It is amazing what you can learn when you are reading a good book. This is such a book. It takes place after the battle of Waterloo. I can only imagine all the arguing and fighting that went on during the negotiations for the treaty that ended the war. Feelings were running so high and so many had lost so much it is amazing that France remain a country. Napoleon was a great strategist and leader but he was just an tyrant that wanted to conquer the world. So many died during his reign I am surprise that he was executed when he finally surrendered for the last time.Rafeal Whitbourne, Duke of Candover, is everything most of us want to read about as a hero. He is courageous, intelligent, caring and just a little cunning. For all his rakehell ways he seems to really care for most of the woman that he has affairs with. He doesn't stay around long enough to form a permanent attachment because emotions are too messy and he just doesn't want the hassle. He loves one woman, Margot Ashton, and he thinks that she betrayed him and then ran off to France where a mob killed her. He has mourned Margot for more than a decade. There is a lot of mental anxiety that goes on with Rafe and Margot through the whole story and the I began to wonder if Rafe was going to get his HEA.Margot "Maggie" Ashton is a hot headed, independent, intelligent and an expert with languages. She is also a spiess for Britain. She has been a spy for over ten years and she is very good at what she does. I like Maggie for the most part but she is as bad as Rafe about jumping to conclusions instead of just talking to Rafe. I think that there could have been a lot more hot sex if they had just talked to each other. Don't get me wrong Rafe is just a bad about jumping to conclusions. Maggie is also brave and capable of getting herself out of most trouble.This is a good story and those that love historical romance will eat this story up. There are part of this story that are hard to read and for those of you that can't read a story with rape in the story you might want to avoid the story. There isn't an actual scene with rape in it, Rafe prevents that from happening, but there is discussion about what happened to Maggie when she was 19. There are lots of bits of history throughout this story which only makes it that much better. There is also a secondary romance that plays out in the last half of the story which is very sweet. Finally the two villains in this story are despicable in the extreme. I just wanted to see them taken out before they hurt anyone else. They way they are taken care of poetic at the end.
I am giving it 5 big dazzling stars! It would be a rare thing for me to find a book of Mary Jo putney that I didn't like reading, but this one especially made me so happy. I loved it!! mostly, because I have been wanting to read Rafe's story for quite a while now. Ever since he was mentioned in the 'The Bargin' by Mary Jo putney, I was intrigued by his story from the start, and honestly it quite lived up to my expectation. This is the 2nd book in the fallen angel series featuring Duke of Candover. Rafael Whitbourne is a dashing rake, known for his countless affairs with married/ widowed women. He lost his one true love when he was young due to a horrible misunderstanding. She leaves London with her father and after some time is believed to be dead. 13 loveless years later the duke find his one true love again... Under very unusual circumstances. The story is very intriguing and revolves around Rafe and Margot/Maggie, while they work together as spies to uncover the assassination plots after Waterloo. It's quite an interesting story with a lot of even more interesting characters. I especially loved the side story of Madame Helene Sorel and Colonel Von Fehrenbach. It was nice to see 2 people who lost important things and people to war, to forget their hatred and love each other. I was happy to see their story come to a happy end. Another person I absolutely adored would be Lord Robert Anderville or better known as Robin Anderson. I can't wait to read his story.There was never a dull moment here, and I love that in the books I read. It kept me guessing about the plot and kept me at the edge of my seat to find out how Rafe and Margot's story was going to turn out after all the hurts of their past. I was not disappointed with the way it all played out at the end.Mary Jo putney is an excellent writer and I would def recommend this book to people whole love historical romances with bit of history and lots of action. Happy reading everyone
What do You think about Petals In The Storm (2006)?
While I managed to finish this book, I just didn't enjoy it as much as The Bargain. The hero and heroine are trying to hurt each other even as they fight their feelings for each other and struggle with the memories of their past romance. The way they hurt one another in the past was a series of traumatic events for the heroine that I just couldn't believe anyone would be able to get past it. I wanted to like this book more, but as it stands, it just gets an "OK" from me.Favorite passage: Maggie glanced away, not wanting to deal with what lay beneath [Robin's] teasing tone. "Before I return to England, I'm going to acquire an entire wardrobe of gowns that come up to my throat. It's tedious to have men always talking to one's chest rather than one's face."
—Belinda Kroll
I came across Rafe in the delightful and engrossing "The Bargain". He is a romantic possibility for the heroine in that book but true love leaves him on the outside. Rafe bears it stoically since he doesn't really want romance just the pleasure of a sharp mind and a willing sex partner.We find out why that would be enough in this book where Rafe is enlisted by one of his fellow "Fallen Angels" in service of King and Country. That sends Rafe to Paris during Wellington's peace talks. Rafe's planned partner is a Hungarian countess named Magda. However, Magda is really the woman Rafe loved and lost in his youth. They are united in their desire for a successful mission but can they be reunited in other parts of their lives?Nice mix of history, harrowing events and smart women to match wits with equally as smart men.
—Linda
Rafe, Duke of Candover, is sent to find out who is plotting against the movers and shakers at the peace talk in France where he meets the mysterious spy Countess Janos. Turns out she is his sweetheart who he thought betrayed him. Maggie has completely reinvented herself but she still can't shake her attraction to Rafe. After reading the first book in this series I couldn't wait to crack this one open. The beginning though was a bit slow and not as sharp and snappy-like as I know MJP's writing can be. Though Maggie/Margot was a tortured soul I didn't really think Rafe was deeply enough portrayed throughout the book. In general, we got to know Maggie well and Rafe not so much except that he wants her so bad he considers the R word for a second. Maybe he is just a typical male and not much else but I expected him to have more depth. The secondary characters were great, I especially liked the side-romance of Maggie's friend and the Prussian soldier, even more than I liked Maggie and Rafe's progression. Also, Maggie's friend and ex-lover had a good story-arc. But I did get the suspects in the plot mixed up sometimes since they weren't distinct enough and had sort of similar names. All in all, I enjoyed it but didn't love it so three stars.
—ARomanceLover
