Move Heaven and Earth (Harper Monogram) [Mass Market Paperback]

Christina Dodd (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harper Monogram | Publication Date: April 3, 1996

Miss Sylvan Miles dreaded the moment she'd see Lord Rand Malkin again. Once a dashing rogue, he's returned from battle a changed man. Sylvan, too, has suffered. Sharpened by scandal and tragedy, she vows to heal Rand's body and spirit.

But when Sylvan arrives at Clairmont Court, the man she encounters is far from the great pleasure in taunting her with stolen kisss and the legend of his ancestor's ghost. But Sylvan isn't fooled by his bravado and sets out to break down his defenses...while she fortifies her own against temptation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lord Rand Malkin has a problem: traumatized by the horrors he witnessed in the Napoleonic Wars, he is unable to walk. Despising himself as a useless cripple, he is determined to end his life?but he can't bring himself to commit suicide until he succeeds in bedding beautiful Sylvan Miles, the spirited nurse hired to care for him by his brother the duke. Sylvan, though, is plagued by scandal: Eager to escape her social-climbing nouveau-riche father, she, too, had joined the war effort to nurse wounded soldiers?only to be branded a whore by society for her efforts. Shunned and reviled, she sees the Duke of Clairmont's job as her salvation. But Clairmont Court, she soon discovers, is no safe haven. Her new home is stalked by both a troubled ghost and a mysterious prowler who brutally assaults the local women. And Rand himself, cantankerous and rude, is no prize?even if he is devilishly attractive. Dodd's (The Greatest Lover in All England) breathless narrative style only adds to the confusion generated by this setup, and readers may at times feel lost and bewildered, but Sylvan is a charming and admirable heroine, and her relationship with Rand is charged with well-wrought and electric eroticism.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Haunted by dreams of the soldiers she couldn't save, Sylvan Miles accepts the challenge to nurse a paralyzed, war-damaged nobleman and ends up finding love and healing herself. The setting is pure early Victoria Holt; the heroine is unconventional and uncompromising; and the hero is angry, tormented, and occasionally charming in this gothically inclined historical, rife with family ghosts and unexpected passion. Readers might also enjoy Mary Jo Putney's historicals. Dodd (The Greatest Lover in All England, HarperMonogram: HarperPaperbacks, 1994) is a former Romance Writers of America Golden Heart winner.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Avon (April 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061081523
• ISBN-13: 978-0061081521
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Dodd, Christina

More About the Author

Chat with Christina via Facebook and Twitter, and even better, join her mailing list to have her news delivered right to your inbox! http://christinadodd.com/lists/?p=subscribe

Readers become writers, and Christina Dodd has always been a reader. She reads everything, but because she loves humor, she likes romance best.

A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. So when Christina's first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to quit work and write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?

Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before her first novel, CANDLE IN THE WINDOW, was published. In the twenty-two years since, her novels have been translated into 25 languages, won Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year's best by Library Journal. Christina Dodd herself has been a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Publishers Weekly praises her style that 'showcases Dodd's easy, addictive charm and steamy storytelling.'

Christina's 2011 releases include TAKEN BY THE PRINCE, #9 in the Governess Brides series, and in the tradition of Nora Roberts, a new romantic suspense series starting with SECRETS OF BELLA TERRA and REVENGE AT BELLA TERRA.

Christina Dodd is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great and then it fizzles, November 16, 2001

By 

camille (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Move Heaven and Earth (Harper Monogram) (Mass Market Paperback)

I usually love Christina Dodd's books as her stories are interesting and the characters are well-developed. However, 2 of her books I recently read have similar plot devices that I feel torpedo the story. In the case of Heaven and Earth I loved the story of Sylvan and Rand -- she had been hired by Rand's brother(the duke of something or other) to help rehabilitate Rand after the Battle of Waterloo had left him paralyzed. As the daughter of a wealthy merchant and a field nurse at Waterloo, Sylvan found herself ostracized. When she arrives at the ducal estate, there are ghosts (for a gothic touch), a misogynistic minster, and attacks on the family's attempt to begin the Industrial Revolution in the local village. Sylvan is a bold, sardonic character and one is in full sympathy. Then she and Rand marry and in order to persuade her to go to London for her own safety he insults her gravely and deeply in the way that only a lover could and she duly flees. This is the moment the book falls apart for me and continues to fall apart nearly to the very end -- especially when Rand goes to London to retrieve her, he assumes that she will have figured out he was "just joking" -- and that it was all a ruse. And immediately after retrieving her they have sex in the carriage. Honestly. This plot is similar to Rules of Surrender, in my opinion, when the "hero" degrades the woman and causes a personality change to make her do something "for her own good". I don't enjoy this type of "romance" and was especially disappointed after the first 1/2 was so great.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Moving Love Story..., March 24, 2004

By 

"klpepsi" (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Move Heaven and Earth (Harper Monogram) (Mass Market Paperback)

Once vibrant and full of life, Lord Rand Malkin returned from the Napoleonic Wars a hero, and a traumatized man. Unable to walk and seething with anger, his tantrums and rudeness were not improving. So Rand's brother, the duke of Clairmont, hired a new nurse to care for him.

Sylvan Miles had tirelessly worked to heal the men wounded in battle, men who still haunt her dreams. She can remember a more uncomplicated time, when she attended parties, danced and flirted. A time when she first met Rand. They had shared one unforgettable waltz in a Brussels ballroom, before the breath of scandal, combined with her father's cold, domineering rule forced her to flee. Not only will she now have to deal with her feelings for Rand, but also the ghost of the first duke rumored to still roam the halls of Clairmont Court. Soon it becomes apparent there's a very real threat at Clairmont. Together, Sylvan and Rand will need to discover the source of the danger, as well as heal their own emotional scars.

Ms. Dodd has done it again by writing a beautiful, riveting and emotionally charged love story. She has an uncanny knack for combining great romance between well-developed characters, along with humor, believable intrigue, and highly erotic love scenes. Both Rand and Sylvan were quite enjoyable characters, and the spark between them burned throughout the pages. From the beginning when Sylvan walked into the house, and handled Rand's tantrum with humor and consummate skill, I was hooked. I also greatly enjoyed the secondary characters of Aunt Adela and Lady Emmie with their constant bickering, but they could conspire to bring Rand and Sylvan together. The only part I found difficult to read was where Rand said some pretty terrible things to Sylvan, in his misguided effort to protect her by chasing her away. But this is only minor, and certainly does nothing to change my opinion of how wonderful this book is. A definite must read.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HEARTWARMING!, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Move Heaven and Earth (Harper Monogram) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have just finished this book and I can't say enough even if I could find the words. The story is so beautiful, warm and soul searing. I have read almost all of Ms. Dodd's books and each one was my favorite until the next. I thought this was as beautiful as Candle in the Window. As to her closing thanks to the nurses of Vietnam (I include from WWII) I can only add "Amen". Thank you so much for all your truly wonderful stories.