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Charlie and the Angel
She was promised to God, until she met him.
Charlie Coltrain has been an outlaw since the end of the Civil War. For the past year he has been working an honest job as a trail hand. After he saves a postulate from a gang of marauders, he takes her to the nearest town, hoping to put her on a stage back to the convent. Unfortunately, their journey is sidetracked by the bounty hunters and the ranger on Charlie's trail, this time for a crime he didn't commit. He is fascinated by Angelina's innocence, but he believes he is too old and too broken to ever share her life.
Angelina is captivated by Charlie's unearthly beauty, and the pain she glimpses in his eyes. She decides it is her mission to save Charlie from himself. She flees with him to Mexico hoping to show him that there is still good in this world and in him. She is uncertain what to do with the new and confusing feelings she has for the man. Is the only way to save Charlie by ruining herself?
Charlie Coltrain has been an outlaw since the end of the Civil War. For the past year he has been working an honest job as a trail hand. After he saves a postulate from a gang of marauders, he takes her to the nearest town, hoping to put her on a stage back to the convent. Unfortunately, their journey is sidetracked by the bounty hunters and the ranger on Charlie's trail, this time for a crime he didn't commit. He is fascinated by Angelina's innocence, but he believes he is too old and too broken to ever share her life.
Angelina is captivated by Charlie's unearthly beauty, and the pain she glimpses in his eyes. She decides it is her mission to save Charlie from himself. She flees with him to Mexico hoping to show him that there is still good in this world and in him. She is uncertain what to do with the new and confusing feelings she has for the man. Is the only way to save Charlie by ruining herself?
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1995
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Lori Handeland
122 books1,347 followersLori Handeland is a five-time nominee and two-time winner of the prestigious RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over sixty novels spanning the genres of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, historical romance and historical fantasy.
After a quarter-century of success and accolades, she began a new chapter in her career with her women’s fiction debut, Just Once (Severn House, January 2019), which received a coveted, starred review from Library Journal and was optioned as a feature film by Catalyst Global Media.
Lori lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband of over thirty-five years. In between writing and reading, she enjoys long walks with their rescue mutt, Arnold, and visits from her two grown sons, awesome daughter-in-law and perfectly adorable grandchildren.
After a quarter-century of success and accolades, she began a new chapter in her career with her women’s fiction debut, Just Once (Severn House, January 2019), which received a coveted, starred review from Library Journal and was optioned as a feature film by Catalyst Global Media.
Lori lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband of over thirty-five years. In between writing and reading, she enjoys long walks with their rescue mutt, Arnold, and visits from her two grown sons, awesome daughter-in-law and perfectly adorable grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 16, 2014
2 ½ stars. It had some good parts, but overall it was forgettable. I wanted it to be over.
It’s an interesting idea. But it didn’t turn out to be anything special. Outlaw is on the run from bounty hunters. A lady is on her way to becoming a nun. He helps her. They fall in love. The first half was kind of good. They are drawn to each other, but they avoid sex because of her “to be a nun” status. That’s the source of the sexual tension keeping them apart. There is an attempted rape that is stopped.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 354 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Setting: 1875 Texas and Mexico. Copyright: 1995. Genre: western historical romance.
It’s an interesting idea. But it didn’t turn out to be anything special. Outlaw is on the run from bounty hunters. A lady is on her way to becoming a nun. He helps her. They fall in love. The first half was kind of good. They are drawn to each other, but they avoid sex because of her “to be a nun” status. That’s the source of the sexual tension keeping them apart. There is an attempted rape that is stopped.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 354 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 4. Setting: 1875 Texas and Mexico. Copyright: 1995. Genre: western historical romance.
April 17, 2012
One of the great things about being an ereader now is finding treasures and this one was a real treasure. As I mentioned, I loved her entries in the Rock Creek 6 series (also now available as ebooks). So I was very excited when I saw this one available.
