Emily and the Dark Angel

I have only read a few Jo Beverley's so far, but when I found this out of print and hard to find regency at the paperback section of the library, I could not resist. As always for this author, this is a novel that is very well done. The tone is very serious, as is also usual for Ms. Beverley, and her book is well-written, and well plotted, with very real-like characters - in short, a top-notch Regency. But, make no mistake - this is a true Regency, so that if you dislike the Regency format, you may not find this novel much to you liking either. Emily is on the way home from a business transaction of buying a flock of sheep (in proxy for her father, because he is paralyzed as a result of an ill-advised duel), when she meets up with her "dark angel" - - who is on the way home from his paramour's house. She actually gets to witness a volatile "good-bye" scene between x and his mistress - and gets caught in the melee against her will. He courteously walks her home against her protests - and against her better judgment. The more she finds out about this "dark angel" the more she realizes that this is a person she would be best off having nothing to do with - but there is a part of her that can't help thinking about him - and can't help wondering - is he as black as he's painted? The simple answer does seem to be yes. Ms. Beverley has taken a rather common-place plot - the innocent and the rake (hence the title Emily and the Dark Angel), and in this book, she has given it a new face. There are not too many ways to reform a rake - one of the easiest and the path most traveled is that he wasn't much of a rake to begin with. But in this story, we are assured that our hero is very much a rake - possibly a villain, even. Yes, he's every bit as black as he's painted, and Emily is every bit as innocent as she seems - but is black black? Is what society perceives as black really black? Or perhaps black is really white... and in Ms. Beverley's capable hands, it does seem that way... I happen to particularly love a story about someone who does the right thing, yet in an unconventional way, and in a way that is censored by society. I also like a book about someone who was hurt, and uses that as a springboard to develop a passion for justice, for right and wrong - another element of this story. On the other hand, much of this story centers around hunting - this is set in Devonshire in the hunting season, and hunting is indeed very much part of the story. I have never come in contact with any aspect English hunting, I don't particularly have any interest in hunting, and if I were to see it up close I would probably have even less interest. I understand that the English do have a passion for hunting - but I am the reader, and I found that part of the story not interesting for me. I also found Emily's innocence a little much - while this is very realistic for that time period, and this does make for some very funny scenes ("pudding" comes to mind

Emily and the Dark Angel is one of Jo Beverley's earliest books, and is part of a series which began with Lord Wraybourne's Betrothal, and continued with The Stanforth Secret and The Stolen Bride. Not knowing that these books were linked, I read Emily... before Stanforth; I hope that by listing the order here other readers may be helped. (And I hope that some day I can find a copy of The Stolen Bride; I want to read Randal and Sophie's story!)Emily is a spinster, in her late twenties, who has been looking after her invalid father for many years. Since her soldier brother was posted as missing, believed killed in combat, she has also been running the family estate. Her home is on the edge of Melton Mowbray, a very popular area with the hunting fraternity, situated as it is in the centre of several hunts. (This is the one thing I dislike about the book: I loathe foxhunting).Piers Verderan, known as Ver to his friends, is there for the hunting, and because he's just inherited the estate next to Emily's. They meet first just as he's been ejected from his (ex-)mistress's establishment, colliding with Emily just as they're both showered in poudre des violettes. Ver offers to escort Emily to her destination, since the collision has damaged the heel of her boot.She doesn't trust him; and why should she? He's called the Dark Angel for a reason; he is likened to Lucifer. Stories about his criminality and dastardliness abound. And yet he is kind, he comes to her rescue on several occasions, and he makes her feel good about herself for the first time in many years. He makes her feel desirable. He tells her that he loves her.But can Emily believe a man who has a reputation for breaking hearts and never remaining faithful to a woman; a man who is reputed to have abandoned his own mother to a life of poverty? Can she be brave enough to listen to her heart above the warnings of her brain and members of her family?Emily and Ver are hugely likeable characters, both with enough emotional depth to hold my interest. There are also some great secondary characters, including some I really want to read about: Lord Randal Ashby appears in this book, with his wife Sophie (and I want to read their story!), and Emily's brother Marcus looks as if he could benefit from a book of his own. Note to self: check if Beverley ever did write Marcus's story...Highly recommended, if you can get hold of it! wmr-uk

Emily and the Dark Angel is one of Jo Beverley's earliest books, and is part of a series which began with Lord Wraybourne's Betrothal, and continued with The Stanforth Secret and The Stolen Bride. Not knowing that these books were linked, I read Emily... before Stanforth; I hope that by listing the order here other readers may be helped. (And I hope that some day I can find a copy of The Stolen Bride; I want to read Randal and Sophie's story!)Emily is a spinster, in her late twenties, who has been looking after her invalid father for many years. Since her soldier brother was posted as missing, believed killed in combat, she has also been running the family estate. Her home is on the edge of Melton Mowbray, a very popular area with the hunting fraternity, situated as it is in the centre of several hunts. (This is the one thing I dislike about the book: I loathe foxhunting).Piers Verderan, known as Ver to his friends, is there for the hunting, and because he's just inherited the estate next to Emily's. They meet first just as he's been ejected from his (ex-)mistress's establishment, colliding with Emily just as they're both showered in poudre des violettes. Ver offers to escort Emily to her destination, since the collision has damaged the heel of her boot.She doesn't trust him; and why should she? He's called the Dark Angel for a reason; he is likened to Lucifer. Stories about his criminality and dastardliness abound. And yet he is kind, he comes to her rescue on several occasions, and he makes her feel good about herself for the first time in many years. He makes her feel desirable. He tells her that he loves her.But can Emily believe a man who has a reputation for breaking hearts and never remaining faithful to a woman; a man who is reputed to have abandoned his own mother to a life of poverty? Can she be brave enough to listen to her heart above the warnings of her brain and members of her family?Emily and Ver are hugely likeable characters, both with enough emotional depth to hold my interest. There are also some great secondary characters, including some I really want to read about: Lord Randal Ashby appears in this book, with his wife Sophie (and I want to read their story!), and Emily's brother Marcus looks as if he could benefit from a book of his own. Note to self: check if Beverley ever did write Marcus's story...Highly recommended, if you can get hold of it!

Emily is a twenty-six year old spinster "past her last prayers" who keeps the house and property for a cranky and crippled father and hopeds for the return of her brother from the war. Then she bumps into Piers Verderan, the "Dark Angel" from Beverly's THE STOLEN BRIDE. He's "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." She's good, respectable, and quitetly opinionated. Together under the influence of violet power and sago pudding, she tries to coax him into respecabilty, and he tries to talk her into walking on the wild side. In the end, he leaves it up to her to take a chance and to do something out of the ordinary. The letter he writes her is one of the most tender and beautiful I've ever read. This is a romatic, funny, wonderful book, and everyone should read it.

I couldn't agree more with what the reviewer dkamps from Tucson, AZ wrote on November 29, 1999. I have also read a zillion regency romances and found Emily & the Dark Angel to be an absolute gem. It's just so funny. I love the whole pudding bit. Best of all the characters like each other from the beginning. None of that miserable anguish stuff. I was lucky enough to find my copy at the local library, but if I ever come across it, I'll buy it.