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Angel Christmas
In the true spirit of the season, these five Christmas romances--heartwarming, humorous and deeply romantic--all result from intervention on high and evoke the true meaning of the holiday season. Authors include Mary Balogh, Marilyn Campbell, Carole Nelson Douglas, Emma Merritt, and Patricia Rice.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
124 people want to read
About the author
Carole Nelson Douglas
167 books567 followersCarole Nelson Douglas is the author of sixty-four award-winning novels in contemporary and historical mystery/suspense and romance, high and urban fantasy and science fiction genres. She is best known for two popular mystery series, the Irene Adler Sherlockian historical suspense series (she was the first woman to spin-off a series from the Holmes stories) and the multi-award-winning alphabetically titled Midnight Louie contemporary mystery series. From Cat in an Alphabet Soup #1 to Cat in an Alphabet Endgame #28.
Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series: Dancing With Werewolves, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise, Silver Zombie, and Virtual Virgin. Now Delilah has moved from her paranormal Vegas to Midnight Louie, feline PI's "Slightly surreal" Vegas to solve crimes in the first book of the new Cafe Noir series, Absinthe Without Leave. Next in 2020, Brandi Alexander on the Rocks.
Once Upon a Midnight Noir is out in eBook and trade paperback versions. This author-designed and illustrated collection of three mystery stories with a paranormal twist and a touch of romance features two award-winning stories featuring Midnight Louie, feline PI and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in a supernatural-run Las Vegas. A third story completes the last unfinished story fragment of Edgar Allan Poe, as a Midnight Louie Past Life adventure set in 1790 Norland on a isolated island lighthouse. Louie is a soldier of fortune, a la Puss in Boots.
Next out are Midnight Louie's Cat in an Alphabet Endgame in hardcover, trade paperback and eBook Aug. 23, 2016.
All the Irene Adler novels, the first to feature a woman from the Sherlock Holmes Canon as a crime solver, are now available in eBook.
Carole was a college theater and English literature major. She was accepted for grad school in Theater at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University, and could have worked as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine (a la The Devil Wears Prada) but wanted a job closer to home. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." Midnight Louie has now had 32 novelistic lives and features in several short stories as well.
Hollywood and Broadway director, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Garson Kanin took Carole's first novel to his publisher on the basis of an interview/article she'd done with him five years earlier. "My friend Phil Silvers," he wrote, "would say he'd never won an interview yet, but he had never had the luck of you."
Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance with mainstream issues, especially the roles of women.
Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series: Dancing With Werewolves, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise, Silver Zombie, and Virtual Virgin. Now Delilah has moved from her paranormal Vegas to Midnight Louie, feline PI's "Slightly surreal" Vegas to solve crimes in the first book of the new Cafe Noir series, Absinthe Without Leave. Next in 2020, Brandi Alexander on the Rocks.
Once Upon a Midnight Noir is out in eBook and trade paperback versions. This author-designed and illustrated collection of three mystery stories with a paranormal twist and a touch of romance features two award-winning stories featuring Midnight Louie, feline PI and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in a supernatural-run Las Vegas. A third story completes the last unfinished story fragment of Edgar Allan Poe, as a Midnight Louie Past Life adventure set in 1790 Norland on a isolated island lighthouse. Louie is a soldier of fortune, a la Puss in Boots.
Next out are Midnight Louie's Cat in an Alphabet Endgame in hardcover, trade paperback and eBook Aug. 23, 2016.
All the Irene Adler novels, the first to feature a woman from the Sherlock Holmes Canon as a crime solver, are now available in eBook.
Carole was a college theater and English literature major. She was accepted for grad school in Theater at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University, and could have worked as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine (a la The Devil Wears Prada) but wanted a job closer to home. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." Midnight Louie has now had 32 novelistic lives and features in several short stories as well.
Hollywood and Broadway director, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Garson Kanin took Carole's first novel to his publisher on the basis of an interview/article she'd done with him five years earlier. "My friend Phil Silvers," he wrote, "would say he'd never won an interview yet, but he had never had the luck of you."
Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance with mainstream issues, especially the roles of women.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 27, 2019
I picked up this book to read "Guarded by Angels" by Mary Balogh.
June Nichols is on her way to a relative's home for Christmas when her carriage breaks down. June sets out on foot since it is only a couple of miles to her destination. But a sudden snowstorm leaves her disoriented until she is found by an old woman who takes June into her home. She is only there a short time when a little boy leads in a man covered in snow. This man turns out to be Elliot Nichols, June's estranged husband. They have not seen each other in five years. Now they are stuck together for the holidays.
