Once an Angel [Hardcover]

Teresa Medeiros (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1993

Orphaned and cheated of her inheritance, Emily finds herself stranded on a New Zealand beach, where her only companion is Justin Connor, who is fiercely protective of his island paradise.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Orphaned at 11 in 1865 when her father dies on an island off New Zealand where he has gone to search for gold, Emily Claire Scarborough is, at 18, bent on revenge. She has survived the last seven years at the Foxworth Seminary for Young Ladies in London, learning to fend for herself without benefit of a steady allowance from her absentee guardian. Bitterness and longing mingle in Em's heart, and sustain her until she is summarily sent packing by the school's surly mistress to New Zealand, in search of the man responsible for her miserable existence all those years. Washing up on the beach like so much driftwood, Em soon finds that serendipity has dumped her practically into the lap of her errant guardian, a dark, swarthy Robinson Crusoe-type who has spurned London society. What ensues is an idyllic interlude in a beautiful, untamed paradise, shattered when both heroine and hero are rudely awakened by the arrival of reality and the outside world. Though laced with evocative descriptions of the exotic wilderness, this romance ultimately sours, beleaguered with a plot whose logic is as farflung as New Zealand is from London. Medeiros wrote Heather and Velvet.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: San Val (March 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417715480
• ISBN-13: 978-1417715480
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,398,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Teresa Medeiros wrote her first novel at the age of twenty-one, introducing readers to one of the most beloved and versatile voices in romance fiction. All of her books have been national bestsellers, appearing on the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She currently has over 10 million books in print and is published in over 17 languages. She was chosen one of the "Top Ten Favorite Romance Authors" by Affaire de Coeur magazine and won the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for 'Best Historical Love and Laughter'. She is a seven-time RITA finalist, two-time PRISM winner, and two-time recipient of the Waldenbook Award for bestselling fiction. Teresa lives in Kentucky with her husband and two lovably neurotic cats. Her latest Scottish historical THE DEVIL WEARS PLAID was released in 2010 and her first contemporary women's fiction novel GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART was released in January 2011. You can join her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/teresamedeirosfanpage or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/teresamedeiros . You can visit her website at http://www.teresamedeiros.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nope, Once an Angel is not a rip-off, March 4, 2000

By 

Dana K. Wolcott (Monrovia, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once an Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

Puh-leeze. "Once an Angel" was the first book I ever read by Teresa Medeiros, and to this day, it's *still* the best book I've read by her. The characters are charming, the plot is witty and full of humor, and the villians are well, villians. I find nothing ripped off from anywhere - Teresa weaved a great story together and made the story fast-paced and interesting.

To this day, the image of Justin sitting at the piano playing at a God-awful hour of the night, reminding Emily that she owes him a dance has stayed with me. When a writer can do that for a reader, I know she's done a good job, and it's a good job well done. I have been a devoted fan ever since.

If you like a good romance with humor, adventure, likeable characters, and a good setting, this book is for you. :) I'm eagerly awaiting her next book which can't be released soon enough!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Teresa Medeiros novel, July 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Once an Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read a few romances by Teresa Medeiros but Once An Angel had to be my all-time favorite. Medeiros did a fantastic job developing the charaters. I felt I knew Justin and Emily from the detailed and poignant way they were described. Emily's personality had me rolling on the ground with laughter. Justin was a real stud to the extent. The best moment (and one of the funniest, I say "one" because there were many)was the opera scene when Justin flies into a fit of rage and makes a huge scene. Also, the chemistry between Justin and Emily was perfectly conveyed and I think I even felt the sparks between them! This story has all the great elements: humor, passion, wit, loss, anguish and happiness. I recommend Once An Angel to anyone who wants to read a fantastic book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lovely Tribute, Not a Rip Off, February 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Once an Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of my favorite Madeiros books. I've read in several interviews that she meant the book to be a "tribute" to her all-time favorite children's classic, A LITTLE PRINCESS by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but with a romance slant that adults could enjoy. She succeeded beautifully, creating a modern romance classic that is just as moving as the original.