Customer Reviews

Angel

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3 star:		(1)
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The book "Angel" presents itself as a romance, yet the courageous Angel character in the book extracts different attention. I enjoyed this book because I feel it delightful to grip my hands on a book that focuses not only on romance, but invites action and insecurity, as if the characters were here in real life. I recommend this book to any person who enjoys reading books with a slight mid-evil day flare and love for a taste of adventure.

Lady Evangelina was lovely, the daughter of a marquis, and the reigning beauty of the London season. Of course she was deluged with marriage offers...but how could she ever be sure that her suiters were sincere?

Determined to find a husband who would love her for herself, Angel decides to pose as her Uncle's poor relation on her Lake Country Holiday. Impetuous and never at a loss for a scheme, the irrepressible beauty soon found herself playing matchmaker as well, seeking mates for her bluestocking Cousin Catherine and shy Lady Elizabeth Markham. But Angel had no way of knowing that there was more than one disguised aristocrat in the neighborhood that summer-and what a very permanent effect he would have on her heart.

Evangelina Brenthaven, (Angel) wealthy and beautiful is swarmed by too many men with marriage proposals. From fortune hunters to old friends, after 18 proposals and no true love, she has had it! She decides to spend a few weeks with her aunt, uncle and cousin in the country. Her uncle is a vicar and will be "trading spaces" for a short time in another parish where they are unknown. Angel will go disguised as a poor, drab sort of relation. We meet the vicar, his wife and daughter Catherine. Then we meet Sir Gregory, Lady Elizabeth, nephew and daughter to the reigning gentry in the area Lord Grisdale. Also in the mix is Lord Welch who is vying for the hand of Lady Elizabeth. We later find out she is in love with a nearby reverend named Gerald Leigh and staying with him is the mysterious Don Marshall. There are assorted companions, servants, and other local people to deal with. TOO MANY! The story became convoluted and lost among all these characters! The mysterious Don Marshall turns out to be Lady Elizabeth's brother Lord Dominic. Lord Dominic who became a soldier against his father's wishes has been disinherited. Now he has returned from war wounded and battle-scarred. Of course in this mix are several romances and attempts at Dom's life. I liked that Angel tries to match make couples - all wrongly of course!

Angel and Dom are the "lead" romance but I didn't find much spark between them. Oh yes, during one of the attempts on his life she stays near his bedside but I did not feel her emotions even then. And the other romances are just too involved to go through. Frankly, everything just became tedious in this book.

Other Carola Dunn regencies are much better. This one just did not capture my heart.

Angel is the perfect example of the under dog coming out on top. I really enjoyed this novel, because the hero, Angel, is everything women have been brought up to believe men should be. He's strong, noble, courageous and very sexy. When he gets out of prison everyone is against him because he was a convicted killer. Though this is the background given to the character, it's hard to believe Angel could kill in cold blood. It comes as a relief at the end of the novel that he really is how we the readers think him to be. He is shown to be a courageous and noble man who went to prison in order to protect his sister. It's a very sweet story in which a hardened "criminal" is given a second chance at life because of a good woman's love. All in all this novel is a compasionate tale in which good once again overcomes evil.