I wasn't very thrilled with this one. It has angels helping a couple get back together story. Nothing new here. My rating: 2 Stars.
June Nichols is on her way to a relative's home for Christmas when her carriage breaks down. June sets out on foot since it is only a couple of miles to her destination. But a sudden snowstorm leaves her disoriented until she is found by an old woman who takes June into her home. She is only there a short time when a little boy leads in a man covered in snow. This man turns out to be Elliot Nichols, June's estranged husband. They have not seen each other in five years. Now they are stuck together for the holidays.
I wasn't very thrilled with this one. It has angels helping a couple get back together story. Nothing new here. My rating: 2 Stars.
December 8, 2008
I actually got this anthology because of Mary Balogh’s story and now that I’ve finished it only Balogh’s and Rice’s stories were worth it imho. The stories are very different in style and set in different periods, what is common is that there are guardian angels in all of them.
Carole Nelson Douglas – Catch a Falling Star
This story had an interesting premise, a young man dies but before being qualified to go to hell (yes to hell) he must do a bad deed before being considered worth. He jumps in time from regency England, where he was a young lord, to nowadays US, where he is a rock star, with the mission of seducing a young girl who is one of his fans. Predictably he can’t do it and his saved by the love he founds and by the presence of his guardian angel. Although the story was original the characters lacked some uniqueness to truly stand out. Grade: 3/5
Marilyn Campbell - The Trouble with Angelina
A modern day tale with a young widow, mother of 3 children, and regular do gooder being approached by the city mayor due to the interference of his dead grandfather and guardian angel. I found Angelina, the widow, a bit annoying and not even the author’s attempts at humour with her character made her more interesting to me. The story was also too rushed with the mayor spending the entire story unsuccessfully trying to woo her and ending up proposing marriage while they still have to get to know each other. Grade: 2/5
Emma Merritt – Brush of Angel Wings
Also a forgettable tale of old lovers reuniting after a few years. He feels guilty of her husband death in an accident, she feels guilty that she never loved her husband as she loved him. Her daughter wants a new father and is quite happy when they get together but they seem to be as stubborn as in the past and I’m not sure that in the future they will want the same things. Grade: 2/5
Patricia Rice – Tin Angel
This one was actually a pleasant surprise with a young lord mourning the death of his brother and feeling unworthy and his guardian angel trying to show him that he does make a difference to the people around him. She recognises that he is lonely and vows to find him a good match. The only bad thing for me was how that resolution come about, I want my angels to stay angels, but despite that it was a very nice and heart warming story, Grade: 4/5
Mary Balogh – Guarded by Angels
Another reunion story as Viscount Garrett and his wife who have been separated for almost as long as they have been married are forced to spend Christmas in an old cottage with an old woman and her grandson. While it was a satisfactory tale and in fact the best of the book as Balogh has a knack has a talent to write well rounded characters even in short stories, I missed the angst she usually brings to her reunion tales. Grade: 4.5/5
Carole Nelson Douglas – Catch a Falling Star
This story had an interesting premise, a young man dies but before being qualified to go to hell (yes to hell) he must do a bad deed before being considered worth. He jumps in time from regency England, where he was a young lord, to nowadays US, where he is a rock star, with the mission of seducing a young girl who is one of his fans. Predictably he can’t do it and his saved by the love he founds and by the presence of his guardian angel. Although the story was original the characters lacked some uniqueness to truly stand out. Grade: 3/5
Marilyn Campbell - The Trouble with Angelina
A modern day tale with a young widow, mother of 3 children, and regular do gooder being approached by the city mayor due to the interference of his dead grandfather and guardian angel. I found Angelina, the widow, a bit annoying and not even the author’s attempts at humour with her character made her more interesting to me. The story was also too rushed with the mayor spending the entire story unsuccessfully trying to woo her and ending up proposing marriage while they still have to get to know each other. Grade: 2/5
Emma Merritt – Brush of Angel Wings
Also a forgettable tale of old lovers reuniting after a few years. He feels guilty of her husband death in an accident, she feels guilty that she never loved her husband as she loved him. Her daughter wants a new father and is quite happy when they get together but they seem to be as stubborn as in the past and I’m not sure that in the future they will want the same things. Grade: 2/5
Patricia Rice – Tin Angel
This one was actually a pleasant surprise with a young lord mourning the death of his brother and feeling unworthy and his guardian angel trying to show him that he does make a difference to the people around him. She recognises that he is lonely and vows to find him a good match. The only bad thing for me was how that resolution come about, I want my angels to stay angels, but despite that it was a very nice and heart warming story, Grade: 4/5
Mary Balogh – Guarded by Angels
