thrilled to hear that there was a new release underway.
Sparrow & Hawke, book one in the
Birdsong Trilogy, was an incredible story. However, this series presented a
challenge for me as a reader and long-time fan of Nina's work. Large age-gap
romances are not my preference and something I usually avoid. So naturally, I
was uncertain if this novel would be to my liking, being there were twenty
years between the two main characters. Placing a lot of trust in Lane's hands,
I dove into this novel, hoping that I would and could appreciate Darius and
Nell's journey. In the end, I was overcome with joy that I took this leap of
faith. Emotionally gripping and angst-filled, I relished every moment of this
read, as it was an excellent start to what will be a great series.
Firstly, I like to say that this is a
forbidden romance that fans of the taboo genre will definitely love. Not only
is our hero, Darius, considerably older than Nell, he is also her father's best
friend and her late mother's step-brother. Secondly, and most importantly to
me, this installment is a slow burn. Nell and Darius have plenty of passion,
but here we see the dynamics of their relationship blossom into something new.
I loved seeing that their sizzling chemistry was emotionally driven rather than
overly physical.
Throughout this read, Nell Fairchild
struggled significantly to discover herself. She was an introverted and
troubled teenager purposefully sheltered from the outside world by her
worrisome father, Henry. As a child, Nell was subjected to her mother's unbalanced
and irrational behavior. The instability she experienced throughout her younger
years, along with her mother's subsequent death, had a detrimental effect on
Nell, scarring her emotionally. Because of these circumstances, she lived in
isolation but grew and changed since Darius's reappearance into her life. I
loved seeing how her relationship with Darius was the catalyst to Nell's
transformation into a strong-willed, intelligent and mature woman. Her
character embodied a tremendous amount of strength and beauty.
Darius Hawke was a complicated and flawed hero
who quickly earned my affections. A sexy field photographer turned high school
teacher with a traumatic past, he was dark, broody, and reserved while hiding a
multitude of secrets waiting to be unraveled. Darius was so shattered and
overly distraught that I wanted to soothe and mend his ravaged spirit. Not
giving away too much about the hell he had endured, Darius had many challenges
of his own to overcome. And much to his surprise and against his better
judgment, it is Nell who gives him the strength to persevere.
Five plus stars for Nina Lane's Sparrow
& Hawke! The first in the Birdsong series, where we witness the beginnings
of a beautiful relationship and this couple's strong connection. A poignant and
riveting tale of two broken survivors haunted by demons from their past, and
there are so many challenges they have yet to overcome as their journey
continues in Feather & Flame.
Advance copy of this publication received from the author in exchange for an honest review
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