Dancing on the Wind

This is the first book I have read by Mary Jo Putney, and it looks like I just discovered a new author.Ms. Putney seems to have done her research; at first I thought the premise of the book to be unbelievable in the extreme - but it seems that there was indeed a similar club in that time period! Well, there's something that I certainly didn't learn in school!The book is extremely well-written, the premise is original, the characters complex - everything I look for in a good book. If I found it a little too long - well, that's only because of my time crunch (I wanted to get to the end, already!) but that's hardly something to detract from a book when it's this well written. It seems to me that Ms. Putney is one of those writers where you feel as if every word she put down on paper was meant to be there - that, combined with a daring and original story makes her one of the best.You can't help feeling for Kit, and, although another reviewer found it odd that she would go to such great lengths to help her sister, I don't find it odd, but rather touching - and rare. I also did not find the "twin thing" unbelievable as other reviewers did - these things really do happen in real life (both that she "found" another twin, and that she could "feel" what her twin is feeling - at least to some degree). In short, if what you are looking for is good writing, an original and daring plot, with a touch of the dark side thrown in - this is the book for you.

Mary Jo Putney is better than any romance author I know at creating unique and exciting characters for each of her books. I particularly loved Lucien and Kit in this book. Lucien will be familiar to readers of the Fallen Angel series as the group's mysterious and aloof spymaster. While investigating the Hellfire Club he repeatedly runs into an elusive woman who appears in a variety of guises and to whom he is immediately attracted. Unlike many heros in romance novels, he is not a rake which makes his attraction to the mystery woman even more compelling. Lucien eventually discovers that the woman is "Kit" Travers and unravels her story - she is searching for her lost twin. The adventure that follows is very imaginative and unique, and the romance is particularly poignant. All of the Fallen Angels stand on their own very well - you can start with this one or with any one in the series. Be forewarned - once you start you'll want to have them all.

Having met Lucien, Lord Strathmore, in Thunder and Roses (where he was a very sympathetic and likeable character), and again in Petals in the Storm, it was a treat to read his own story and to discover what it was which led him to choose his lonely, covert path as a spymaster. Putney has created another wonderfully complex character in the apparently indolent rakish aristocrat who is really a man of superb intelligence and courage.Kit, too, is an intriguing and daring heroine, a worthy mate for 'Lucifer.' Her early encounters with Lucien are fascinating and leave the reader wanting to know more about her, never mind what Lucien wants! Attraction flares between them from a very early stage, despite the fact that each is suspicious of the other; one touch I love is the early scene where Kit, while distrusting Lucien, actually saves his life. As usual with Putney's Fallen Angels series, other Angels play minor roles: Rafe appears briefly at the start - and incidentally, though this book follows Petals in the Storm, it is set chronologically before it - and Michael is briefly involved near the end, thus making readers all the more impatient for Michael's own story. New characters are also likeable and intriguing: Kit's cousin Jason Travers, for instance.And as usual, Putney's research is impeccable. The Hellfire Club was a well-known gentlemen's organisation in the late eighteenth century, infamous for its fondness for alcohol, women and devil-worship. The Hellions in this story are certainly a credible 'spin-off' from the original Hellfire Club. Now for Angel Rogue....

Dancing on the Wind is truly a most captivating book whose characters come alive and steal a place in your heart. The plot is unique and the characters amazing. A definite must to all historical romance lovers.

Mary Jo Putney is one of the finest contemporary writers of historical romance, together with Mary Balogh and Edith Layton, though her output is more consistent than Layton's. Dancing on the Wind is one of her very best, and extremely original in that most of it is written from the male point of view. The reader shares Lucien's growing fascination with an unusual, elusive woman who fools him time and again. When they finally get together in a memorable scene around the middle of the book, Lucien and Kit make a terrific team, and thus manage to overcome some diabolically vicious enemies