Another reunion story as Viscount Garrett and his wife who have been separated for almost as long as they have been married are forced to spend Christmas in an old cottage with an old woman and her grandson. While it was a satisfactory tale and in fact the best of the book as Balogh has a knack has a talent to write well rounded characters even in short stories, I missed the angst she usually brings to her reunion tales. Grade: 4.5/5
December 17, 2017
From the back cover:
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL by Carole Nelson Douglas
To prove he's bad enough for hell, a devilish rogue becomes a rock star out to ruin an innocent young girl--unless he gets foiled by some Yuletide magic.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS by Emma Merritt
A little girl prays to her special angel for a daddy, and a Texas Ranger returns to his hometown for the holidays in hopes of rekindling the passion he once shared with her mother--his first love.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA by Marilyn Campbell
It takes a little angel mischief to unite a handsome young major and a fiery widow by Christmas.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice
A goodhearted, though skeptical, hero learns the joy of Christmas when he falls in love with an angel sent to make him believe in miracles.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh
When a mysterious old lady and her young grandson offer their cottage to an estranged couple who got lost during a blizzard, it's a gift that will last a lifetime.
And my review:
The anthology is linked by the common theme of falling in love at Christams time, with a little help from angels. Apart from that, the stories are vastly different. Some are historical, some are contemporary. Some involve the angel falling in love; in other stories, the angels are merely helpers to bring others together. Since the back cover descriptions are very brief, I'll also include a basic plot synposis along with my own personal thoughts.
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL is a story a bit on the darker side. It spans both historical and contemporary time periods. The hero (from historical times) has died and is unworthy of heaven, but is also not evil enough to get into hell. To gain acceptance into hell (heaven is out of the question by this point), the hero is sent back to earth (into modern times) with a chance to (un)redeem himself by ruining a virgin. However, he ends up falling in love with the woman he is supposed to ruin.
I didn't really like the darker aspect of this story, and some parts of it didn't flow well. It was to the point when I ended up having to reread several pages to make sense of what was going on. That shouldn't happen. I managed to finish this novella, but it isn't one I'd bother to read again. Three stars.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS is a contemporary that had a lot going for it. I love reconcilliation stories. In this one, the couple broke up when she wanted him to make a commitment to her. He wanted to chase his dream of being in the rodeo. By the time he realized that she was worth more to him, she'd gotten engaged to his cousin. Now she is a widow, and her daughter wants a new daddy for Christmas, and the hero wants the only woman he's ever loved back.
Unfortunately, this one needed better editing. The writing did not flow well. The point of view was all over the place. I had a hard time sorting out which thoughts belonged to which character. I think there was a good story in there trying to get out, but the writing made it very difficult to read or get drawn into. Two stars.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA is a contemporary with a dash of comedy. It is an offbeat story about a deceased grandfather, who is now a guardian angel, trying to secure a wife for his grandson. Hi-jinks ensue as this angel uses unorthodox methods (including sending a forklift tire flying across several lanes of traffic to crush the heroine's bike) to throw the two prospective lovebirds together.
This was another good story that was marred by the writing style. Again, it didn't flow well, and I often had to reread sections to make sense of them. Also, there was so much dialogue without prose that sometimes I had a hard time figuring out who was talking. I had to go back and count the lines of type to sort it all out. Also, there were a lot of basic grammar mistakes, and that's something that really gets under my skin. For instance, two women are in the same scene, yet the writer uses "her" without making it clear which woman is being referred to. Maybe I should blame the editor for not catching that one, but even so, this was not a story I could get into. Two stars.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice is a historical. This is a story of an angel falling in love with a human. A plot that's been done before, but one that remains very popular.
Again, I didn't like the writing style with this one. There were a lot of big sections of history that read like a textbook. I read romance for the relationship, not for a history lesson. That's what textbooks are for. This story also suffered from an inbalance between prose and dialogue, but this time, the problem was too much prose. There were big sections without any dialogue, and the story was slow going. Not that I have a problem with prose, but it needs to move the story along. Unfortunately, here is just dragged. I was unable to get drawn into the story and unable to force myself to finish it. Two stars.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh is another historical, and the best story in the book. In it, an estranged husband and wife end up stranded in a snowstorm. They are taken in by a woman and her grandson, and learn to resolve their differences and fall in love again.
