Review of Defiant Angel

[Kayla Archer]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Defiant Angel" by Jodi Smith.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Jodi Smith’s Defiant Angel: A Western Historical Romance has a taste of Gone with the Wind and a good old John Wayne western. Smith’s story follows Lily, a spirited and beautiful orphan who knows nothing except the Texas saloon and whore house where she has lived since birth. Believing a whore house is a terrible place for a young girl, a saloon customer takes Lily to his sister’s family hoping they will take her in and raise her. Unbeknownst to Lily, she is trekked across the country and introduced to the Tillwaters. Samuel and Sarah have two sons about Lily’s age, and with some convincing from Samuel, Sarah agrees to allow Lily to stay.

Lily grows up with the Tillwaters and their two sons, Robert and Jason. Though still sassy and a bit defiant at times, she holds her own against the two brothers and learns to be submissive when needed. Lily struggles with dreams and memories of the whore house, where she witnessed unspeakable acts committed to women by men. She has a troublesome time separating the sin from her past with her present life.

When Lily is of age, she attends a country dance where her beauty does not go unnoticed. After enjoying dances with some perspective beaus, Lily wonders what love is and if she has that spark with any of the men she encountered.

Then, one dreadful day, her adoptive father dies from a horse accident, and Lily suddenly finds herself as a bargaining chip for her family. To survive, the family has betrothed Lily to an elderly widower, hoping his money and resources will help the family. Lily is devastated! “She’d promised herself as a little girl that she'd never be like her mama, selling her body for money. How was this any different” (91)? With no other options, Lily flees the only home and family she has ever known and escapes to a coal-mining town where she embarks on her new life. But did she go far enough to escape?

I found this story interesting and intriguing. It was a good page-turner: easy to read and a great plot. I liked how the protagonist, Lily, grew and learned throughout the story. Smith kept Lily’s sassy, sultry character but allowed her to mature admirably and believably. Characters were introduced in detail but then not mentioned again. I believe Smith set these characters up for the next book: Defiant Beauty.

Sometimes, though, the language in the story shifted from western-style to the present day. Vocabulary such as “awesome” diminished the Western atmosphere. The story was not professionally edited, and the errors were distracting and abundant. These errors took away from the omniscient point of view and made it difficult to follow some characters' thoughts.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I believe it has potential and wish it was edited professionally. There is language and erotic content throughout the pages, some very graphic in detail. But, the mention of characters and the abrupt ending makes me curious what will happen to Lily in the upcoming book.

I recommend this book to those who enjoy a good romance. It has some salty language and graphic scenes that leave nothing for the imagination. Mature audiences are encouraged to read this. Lily can be compared to Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind. Unlike Scarlett, Lily seems to mature and change with her circumstances. Time will tell in the second book, Defiant Beauty.

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Defiant Angel
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[Stephanie Cameron]

I love a female character that is sassy, especially one that sounds determined to better herself as Lily does. I liked your summary of the story. It got my attention. I'm a fan of western themes so this seems like a book for me. Thanks!

[Waliyat_24]

I love the determined character of lily. I wonder how she will survive out there. Great review!

[Ruthwriter]

Lily was wonderful in this book.i believe there are more to what happened to her than what was mentioned by the reviewer which I will love to know and enjoy. thanks

[WriteOn]

To survive, the family has betrothed Lily to an elderly widower, hoping his money and resources will help the family. Lily is devastated!

I was drawn into the plot by your review, so my heart fell when I read the above. Thanks for bringing this book to life, it's a great review. It's a shame the Western style language is not consistently used but the book still appeals to me. Lily seems like a very resilient character. Thank you.

[EVERLASTING 22]

I'd really like to learn more about Lily and how she deals with the destruction she encounters as she grows older. This seems like a really interesting plot. Just a few sentences from your review made me fall in love with it.

[Maliha Naveed]

Though the summary you have provided is a bit longer as compared to the review itself, I still believe that you have covered pretty much every aspect of the book in the review. Scarlet O'Hara is one of my all time favourite fictional characters so I might grab this book to see which features of Lily resemble those of Scarlet. Nice review.

[Paully_]

Wow, I'm already drawn in by the review. I hope it ends well for Lily. Thanks for the apt review.

[Kayla Archer]

I love a female character that is sassy, especially one that sounds determined to better herself as Lily does. I liked your summary of the story. It got my attention. I'm a fan of western themes so this seems like a book for me. Thanks!

You're very welcome! I did enjoy this story and look forward to her future.

[Kayla Archer]

To survive, the family has betrothed Lily to an elderly widower, hoping his money and resources will help the family. Lily is devastated!

I was drawn into the plot by your review, so my heart fell when I read the above. Thanks for bringing this book to life, it's a great review. It's a shame the Western style language is not consistently used but the book still appeals to me. Lily seems like a very resilient character. Thank you.

Thank you so much! I so wished the language was consistent because the story was intriguing.