Review - Thunder and Roses

Title: Thunder and Roses
Author: Mary Jo Putney
Publishing Date: 1993
Genre: Historical
Rating: B+
Sensuality: Warm

Thunder and Roses is the first book in the Fallen Angels series. School mistress Clare Morgan, the daughter of the local Methodist desperately needs the Earl of Aberdare’s help. The Earl, Nicholas, was once a good friend and pupil of Reverend Morgan so she seeks his help. The local mine, which is on the Earl’s property but is managed and run by another, has fallen into ill repair. The over-seer has allowed the maintenance to languish, thereby causing too many accidents at the mine resulting in needless injuries and deaths. She comes to the Earl with the hope that he will help improve the conditions at the mine. Nicholas though, has changed a great deal and won’t help her unless she will become his mistress for three months. He demands her reputation for his help. Clare agrees to his conditions and a bargain is struck.

Thunder and Roses is a very well written story. The characters are vivid and multi-dimensional. Clare struggles internally with her physical attraction to Nicholas. She has to come to terms with the fact that she is only human and not a saint. She tries so hard to be the perfect person, but she knows she is flawed and can only ask to be forgiven. She is a strong woman who wants so badly to do the right thing. I loved that she could see through Nicholas’s gruff demeanor and see that he had been injured by people he loved and trusted. She made sure, as their friendship grew, that he could always count on her and she never once betrays him.

Putney did a great job of showing how Nicholas evolved as a person throughout the story. Nicholas started out as a self-absorbed man that would lash out at others like a wounded animal. Yet he realized, through Clare, that there were others far worse off than him and he could make a difference in their lives. In the end he decided to become a better person and put his trust in Clare.

The only problem I had with this story was that it took me four days to read it. For me, that is a long time. For some reason, I could not stay focused on it. Now, I think this probably had to do with what was going on in my life this week, rather than the actual book. The romance between Clare and Nicholas was beautifully written and their happy ever after was very convincing. I highly recommend this book.

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