Susan Elizabeth PhillipsKiss an Angel

Like a Rembrandt painting, Phillips crafts characters, emotions and scenes with the hand of a master. Kiss an Angel is not your ordinary love story. The setting is unusual and exciting. The characters, complex and wonderful. Kiss and Angel delves deeply into human emotion with a compassionate eye on understanding human nature—and the simple need we all have to love and be loved. I’ll be thinking about Daisy, Alex, their circus family and the deep roots that entwined these characters for a long time. Bravo, Susan Elizabeth Phillips!!

Daisy has lived a dysfunctional existence with her mother. Now her father has bullied her into marrying Alex, a performer in a small traveling circus. This story twists around and seems outlandish. Even though I have read it 3 times now, it is a story that makes me tense. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite authors. This book is interesting, but not your ordinary love story. Enjoy!

I've read this book about 10 times. Its perfect. The side characters are so well established and also such a big part of the story. I can't say enough.wonderful things about this book. You have to read!

“I, Theodosia . . .” She gulped for air. “. . . take thee Alexander . . .” She gulped again. “. . . to be my awful wedded husband . . .”I fell in love with the heroine. Before the end of chapter one.An arranged marriage.A romance that takes place in a traveling circus.This was sheer perfection. The writing, absolutely captivating. I was blown away by the beauty of this book. It was magical. I missed this feeling, boy, did I miss it! It feels like it's been a while since I've read something this fantastic. By far, this is my favorite read this year. I think it's because it made me feel good, despite the heartbreaking and emotional parts in the book, it was a feel-good book to me. The words were uplifting, they resonated with me, moved me. There were many moments that made me giggle (yes, I giggle damn it), because of Daisy--now one of my favorite heroines. I was instantly endeared to her. Her sense of humor was natural, honest, sweet and guileless. But it was her braveness and her love for the circus animals that truly won me over. The animals...my God, did I fall in love with them too! They played a crucial part in the story. If you ask me, they were the real heroes! And as much as they made me laugh too, I also shed many tears for them, the kind of tears that make you grab for tissue paper to blow your nose as you continue to cry with heart-aching sentiment. I wanted to protect them, save them, love them. Gah! Sinjun, the Siberian tiger; Tater, the baby elephant; and Glenna, the gorilla, stole my heart. And Alex, the hero? He was just another wild creature Daisy had to learn to tame, teach how to trust and love. Alex's backstory was intriguing and mysterious. Details about his life are slowly revealed throughout the story, always adding another layer to the man he was. Yes, he had a sad past and was emotionally closed-off and I know that sounds very trope-y, however, the story didn't feel predictable at all, which is why I was glued to every scene, every single word. That's testament to the brilliant storytelling ability of this author.Daisy & Alex and the animals, I loved every piece of them. I wish I could write a better review that describes this book, describe how wonderful it is, but I don't think i have it in me. All I can say is, I wish I hadn't waited to read it. I wish I had found this book when it first came into existence. Don't wait to read it, my friends.

Sweet happy ever after kind of good. You know ,when you see who wrote the book, you are in for a good escape.

