Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Title	Kiss an Angel
Author	Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Edition	reprint
Publisher	Piatkus, 2006
Genre	Romance
ISBN	0749937092, 9780749937096
Length	384 pages

Ratings
Unbelievable ?  EXTREMELY. 5/5. Just look at the protagonists' names, Theodosia (Daisy) Devreaux and Alexander Romanov Markov.

Alex is a descendant of the Romanov dynasty (yes, and from Tsar Nicholas II's fragile son's line) and a known circus folk. Daisy remained a 26 yo virgin while her mother was a frivolous nymphomaniac who was already bedding guys younger than her daughter before she died.

Problem with some of the famous romance authors is that they tend to stick to a certain formula that they become known for (other than the known requisite that all male protagonists are damaged in one way or another/ inscrutable, charismatic characters/ handsome weirdos).

For Susan Elizabeth Phillips, the female protagonist tends to be a pretty lady who is misunderstood by the people around her, especially the guy who she will fall in love with. But don't worry by the end of the book, everyone will love her. Always. And the guy would be very emotionally damaged but becomes cured by her love, though SEP outdid herself this time with one who is more damaged than the usual. (1) his parents died in a train accident when he was 2 years old, (2) he was raised by an uncle who camouflaged his pedophilia by whipping his nephew, (3) rescued by Daisy's father  when he was 8 yo. Daisy's dad was conveniently a diplomat to Russia who has a weird obsession with Russians and of course, this guy, to a point he makes him marry his daughter to continue the Romanov line. this despite he does not think much of her than as a brood mare. Give the man Father of the Year award!(4) Alex is now a professor of art at a college, but he is fantastically rich due to his own Russian art collection and consultancy work with biggest museums in the country, and he is helping his other benefactor by running his circus for 6 months after the latter died. WTF?

So he drags Daisy after their impromptu marriage to the circus, where of course she had to suffer a lot of trials and tribulations ala SEP style, e.g. being framed as a thief, being tortured by sundry circus animals, being burnt by stupid Alex, getting knocked up by stupid Alex who realized that he really loved her after he burnt her (S&M). And even though she doesn't like animals, and they her, somehow she developed a rapport with a tiger, a gorilla and a baby elephant who has weird olfactory fetish. Villains other than Alex, are a misguided teenage girl who has a crush on Alex, and the sexy circus owner's widow who has an obsession with Alex's circusfolk lineage and his sexual prowess, so much so that she turned from love to hatred when he denied her.

The main point is... don't think too hard when reading this book (especially TRY NOT to draw comparisons with SEP's other book "call me irresistible"), just appreciate the span of SEP's imagination when writing this book. I spent quite a lot of time rolling my eyes, but I have to admit it was an entertaining read. I also think the book should be renamed as "obsession" given the number of strange obsessive characters there are in this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Believability - 0/5 (see above); Romance factor - 3/5; Readability - 4/5 (fairly entertaining, too much about animals and annoying side characters); Yummyness of male protagonist (YMP) - 3/5 (handsome art professor who is a descendant of Russian royalty with amber eyes like a freaking tiger. Unbelievable!!! Dislike MCPs).