Shattered Rainbows

Shattered Rainbows is the fifth book in Mary Jo Putney’s Fallen Angels series, which centers around a group of four friends who met at school and became each other’s family when their own families failed them. Michael Kenyon is the last of the these friends to get his HEA. The second son of a duke, Michael went into the military and fought bravely in the Napoleonic War. He briefly met Catherine at a field hospital when he was wounded in Spain, where in only a few hours, she captivated him with her compassion toward a dying fellow soldier. Three years later, when Michael returns to the continent to once more fight the recently escaped Napoleon, they chance to meet up again, when he shares a billet with Catherine, and her family and show more friends in Brussels. Catherine’s husband is also a soldier, and she has been a devoted camp follower most of her life and an experienced nurse caring for the wounded. Sharing a house, Michael and Catherine grow close, and each of them begin to develop feelings for the other. However, despite knowing that her husband is unfaithful to her, Catherine is still committed to him, and after a previous disastrous affair with a married woman, Michael has sworn never to repeat that mistake. So they remain only friends. After Catherine saves Michael’s life, though, he basically grants her carte blanche to ask anything of him in the future. One year later, after Catherine’s husband has been murdered, and she’s struggling to make ends meet, she’s approached by the solicitor of the grandfather she’s never met, who’s considering making her his heir. The man wants to meet her husband, though, so she asks Michael to fulfill that role, not letting him in on the fact that her husband is really dead. Together, they travel to Skoal Island, where they must share a bedroom, which wreaks havoc on both of them. But Catherine is reluctant to explain her deception to Michael, believing that she can never be married again. Not to mention, Catherine’s jealous, greedy rival for the inheritance has decided that he wants it all and will stop at nothing to get it.

As I mentioned, Michael is the last of the self-described Fallen Angels, who’ve had each other’s backs most of their lives. His father was physically and emotionally abusive, so he’s viewed his fellow Fallen Angels as his family since they met at school. He had a disastrous affair with his friend, Nicholas’s (Thunder and Roses) first wife, a conniving and manipulative woman, which has made Michael swear never to repeat that mistake again. That’s why, after properly meeting the married Catherine at their shared billet, he’s determined to remain only friends, despite falling in love with her. Then she saves his life in more ways than one after he’s seriously wounded at Waterloo. Once recovered, he knows that he must try to forget her, but he bids farewell with a promise to be there for her if she ever needs anything. A year later, Catherine shows up at his doorstep with a request that he impersonate her husband for the opportunity to possibly inherit a mini-kingdom of her own. Although a bit reluctant, Michael finds he cannot deny her anything and agrees to help. On the island, they’re forced to share a room, and the nearness only makes Michael want Catherine more and more. But then he discovers that she deceived him by not telling him her husband was really dead, and even after she comes clean about her reasons, she strangely tries to push him away, leaving him wondering if he ever knew her at all. But in the end, he finds himself doing whatever it takes to save her from a villainous rival for the inheritance. I absolutely loved Michael for his single-minded devotion to Catherine and for being a real gentleman in every sense of the word. Once he starts falling for her, no other woman in the world exists for him. However, he’s determined to tamp down his emotions and exerts superhuman control over his feelings while she’s still married. Once he learns the truth behind her deception, he’s compassionate and understanding, and a dream lover. Everything about him made him the perfect romance hero for me, so he’ll definitely rank highly among my all-time favorites.

Catherine grew up as a camp follower, along with her mother, as they traveled around to wherever her soldier father was campaigning. Her parents were a shining example of the type of marriage she hoped to have one day. But after they both died tragically in a house fire when she was sixteen, she ended up marrying a man she didn’t love for security. Over ten years later, she and her daughter are still camp followers, now of her husband, but their marriage is more of an arrangement than a genuinely happy union with her aware of her husband’s infidelities. When Catherine meets Michael, they quickly grow close and she discovers that he’s everything she could want in a man. But even if she was free to pursue him, she’s decided, because of past experiences, that she never wants to be married to anyone else again. Therefore, she keeps her feelings for Michael in check, determined to only be friends. However, because of her feelings for him, she fights her own battle to save his life after he’s wounded. A year after they part ways, Catherine’s husband is murdered, and all the money they had went to pay back his gambling debts. She’s willing to work but having trouble finding employment when word comes about her grandfather possibly making her his heir but wanting to meet her husband as well. Desperately needing the money, she asks Michael for his help, but knowing that he might try to propose if she told him the truth, she keeps her husband’s death a secret. Sharing a room with him on her grandfather's island, all the old feelings come rushing back. Catherine would love to give in to them, but all her old fears still dog her. Then the truth comes out and she has no choice. Michael is surprisingly sweet and forgiving, and everything seems to be going well until her unscrupulous cousin twists her arm and leaves her feeling that she has no choice but to break Michael’s heart. Catherine is a genuinely good woman who has lived with a particular fear for over a decade. I’m glad that she was finally able to get past that and trust Michael with her secret. She’s also a devoted mother to her daughter, Amy. She may have engaged in some deception but it was always for a good reason, and she was very brave in dealing with her cousin’s betrayal.

