Angel Rogue

We first met Robin Andreville in Petals in the Storm. It was so hard to read about how he lost his longtime lover (and best friend) to a man who treated her poorly and betrayed her a dozen years before. Robin was dedicated, kind and caring, but was willing to let Maggie go to be with the man she loved (deserving or not, but that's a debate for THAT book). He was noble, honorable, good, and (as Rafe pointed out in PitS), he must be a very kind and compassionate lover to have been able to help Maggie overcome her past. But even then we knew he was troubled and I just longed for him to find happiness. Which leads us to Maxima (don't like the name, but so be it). Maxie is the half-Mowhawk, half-english daughter of a younger son of a noble family who grew up peddling books in the New England area of America. She is petite and exotically pretty, but treated as a "savage" by bigots who assume that all "Red Indians" are easy, immoral women. After the death of her father, she feels even more alone than she did as a motherless child with an irresponsible father. After overhearing a troubling conversation regarding the her father's death, she decides to go to London to investigate. Given that she has no money, she is willing to trek 200 miles on foot to get there (since she'd done things like that in America, it wasn't such a stretch for her). Robin and Maxie meet up almost immediately while he's resting on Wolverhampton land (his family's estate). He's been searching for meaning, for direction, to a way to end his melancholy and black spells that have been increasing since he returned to England after 13 years of spying against France. Maxie (literally) falling into his lap seems like the answer to his problems, or at least a distraction from them. Maxie doesn't really need a companion, but Robin is so charming and likable, that she can't help but enjoy his company. And it eventually becomes clear that he's an honorable man and will stick out the entire trip with her. He's actually pretty honest with her about who he is, but he allows her to believe that he's lying and that he is a thief or a wanderer, or a con-man, or something, despite his noble behavior. I really love the dynamics of this book. While there is attraction from the beginning, and passion in the early kisses, there is also respect and caring, even when there's still a small level of distrust/suspicion as to who Robin is and why he is the way he is. But then again, after so many years undercover, true honesty is hard to present. Maxie doesn't have the "missish" hangups of the English upper classes. She respects the more relaxed beliefs of her mother's people. So her behavior toward Robin is reasonable under the circumstances. I love that Robin isn't a stereotypical "tall dark and handsome" hero. He's average height, slightly built, a blond man with a distinctive reddish tint to his facial hair, and on a whole he looks pretty harmless. We soon find out THAT isn't true.

This is one of MJPs early Regency romances later expanded to Angel Rogue. I enjoy and have reread both versions. The plot is the same just the fleshing out and sensuality is more intense in Angel Rogue. The unusual heroine, Maxie, is half Native American and doesn't fit in too well with her British relatives at their country home and comes to suspect that her uncle is hiding something about her father's death. She decides to go to her other aunt in London and sets out on foot from the country estate. Robin, a retired spy, is restless on his brother's estate and not over distressing events in France. He encounters Maxie on the road and rather than whistling up a coach decides to accompany her in the persona of a footloose ne'er-do-well. Of course it is the duty of a good English family to protect their young women, even the strange half-Indian ones, and when Maxie's aunt shows up for an unexpected visit she immediately joins in the hunt and tracks Maxie far enough to find out that she is travelling with a known rogue and harangue Robin's brother about it. Add a determined Bow Street Runner and realize that they're hunting a slippery Indian girl and an equally slippery British spy. The plot has a great deal of humor along with a very believeable sober side. Maxie and Robin not only get to know each other but help each other with some tough issues. Enjoyable and memorable read.

I have never read a MJP book that wasn't simply wonderful. Even her contemporaries (which I don't really care for) deserve five stars. Angel Rogue is no exception, it is an unusual, beautiful love story that will leave you sighing long after you turned the last page.Lord Robert Andreville (Robin) has returned to England after a dozen years of spying for the British crown in the fight agaisnt Napoleon. He is weary in mind and spirit and tortured by memories of the past when he meets Maxima Collins. Maxie is an American with an unique heritage: she's half Mohawk and half English and she has come to England with her father who died shortly afterward. Maxie feels all alone in the world, she feels like an alien among her aristocratic English family. She also has reason to suspect foul play in her father's sudden death. So she decides to leave the country manor where she was staying with her uncle and travel to London masquerading as a boy to learn what she can about her father's last hours. She meets Robin on the way by literally falling over him. He is immediately taken by her exotic looks and unconventional ways. He decides to appoint himself her guardian and together they embark on a perilous journey during which Maxie teaches Robin to trust and let go of the past while falling irrevocably in love with him.Maxie is a delightful heroine, she is strong,intelligent and independent. No chin lifting, blushing, simpering heroines for MJP. She creates characters that are real, with credible issues and feelings that the reader can relate to. Robin is adorable and even though he's extremely drool-worthy I found it interesting that he's of average height. I had never before read about a hero in a romance novel that was less than a six footer so this was a refreshing change and made him seem more real to me. In short, this a great book and certainly another winner in MJP's long list of excellent romances. :)

When I first read this book, it was not my favorite in the Fallen Angel series - I liked Michael's story best. However, this book is one I keep coming back to and enjoy reading over again, which I did recently - hence the review.I agree with several other reviewers that the strength of this book is in the depth and development of the characters and their relationships. I especially enjoyed that between Robin and his brother Giles and the romance between Giles and Desdemona!It is refreshing to have characters with doubts and flaws and watch them deal with them; it is refreshing to have a very different heroine and watch her reaction to a "familiar" (to regency era fans) environment. Meeting characters from the other books once Robin and Maxie get to London, added greatly to my enjoyment.The plot line is not as action filled as the other books in this series, nor do outside events bring historical interest - so if that is what you seek in an "historcial", this book might disappoint.I do agree with another reviewer that the title is wrong - I always thought this book should have been titled "Listen to the Wind".

I've only recently discovered Mary Jo Putney and what a wonderful discovery she is! I've read all but one of the "Fallen Angel" series, and where each installment has characters that become near and dear, I have to say this was absolutely my favorite. The emotional rapport and sexual tension between Robin and Maxi is as intense as anything I've read by more steamy authors. And I love the way Ms. Putney interweves the other "Fallen Angels and their wives" into each new story. Just awesome!