Angel Rogue

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Synopsis

American Maxima Collins is half-Mohawk, but she's never entirely felt at home in either the white or the Mohawk world. After her mother died, she traveled around the country with her father, selling books, but eventually the second son of a aristocrat decided to return to England. Soon after, he died under mysterious circumstances, and when Maxie overhears her aunt and uncle discussing her father's death, she knows they're hiding something from her and fears they may have had something to do with it. Stealing away in the dead of night, disguised as a boy, Maxie is determined to travel to London and find out the truth. When she leaves the main road to avoid other travelers, she quite literally trips over the most gorgeous man she's ever seen in her life. The gentlemanly Robin offers to accompany her on her journey, but Maxie thinks she doesn't need a protector. However, he won't take no for an answer and soon proves useful in staving off attacks by some ne'er-do-wells. Along the way, Maxie can't seem to help falling for the charming rogue, but she wants someone who will love her with his whole heart and Robin can't seem to open up enough for her to be certain they could have a future together.

Lord Robert Andreville spent a dozen years on the Continent, spying on Napoleon for the crown. It was a rough life, but now that the war is over, he's returned home feeling adrift. His mind is ill-at-ease with many of the things he had to do as a spy, while his heart was broken when the only woman he'd ever loved married another man. Not knowing what to do with himself, he spends his days idly at his brother's estate. One day, while napping in the forest, a young lad trips over him, but Robin almost immediately realizes this person is actually a young woman and a comely one at that. Being a gentleman, he can't allow a lady to travel alone, so having nothing better to do, he offers to go with her as a protector. At first Maxie doesn't want him around, but as he proves himself useful, she gradually warms up to him. The more time they spend together, the more Robin begins to fall in love with Maxie, but after so many years working undercover, he has a hard time opening up and truly being himself. Not to mention, the questionable things he had to do in his past life make him feel unworthy of a good woman like her.

Review

Angel Rogue is the fourth book in Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels series. Robin was introduced in the previous book, Petals in the Storm, and is now nursing a broken heart after the heroine of that book, with whom he was in love, married another. His days as a spy for the crown are now over, too, leaving him feeling rather adrift. Then one day an exotic beauty quite literally stumbles over him in the forest. He soon learns that Maxie is an American of half-Native heritage whose father was English. She's traveling alone, walking the length of England to get to London to investigate her father's untimely demise, which she has reason to believe may have involved foul play. Being the consummate gentleman, Robin can't allow a young woman, even one disguised as a boy, to travel the dangerous roads alone, so he insists upon accompanying her. At first, she's not too pleased to have the company, but after he proves useful in fending of several attacks by ne'er-do-wells, she starts to warm up to his presence. As they continue the journey together, they get to know one another and begin to fall in love. But although he very much wants to marry Maxie, Robin is convinced that he's not great husband material and that no woman should want to wed him. For her part, Maxie has fallen in love with Robin, too, but longs for him to love her back and isn't sure if he's capable of that.

Maxie grew up straddling both the white world of her father and the Mohawk world of her mother, but never quite felt like she belonged in either. After her mother died when she was young, Maxie traveled around the eastern states with her father who was a bookseller. She thought it was a pretty good life, but then her father, who was also the second son of an English aristocrat, decided to return to his homeland. In England, Maxie feels like even more of an anomaly, especially after her father died on a trip to London. Now alone in the world, except for her extended relations, she starts planning to return to the States, until she overhears her aunt and uncle discussing her father's death. It's then that she realizes they're hiding something from her about his demise and fears that they may have had something to do with it. Not knowing if she can trust them, she runs away in the dead of night, disguised as a boy, headed for London on foot to investigate what happened to her father and maybe to visit an aunt with whom she'd had amiable correspondence. Not long into her journey, she leaves the road to avoid being spotted by other travelers and literally trips over a man who is napping in the forest. He's the most gorgeous man she's ever seen, and when he hears that she's traveling alone, he insists upon accompanying her. Maxie doesn't really want his company, but after they're accosted a couple of times, she realizes that maybe she is better off with a protector. Even though she doesn't really believe any of the stories he tells her, Robin proves to be a charming companion, and soon she finds herself trusting him and falling in love with him. But if he can't love her back, they may not have a future. Maxie is a fierce and spirited heroine who exhibits American moxie alongside her Mohawk appreciation for nature and life. I like that she was able to accept Robin for who he was and show compassion for the pain he experiences from the things he was forced to do as a spy.

Robin is a cousin to Lucien (Dancing on the Wind) and is the friend and former lover of Maggie (Petals in the Storm). I really liked him in the previous book of the series, where my heart broke a little for him. He loved Maggie, but she unfortunately didn't feel the same. However, they've remained good friends anyway. Robin's days as a spy are now over and he's returned to his brother's estate, not sure what he's going to do now. He's simply been whiling away the days, when Maxie stumbles over him. When he finds out she's traveling to London alone, he has nothing better to do and decides to go with her on a lark. Their journey becomes perilous when they're attacked several times along the way by a man sent by Maxie's uncle to find her. It turns out to be quite the adventure, though, and Robin hasn't felt this alive in a while, mostly thanks to his traveling companion. However, after being a spy for so long, Robin has trouble with showing his true self to Maxie. He also harbors some self-hatred for things he had to do during his espionage days and feels that he might not be a fit husband for any woman. Deep down he's lonely, though, and Maxie proves to be everything he could want in a partner, but if he can't open up his heart, they may not have a future together. I still liked Robin in his own book, but I couldn't help feeling like he took a little too long to open up to Maxie. It's pretty late in the story before he shows any real vulnerabilities, and until then he's just the spontaneous guy who has a dozen different personas that he can put on with ease, depending on the situation. I understood his fears about Maxie not wanting to know the real Robin, but at the same time, I felt this left some distance between them. I loved him, though, for behaving as a gentleman and treating Maxie like any other lady in spite of her heritage and her being an American, both of which give her different views on relationships.

Angel Rogue is almost entirely a road trip romance with our protagonists spending nearly three-quarters of the book traveling across England. This is usually a trope that I enjoy, but for some reason, it seemed rather slow-paced. Admittedly the long stretches on the road are punctuated a number of times by some exciting chase and fight scenes with the guys Maxie's uncle sends after her, so I'm not sure why I felt that way. Maybe it's because the mystery of whether Maxie's father met with foul play is left entirely for the last couple of chapters. Or maybe it's because it took a while for the characters to develop. I liked Robin and Maxie and thought they were well-suited for one another. However, as I mentioned before, Robin takes a good long time before he genuinely opens up to Maxie, and until then, I wasn't getting a great sense of who he was because of him hiding behind various personas. I think he could have been a deeply tortured hero, but he doesn't reveal that part of himself until pretty late in the story, and even then, it's mostly handled in a single night. I did, however, very much enjoy the secondary romance between Robin's brother, Giles, and Maxie's aunt, Desdemona. Their part of the story has an enemies-to-lovers vibe with Desdemona sweeping into Giles's study in full pique over her missing niece and Giles trying to defend his brother from her accusations. However, as they chase the younger couple across England, they, too, develop a fondness for one another that was endearing. I also enjoyed the glimpses of our past heroes and heroines, all of whom attend a dinner party at Rafe and Maggie's house. Michael, the hero of the next book, Shattered Rainbows, was seen there briefly, too. Even though the way in which the narrative was told wasn't perfect for me, I did very much like all the characters, which is a major plus, so despite being a tad underwhelmed after finishing it, Angel Rogue was still a pretty good read.

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Mary Jo Putney

Themes

Tortured Heroes