Long and Short Reviews

More Than Angels by Lee Ann Ward
Champagne Books
Contemporary
Full Length, Sweet
Review by Magnolia

When love is at stake, sometimes it takes more than angels to save it.

Penelope Ashton is a passionate young writer with too much experience with the wrong men; and, Jack Kirkpatrick—lover of the ocean and seeker of the father who abandoned him as a child—is a shrimperman still searching for happiness. When the two fall in love, it is a relationship marked with change and loss.

Meeting his estranged father and getting in trouble for a crime he didn't commit, Jack must choose between happiness and heartache. Striving to give Penny her dreams of becoming a published author, will he lose her forever to the murderer who is stalking him?

Traveling back roads, beaches, and the Gulf waters, More Than Angels is a romance that launches the reader into the terror of a deadly drug ring and a blistering summer of love in a southern town. When love is at stake, sometimes it takes more than angels to save it.

♥ ♥ ♥

"More Than Angels" is a sweet read. The story is filled with likeable characters, a plot that has more twist and turns than a death defying roller coaster, and a love story that will touch your heart.

The main characters, Penny and Jack are surrounded by a wonderful cast of secondary characters. Rena, Penny’s younger sister, is spunky with plenty of grit. The love story between Rena and Andrew is a delightful addition to the strong main love story. Pete and LeRoy, Jack’s shipmates, add to Jack’s character and the over all dimensions of the story. The various ‘bad guys’ are clear in motive and reason for wanting to cause harm to Penny and Jack. Penny is a very likeable heroine. And her story is as close to fairytale as it gets. Both Penny and Jack come from childhoods marked with struggle, but they aren’t ruled by these past events. Penny has dreams and Jack does everything he can to help her obtain them, never does self-doubt or doubt of their relationship inflict him. He is a hero of great character. Penny’s faith in Jack is as strong. Jack is know as a ‘lady’s man’ but when he pledges his love to Penny, she accepts it and never questions it. I enjoyed reading a love story where the love was strong through out and the conflict laid in events.

The reason I gave More Than Angels a 3 ½ book rating was the plot development. There were plenty of twist and turns. Surprise villains, drug smugglers, absent fathers found, brutal attacks, and meddling past loves, it was this constant string of events most of which I felt most were underdeveloped. So much happened that I felt some key scenes were rushed, so the characters didn’t get to fully experience the situation.

Ms. Ward offers a wonderful story of a love that cannot be shaken regardless of what life throws at them. When I finished More Than Angels, I knew the happily ever after was forever, that Jack and Penny would grow old together, in a blissful love. My suggestion for a great summer escape is to fill a large glass with icy lemonade, find a shady spot and spend an afternoon reading More Than Angels.