MARY JO PUTNEY

|| Shattered Rainbows || River of Fire || Dancing On The Wind
|| Shattered Rainbows ||

Last review(s) added 5/1/98

Historical

Another wonderful book in Mary Jo Putney's "Fallen Angel" Series. If I had known that I had to read this book before "River of Fire" I would have done this. But, since I did it the wrong way, now I have to say it doesn't matter.

Catherine Melbourne's life was never easy. Her husband is a soldier and she followed him from one battlefield to the next. Also her daughter Amy doesn't know any other life. In Brussels, short before the Battle of Waterloo starts, she meets Lord Michael Kenyon again, likewise a soldier who she has nursed one time in Spain.

Colin, Catherine's husband, never won her heart. Her marriage was the result that her parents had died when she was sixteen and she had nobody anymore. Since she met Michael she wishes she could be a normal woman. And Michael tries to suppress his feelings for her because he never wants again an affair with a married woman. But that isn't so easy for him because he lives together with them in one house.

In the battle of Waterloo Michael is wounded really bad and only a transfusion can save his life. Catherine tries that together with a doctor and so he becomes healthy again. He promised her that he will be there for her if she should ever need his help.

One year later Catherine does need his help. Her husband Colin was murdered in France and she finds out that she has a grandfather and she can become the heir of his isle Skoal but for that she needs a husband. Catherine needs the money desperately because her husband was in debt. So she asks Michael to play her husband for a short while without telling him that she is now a widow. He accepts.

In the beginning their swindle seems to work but Catherine has an avaricious cousin, Lord Haldoran, who could also be the heir of Skoal.

He finds out very fast that Catherine's "husband" is Lord Kenyon and he starts to spin a fatal net around all.

Has Michael enough confidence to understand why Catherine lied to him? And is his love strong enough to overcome the shadows from the past?

Again Mary Jo Putney wrote a story that goes straight to your heart about true feelings and the power of love.

Historical

If I read one of Mary Jo Putney's books I always have the feeling it is better than the one I read before.

Kenneth, Lord Kimball, is back from the war and he has to recognize that he is bankrupt. When he thinks all is lost he gets help from a mysterious man called Lord Bowen. He makes Kenneth a strange offer. If he finds out if Sir Anthony Seaton, Lord Bowen's brother has killed his wife Helen, then he would be free from all his debt.

Sir Anthony is England's most famous painter and Kenneth loves to paint. Here is an unbelievable chance for him. Although he doesn't like the job, he has to do it because he wants to give his sister a carefree future. Kenneth becomes Sir Anthony's secretary. But this case is soon a headache for him because he gets to know the enchanted daughter of Sir Anthony, Rebecca. It will be hard for him to make fair decisions.

Rebecca is as good an artist as her father, but the mysterious death of her mother plunges her in a deep chaos of her feelings. With Kenneth's help she gets a new inspiration for a wonderful picture. She portrays him as a corsar. Then she finds out that Kenneth can also paint, but he believes he his not good.

Rebecca teaches him to paint in oils the most important thing a good artist can do. So both come together in a closer friendship. Kenneth isn't sure anymore that he did the right thing when he said he would find out who the murderer of Rebecca's mother is. Because now he is sure that it wasn't Sir Anthony.

Rebecca was ruined when she was seventeen because she ran away with a poet but after a few days she recognized that he isn't the right man for her and came back home. This excluded her from the high society. Kenneth wants a good reputation for her again and together with his friends Rebecca starts to go to balls again. But after three hours it looks like she ruined herself again because she kissed Kenneth and a lot of people saw this. They have only one way out of that situation - a marriage.

Was Rebecca's mother's death a murder or a accident? And what will Rebecca do if she finds out the truth about Kenneth's stay in their home? Will she marry him also after she knows all?

An enchanting love story with such a lot of lively descriptions about painters and their works of art that I thought, if I close my eyes I could see all of what Mary Jo Putney wrote about.

