Wanton Angel [Hardcover]

Linda Lael Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1988

When Bonnie McKutchen left her weathy husband in a storm of heartache and betrayal, she fled New York with nothing but the dress on her back. Eli McKutcben finally caught up with her in a Washington mining town, outraged to find his beautiful wife dancing for money in a gaudy saloon. Yet as his temper flared, so did his passion...for nothing could extinguish Bonnie's blazes once she set them. Tormented with desire by his every touch, Bonnie yielded to the wild delight of her husband's embrace. Time and again she vowed to resist, and was sweetly defeated. But with savage pride, she denied her love...even at the risk of losing him forever!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Lael Miller is the author of seventy historical and contemporary romance novels, many of which are set in the American West. She was awarded the Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Pub Ltd (September 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727816675
• ISBN-13: 978-0727816672
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,324,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In January of 2006, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Linda Lael Miller left the Arizona horse property she's called home for the past five years and listened to the call of her heart. Packing up her work-in-progress for HQN Books; her dogs, Sadie and Bernice, and her four horses, the author of more than 70 novels bid farewell to her home in the desert and returned to the place of her birth, Spokane, Washington.
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda grew up in Northport, WA, a community of 500 on the Columbia River, 120 miles north of Spokane. Her childhood remembrances include riding horses and playing cowgirl on her grandparents' nearby farm. Her grandparents' spread was so rustic that in the early days it lacked electricity and running water.

As delightful as this childhood was, Linda longed to see the world. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she left to pursue her dream. Because of the success of her author career, Linda was able to live part-time in London for several years, spend time in Italy and travel to such far-off destinations as Russia, Hong Kong and Israel. Now, Linda says, the wanderlust is (mostly) out of her blood, and she's come full circle, back to the people and the places she knows and loves.

Before Linda begins her writing day, she takes her first cup of coffee while enjoying the scenic view of the wooded draw behind her new home. The first morning there, a snowfall blanketed the pine trees, something she had missed in the desert outside Scottsdale. Still enamored with the people she came to love in Arizona, she says she will still set books in that starkly beautiful area, and, of course, in other stories the action will take place in Washington.

Devoted to helping others pursue their dreams, the author will launch her sixth round of Linda Lael Miller Scholarships for Women in May of this year. A talented speaker, she donates all her speaking honoraria to her scholarship fund. The stipends are awarded to women who seek to better their lot in life through education.

It's no wonder the protagonists in Miller's novels are women her readers admire for their honor, courage, trustworthiness, valor and determination to succeed, despite overwhelming odds. 'These qualities make them excellent role models for young women,' Miller explains. 'The male leads possess equally noble traits that today's woman would be delighted to find in her life's mate.'

The author traces the birth of her writing career to the day when a Northport teacher told her that the stories she was writing were good, that she just might have a future in writing. Later, when she decided to write novels, she endured her share of rejection before she made her first sale.

Although Linda has written successfully in other genres, she is best known for stories set in the West'stories like McKETTRICK'S CHOICE (HQN Books March 2006 paperback); THE MAN FROM STONE CREEK (HQN, June 2006 hardcover) and that very first novel, FLETCHER'S WOMAN, which is being reissued in 2006. Her stories, set in yesterday's world, and today's, are historical romances, romantic thrillers, and other contemporary tales. They consistently score on prestigious national bestseller lists.

Linda has come a long way since leaving her sheltered life in Northport at age 18 to experience the world. 'Growing up in that time and place, in a family grounded in Western values, served me well,' she allows. 'And I'm happy to be back home.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not a keeper, June 21, 2008

By 

Romance Me "zarizsi" (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wanton Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

I like this author and i was unhappy to read a book of hers that is filled with such unhappiness.I should have realized that i wouldn't like it in the first couple of pages when they talked of their marriage and why she was leaving him. I didn't like the hero and he didn't seem all that sorry for what he had done during their marriage. I am just not a fan of 'realistic' romances. I pretty much skimmed through this book and even then i didn't finish it. I got to the point when i threw it against the wall and was done with it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genoa shouldn't have stepped in with her two cents. . . ., June 30, 2010

