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Returning to his ancestral home in Yorkshire after working for several years as a spy, Lord Robert Andreville is unable to forget his dark past until he meets half-Mohawk Maxima Collins, who seeks the truth about her father’s death.
User Reviews
While not technically one of Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels, Lord Robert Andreville played a pivotal role in Petals in the Storm; he was that heroine's former lover and fellow spy. Now that the war is finally over, Robin has come home to England a man on the brink, exhausted physically, emotionally, and psychically from his twelve years as a British spy in war-torn Europe. His brother Giles has inherited the marquisate and while Robin is given a warm welcome, he is at loose ends - what is a weary ex-spy to do with his life?
While napping under a tree in the woods after a good tramp, Robin is awakened when a woman dressed as a boy literally trips over him. Maxie Collins is the daughter of an Englishman and a Mohawk woman. She and her father are visiting family and she is staying with her uncle in the north of England when her father suddenly dies while on business in London. A few months later she overhears her uncle imply that her father's death was not an accident, and there is talk of a legacy. Was her father murdered? Was her uncle involved? Looking for answers and not certain of her own safety anymore, she leaves to walk to London to her bluestocking widowed aunt, with whom she has corresponded. Once she finds some answers to the many questions about her father and uncle, she plans to return to Boston. She is three days into her journey when she trips over Robin.
Robin is fascinated. Maxie is obviously self-reliant, intelligent, and independent - not to mention beautiful - and her notion to walk to London surprises and delights him. Robin has finally found something of interest to do - he will walk with Maxie to London, whether she wants him to or not. She thinks that Robin is a charming, feckless, unemployed rogue with the face of an angel, but she cannot shake him. When she realizes that he is serious about walking the 250 miles with her, she decides that perhaps it's nice to have some company after all. And even as Robin jokes with her, she senses his underlying shadows.
Mary Jo Putney has stated that Robin is her favorite hero, and I agree with her - I fell for him the moment I met him in Petals in the Storm. Robin is the best kind of tortured hero - one who doesn't wear his grief on his sleeve or impose it upon others, either with sulkiness or anger. He has always been a charming, vivacious and spirited man, but those close to him - his brother, his ex-lover, and now Maxie - can see that there is an underlying melancholy beneath his hail-fellow-well-met façade. He has suffered torture and relives his physical and emotional pains in nightmares. But being with Maxie pulls him out of himself. Her corresponding spirit, coupled with her calm serenity soothes him and captivates him.
While Robin is definitely the main draw of the book for me, Maxie is a strong presence as well. She has that American spunk and lack of reverence for the English nobility coupled with a centeredness and grounding from her mother's people, though she has never been fully accepted by or comfortable in either world. Robin's easy acceptance, companionship, and humor ensure that they become good friends very quickly. However, when an affectionate embrace after a close escape becomes a searing kiss, things change. But they are grownups and talk things through, acknowledging their passion, and indulging it from time to time, without letting it get out of control. Maxie is on a quest, she needs answers, and she needs a friend, not a lover, though it is only a matter of time before she has both.
There is a lovely and fun secondary romance between Robin's country gentleman brother Giles and Maxie's young fire-breathing reformer aunt Desdemona. Both are looking for the runaways and often cross paths, rubbing each other the wrong way - and then the right way. I enjoyed this romance every bit as much as Robin and Maxie's.
Angel Rogue is the perfect road romance with an incredibly appealing hero, a confident heroine, an expanded secondary romance, lots of sexual tension and a moving, emotion-packed denouement. What's not to love? (Psssst...it's just been reissued by Signet.)
The Fallen Angel Series (in order):
Thunder and Roses
Petals in the Storm
Dancing on the Wind
Angel Rogue
Shattered Rainbows
River of Fire
One Perfect Rose -- Angel Rogue - Mary Jo Putney
I don't know how I had not discovered this author sooner. I have been reading romance novels for about 3 years now and never before had I read a book by Mary Jo Putney. The first one I read "Dearly Beloved", was so beautiful that I went back for more, and after reading "One Perfect Rose" which is part of the Fallen Angels series, I was hooked. I knew I had to read the whole series, and so far none of the books I have read have dissapointed me.
In the case of this book, I have not yet read "Petals in the Storm", so I did not have any background knowledge about Lord Robert Andreville, but he is a fascinating character. His dazzling personality was so well portrayed that it leaps from the pages and you feel like you know him. I loved his sense of humor, his charm, his varied and amusing talents, the fact that under all that fancy facade there was a core of steel. Maxima was an exceptional heroine too, even though I can't really say that I feel a strong conection with her (I would never even dream of embarking on a trip of over 200 miles on foot, on a strange land and with almost no money) But that is what makes her extraordinary besides, she is also very kind, courageous and intelligent and those are qualities I admire.