Before ever starting the Fallen Angels series, I recall hearing that Shattered Rainbows was a fan-favorite, and it definitely lived up to the hype for me. Catherine and Michael have a rough road to travel to find their HEA, but I think it only made them a stronger couple in the end. They’re very well-suited for one another. Both have kind, compassionate natures. Both have a moral code that they’ve chosen to live by and don’t deviate from that, which gave me a lot of respect for them. They’re also both very intelligent and brave people, who think their way out of difficult situations and show courage and determination in the face of adversity. I loved them both as individual characters and as a couple. The story takes a little different track than most romances. It begins with Catherine asking Michael to impersonate her husband. Then it quickly backtracks to their meetings during the war. Nearly the first half of the book is about their time in Brussels together and the building of their friendship that led to Catherine making her request. This part was perhaps a tad bit slow. Because of their mutual determination not to turn their relationship into an affair, nothing of a real romantic nature takes place between them at that point. But there is a strong longing on both their parts, and when Michael is wounded and Catherine fights so hard to save him, I really started to feel their emotions for one another. Once we get back to their present situation with her needing a temporary husband, things really started to pick up. There’s romance aplenty as they gradually give in to their feelings and secrets start to come out. Their first love scene was sheer perfection. Then there’s the suspense portion of the plot with the dastardly cousin doing his worst, but Michael and Catherine work as a united front to both stay alive and bring an end to his perfidy. All the elements came together to make this a wonderful story. It’s one of the best romances I’ve read in a while and it’s left me looking forward to the final two books of the series, which are about Michael’s friend, Kenneth, and his brother, Stephen. show less

This was such a great book. The first part has to do with the battle of Waterloo, and then we switch to the island of Skoal (which is imaginary but much like the Isle of Manx) in a more gothic setting. The writing is excellent, and I loved the historical details. Michael is the younger son of a Duke and a soldier who fought in Wellington's campaigns in Spain and reenlisted when Napoleon escapes. Catherine is a married woman who cared for Michael's injuries in Spain and with whom he is now billeted in Brussels. She is known as Saint Catherine for her beauty, kindness, and nursing of soldiers, and faithfulness to her philandering husband. Michael falls in love with her, and for the first time, she wants to reciprocate with a man other show more than her husband, but the two are honorable people. A year later, their circumstances have changed, and Catherine needs Michael's help to claim her heritage on the island of Skoal.
It's a beautifully written story with lots of action and romance. The characters are terrific, with so many small details making them real people I just loved. It can be tricky for an author to write a man in love with a married woman, but Ms. Putney nails it with a delicate balance and lots of longing.
This can be read as a stand-alone book (it's the 5th book in a seven-book series), but I immediately got the rest of the series because some of the other protagonists appear, and I need to know their stories. show less

This series just keeps getting better and better. I have to wonder if these were the first books that Ms. Putney published. While are the books are very good there is marked improvement in each story. This story is just a single romance much like THUNDER & ROSES. This story is different from the others in that it covers several years. In covering that period of time there are wonderful glimpses of history. There are scenes after the battle at Salamanca. There are also the days Michael Kenyon and Catherine Melbourne spent in Brussels before the Battle at Waterloo. Ms. Putney make you see the carnage and suffering that must have occurred. I am glad that Michael was so willing to get past the things that have happened to him through his show more life. He is a very confident solider but he is emotionally scarred from living with his tyrant of a father and what Caroline (see Thunder & Roses) put him through. I am also very glad the Michael and his brother were able to get past the abuse that they both received from their father. I liked Michael very much. He over came a great and became a wonderful man. Catherine is a great mate for him.

Catherine is one of the very unusual woman that followed her husband while he was on campaign during the war with Napoleon. It wasn't an easy life and a lot of women died in the camps that were setup near the fighting. Catherine is a caring, intelligent and very resilient. She is capable of riding a horse for hours as well as finding a way to make ends meet on an officers salary. Catherine is a good nurse and likes taking care of the people that she loves. She is also like so many of the woman of this time, she has no idea that sex can be enjoyable. Her first husband was more concerned with his own pleasure that of his spouse. I like Catherine a lot and I was very glad that she was able to find a mate that care for her.

I look forward to reading the last two books in this series. Ms. Putney is a very good writer and she does and wonderful job of keeping her readers entertained. She has done a good deal of research for this time period. These last few books have gone very quickly. There is so much going on and I love that I learn something that I didn't know before. show less

This is a reissue of a 1996 release--good news for those of us who missed some of the Fallen Angels series the first time around.

Michael Kenyon has been in love with Catherine Melbourne for some time, though she's unaware of it. Catherine has also been in love with Michael, who's likewise unaware of her feelings. They met while she was married to another man, and both kept their feelings secret.

Now, her husband is dead, and Catherine asks Michael to masquerade as her husband so that she can claim an inheritance for her daughter.

Those are the bare facts. What's missing from the brief recital is the depth of emotion found in this story. Ms. Putney manages to make the reader feel all the heartache, joy, and fear these characters show more experience, making Shattered Rainbows a particularly satisfying read. show less

A widowed heroine with a daughter meets MJP's most delicious hero yet. Apples and whiskey, the Isle of Skoal (a channel island) and a turqoise-eyed heroine drew me in, but it was the hero, Lord Michael Kenyon, who caused me to fall in love.

the best of the series. Excellent.

Catherine Melbourne, hija y esposa de oficiales, nunca permitió que ningún hombre se le acercara con la palabra amor en los labios. Por eso, cuando percibió que entre ella y el oficial y caballero Michael Kenyon nacía una pasión imposible, decidió alejarse, huir, resistirse. No sabía, ciertamente, que el destino es capaz de vencer cualquier voluntad.