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Fallen Angel
Nicholas is intrigued by the woman who saves his life and then vanishes. Queries as to her identity turn up the name of Brenna Stanhope, but every attempt to contact this beautiful lady is rebuffed. Brenna has a dark secret she must keep buried, so she has built a world about herself where she avoids all male advances. Against her better judgement, this determined man keeps breaking through. Could she risk harming Nicholas's reputation by lowering her guard?
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 12, 2005
8 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Sophia James
175 books126 followersGeorgette Heyer novels formed Sophia James' reading tastes as a teenager, but her writing life only started when she was given a pile of Mills & Boons to read after she had had her wisdom teeth extracted! Filled with strong painkillers, she imagined that she could pen one, too. Many drafts later, Sophia thinks she has the perfect job writing for Harlequin Historical, as well as taking art tours to Europe with her husband, who is a painter.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 23, 2018
The h’s mother sold her to a couple who owned a brothel when she was a day old. She was rescued by her uncle when she was 12. When the H finds out he talks as if she worked as a prostitute. She left the brothel when she was 12 .How could she have been working as a prostitute? He leaves her even tho, just before he forces the truth out of her, she’s been attacked in her bedroom by an mask man. They don’t even talk about why someone attacked her!
The H leaves for India for 6 months bemoaning the fact that he can’t marry her now that she’s spoiled goods.
When he comes back he has had time to think. Now he wants her as a mistress. She objects. Then events happen that makes them marry anyway. Now the H seems to,all of a sudden, understand that she’s afraid of intimacy and lets her have time before they consummate the marriage. When they finely do the deed (at the end of the book) the H finds out she is a virgin. Apparently her brothel foster parents only made her watch sexual acts and used her to threaten the other prostitutes. Its is never explained why. In fact noting about the h’s childhood is explained, except that she was abusively whipped since she has scars on her back. It felt like nothing about her family was resolved. I wold have liked a confrontation with the mother who sold her. We get to know why she was sold and that the mother became mentally unstable after (because of gilt?) but why was she sold to the brothel people? Did the mother know about the brothel? I was left with many questions.
One unanswered star
The H leaves for India for 6 months bemoaning the fact that he can’t marry her now that she’s spoiled goods.
When he comes back he has had time to think. Now he wants her as a mistress. She objects. Then events happen that makes them marry anyway. Now the H seems to,all of a sudden, understand that she’s afraid of intimacy and lets her have time before they consummate the marriage. When they finely do the deed (at the end of the book) the H finds out she is a virgin. Apparently her brothel foster parents only made her watch sexual acts and used her to threaten the other prostitutes. Its is never explained why. In fact noting about the h’s childhood is explained, except that she was abusively whipped since she has scars on her back. It felt like nothing about her family was resolved. I wold have liked a confrontation with the mother who sold her. We get to know why she was sold and that the mother became mentally unstable after (because of gilt?) but why was she sold to the brothel people? Did the mother know about the brothel? I was left with many questions.
One unanswered star
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2013
Grade: C+
The happy couple...
Nicholas Pencarrow is the Duke of Westbourne. Brenna Stanhope is the mysterious young woman who saves his life and then disappears.
The set-up...
The duke relentlessly tracks down his rescuer, and when he finds her managing a London orphanage, he refuses to take no for an answer.
The conflicts...
Brenna has a Tragic Past. The duke won’t take no for an answer.
The romance...
During the first two-thirds of the book, Nicholas is a typical infatuated rake, and Brenna falls for his charms. But then for some unknown reason, he crosses the line into stalking and obsession.
The recommendation...
The hero veering off into alphahole territory derailed what could have been a really good debut.
“He’s the problem, don’t you see? I can’t love him and I can’t not love him, and he won’t let me stand up any place in between.”
The happy couple...
Nicholas Pencarrow is the Duke of Westbourne. Brenna Stanhope is the mysterious young woman who saves his life and then disappears.
The set-up...
The duke relentlessly tracks down his rescuer, and when he finds her managing a London orphanage, he refuses to take no for an answer.
The conflicts...
Brenna has a Tragic Past. The duke won’t take no for an answer.
The romance...
During the first two-thirds of the book, Nicholas is a typical infatuated rake, and Brenna falls for his charms. But then for some unknown reason, he crosses the line into stalking and obsession.
The recommendation...
The hero veering off into alphahole territory derailed what could have been a really good debut.
February 15, 2020
Well this sure catered to my favorite tropes! Abused heroine hiding a secret from the hero, misunderstandings and angst, all the usual good stuff. Still, I kinda felt like something was missing.
January 12, 2016
H is a duke, h is ... well, here's a passage that summarizes the novel:
Brenna was as vulnerable as he had ever seen her and Letitia’s jealous utterings had warned him of the need for care. His kiss may have distracted her venom for now, but Brenna Stanhope De Lancey’s safety balanced on brittle ground. Biting down on his rising irritation as Amanda Wharton rejoined them, Nicholas grimaced.
Brenna’s presence today had brought back all the feelings he would rather not acknowledge. She was beautiful and she was penniless, she was the celebrated Nun of Beaumont Street who was born into a brothel, a fallen angel who cared for London’s poverty-stricken orphans even while telling him that the thing she wanted most out of life was independence.
She was an anomaly. Soft and hard, weak and strong, a woman who flouted all that other women wanted most and stood alone because of it. It was his duty to forget her, his responsibility to dismiss a woman who could only do his status harm. And yet he could not.
One touch of her skin, one whisper of her name, one look again at the amazing directness of those violet eyes and unexpected dimples and nothing was certain. He remembered everything familiar about her with an ache and chastised himself as he did so.
had enough? so did i.
Brenna was as vulnerable as he had ever seen her and Letitia’s jealous utterings had warned him of the need for care. His kiss may have distracted her venom for now, but Brenna Stanhope De Lancey’s safety balanced on brittle ground. Biting down on his rising irritation as Amanda Wharton rejoined them, Nicholas grimaced.
Brenna’s presence today had brought back all the feelings he would rather not acknowledge. She was beautiful and she was penniless, she was the celebrated Nun of Beaumont Street who was born into a brothel, a fallen angel who cared for London’s poverty-stricken orphans even while telling him that the thing she wanted most out of life was independence.
She was an anomaly. Soft and hard, weak and strong, a woman who flouted all that other women wanted most and stood alone because of it. It was his duty to forget her, his responsibility to dismiss a woman who could only do his status harm. And yet he could not.
One touch of her skin, one whisper of her name, one look again at the amazing directness of those violet eyes and unexpected dimples and nothing was certain. He remembered everything familiar about her with an ache and chastised himself as he did so.
had enough? so did i.
November 18, 2021
He is a Duke whose coach is attacked by highwaymen. She sees the incident and comes to the rescue. He tries constantly to get to know her but she is evasive. She had her dark secrets and does not wish to be known by anyone. Eventually he manages to convince her to marry him and both fall in love. She is kidnapped and her life plus that of her unborn baby is at risk unless the Duke pays the ransom or finds her.
June 9, 2018
Scattered
The story was ok but the writing is scattered and the author jumps in to the middle of stories and characters without much explanation. While she seems to want to tease the reader, she instead leaves you confused. I plowed though because I wanted to see what happened but I did not enjoy the experience at all. Reading this book was painful.
The story was ok but the writing is scattered and the author jumps in to the middle of stories and characters without much explanation. While she seems to want to tease the reader, she instead leaves you confused. I plowed though because I wanted to see what happened but I did not enjoy the experience at all. Reading this book was painful.
May 28, 2018
It did drag on a bit but overall it had me wanting to continue reading.
July 13, 2022
If these two just had one honest adult conversation, this book would only be three chapters Long.
January 5, 2021
Contained some violence. Otherwise I really enjoyed the story. Very poignant.
July 4, 2023
I rated this 2.7 stars. Fantastic beginning. Boring middle. Fantastic ending. I would have never suspected the villain.
March 17, 2011
Started this last nite (3/14/11) or rather early this morning!
So far it's quite interesting tho i find it out that the heroine/hero address each other by their 1st names.
Actually liked it very much even tho the writing was a odd at times. The romance was done very well even tho i was a bit worried when the heroine kept refusing the hero - was done very well not making her seem pig headed & plain stupid.
So far it's quite interesting tho i find it out that the heroine/hero address each other by their 1st names.
Actually liked it very much even tho the writing was a odd at times. The romance was done very well even tho i was a bit worried when the heroine kept refusing the hero - was done very well not making her seem pig headed & plain stupid.
August 14, 2014
I enjoy Sophia James's writing. She gets the reader deeply involved in the characters. Nicholas and Brenna were great characters. They were trapped in a difficulty situation and the book was spent in resolving the situation. I enjoyed it.
September 9, 2015
Great.
The story was spellbinding and well as keeping you in suspension about what was going to happen next, will they get together or stay apart. After the marriage, will it work? Great book. I will wait for the next one.
The story was spellbinding and well as keeping you in suspension about what was going to happen next, will they get together or stay apart. After the marriage, will it work? Great book. I will wait for the next one.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews