Fallen [Mass Market Paperback]

Emma Jensen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2001

Award-winning author Emma Jensen has enthralled readers and critics alike with her brilliant stories set in Regency England. Now she has written her most captivating novel yet--a big, bold, exciting tale of intrigue and desire set on the magical Isle of Skye.

Gabriel Loudon, a special agent to the British army, was always one step ahead of Napoleon's troops--until a vital mission went tragically wrong. Now he has one last chance to redeem himself. His orders: expose an elusive French spy hiding on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland. What he doesn't expect to find there is another fallen angel.

When her scandalous love affair with a young Englishman ends, Maggie MacLeod retreats to the safety of her beloved, remote home. Alone on the cliffs of Skye, she can surrender to romantic dreams of a true love that will never be. Until a mysterious stranger invades her seclusion, awakening her senses and threatening everything she cherishes--especially her splintered heart. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Scottish beauty catches the eye of an embittered English earl who is back from spying against Napoleon for the crown in Jensen's latest historical romance (A Grand Design, etc.). Gabriel Loudon, the Earl of Rievaulx, is burdened with guilt because he believes he betrayed his comrades when he bedded a prostitute who turned out to be a French spy. After a year of drinking away his sorrows in the gaming hells of London, Gabriel is asked by his old friend Oriel (the hero of Jensen's Entwined) to go to the isle of Skye to search for a Scottish traitor known as L'cossais and kill him. Gabriel, a hard-muscled hero with a cupid's-bow mouth, is to stay at the home of the MacLeods, Oriel's in-laws. There he meets the "serene and capable" Maggie MacLeod, who has been scarred by love. She was abandoned by a Brit named Peter, and she's reluctant to give her heart again, especially to another Englishman. As the lovers battle their attraction, Maggie walks along the cliffs, tells folktales and makes salves and herbal concoctions to heal the wounds of her fellow Skye folk. Jensen has a way with gentle prose that falters as her protagonists become lovers ("Oh, Maggie... What did I do to deserve this?"). But those who like this sort of formula porridge won't be disappointed.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

4 Stars- Excellent

"FALLEN is a wondrous tale" -- Romantic Times Magazine, April 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804119554
• ISBN-13: 978-0804119559
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,450,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've fallen for Emma Jensen, June 3, 2001

By 

Mary G Williams "bigbluey2k" (Crossville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fallen (Mass Market Paperback)

"If there was one bit of dramatic nonsense Gabriel Loudon, the Earl of Rievaulx, loathed more than Sunday sermons, it was ghost stories. He loathed the familiar devices, the predictable ends." Fallen has neither contrivance nor a predictable end. Emma Jensen takes a ghost story, a timeless ballad, and the Isle of Skye and gives us a wonderful sequel to Entwined. Both hero and heroine feel they are failures, undeserving of love and happiness. I enjoyed the parallels drawn in this story and especially liked Gabriel's retrospections on life growing up with his grandfather. The author hints that another story is on the way, write faster, please!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Regency romance, April 4, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fallen (Mass Market Paperback)

Though time is said to heal all wounds, Lord Gabriel Louden thinks otherwise. He still suffers remorse and guilt from his failures as a soldier during the Peninsular War against Napoleon. Still, his friend and military colleague Nathan Paget requests Gabriel render a duty for England. Though he prefers to say no and wallow in his misery, Gabriel accepts the mission and journeys to the Isle of Skye to stop the Scottish traitor, L'Ecossais

In Skye, Gabriel and his hostess Maggie MacLeod find themselves attracted to one another from their very first meeting. As they begin to fall in love with one another, both share a mutual distrust for the other, which will soon test their chances for a permanent relationship as well as endanger the duo.

FALLEN, the sequel to the fabulous ENTWINED, is a fantastic Regency romance. The hero is a fallen angel suffering from battle fatigue over the errors he made that cost men their lives. The battle between right and wrong as seen through the love and disagreement of Maggie and Gabriel is cleverly designed so that the audience must think about whom holds the moral high ground. Award winning has written a complex, exciting tale that will bring her much acclaim as one of the sub-genre's most enjoyable novelists.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't live up to it's potential or predecessor, October 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fallen (Mass Market Paperback)

I knew before I read this book that it would not compare with Entwined - one of my favourite books (wmr-uk, you were right!). Entwined was full of passion and longing and determination and I adored both Nathan and Isobel. Fallen seemed flat to me. The romance between Gabriel and Maggie was so restrained and uneven. While Gabriel was handsome and sexy and wry, and Maggie was beautiful and sweet and loyal, I wasn't passionate about either character - matter of fact, my favourite characters were Tessa and old Mr. Beaton! But the identity of L'Eccossais did stump me. I thought it was someone else almost from the beginning - I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it.

I also felt that the ghost stories and especially the folk tales and "Scarbro Fair" quotes were a bit overdone and bordered on stereotypical - quaint little island folk! I did however, like that the author uses the Gaelic and that this was a barrier for Gabriel because it truly would have been at the time. I don't know much Gaelic, just a few words and phrases, but it was fun to see if I could figure out what was being said - usually not!

Anyway, I'd probably only give this book 3 1/2 stars but I'm rounding up rather than down. While this is not a great book, it's still better than a lot of lesser romances and the author does know her stuff when it comes to Scotland, it's history and Highland as well as island culture. And I'm still going to read Moonlit about St Wulfstan's adventures in romance (and Ireland) so we'll see how that one fares.