Charlie Coltrain has led a rough life. He's been accused of killing someone he didn't though he did do a lot of bad things in the past. But he's an outlaw trying to go straight and outrun those who are after him. His life really starts spinning out of control when he saves Angelina Reyes, a postulant who wants to be a nun even though she is developing strong feelings for her rescuer.
Charlie is also developing feelings for Angelina but he knows there are too many strikes against him. She wants to be a nun, he's an outlaw who could be strung up anytime, he's much older, he's 37 to her 20, and he believes he's unsaleable. He's been told that all his life.
But Angelina refuses to give up on him. She knows he's done bad things but her strong faith convinces her he's worth saving. Combine that with the fact he rescued her from certain rape and death, she won't quit on him.
Charlie decides the safest thing is to take her back to her family in Mexico even though hers was not a happy family home. Her father was cold and autocratic and her mother never stood up to him.
So this mainly a road romance as Charlie and his Angel dodge capture. Normally I would be bothered by such a large age difference between hero/heroine, but Angelina was so convinced about Charlie, she made me buy into her belief too. As a fan of the tortured hero, I naturally loved Charlie. And despite her young age, she showed a nice level of maturity. Thankfully there were no TSTL moments and this book was a very nice book at a very nice price.
Charlie Coltrain has led a rough life. He's been accused of killing someone he didn't though he did do a lot of bad things in the past. But he's an outlaw trying to go straight and outrun those who are after him. His life really starts spinning out of control when he saves Angelina Reyes, a postulant who wants to be a nun even though she is developing strong feelings for her rescuer.
Charlie is also developing feelings for Angelina but he knows there are too many strikes against him. She wants to be a nun, he's an outlaw who could be strung up anytime, he's much older, he's 37 to her 20, and he believes he's unsaleable. He's been told that all his life.
But Angelina refuses to give up on him. She knows he's done bad things but her strong faith convinces her he's worth saving. Combine that with the fact he rescued her from certain rape and death, she won't quit on him.
Charlie decides the safest thing is to take her back to her family in Mexico even though hers was not a happy family home. Her father was cold and autocratic and her mother never stood up to him.
So this mainly a road romance as Charlie and his Angel dodge capture. Normally I would be bothered by such a large age difference between hero/heroine, but Angelina was so convinced about Charlie, she made me buy into her belief too. As a fan of the tortured hero, I naturally loved Charlie. And despite her young age, she showed a nice level of maturity. Thankfully there were no TSTL moments and this book was a very nice book at a very nice price.
February 25, 2015
A book from a pile I grabbed at a book sale. Many of the books didn't get read beyond a few pages. This one was a keeper. Yeah, some of the words used seemed to be off for the time period & one part bothered me - going to have a dry camp with no bonfire & then a few paragraphs later, he is staring into the fire - huh??
Something seemed a little off about the characters as I began the book. A little too 1-dimensional? Not sure - just seemed like some of things were a bit "off" between supposed past & way acting in present...
Overall, I did enjoy it a lot.
Something seemed a little off about the characters as I began the book. A little too 1-dimensional? Not sure - just seemed like some of things were a bit "off" between supposed past & way acting in present...
Overall, I did enjoy it a lot.
September 24, 2022
She is a nun in waiting (so to speak) and he is an ex outlaw trying to be good. He saves her from rape and she stays with him thinking that her quest is to help him. Someone is using his name to commit crimes and a bounty is placed on his head. A bounty hunter continuously tracks them to extract his revenge on the death of his beloved. HEA ending.
August 6, 2024
DNF at 35%
The book didn't keep my interest. Also, Angelina constantly changed her opinion about Charlie. It all depended on what she saw in his eyes, how she interpreted his facial expressions, etc. It was a constant back and forth with her.
Tropes: age gap (37/20), outlaw hero, postulate heroine, road trip, class differences.
The book didn't keep my interest. Also, Angelina constantly changed her opinion about Charlie. It all depended on what she saw in his eyes, how she interpreted his facial expressions, etc. It was a constant back and forth with her.
Tropes: age gap (37/20), outlaw hero, postulate heroine, road trip, class differences.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews