Shattered Rainbows

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Synopsis

As the second son of a duke, Lord Michael Kenyon chose to buy an army commission and fought bravely against Napoleon's forces. He briefly encountered Catherine Melbourne in an army field hospital, where he witnessed her compassion toward a fellow dying soldier, something he's never forgotten. Three years later, Napoleon has escaped prison and is again mustering an army, so Michael returns to the Continent to fight once more. There he finds he's been billeted with none other than Catherine, as well as her husband and friends. As they spend time together, waiting for the action to begin, Michael and Catherine get to know one another, becoming close friends. Although Michael begins to fall for Catherine and would like their relationship to become something more, his honor will not allow him to take things any further between them. However, when he's seriously wounded at the battle of Waterloo, it's Catherine who saves his life, so before they part ways, he gives her carte blanche to ask anything of him if she ever finds herself in need. He didn't expect her request to come just one year later, when she shows up on his doorstep asking him to pretend to be her husband to impress the grandfather she's never met who is considering making her his heir. Unable to deny her anything, Michael agrees to help, unaware that her real husband has been killed. When he discovers the truth, Catherine is reluctant to explain her reason for the deception, but once he coaxes it our of her, their relationship takes a passionate turn. But then she tries to push him away, a move that leaves him baffled and uncertain of their future.

Catherine Melbourne grew up following her military father to whichever battlefield he happened to be fighting on. She adored her parents, but when they both died tragically when she was just sixteen, she had nowhere to turn and quickly ended up married to a man she didn't love. He, too, was in the military, so being a camp follower came naturally to her, and she's known for her skills at nursing and her unimpeachable honor. She knows that her husband hasn't been faithful, but has chosen to look the other way. When she meets Michael on the Continent, she discovers a man who is everything her husband isn't and quickly falls for him. However, even if she was free to pursue him, she has no intention of ever being with another man because of a secret that she's reluctant to share with anyone. After saving Michael's life at Waterloo, she knows she'll likely never see him again. Then her husband is murdered, and she finds herself struggling to make ends meet for herself and her daughter. Salvation comes in the form of a potential inheritance from her estranged grandfather, but he wants to meet her husband, too. Catherine asks Michael to fulfill that role, intending to let him go after the trip to her grandfather's island, but they grow closer and closer until she finds herself spilling her deepest secret. He's nothing but understanding, and it seems like she might finally get everything she's always desired, until an unscrupulous cousin, who is her rival for the inheritance, decides that he'll stop at nothing to get, not only the land and money, but Catherine as well.

Review

Shattered Rainbows is the fifth book in Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels series, which centers around a group of four friends who met at school and became each other's family when their own families failed them. Michael Kenyon is the last of the these friends to get his HEA. The second son of a duke, Michael went into the military and fought bravely in the Napoleonic War. He briefly met Catherine at a field hospital when he was wounded in Spain, where in only a few hours, she captivated him with her compassion toward a dying fellow soldier. Three years later, when Michael returns to the continent to once more fight the recently escaped Napoleon, they chance to meet up again, when he shares a billet with Catherine, and her family and friends in Brussels. Catherine's husband is also a soldier, and she has been a devoted camp follower most of her life and an experienced nurse caring for the wounded. Sharing a house, Michael and Catherine grow close, and each of them begin to develop feelings for the other. However, despite knowing that her husband is unfaithful to her, Catherine is still committed to him, and after a previous disastrous affair with a married woman, Michael has sworn never to repeat that mistake. So they remain only friends. After Catherine saves Michael's life, though, he basically grants her carte blanche to ask anything of him in the future. One year later, after Catherine's husband has been murdered, and she's struggling to make ends meet, she's approached by the solicitor of the grandfather she's never met, who's considering making her his heir. The man wants to meet her husband, though, so she asks Michael to fulfill that role, not letting him in on the fact that her husband is really dead. Together, they travel to Skoal Island, where they must share a bedroom, which wreaks havoc on both of them. But Catherine is reluctant to explain her deception to Michael, believing that she can never be married again. Not to mention, Catherine's jealous, greedy rival for the inheritance has decided that he wants it all and will stop at nothing to get it.

As I mentioned, Michael is the last of the self-described Fallen Angels, who've had each other's backs most of their lives. His father was physically and emotionally abusive, so he's viewed his fellow Fallen Angels as his family since they met at school. He had a disastrous affair with his friend, Nicholas's (Thunder and Roses) first wife, a conniving and manipulative woman, which has made Michael swear never to repeat that mistake again. That's why, after properly meeting the married Catherine at their shared billet, he's determined to remain only friends, despite falling in love with her. Then she saves his life in more ways than one after he's seriously wounded at Waterloo. Once recovered, he knows that he must try to forget her, but he bids farewell with a promise to be there for her if she ever needs anything. A year later, Catherine shows up at his doorstep with a request that he impersonate her husband for the opportunity to possibly inherit a mini-kingdom of her own. Although a bit reluctant, Michael finds he cannot deny her anything and agrees to help. On the island, they're forced to share a room, and the nearness only makes Michael want Catherine more and more. But then he discovers that she deceived him by not telling him her husband was really dead, and even after she comes clean about her reasons, she strangely tries to push him away, leaving him wondering if he ever knew her at all. But in the end, he finds himself doing whatever it takes to save her from a villainous rival for the inheritance. I absolutely loved Michael for his single-minded devotion to Catherine and for being a real gentleman in every sense of the word. Once he starts falling for her, no other woman in the world exists for him. However, he's determined to tamp down his emotions and exerts superhuman control over his feelings while she's still married. Once he learns the truth behind her deception, he's compassionate and understanding, and a dream lover. Everything about him made him the perfect romance hero for me, so he'll definitely rank highly among my all-time favorites.

Catherine grew up as a camp follower, along with her mother, as they traveled around to wherever her soldier father was campaigning. Her parents were a shining example of the type of marriage she hoped to have one day. But after they both died tragically in a house fire when she was sixteen, she ended up marrying a man she didn't love for security. Over ten years later, she and her daughter are still camp followers, now of her husband, but their marriage is more of an arrangement than a genuinely happy union with her aware of her husband's infidelities. When Catherine meets Michael, they quickly grow close and she discovers that he's everything she could want in a man. But even if she was free to pursue him, she's decided, because of past experiences, that she never wants to be married to anyone else again. Therefore, she keeps her feelings for Michael in check, determined to only be friends. However, because of her feelings for him, she fights her own battle to save his life after he's wounded. A year after they part ways, Catherine's husband is murdered, and all the money they had went to pay back his gambling debts. She's willing to work but having trouble finding employment when word comes about her grandfather possibly making her his heir but wanting to meet her husband as well. Desperately needing the money, she asks Michael for his help, but knowing that he might try to propose if she told him the truth, she keeps her husband's death a secret. Sharing a room with him on her grandfather's island, all the old feelings come rushing back. Catherine would love to give in to them, but all her old fears still dog her. Then the truth comes out and she has no choice. Michael is surprisingly sweet and forgiving, and everything seems to be going well until her unscrupulous cousin twists her arm and leaves her feeling that she has no choice but to break Michael's heart. Catherine is a genuinely good woman who has lived with a particular fear for over a decade. I'm glad that she was finally able to get past that and trust Michael with her secret. She's also a devoted mother to her daughter, Amy. She may have engaged in some deception but it was always for a good reason, and she was very brave in dealing with her cousin's betrayal.

Before ever starting the Fallen Angels series, I recall hearing that Shattered Rainbows was a fan-favorite, and it definitely lived up to the hype for me. Catherine and Michael have a rough road to travel to find their HEA, but I think it only made them a stronger couple in the end. They're very well-suited for one another. Both have kind, compassionate natures. Both have a moral code that they've chosen to live by and don't deviate from that, which gave me a lot of respect for them. They're also both very intelligent and brave people, who think their way out of difficult situations and show courage and determination in the face of adversity. I loved them both as individual characters and as a couple. The story takes a little different track than most romances. It begins with Catherine asking Michael to impersonate her husband. Then it quickly backtracks to their meetings during the war. Nearly the first half of the book is about their time in Brussels together and the building of their friendship that led to Catherine making her request. This part was perhaps a tad bit slow. Because of their mutual determination not to turn their relationship into an affair, nothing of a real romantic nature takes place between them at that point. But there is a strong longing on both their parts, and when Michael is wounded and Catherine fights so hard to save him, I really started to feel their emotions for one another. Once we get back to their present situation with her needing a temporary husband, things really started to pick up. There's romance aplenty as they gradually give in to their feelings and secrets start to come out. Their first love scene was sheer perfection. Then there's the suspense portion of the plot with the dastardly cousin doing his worst, but Michael and Catherine work as a united front to both stay alive and bring an end to his perfidy. All the elements came together to make this a wonderful story. It's one of the best romances I've read in a while and it's left me looking forward to the final two books of the series, which are about Michael's friend, Kenneth, and his brother, Stephen.

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Mary Jo Putney

Themes

Amazing Animals
Babies & Children
Doctors, Nurses, & Medical Professionals
Friends Before Lovers
Men in Uniform - Military
Reunion Stories