Guardian Angel

From Publishers WeeklyGarwood fails here to integrate romance and mystery elements as effectively as she did in The Bride. There's too much heavy breathing in the book's first half, too many convoluted political intrigues in the second. The year is 1815. The Marquess of Cainewood, hunting London's slums for the pirate Pagan whom he assumes killed his brother, traps instead a seemingly despairing young woman named Jade, who seeks to hire Caine to commit a murder--her own. Caine offers her protection instead, little suspecting that she is Pagan and her real object is to stay close so that she and her followers can defend him: traitors in the War Office, who tried to slay her brother as well as his, may now be after Caine too. The couple's stormy romance gets off to an instant if ludicrously implausible start that very first night, when Caine wanders into Jade's bedroom and finds her uncovered and completely naked. By the time their respective brothers reappear and the pursuit begins for the renegades, it's much too late for the reader to take any serious interest in the villains or their tiresome schemes.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product DescriptionNew York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood takes breathless sensuality to thrilling heights in this unforgettable adventure of passion and intrigue.
The Emerald flew across the seas, carrying the pirate Pagan — despised by the ton, whose riches he plundered, and beloved by the poor, whose plight was eased by his gifts.
The Marquess of Cainewood vows to hunt down the pirate wretch in revenge for his brother's death. But when Jade, an enchanting vision of rippling red hair and eyes of jewel-green, appears at his door to beg desperately for his protection, the Marquess agrees to keep her safe from the villains who want her dead. Jade is infuriating, exasperating, and gorgeous; Caine is noble, strong-willed, and powerful. No woman has ever befuddled him so, nor so deeply aroused his desire. But as Jade answers his knowing caresses with an innocent, wild abandon, they are drawn into a web of treachery that will test the very heart of their love!