Customer Reviews

Stealing Heaven

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stealing Heaven is the book that got me started on Cates. Her stories are sweet and tender. This is one of her best--up there with Gather the Stars and Magic. Sir Aidan Kane's teenage daughter, Cassandra, sends for a bride for him by letter. Aidan is furious when Norah arrives at his castle expecting to marry him. She is shoked to find him young and handsome with a dark past--it's said he killed his first wife. He is not the lonely old man she was expecting. Despite the rough start, Aidan's daughter, is still determined to get them together. I loved Aidan and Nora. There were interesting secondary characters too. There was a dark mystery that kept me glued. The romance was touching--they had the sweetest wedding night! Definitely worth checking out.

Stealing Heaven has its good and bad moments, a handsome dissolute Irishman and a spinsterish, English woman find themselves caught up in lies and false promises.

Aiden is shocked to discover his birthday present from his fifteen year old daughter, Cassandra, is Norah, a twenty something aristocrat (I never knew her age) from England. Cass wants her father to remarry and has been keeping up a correspondence with Norah pretending to be her father. Norah is enchanted with the letters and wanting to escape her unkind step-father, travels to Aiden's castle in Ireland believing she is to marry the poetic man.

Aiden had a horrible marriage with a horrible woman and does not want to enter the wedded state again. He lambastes Norah for coming and wants her on the next stage to Dublin. Norah heartily agrees. Aiden changes his mind, however, when he contemplates his daughter being alone and also he wants his daughter to have a London season and Norah's family has a name that will open up doors for Cass.

He tries to woo her with no success but after she nurses him from illness, Norah agrees to wed Aiden. By this time Cass, has become bratty and childish and Norah has fallen in love with her husband but Aiden does not think he could ever love again after his first wife's infidelities.

The best part of this novel is Aiden's innerlife. Aiden is really unsure of himself as a man since his wife took lovers. He also has an innate sense of distrust. To be sure both of these traits come into play when Norah is around men.

For her part, Norah is not as richly developed nor as charismatic as Aiden. She was almost bland in comparison to Aiden's forceful personality. The plot line involves more than just Aiden and Norah's romance; there is the backdrop of Irish/English troubles and a plot of personal revenge against Aiden. I thought the Irish struggles against the English were better written and more developed than the revenge plot. This is a mediocre novel with some bright spots starring the hero Aiden.

This book had a compelling story with great characters that grabbed me from the very beginning. The story line is described below so I don't need to describe it further, but the most significant angle of the book is that the past is catching up with Adrian, and Norah- a quiet (almost homely) woman- gets caught right in the middle of it. It's really great to see how she does in the "sink or swim" situation of being married to such a dominant and strong man as Adrian. It's also wonderful to see how Adrian completely falls under her spell of quiet strenght. I never had a problem with the pace of the story - It flowed naturally from one chapter to the next, and though at times characters might be considered cookie cutter - the dark hero and the "milk and water" miss - Adrian and Norah were a great combination and a compelling read.

BASED ON THE PREVIOUS REVIEW I WAS QUITE ANXIOUS TO GET INTO THIS ONE. AFTER 2 CHAPTERS I JUST GAVE IT UP. CASS IS A SPOILED BRAT OF A GIRL AND AT AGE 15 A BIT OLD TO INNOCENTLY FIND HER DAD A WIFE.....NORAH IS A MOUSE AND KEEPS MENTALLY FLITTING OFF TO FANTASIES OF ROMANCE THAT SHE THINKS ABOUT AND WE'RE BORED WITH. THE HERO SOUNDS HUNKY AND SHOWS HIS VULNERABILITY RIGHT OFF BUT HE WENT FROM "NEVER" GETTING MARRIED TO "COURTING" NORA FOR THE GOOD OF HIS DAUGHTER IN 7 PAGES......TOO MUCH UNREALITY FOR ME SO I GAVE THIS ONE UP. IF YOU WANT A GREAT CATES BOOK, READ GATHER THE STARS FOR ONE. DON'T WASTE TIME ON THIS ONE.