Clare learns early on that Nicholas has secrets in his past. She begins acting as a housekeeper of sorts, and as he listens to her ideas about improving the community, she helps him fix up his home. It’s not just that he’s handsome something about him calls to her. Surprisingly, Clare finds herself immediately attracted to Nicholas, and very tempted by his advances. She is also confident in her ability to withstand Nicholas’s advances. She has always been respected in the community, and she hopes that her friends will understand. They hammer out the details (she isn’t required to sleep with him, but he gets one kiss per day, and in return he will do his best to help her) and she returns home briefly to tell her friends about her unusual situation.Īs the daughter of a Methodist minister, Clare has a lot to lose with this bargain. He assumes that she’ll give him the proper set-down he richly deserves and head for the door – but she surprises both of them by accepting his outrageous proposition. So he offers her a completely unthinkable proposition: He will help her and the town if she will sacrifice her reputation by living with him for three months. All he can think when he sees Clare is that he would like for her to go away. Nicholas is disillusioned with life in general and completely uninterested in his earldom in particular. Clare Morgan, a Welsh school mistress who is concerned about the continued deterioration of her community, approaches Nicholas Davies, Earl of Aberdare, and asks for his help. If it’s not the best romance series ever written, it’s at least in the top five. Thunder and Roses is the first of Mary Jo’s Putney’s Fallen Angels series.

I knew I’d loved it when I read it a decade ago, but would it really hold up after so many years (and so many books)? It was a needless worry not only did I enjoy reading it the second time around, but it was better than I remembered. I first read Thunder and Roses in the mid-nineties, when I was new to romance and wonderful reads seemed to be everywhere. I also can’t help wondering if it really was that good. There are so many books that need to be reviewed in the here and now that I rarely feel like I can take the time to indulge myself with an old favorite. Unlike many romance fans, I’m not a chronic re-reader.

Thunder & Roses by Mary Jo Putney