It cannot be understated, Mary Balogh must be doing some serious thinking about the dichotomy of good and evil, because the angel-devil obsession in this novel is enough to send you over to the dark side. I have to admit, it has not been a good year for me and romances so far, and this was nothing different. Though a look at other reviews seems to show I am not alone. Cassandra, our heroine, is a widow who barely survived an abusive marriage and was accused of her husband's murder and cut off without a penny by his heir. She and her rag tag group of followers (companions, maids, illegitimate children, one eyed dogs, clowns... no wait were there actual clowns?) are on the verge of being out on the street. So she remakes her old dress, Scarlett O'Hara style (minus the drapes) and goes off to find herself a rich protector. Stephen, an earl and the title angel (who by the by is way less cool than Clarence in It's A Wonderful Life) is blonde and wealthy. He stumbles over Cassandra (literally) and get pulled into her web of lust and deceit. However he regains his conscience after a bout of very lackluster sex (I think they enjoyed it, I'm only speaking for myself, I found it very lackluster) and sets about saving her and making an honest woman out of this soiled dove.
There were really no redeeming qualities to this book. Every word that came out of their mouths sounded like a public service announcement, protesting for equal rights and challenging sin. The Regency detail was non-existent, in fact much of the story was historically off base, some of it by decades. The character's were frustrating and had few endearing qualities and the central mystery, of who killed Cassandra's husband... well to be honest I don't think anyone, even those involved gave a shit. I'm not one for saying books are worthless, but for Seducing an Angel, I'll make an exception. If Stephen had been the angel assigned to George Bailey, I guarantee he would have jumped.