I have great respect for Susan Elizabeth Phillips as a writer. I have read Fancy Pants, Hot Shot, Dream a Little Dream, Nobody's Baby But Mine and this book. She researches her unique topics and really captures the essence of her characters' unique interests and careers (there are many charming details about traveling circuses and the various performers). Her dialogue is funny and zippy. Her secondary characters add color and spirit, populating the book with charming secondary plotlines. Her opening scenes are strong, colorful and interesting, grabbing my attention so that I buy the Kindle edition immediately, and then I am just as quickly disappointed.This book is the best of the SEP books I have read. The setting of a poor travelling circus and the people you come across in such a place was great. I liked Daisy's enthusiasm and her journey of self-discovery as she learns how to work hard, achieve her goals and generally behave like a capable adult.However, the book simply had too many concepts jammed between two covers in an attempt to be charming or thrilling. For example, the link between the hero and the Romanov dynasty was ridiculous, especially given that the remains of the last two Romanov children (Alexei and Anastasia) have been positively identified since its publication. It seems conspicuous that a story supposedly written around 1996 has no mention of cell phones or computers. Some of the references (TV's Dallas) and vocabulary (Airstream trailer instead of RV or camper) are out of date. The story could benefit from an overhaul to correct these, or at least sticking a time-stamp on the first chapter to orient the reader so that anachronisms can be ignored.Several themes were used without explanation. One is magic: Alex somehow manages to make Daisy's cigarettes explode into flames so that she cannot smoke, as well as one random strangers. How he does this is never detailed, and after doing this a few times in the beginning of the book, Alex's mysterious magical powers are never brought up again. It was a jarring note in an otherwise modern romance novel.Daisy develops psychic powers and is able to converse with some of the animals in the menagerie, particularly Sinjun, the old tiger. Again, there's no indication that this story was meant to be a supernatural romance, so its inclusion was off-putting for me. It was very charming and perhaps it was meant to add a fairytale-like feeling to the story, but it just seemed unreasonable that Daisy would be able to 'talk' the tiger out of attacking when he escapes his cage, or that she would be allowed to let the tiger roam from its cage when she thought it ok to do so. Any mishap with the tiger, involving injury or not, could easily cause the circus to be sued for liability and go bankrupt. (And yes, perhaps I am being too harsh and too realistic in a lovely romantic setting, but honestly, it's a live tiger we're talking about here.)Finally, there were simply too many things about Daisy's character that I found unlikely for a girl as modern and smart as she was supposed to be. She had a ridiculous view of marriage as 'sacred' ... which makes it illogical for her to agree to get married in order to pay off debts. If marriage is too sacred to be entered into lightly, then it shouldn't be used as a means to pay off your creditors, either. If she believed this was true, she should have taken the sentencing and been carted off to debtor's prison as the book implied was about to happen. Otherwise she is just a hypocrite. Then, she has an overly twee and rigid view of sex and is a virgin at the age of 26. Don't get me wrong - there are many reasons why someone would remain a virgin their late 20s, from a crippling shyness to a lack of opportunity. But Daisy's life indicates that she is a very charming, happy, well-adjusted girl (in spite of her resentment of her mother) and so there is no reason why she wouldn't have had sex at least once. Her resistance to doing so seems to contradict the idea that she is a mentally healthy adult. Last, her language reflected a Puritanical view of propriety, which goes along with the rest of this paragraph, but is no less annoying. This seems to be a staple of SEPs books where the men are free to curse and say whatever course things they like, but the women decline to do so because of their good manners. Viewed in this light, it seems sexist that the women in the novel aren't allowed the freedom to talk how people talk, even though her characters span many social groups and walks of life. It seems unlikely that at least some of the women wouldn't speak freely. (And yes, Heather in this novel lets it rip, but the book makes clear that she does so out of immaturity and lack of a better role model).I thought the romance between the two characters was touching, but Alex spent much of the novel being an unlikable boor. In his 30s, it took him most of the book to stop yelling at the heroine and then offering insincere apologies for the same. He says that he agreed to marry Daisy out of gratitude to her father, agreeing that he had a debt to pay back and this was the honorable thing to do. Then he immediately sets out making Daisy miserable in the hopes of driving her off before the scheduled six month time limit. Now, if he believed that he needed to marry Daisy to pay back his debt of gratitude, shouldn't he also be expected to fulfill the terms of that agreement? Otherwise why do it at all? He could have just said no, or offered Max money, or offered to take Daisy with him on the road to see if they would suit and IF they did, then get married voluntarily. The plot device of the marriage of convenience just does not work in the modern era, with both families involved having plenty of money and no need of a woman (Alex didn't need someone to take care of him; he definitely did not want a child, so what is the point?)The descriptions of the emotions blooming in both character's hearts were lovely; that is why I say their romance was touching. But the fact is that the plot makes little sense as it is written. If some of the unneeded strangeness (the supernatural elements, references to dead Roman princes) were taken out, perhaps it would be possible to overlook their confusing motives for doing the things they did. Otherwise, it is a bit of a muddle, to say the least.

Ya lo había leído en español, pero quiero darme la oportunidad y empezar a leer en inglés

I loved everything about this book. I loved Daisy’s personality and her interaction with Alex. I loved the setting where the story took place. I loved Daisy’s tenacity. There was a comment regarding quality issues, I certainly did not notice them. A few very minor grammar/spelling issues.

A book which will make you cry, laugh and get a feel of go and hug the heroine kinda book. Its a must read and I am going to re read again for sure.Thank you Susan Mam for this beautiful masterpiece .. So in love with all the characters... The characters and the story you created will last forever in my mind.

O livro é realmente ótimo , o romance é construído lentamente enquanto os protagonistas vão se conhecendo. Os 'pets' são um espetáculo à parte... Maravilhosos! Os personagens laterais também são entretenimento garantido. O cenário - o circo- um mundo à parte. Enfim... O livro vale a pena.

Outstanding, wonderful, romantic, sweet, emotional!!! I loved it to no end.I read this book in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down. I loved all the characters and the emotional journey they go through. Daisy is a rich girl but with a golden heart as we soon discover, forced to married Alex Markov. They could't be more different but they're good good people and find a way to adapt and live together in a small trailer while working in a circus.Beautifully written, with very angsty moments. I read the last chapter almost crying but the HEA is awesome. I wish I could read it again for new, without knowing what is going to happen.