Angel and the Unforgiven by Melissa Blue

PAGAN & PEN REVIEW

Title:  Angel and the Unforgiven

Author:  Melissa Blue  

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Publisher:  Champagne Books

Genre: Historical Romance

Length:  243 pgs.

Other: M/F

Pagan & Pagan Elements: n/n

Reviewed by: Violet Harper

About The Book: When murder suspect Cadence Jamison disguises herself as a boy and stows away aboard the Heavenly Mistress, Captain Curtis Langston may find his two past occasions for rescuing her more than he bargained for.
Bitter and cynical after service in the Confederate Army, Curtis believes himself no more deserving of another's love than capable of returning it. Content to drift through life free of emotional and romantic complications, the once carefree and mischievous rogue may be forever gone. But when Cadence appears in his life, Curtis finds himself smiling, dreaming, and feeling more like himself than he has in five years. Drawn to the sweet and innocent goodness Cadence offers, Curtis struggles to resist the pull of what a life with her could be like.
Can Cadence show this wounded soul how to love again? Or is he doomed to be forever unforgiven, haunted by the ghosts of his past?

The Review:

Curtis is a man tortured by his past and searching for forgiveness. Cadence is a woman on the run for a crime she didn’t commit. Melissa Blue set up a conflict ripe for some brilliant lines that brought humor and heart-wrenching emotion to the scene. Although the head-hopping and vacillating emotions got to be a bit much sometimes, the characters were complex and likable. I found myself rooting for Cadence and marveling at the patience and perseverance that helped her heal the soul of a man broken by the horrors of war.

Some of the plot elements were weak—he stared at her for fifteen pages and then he didn’t recognize her onboard his ship—and some of the action elements were told in retrospect and through dialogue rather than bringing the reader into the tense situations. The speech patterns of the characters this historical (post-Civil War) romance tended to be modern, but that did not interfere with my enjoyment of the novel. The writing style was friendly and warm, inviting the reader closer to the hearts of Cadence and Curtis, and the realistic characterization is really what makes Angel and the Unforgiven interesting.

Pagan Elements: Brief discussion of shipboard superstitions.

Cover (Rated 1-10): 6--Clean lines and bold colors always catch my attention, though I would have liked to see faces, especially Cadence’s violet eyes that so captivated Curtis. 

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