The Rogue and the Rivalby Maya Rodalereviewed by Cybil SolynNovember 2008, 336 pages, Publisher: Berkley, ISBN: 042522452X Back Cover Blurb: Six long years have passed since Angela Sullivan set eyes on a man. Six years since the man she loved ruined her-and her parents banished her to Stanbrook Abbey, where she's now preparing for her vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. But when the abbey takes in a handsome-if impudent-injured rogue, it will take divine intervention for Angela to quell her sinful thoughts...
If Lord Phillip were not in such pain from his riding accident, he would consider himself lucky to be staying in a building full of women. But his rakish reputation has preceded him. True, Phillip may not be his angelic twin brother, but as days become weeks, his thoughts of Angela grow nobler-as Angela's thoughts of him become less than holy...
When I discovered that the villain from Maya Rodale's last book, The Heir and the Spare, was to be the hero for this book I thought "no way!" But Rodale pulls it off. By the end of the novel I believed that the heartless cad who drank, gambled, and ruined four (yes four!) girls could be redeemed through love.
Philip Kensington is a bad, bad, man. No I mean, as in REALLY bad. So bad, that upon returning after a few years of exile in France he is promptly shot and left for dead. Fortunately, God seems to have other plans for him because he is found and brought to an Abbey where he is nursed to health by a beautiful, yet ruined, lady.
Angela Palmerston isn't ready to take her vows. Although she made a terrible mistake in her youth and ruined herself and her family over love, she is determined to spend the rest of her life repenting. She just doesn't know if giving up men for God is right for her. But it seems God has other plans since she is being forced to nurse a very hot, very bad man back to health. A man she can't help but desire. If this is a test from the Almighty to help guide her to redemption, she's failing!
Rodale has the ability to mix humor with drama, a quality that I really like in an author. Our hero and heroine are both at a crossroads in their lives. They are trying to discover what they really want to do, and who they really are. I have to say that although the God theme was not used heavily at all, I had a sense of God, Fate, whatever you want to call it, the whole time I read the novel. To me, it was as if the Almighty was guiding them to one another. This is what made both characters redeemable in my mind. I am not a religious person, but the idea that love will find the perfect person for you when you are ready to accept them is an idea I can believe.
Neither of our characters had much depth to them. Everything about them was on the surface, but I liked it. In a genre where so much is often hidden and then revealed at the end of the book, it was refreshing to have two characters come out and say what they meant and felt. Even when Philip is unexpectedly taken away from Angela, there isn't any Big Misunderstanding. We know what's going on, and since the book starts with where it will end, we know exactly where we are headed.
Bottom Line: A good read, and a great read if you are looking for something a bit different.
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Cybil Solyn, csolyn@rakehell.com
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