I never know what to expect with Mary Balogh. I have adored some of her stories and hated others. But this one was a winner. The paranormal aspect of it was beautifully done. It was never too heavy-handed, yet you really felt the presence of the angels. The issues that had estranged the husband and wife were way more than just silly misunderstandings. They were real issues, and were resolved well, not just rushed through. It's difficult to deal with real relationship obstacles in a full-length novel, let alone in less than 80 pages, yet Mary Balogh manages it, and does so beautifully. I can see why she is called a master of the genre.
I loved the characters, and was really rooting for them. Again, I was amazed that the author could create such well-rounded characters in so little space, but she did. They had just enough flaws to make them real people, yet they weren't so overly flawed as to make them unlikeable. That's a difficult balance to achieve, but this author does so with ease.
I can't say enough good about GUARDED BY ANGELS. I loved it! This is a story I will be keeping to read over and over again. Five stars!
While most of the stories were not very absorbing or memorable, Mary Balogh's more than makes up for it. Recommended for her story alone.
Reread December 2013, 2015, 2016
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL by Carole Nelson Douglas
To prove he's bad enough for hell, a devilish rogue becomes a rock star out to ruin an innocent young girl--unless he gets foiled by some Yuletide magic.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS by Emma Merritt
A little girl prays to her special angel for a daddy, and a Texas Ranger returns to his hometown for the holidays in hopes of rekindling the passion he once shared with her mother--his first love.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA by Marilyn Campbell
It takes a little angel mischief to unite a handsome young major and a fiery widow by Christmas.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice
A goodhearted, though skeptical, hero learns the joy of Christmas when he falls in love with an angel sent to make him believe in miracles.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh
When a mysterious old lady and her young grandson offer their cottage to an estranged couple who got lost during a blizzard, it's a gift that will last a lifetime.
And my review:
The anthology is linked by the common theme of falling in love at Christams time, with a little help from angels. Apart from that, the stories are vastly different. Some are historical, some are contemporary. Some involve the angel falling in love; in other stories, the angels are merely helpers to bring others together. Since the back cover descriptions are very brief, I'll also include a basic plot synposis along with my own personal thoughts.
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL is a story a bit on the darker side. It spans both historical and contemporary time periods. The hero (from historical times) has died and is unworthy of heaven, but is also not evil enough to get into hell. To gain acceptance into hell (heaven is out of the question by this point), the hero is sent back to earth (into modern times) with a chance to (un)redeem himself by ruining a virgin. However, he ends up falling in love with the woman he is supposed to ruin.
I didn't really like the darker aspect of this story, and some parts of it didn't flow well. It was to the point when I ended up having to reread several pages to make sense of what was going on. That shouldn't happen. I managed to finish this novella, but it isn't one I'd bother to read again. Three stars.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS is a contemporary that had a lot going for it. I love reconcilliation stories. In this one, the couple broke up when she wanted him to make a commitment to her. He wanted to chase his dream of being in the rodeo. By the time he realized that she was worth more to him, she'd gotten engaged to his cousin. Now she is a widow, and her daughter wants a new daddy for Christmas, and the hero wants the only woman he's ever loved back.
Unfortunately, this one needed better editing. The writing did not flow well. The point of view was all over the place. I had a hard time sorting out which thoughts belonged to which character. I think there was a good story in there trying to get out, but the writing made it very difficult to read or get drawn into. Two stars.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA is a contemporary with a dash of comedy. It is an offbeat story about a deceased grandfather, who is now a guardian angel, trying to secure a wife for his grandson. Hi-jinks ensue as this angel uses unorthodox methods (including sending a forklift tire flying across several lanes of traffic to crush the heroine's bike) to throw the two prospective lovebirds together.
This was another good story that was marred by the writing style. Again, it didn't flow well, and I often had to reread sections to make sense of them. Also, there was so much dialogue without prose that sometimes I had a hard time figuring out who was talking. I had to go back and count the lines of type to sort it all out. Also, there were a lot of basic grammar mistakes, and that's something that really gets under my skin. For instance, two women are in the same scene, yet the writer uses "her" without making it clear which woman is being referred to. Maybe I should blame the editor for not catching that one, but even so, this was not a story I could get into. Two stars.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice is a historical. This is a story of an angel falling in love with a human. A plot that's been done before, but one that remains very popular.
Again, I didn't like the writing style with this one. There were a lot of big sections of history that read like a textbook. I read romance for the relationship, not for a history lesson. That's what textbooks are for. This story also suffered from an inbalance between prose and dialogue, but this time, the problem was too much prose. There were big sections without any dialogue, and the story was slow going. Not that I have a problem with prose, but it needs to move the story along. Unfortunately, here is just dragged. I was unable to get drawn into the story and unable to force myself to finish it. Two stars.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh is another historical, and the best story in the book. In it, an estranged husband and wife end up stranded in a snowstorm. They are taken in by a woman and her grandson, and learn to resolve their differences and fall in love again.
I never know what to expect with Mary Balogh. I have adored some of her stories and hated others. But this one was a winner. The paranormal aspect of it was beautifully done. It was never too heavy-handed, yet you really felt the presence of the angels. The issues that had estranged the husband and wife were way more than just silly misunderstandings. They were real issues, and were resolved well, not just rushed through. It's difficult to deal with real relationship obstacles in a full-length novel, let alone in less than 80 pages, yet Mary Balogh manages it, and does so beautifully. I can see why she is called a master of the genre.
I loved the characters, and was really rooting for them. Again, I was amazed that the author could create such well-rounded characters in so little space, but she did. They had just enough flaws to make them real people, yet they weren't so overly flawed as to make them unlikeable. That's a difficult balance to achieve, but this author does so with ease.
I can't say enough good about GUARDED BY ANGELS. I loved it! This is a story I will be keeping to read over and over again. Five stars!
While most of the stories were not very absorbing or memorable, Mary Balogh's more than makes up for it. Recommended for her story alone.
Reread December 2013, 2015, 2016
Read
April 12, 2020read/own Balogh's Guarded by Angels in rerelease ebook Christmas Miracles
also includes:
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL by Carole Nelson Douglas
To prove he's bad enough for hell, a devilish rogue becomes a rock star out to ruin an innocent young girl--unless he gets foiled by some Yuletide magic.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS by Emma Merritt
A little girl prays to her special angel for a daddy, and a Texas Ranger returns to his hometown for the holidays in hopes of rekindling the passion he once shared with her mother--his first love.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA by Marilyn Campbell
It takes a little angel mischief to unite a handsome young major and a fiery widow by Christmas.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice
A goodhearted, though skeptical, hero learns the joy of Christmas when he falls in love with an angel sent to make him believe in miracles.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh
When a mysterious old lady and her young grandson offer their cottage to an estranged couple who got lost during a blizzard, it's a gift that will last a lifetime.
also includes:
CATCH A FALLING ANGEL by Carole Nelson Douglas
To prove he's bad enough for hell, a devilish rogue becomes a rock star out to ruin an innocent young girl--unless he gets foiled by some Yuletide magic.
BRUSH OF ANGEL WINGS by Emma Merritt
A little girl prays to her special angel for a daddy, and a Texas Ranger returns to his hometown for the holidays in hopes of rekindling the passion he once shared with her mother--his first love.
THE TROUBLE WITH ANGELINA by Marilyn Campbell
It takes a little angel mischief to unite a handsome young major and a fiery widow by Christmas.
TIN ANGEL by Patricia Rice
A goodhearted, though skeptical, hero learns the joy of Christmas when he falls in love with an angel sent to make him believe in miracles.
GUARDED BY ANGELS by Mary Balogh
When a mysterious old lady and her young grandson offer their cottage to an estranged couple who got lost during a blizzard, it's a gift that will last a lifetime.
April 3, 2020
Balogh - "Guarded by Angels"
November 25, 2017
There were only two readable stories in this anthology unfortunately, I had already read the one by Mary Balogh and the one by Patricia Rice could not save this book.
What a difference a year makes. There are three good stories in this book and I have update from two stars to three stars. Sometimes it's worth visiting a book you did not like just to see if it is better worse or the same as what you believed before.
I just read it again and I'm going to knock it down to two stars and I'm going to get rid of it there is only one good story and it's by Mary Balogh and I've already read it in like 8 other
What a difference a year makes. There are three good stories in this book and I have update from two stars to three stars. Sometimes it's worth visiting a book you did not like just to see if it is better worse or the same as what you believed before.
I just read it again and I'm going to knock it down to two stars and I'm going to get rid of it there is only one good story and it's by Mary Balogh and I've already read it in like 8 other
January 31, 2010
My rating is only based on Mary Balogh's story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews