Saturday, November 30, 2013

New Review: Meagan McKinney’s WHEN ANGELS FALL – A great Victorian Bodice Ripper with a Tortured Hero and a Magnificent Heroine

I guess I should say at the outset that I am a fan of McKinney's historical romance novels. This one, set in 1855 (prologue in 1850), is a wonderful, well-told story of how the wounds from the past keep us from embracing the future we might have. And it kept me up late reading till I finished it, which is always a good sign. Oh, yes, it’s a bodice ripper, too.

Five years ago, Elizabeth (“Lissa”) Alcester, daughter of wealthy landed gentry, gave her heart to her father’s stable boy, Ivan Tramore, the bastard son of a marquis. But in those five years, their lives were to change dramatically. Lissa would become impoverished and responsible for her blind sister and her young brother, and Ivan would become his father’s only heir, now the rich, powerful and ruthless Marquis of Powerscourt.

Ivan remembers Lissa and the kiss he stole from her. He will have her as his mistress but first he will have his revenge. It appears from all his actions that he is out to destroy her, to send her suitors away and to make her life a disaster, but he cannot resist the only woman he has ever truly wanted.

McKinney keeps you on the edge of your seat as you follow the ups and downs in Lissa’s life. She is a brave and worthy heroine, one you will come to love. Always trying to do what is right by her family, she is often thwarted by Ivan’s manipulation in the background. It all comes together in the end for a satisfying culmination to a difficult beginning between two people scarred by life. McKinney has done her research for the period and the descriptions are well done. I recommend it!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review Regan. It will go on my list to read in 2014. I, too, like this type of historical romance. It needs to say more to me than just a lustful connection.

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    1. Dear Anonymous, I'm glad the review helped you. I do like McKinney and many of her books are on my best lists (you can access them on the right of my blog). I'll be doing a new Best Bodice Rippers list in 2014 and this one will be on it.

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