Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Kiss an AngelA Month of Romance Audio Favorites Selection

Narrated by Anna Fields

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP), the master at turning quirky setups into laugh-out-loud moving romances, shines again in Kiss an Angel – this time with a circus as the backdrop and a group of neglected circus animals as secondary characters.

Daisy Devreaux’s father thinks it’s time she grew up. After her famous mother’s death, Daisy went on a spending spree that ended with a warrant for her arrest. Never married to her mother, Daisy has always been more of a trial to her father and he considers her flighty and irresponsible. He agrees to loan her the money to pay off her creditors (and keep her out of jail) if she does exactly as he says – she must marry a man of his choosing and stay married for six months, serving as an obedient and dutiful wife. She will then be free to divorce and benefit from a trust fund.

In Daisy’s eyes, Alexander Markov is a very scary studmuffin with his towering strength, lean whipcord build, and brutal good looks. Why such a man would ever agree to an arranged marriage is beyond her. He’s a stern, confident man and Daisy knows nothing about his background or even how he earns his living. Nor does she realize that her father has advised Alex minutes after their wedding ceremony that Daisy needs a stiff hand – if not, she’ll drive him crazy.

Alex has no desire to marry Daisy and his reasons for doing so remain a mystery for a good portion of the book. Believing she is nothing but a spoiled rich girl, he’s bossy and believes there is only one way – his way. To survive the next six months, he must keep the seeming airhead under control.

There’s a whole new way of life waiting for Daisy with Alex. He takes her to a traveling circus on its last legs and installs her in their new home – a broken down travel trailer. As manager of the circus, he’s a hardworking man who becomes Alexi the Cossack in the ring, riding a big black horse with a bullwhip in his hand. If you have experienced SEP’s writing, you know she slowly unveils the motivations of her lead characters and the details of their lives. Suffice it to say that Alex is not what he seems.

I fell in love with Kiss an Angel in print before finding it in audio format. As I look back at my notes from 2004, I see that I enthusiastically increased my A+ print grade to an A++ upon hearing the audio version. Published in 1996 in print and audio format, it’s another SEP jewel that seems timeless. And Anna Fields’ narrative style in 1995 (It Had To Be You) was groundbreaking for romance, adding layers of enjoyment as you hear the humor – tuned to just the right degree. And the tears threaten to come as well, sometimes when you least expect.

Ms.Fields adds another whole dimension to the SEP experience although she remains faithful to every word. With the opening line, you know you are in for a humorous scene – you can hear her setting it all up. Once a character is introduced, there is no longer a need for dialogue tags as each not only sounds unique but you hear their personality shining through. She especially excels at voicing the males but her women sound just as female as called for.

I wrote a tribute of sorts to Anna Fields in my recent review of SEP’s It Had To Be You that I won’t repeat here but, if you are unfamiliar with her work, I encourage you to take a look.

My list of SEP/Fields favorite audios is long and includes It Had to Be You, This Heart of Mine, Nobody’s Baby But Mine, Kiss an Angel, Match Me If You Can, Natural Born Charmer, and Dream a Little Dream. I only wish I had time to review all for our Month of Romance Audio Favorites.

Lea Hensley


Narration:  A+

Book Content:  A+

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  None

Genre:  Contemporary Romance

Publisher:  Books on Tape

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