"Dancing on the Wind" is a book in the Fallen Angel series. And is the one I have been missing until now. I do not know if the following titles are really the series, but I found this information somewhere and I think it must be right:

The Fallen Angel series:

"Angel Rogue" - The book about Lord Robin Andreville and Maxima Collins.

"Petals in the Storm" - The story about Rafe Withbourne, Duke of Candover and Magda Janos.

"Thunder and Roses" - The one about Nicholas Davies and Clare Morgan and "Dancing on the Wind"

This book was wonderful. I never knew what to expect in the next page. The story was full of mystery, suspense, love and misunderstanding. I loved this book.

The hero is Lord Strathmore, a very good looking man. He is a special agent who is looking for a traitor. During his search he often runs into the same woman. Each time she has a new name and looks different.

He begins to feel interested in this woman and the magic begins. She is like a butterfly, you see her but you can't catch her. If she makes one mistake she can lose her life.

The meetings between the hero and the heroine are like dynamite - dangerous and the sparks fly.

I can't say more about the story because you m u s t read it for yourself. I would betray too much. I was surprised about Mary Jo Putney's ideas. She has written such a exciting story, I couldn't put the book down until the end. That's why a 5.0 - EXCEPTIONAL!

Mary Jo Putney's "Shattered Rainbows" is a difficult story for me to review. I have many mixed emotions regarding exactly how I feel after reading this book, and how I felt while reading it.

Catherine Melbourne is the beautiful wife of military man Colin Melbourne. All outward appearances show their marriage to be one of the best. Inwardly, it is a mess. Colin is a womanizing, cheating fool. There is a painful secret as to why Catherine puts up with Colin and his other women. To many Catherine is known as Saint Catherine and during the war she follows the drum nursing the injured as the war continues.

Lord Michael Kenyon is a military man who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and finds himself among the injured. Catherine tends to his wounds and he can't help noticing how magical her voice sounds, soothing himself and the other injured men around him.

It's three years later before Catherine and Michael meet again. She and her husband, Colin, rent out rooms to military men in need of a place to stay. Michael just happens to be the next man to come to stay in their billet. During his stay he escorts Catherine to balls and such when Colin is "unavailable." It doesn't take him long to realize what sort of husband Colin is. He certainly cannot understand how a man married to Catherine could treat her as Colin does.

Napoleon attacks and once again the men are off to war. Michael is seriously injured this time and once again Catherine finds herself nursing him back to health. As he stabilizes, a friend comes to take him home where he can be cared for. Catherine is saddened by Michael's departure, they had become good friends during his stay at her billet, but she more than anyone knows that nothing could come of their friendship. She is a married woman after all.

It's one year later when Catherine finds herself in need of a husband. A temporary one that is. And the only person she can think of to assist her is Michael. He is confused with her question and not quite sure he understands her. She is embarrassed, but before long convinces Michael to assist her in the charade. She can inherit an island along with a large monthly sum if she can convince her grandfather that she and her "husband" are capable of handling the duties upon his death

There is a villain in all of this that gets in the way of Michael and Catherine too soon after they have finally gotten together. I wanted more happiness, but it wasn't to be. At least not yet.

This was a charmingly romantic story. Quite different from those I am used to reading and enjoying. Over one half of the book is read and they still haven't gotten together in a romantic way. I have always been against the sort of book that drags on and on before the hero and heroine finally begin their relationship. But, with this story, Catherine and Michael build on their friendship and from that grows a deep caring for one another that is beyond passionate. Due to his belief that she is still married, Michael is continually honorable. He desires her, wants her, but believes he can never have her.

It was hip-hip-hooray when they finally admitted there love for one another and Michael discovered that Colin was dead. There weren't over the bridge yet, for a deep secret that Catherine has carried for years is about to keep them apart. But, this is a romance after all, and they do get together at last.

If you aren't objectionable to a story that explains the background to the characters and their relationship in full before going on to what we all knowingly crave in a romance, then this is the story for you.

I will try Mary Jo Putney again. I am curious to see if she keeps her readers in such a different sort of suspense in her other writings.