By 

Vanessa "dreamer" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wanton Angel (Paperback)

Bonnie and Eli had recently lost their son to illness. She tried to turn to him but he pushed her away and sought comfort in other women. Then he decides to go to war and off to Cuba. Bonnie returns to their hometown and Eli contracts yellow fever while in Cuba. A young girl takes care of him and in the beginning he believes it is Bonnie so he begins an affair with her. After healing he returns home to find that Bonnie isn't there and she has returned to their hometown. Bonnie has also divorced Eli and she has a young daughter. Eli later finds out that the little girl is his and wishes to reunite with his wife. It has been two years since they have seen each other.

This is the story of their attempt at reconciliation. The characters are likeable and I really liked the supporting characters they seemed to be funny and added some color to this story. When Eli returns to town Bonnie is sort of seeing Webb and this bothers Eli. Why didn't Bonnie start screaming about pots and kettles when Eli was upset at the thought of her being with other men?

I would have liked Bonnie to tell Eli how much his cheating and turning away from her in her time of need hurt her too but she didn't. I believed he was sorry for what he did though. He seemed to genuinely feel sorry and it seemed that they tried to put it behind them as they couldn't change the past. For some reason Eli wasn't able to handle the grief of what happened so he turned outwards. I liked that Forbes explained to Bonnie that men deal with grief differently, although he did seem disturbed that Eli was cheating on Bonnie too. I think that helped her to understand her husband. Without this insight by Forbes I'm not sure that she could have forgiven Eli. It didn't make his cheating okay but it did make the story more realistic. The author doesn't really delve that deep but I wonder if it is possible that he just didn't feel worthy of his wife that he felt that he should hurt too and having these meaningless flings would hurt him too. I'm sure these flings hurt her but she didn't really harp on them a lot. A few times but she seemed to just want to forget about them and not talk about them, which seemed like a bad thing too. Eli just didn't seem to be able to deal with his grief over losing his son but he did eventually and of course Bonnie was there for him. It was very sad that he wasn't there for her though. Eli never told Bonnie that he didn't blame her for their son dying. She believed that he did and he never disputed it.

It would have been better if Bonnie were even a bit attracted to Forbes. They seemed to have more chemistry than Webb and Bonnie. He at least was more open and sharing with her than Eli was so perhaps there were some emotions there for the two of them, just not enough to build a relationship on. It just would have been nice if the h could have hooked up with someone else too. And maybe if they had been divorced longer she might have. At the time though it had only been two years.

Takes awhile but basically he tricks/blackmails her into remarrying him. She believes that if she doesn't remarry him he will take their daughter away from her. And actually it does sound like that. He even lets her believe that he is bedding the boarding house woman on their wedding night. Later he explains that she misunderstood him about the whole marriage thing and that he wasn't bedding the OW. He returned to his bed that he had at the boarding house though.

Genoa, Eli's sister, did say something to Bonnie that I didn't care too much for. She said something about Eli's pride and Bonnie said what about my pride. So Genoa said would you rather have your pride or be happy?

HUH?? Are these mutually exclusive? Can you not have your pride and be happy? What if that means that she could be happy, being with Eli and all but she has to forsake her pride because he only wants to be with her on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and Tuesday, Thursday he would like to be with Betty Lou; and Saturday and Sunday he wants to be with Barbie? That kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

But because I really liked Forbes, Bonnie, the teacher and yeah even believed Eli was sorry I am giving 4 stars for this book. Genoa shouldn't have stepped in with her two cents and I might have given another star.

12 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a change of pace for Ms. Miller, April 1, 2000

By 

"deltas_roses" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wanton Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been a big fan of her later works. This is the first one I have read that is a bit older. I like her novels that lead into a series. Wanton Angel leaves you dancing in the aisles. She never fails to sweep a reader away with the heart felt search for love.

I found myself a wanting to help the young woman find a better job though. Ms. Miller's more recent novels the springwater series are quick reads and very enjoyable.