It was a treat for me to find a historical Christmas story amongst this year’s “harvest”, a nice variation for someone always “greedy” for more holiday spirit in any setting. And what a sweet tale ‘The Wrong Kind of Angel’ turned out to be! At first I thought the title a little odd, but that only made me more curious to read the story. As it turns out, the title perfectly summarizes the way Charles, one of the main characters, thinks of himself when he rescues a half-frozen man who turns up on his doorstep on Christmas Eve in 1817, calling Charles “his angel”.

As far as Charles is concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. He lost his family when he was only ten, he became a soldier in the Napoleonic wars and lost more than one man under his command to the enemy, and he is a sodomite – not that anyone knows – who would be imprisoned or worse if anyone found out. Yep, Charles believes he is “the wrong kind of angel” to be saving anyone.

Harry, the fugitive who barley manages to walk into Charles’s house before he collapses, has a different view. To him, a boy lured into prostitution, abused, and now on the run from the crooked owner of the brothel, Charles is a godsend. Charles feeds him, gives him new clothes, and offers a soft bed for the night. The next morning the former soldier not only ably dispatches the three henchmen who come after Harry, but also offers to help find Julian, the twelve-year-old boy Harry is trying to rescue from the brothel owner’s clutches. As far as Harry is concerned, that means Charles is “the right kind of angel” for sure!

While there is plenty of suspense around Harry’s background and fate, a lot of the story focuses on Charles. He is lonely and has resigned himself to his fate, yet when Harry appears, he seems to come to life again. They can never live as a couple, not out in the open in the early nineteenth century, but the idea of finding a way to have them share their lives motivates Charles to figure out a way to make it happen. Both men are clearly meant to be together, and I was rooting for them from the moment they met.

If you’re looking for a fairy-tale-like Christmas story set in the past, if you think two men who fall in love deserve to share their lives no matter what society thinks, and if you’re looking for a read with mystery, a suspenseful search, and a very happy ending, then you will probably like this delightful novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )