Christmas Angel

by Jo Beverley

Book Overview

Weary of war, Leander Knollis, Earl of Charrington, wants a home, a wife, and a good, old-fashioned English Christmas. Unable to fall in love, he offers a marriage of convenience to widow Judith... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821768433
• ISBN13: 9780821768433
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Love The Company of Rogues Series

I didn't know this was a series, so I had read 4 different ones and not in order! But I think it was more pleasing to me because I already knew some of the characters, wish the series had continued beyond its 18 books! Love Jo Beverly's writing!

Arguably the best of the series

Although the Christmas theme is a minor element, Christmas Angel is a warm and wonderful book. It is much lighter than the others in the series: no truly dangerous villain, no manic life-or-death scenarios, no excruciating personal trials. Instead, this is a gentle tale of two people coming to terms with their own views about love and marriage and family. There is some danger and mystery, but it is minor compared to most of Beverley's stories.Judith is a wise, but not worldly, widow who has a wealth of inner strength. She is a great, though somewhat overprotective, mother of two, who marries the younger Leander to provide for them (and herself). Along the way, however, Judith discovers that she has achieved a great deal more. A very real, down-to-earth heroine.Leander is a dream of a hero: witty, urbane, kind, elegant, wealthy, and handsome, but underneath that cool, diplomatic self-control is a great need that he himself cannot define. Judith and his ready-made family quickly fill the void in his life. Leander is, in many ways, just an ordinary guy; although he has issues to deal with, he is not as tortured or volatile as most heroes. He's so very pleasant, too, that he comes across as the sort of man you really could spend a lifetime with.So far, this may well be my favorite of the Company of Rogue series (and the Georges), although I am eagerly awaiting the book about the Rogue who most intrigues me, the quiet Stephen Ball. Until then, enjoy this excellent entry.

An excellent instalment in the Rogue Series

Wonderful! Jo Beverley's Rogue series is a delight - stories that hold your attention and satisfy deeply. I have now finished the third book in the series and have enjoyed this one as much as the first two.Christmas Angel is a very different Christmas story for the season of goodwill is really only a frame to the whole picture and the action leads up to Christmas in only a very subliminal way.This is a gentler story than the first two Rogue books for Leander Knollis, Earl of Charrington, is presented to us as a much milder man in some ways but one whose passions run so deep beneath the surface that he is in danger of missing great happiness. Nicholas Delaney and Lucien de Vaux, the heros of the first two Rogue books, are seemingly much more passionate and volatile men. Leander is a man who believes self control is of high esteem and, much to his amazement, a woman who is largely fooling herself about her first marriage knocks all of his preconceived notions about love, marriage and partnership askew.Others have summed up the plot so I won't go into it. I would like to point out that, in this book, conversational interaction is very important and deserves thoughtful reading. The child characters of Bastian and Rosie are well drawn. I laughed out loud at Rosie's conversation with Hal Beaumont (a Rogue I sincerely hope will one day get his own book!!) when she wonders about the loss of his arm, wild animals and death. In a few brief paragraphs, Jo Beverley captures childish innocence and curiosity so well.Judith Rossiter, our heroine, for all her experience of 13 years of marriage and two children, is virginal and naive in a charming way. How delightful to watch her and Leander dance round each other, striving for something neither can identify!Nicholas Delaney and his wife Eleanor continue to be a linchpin in all of the Rogue stories and it is very satisfying to follow their progress and that of Lucien and his marchioness. I loved this - and look forward to starting the fourth book. Excellent and subtle, this one!

Outstanding As Usual

By the title, you may guess correctly, that I am a BIG Jo Beverley fan. This, the supposedly 3rd in the rogue series ( I find just about all tie into the series)is outstanding in the fact that here you have a younger man, pursuing an older, albeit young enough to be able to produce an heir,woman. He is Leander Knollis, Earl of Charrington, who has issues over seeing the one sided aspect of love (his mother's love for the self centered father). He does not want this, so he looks for a biddable woman, who is unlikely to fall in love with him. Enter, Judith Rossiter, akda the "Weeping Widow". A woman who to all seems still devasted and in mourning over her dearly departed husband. - OR SO IT SEEMS! As usual, the dialog is crisp, sweet, funny and you get to actually SEE these two fall in LIKE, then LOVE. You also get to re-visit Nicholas and Eleanor and hear news of the other 'rogues' from the previous novels. What more could you ask for from this brilliant and wonderful author. Just MORE, MORE, MORE! Loved this! So very sweet you could read it over and over again!

One of the best historical romances I've ever read

CHRISTMAS ANGEL is #3 in the Company of Rogues series--though like the other books, it stands on its own--and is almost as good as AN UNWILLING BRIDE, the jewel in the series' crown. It's a Cinderella story, but with several original twists. For one thing, the Cinderella heroine is a widow with two young children, not a virginal 18-year-old. For another, she rescues her Prince Charming just as much as he rescues her. The "Wicked Stepmother" is a real surprise, as well!CHRISTMAS ANGEL also makes great Christmastime reading.I read in the author's latest newsletter that the publisher will reissue the out-of-print Rogues novels (AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE, AN UNWILLING BRIDE, and CHRISTMAS ANGEL) over the next couple of years, and as Regency historicals. This is welcome news. These books were published as traditional Regencies--at that time, the concept of the Regency historical was only just coming into being--and the book descriptions give no hint of the stories' complexity and scope, which encompasses the entire spectrum of Regency society, even the more disorderly and uncivilised aspects.