Rating: 
Summary: A worthwhile read...(3 1/2 stars)
Review: "Black Angel" was a good book. I enjoyed it, but didnt love it. I found that I couldnt quite connect with the characters. I did enjoy Tynan..and Adriana wasnt awful, but I thought that they could have been a bit more fleshed out. I also felt that the ending was rushed..I wanted more. A worthwhile read, but not one that is a keeper for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A glorious read
Review: An excellent book. My first quibble is I really did not like Riana the heroine very much-even her brothers tell her she isn't the kind of woman suited to Tynan and she has to grow and develop throughout the book to be worthy of him. She is emotionally dishonest and a real cow as well as coward at times. He change of heart happens a bit too suddenly in the last 20 pages or so of the book. Lots of loose ends were NOT tied up, a cheat for the reader, especially as there is not a series so far as I can see. My main quibble is that it could have done with much better editing. There were absurd typos and grammatical mistakes which any editor with half a brain should have picked up on and it diminished the overall power of the author's work. I also was not convinced by the details of what happened in Ireland and his Catholicism-it is not something that can be hidden that easily, and he was a bit too mercurial at times. The getting to know you part of the romance was excellent, but there seems very little to love about her at times, and even she accuses him of just being obsessed with her breasts, which you can hardly blame the guy for if she is always flashing them at him. Intense sensuality within he bounds of taste make this an excellent read despite the quibbles.
Rating:
Summary: At Last. Real Drama in a Regency Setting
Review: At Last. Adult Drama in a Regency Setting Romance Niggling points do not distract enough from the penetrating writing in BLACK ANGEL to warrant more than a passing mention: too many themes, plot that occasionally steers off course, hero who does not quite live up to his name and somewhat dark and unsatisfying ending. The prologue and insightful first two chapters deftly bring the succinctly drawn Tynan Spenser and Adriana St. Ives together, set up the situation, and launch the impetus for the story. The one-hundred kisses motif threads sensuously through the couples' relationship as they learn to trust and accept each other and find love in their marriage of convenience. Their sexual attraction lures them one scintillating step ahead of their cautious emotions. Dialogue rings true with beautiful subtext and tags, and author Barbara Samuel shows adept restraint in her use of point of view... no head-hopping here. Understated Regency settings create an unobtrusive background. Well matched in their beautiful appearance, intellect and spirit, Tynan and Adriana invite the reader to follow them anywhere. No doubt we'll feel the same about Adriana's sisters and their lovers in future romances.
Rating: 
Summary: Glorious!
Review: Barbara Samuel has done it again! A glorious new historical, with a cast of characters that can break your heart and then heal it again. And what a hero!
Rating: 
Summary: BORING!
Review: I had a hard time finishing the book. The only reason that prevented me from ditching it was the money I paid for it. Very little intrigue and very poorly written.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down!
Review: I have never read anything by Barbara Samuel but I am glad I did. This book was a delight. It gave a believable plot with a little history lesson. I was engrossed with the developing relationship between the characters. I look forward to reading Ms. Samuel's next book.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing tale of self discovery
Review: I have to admit that "The Black Angel" isn't at all what I was expecting; however looking back I'm not sure what that was. Our heroine, Lady Adriana St. Ives is a fallen woman. Five years ago, when her lover cast her aside and publicly denounced her, Adrianan's two brothers fought in a duel for her honor. Having killed the bastard son of the Prince, Julian and Gabriel fled the country to save their own lives. Only when she marries Tynan Spenser, an Irish Earl, do they return to try and save her once again. Arriving too late to prevent the wedding, Julian is incarcerated on the charges of murder. Fascinated by the woman he now calls his wife Tynan vows to help free her brother in exchange for her assistance in aiding him to gain a much coveted seat in the English House of Commons. Finding her a reserved but passionate creature he also vows to win her heart with one kiss a day for a hundred days. With so much at stake, Adrianan finds herself fighting her own womanly urges as her new husband has sworn to reawaken the passion she sees as her fatal flaw. Facing society after five years reawakes her old scandal, and as our couple deals with the animosity she must face for both her brother and to regain her own dignity, as a reader we watch her grow from a wallflower back into the raving beauty that she has hidden so well. But before Tynan and Adrianan can live happily ever after, the secret he guards with his own life must come out. Ms. Samuel's has written an excellent story about love and fighting for what you believe in. Adrianan is a refreshing character for two reasons: she isn't a virgin when she marries and she actually is fighting against her own passion, and because she is facing her own faults (to grow back into a self reliant woman that she should be) caused by of the pain of her scandal rather than already being a strong female heroine. While sometimes there seems to be too much focus on Jilian, he is the main reason for her self-discovery into the woman Adrianan wants to be. ...After thinking about this book, I think I was expecting something light hearted and funny. Instead "The Black Angel" is a novel dealing with powerful emotions. Humor is a key ingredient that keeps the novel from getting to intense or our characters dull and depressing. So I enjoyed this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not the entertaining kind of read.
Review: I have to agree with another critic and say I didn't like all the tangents the story went on--feminism, racism, relgious freedom.
Rating:
Summary: flawed romance
Review: I like Ruth Wind and when I discovered that she and Barbara Samuels were one and the same, I went on a hunt for some of Ms Samuel's novels. This is the first one I found. There was a lot to admire in this book - firstly, far from the virginal unknowing heroine, Adriana St Ives actually has sexual needs, which she once met. Sadly, because of the times in which she lived, this lead to her ruin. Her brothers felt honour bound to defend her, and then had to leave the country. And that is all in the back story!! So the scene is richly set. Adriana is a complicated delightful heroine, and her final speach was quite wonderful: "I learned to fight like a boy, and my heart was too lusty... I am ashamed of my willfulness in taking a lover, and I am even more ashamed that I did not insist upond dueling Malvern myself. If I wanted to play the man on one level, then I needed to be a man on all levels.." An inspirational heroine! However I have to agree with the reviewer who said that the hero's past was not as well drawn. We never know why he was called the Black Angel and indeed his London exploits which brought him the name are never illuminated. His difficulties and painfilled past are more Irish in origin - but then, why not call the book A Hundred Kisses (a plot device to get the sexual tension up) and leave the angel references out altogether... Also, it was clear on one level that the book is setting up a series - so we will experience the love stories of Adriana's siblings. However in this book it left for a lot of loose threads. Matters of import were alluded to and never followed up. Sisters had important discussions and then seemed to forget about each other. One moment a sister's illness is so threatening that they all have to leave London at a pivotal moment to visit her, and then they just seem to forget about her. I actually found it a strength that the romance included such diverse themes as racism, religion and feminism. I feel that it grounded the book, giving it a sense of reality and aliveness. And Ms Samuel's does write beautifully. However I was left with the sad feeling that it could have been so much better...
Rating:
Summary: flawed romance
Review: I like Ruth Wind and when I discovered that she and Barbara Samuels were one and the same, I went on a hunt for some of Ms Samuel's novels. This is the first one I found. There was a lot to admire in this book - firstly, far from the virginal unknowing heroine, Adriana St Ives actually has sexual needs, which she once met. Sadly, because of the times in which she lived, this lead to her ruin. Her brothers felt honour bound to defend her, and then had to leave the country. And that is all in the back story!! So the scene is richly set. Adriana is a complicated delightful heroine, and her final speach was quite wonderful: "I learned to fight like a boy, and my heart was too lusty... I am ashamed of my willfulness in taking a lover, and I am even more ashamed that I did not insist upond dueling Malvern myself. If I wanted to play the man on one level, then I needed to be a man on all levels.." An inspirational heroine! However I have to agree with the reviewer who said that the hero's past was not as well drawn. We never know why he was called the Black Angel and indeed his London exploits which brought him the name are never illuminated. His difficulties and painfilled past are more Irish in origin - but then, why not call the book A Hundred Kisses (a plot device to get the sexual tension up) and leave the angel references out altogether... Also, it was clear on one level that the book is setting up a series - so we will experience the love stories of Adriana's siblings. However in this book it left for a lot of loose threads. Matters of import were alluded to and never followed up. Sisters had important discussions and then seemed to forget about each other. One moment a sister's illness is so threatening that they all have to leave London at a pivotal moment to visit her, and then they just seem to forget about her. I actually found it a strength that the romance included such diverse themes as racism, religion and feminism. I feel that it grounded the book, giving it a sense of reality and aliveness. And Ms Samuel's does write beautifully. However I was left with the sad feeling that it could have been so much better...
| 