The only thing that I found that was a little unbelievable and incomprehensible is the fact that Robin would embark on this trip with her with no money, and no provisions whatsoever. That he felt the need to accompany her, I can understand, but why didn't he make a small detour to the house first to fetch money, and two horses or a carriage to make the trip more confortable? I know he is an adventurer and an excentric, but my practical and comfort-liking mind just rebelled at the thought that someone would deliberately choose the hard path when there was an easier and more efficient way to accomplish things. I guess I'm not very adventuresome.
I connected more with Robert's brother Giles (which doesn't mean that I liked him better than Robin, just that I find his personality easier to relate to) He and Maxima's aunt Desdemona are great secondary characters. I wish they had gotten their own novel instead of just being a sub plot of this one. But their story definitely enriched this book.
All in all, I think this book is excellent. I would recommend this and all the books in this series to anyone who likes a well written story, with strong lovable characters and a mix of passion and adventure to make it all more interesting. -- Really, all the "Fallen Angels" books are excellent.
The third in the Fallen Angel Series, we finally see Robin enjoy happiness. Robin was such a sweetheart to Margot in Petals on the Wind, you really did feel bad that Rafe ended up with her. However, while Maxima is strong like Margot, she has the determination needed to help Robin deal with his demons over what he has done in the name of loyalty for his country. Together as the two of them travel by foot to London while avoiding hitmen and their own families, they become more passionate and the healing of both their wounded hearts enhanced by their growing love for one another. This book again is not as good as the first in the series, but has an emotional quality that the others don't have in that we see many character reuniting and healing over past hurts than we saw in others. This books is the turning point in which Lucien (one of the actual Fallen Angels) begin to understand the torture his soul has endured by his part in the spy ring. Robin while not part of the Fallen Angels (Nick, Rafe, Lucien and Michael), is a worthy character and one that I liked immensely. It's really his character that pulls this book into the level of romance reading that I enjoy. -- Must add to your collection
I have never read a MJP book that wasn't simply wonderful. Even her contemporaries (which I don't really care for) deserve five stars. Angel Rogue is no exception, it is an unusual, beautiful love story that will leave you sighing long after you turned the last page.Lord Robert Andreville (Robin) has returned to England after a dozen years of spying for the British crown in the fight agaisnt Napoleon. He is weary in mind and spirit and tortured by memories of the past when he meets Maxima Collins. Maxie is an American with an unique heritage: she's half Mohawk and half English and she has come to England with her father who died shortly afterward. Maxie feels all alone in the world, she feels like an alien among her aristocratic English family. She also has reason to suspect foul play in her father's sudden death. So she decides to leave the country manor where she was staying with her uncle and travel to London masquerading as a boy to learn what she can about her father's last hours. She meets Robin on the way by literally falling over him. He is immediately taken by her exotic looks and unconventional ways. He decides to appoint himself her guardian and together they embark on a perilous journey during which Maxie teaches Robin to trust and let go of the past while falling irrevocably in love with him.
Maxie is a delightful heroine, she is strong,intelligent and independent. No chin lifting, blushing, simpering heroines for MJP. She creates characters that are real, with credible issues and feelings that the reader can relate to. Robin is adorable and
even though he's extremely drool-worthy I found it interesting that he's of average height. I had never before read about a hero in a romance novel that was less than a six footer so this was a refreshing change and made him seem more real to me.In short, this a great book and certainly another winner in MJP's long list of excellent romances. :) -- mjp at her best
When I first read this book, it was not my favorite in the Fallen Angel series - I liked Michael's story best. However, this book is one I keep coming back to and enjoy reading over again, which I did recently - hence the review.
I agree with several other reviewers that the strength of this book is in the depth and development of the characters and their relationships. I especially enjoyed that between Robin and his brother Giles and the romance between Giles and Desdemona!
It is refreshing to have characters with doubts and flaws and watch them deal with them; it is refreshing to have a very different heroine and watch her reaction to a "familiar" (to regency era fans) environment. Meeting characters from the other books once Robin and Maxie get to London, added greatly to my enjoyment.
The plot line is not as action filled as the other books in this series, nor do outside events bring historical interest - so if that is what you seek in an "historcial", this book might disappoint.
I do agree with another reviewer that the title is wrong - I always thought this book should have been titled "Listen to the Wind". -- It grows on you
