cover image The Falcon Prince

The Falcon Prince

Karen Kelley, Brava, $14 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-7582-3838-2

This occasionally cartoonish sequel to The Jaguar Prince somehow manages to be as charming as it is absurd. When Rianna Lancaster sees a naked man materialize out of a fog, she sensibly ignores his claims of being a prince come to take her home to the planet of New Symtaria, sprays him with Mace, and calls 911. But everyone in the very small town of Miller Bend, Tex., already thinks Ria is crazy, so the sheriff tells her to see a shrink, and her parents rent out her old bedroom to the wealthy, handsome "foreigner." Prince Kristor's overbearing, aggressive attitude puts Ria off, but he has plenty of animal magnetism, and it doesn't take long before the two are enjoying celestial sex. Even skeptical readers will be won over by the sweetly earnest characters and their hilarious reactions to their bizarre situation. (Aug.)