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Once an Angel

Once an Angel

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I loved this book
Review: This of course was also the first book I read by this author. I have read this story over and over again. It's one of my favorite romance novels. If you are looking for a good romance read, this is the one to get. Very entertaining, very funny.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Alright
Review: This one started off good. Then it sort of dragged on. The hero started out as this sexy guy, then he became a big dork. It is just alright like bla bla bla.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I couldn't put the book down!
Review: This was an excellent book for people who like a little bit of mystery involved in their romance novels. There were parts of it that reminded me of one of my favorite stories of all time, The Phantom of the Opera. A great read!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fallen Angel
Review: Though I very much enjoyed this book and was swept up into reading it practically nonstop because of Medeiros' potent writing, I didn't like this book nearly as much as some of her other novels. The plot was an interesting and different one, which is what I've come to expect from Medeiros, but many of the themes the story delt with were a bit too dark and opressive for me. I like light romances that don't make me feel saddened too much or desperate that the characters come through alright. Throughout this story, however, the main characters go through a lot of dilemmas that are often heartwrenching. If you happen to like stories that keep you guessing about the outcome and even the relationship of the male and female protagonist, this story is for you. Despite the often dark material of the story, however, there were many elements to this story that I know most everyone would find uplifting and enjoyable.

This book is divided into two sections. The first is the better of the two, because even though the story takes a while to get into because it's several chapters before the protagonists meet each other, the character interaction and setting are better in the first section of the book than in the second. It takes place on the sandwashed beaches of Australia, with 'savages' running about naked and Justin, the hero, in nothing but faded dungarees. I found the scenery to be wonderfully refreshing from the prim and proper setting of Victorian England. Justin teaches Emily, the heroine, to loosen up a bit and soon they find themselves becoming at ease with each other and there was a lot of laughter and smiles in this first part of the book. Then when Justin has to leave, we switch to the second section of the novel, which is all in regency England. Not a very pleasant read for me, and I found many of the scenes quite boring and some even extraneous.

Some of the more borish scenes in London were often filled with purposefully hurtful words exchanged between Justin and Emily, often time so much so that I wanted to shake both of them. They both do have painful pasts, so I tried to look past the cool demeanor they put on. Emily's father died when she was very young, by a gunshot fired by his best friend- Justin. When Emily's benefactor was supposed to come and take her away and care for her, he never came because of the guilt he felt at his friend's death (by the way, he killed Emily's father not out of maliciousness, but out of mercy), and because he gave away his inheritance to a part of a wealthy estate to go to Australia. Justin is broke, and has barely enough money to send to Emily into London to care for her. She grows up with a fierce venegeance and vows to repay Justin for what he's done to her. Her pain of her father's death and of living for years in poverty, coupled with Justin's guilt and remorse of shooting his friend and not taking care of his daughter haunt the main characters throughout the story, which is understandable.

Another thing that bothered me somewhat is what some of the other reviewers have said is true: Emily is only eighteen, compared to Justin's late twenties I believe, and she often acts very childish and can be obnoxious even. I did find myself falling for Justin, because he has a good heart and was very patient with the haughty miss Emily, but I'll warn you that you'll probably find yourself wanting to strangle Emily at random points throughout the book.

Of course, the whole story is embellished by the overly used 'she was a slender-as-a-stalk, willowy and pale virgin', which was a bit grating because it kept coming up how much Emily still looked like a young girl. That put me in mind of statutory rape at some points (the only reason why Emily was eighteen instead of seventeen, I'm sure, even though the laws of today didn't exist in the late 1800s of England), and made me think of incest at other points because Justin was appointed Emily's official ward by Emily's father. Almost like a stepfather having his way with his child stepdaughter. It wasn't a pleasant thought for me, nor I'm sure for many of the book's other readers.

It's true, though, that Justin and Emily did share a sweet and tender romance that, though it was often embroidered by Emily's temper tantrums that would turn into love scenes (as only a fiesty heroine would have it). Overall, I suppose I did enjoy the book because the characters weren't perfect- their problems weren't what I would call 'real problems', meaning not very realistic, but they didn't live in a flighty fantasy world of perfection, either.

My recommendation would be to check this book out of the library, or even buy it, because it is a good book, though not one of the author's best. I'd say you should also try Thief of Hearts in placement of or in addition to this book. That story also has some ships and sandswept beach scenes, too.


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