ANGEL'S ASSASSIN by Laurel O'Donnell tells the story of how an enslaved man wins his freedom and the love of his life at the same time. The Angel in the title refers to Lady Aurora of Aquitaine, and Damien is meant to be her Assassin. However, the forces of good overcome evil in this medieval romance, and in the end Damien and Aurora show us that complicated relationships can work out once honesty rules the relationship.
Damien and his brother were sold into slavery by their father when they were very young. The prologue goes into detail about how Damien's brother is freed while Damien is left enslaved. Throughout the book, the reader discovers bits and pieces of Damien's life via memories, dreams, and what the characters "in the know" reveal to others. At first, I felt as if perhaps there was an earlier book that I missed, but no, the reader must simply be patient.
Chapter one starts off with a day in the life of Lady Aurora of Aquitaine and then shifts into how Damien is drawn into saving her life so that he can have a chance to win his freedom. His "noble" act earns her trust and he soon becomes her bodyguard, even though he was also sent to kill her.
Much of the book revolves around Damien battling his inner demons and people from his past until he understands and accepts the fact that he was never going to win his freedom. The book focuses a bit too much on this issue for my taste. As a trained assassin, much is made about how observant Damien is, but he constantly questions whether his owner ever intended to free him. I wanted to say to him "Duh! He bought you in order to make you an assassin and send you to kill people. This should be a big sign that he is not to be trusted."
I found the development of the romantic feelings as well as Damien and Lady Aurora's relationship believable, though, so the reader can easily overlook Damien's issues.
Damien's brother also makes several appearances. His character feels like it should be a major part of the story, but the portion of the book dealing with him is so small that I wondered whether there was going to be a second story focusing on his character. I would have liked to see more of him and more of the development of the brothers' relationship.
As for the technical side of this historical romance, there were some minor editing errors which were generally not a problem. However, when writing this kind of novel, it is important to remember the history of the region. Several times, the characters referred to England, e.g. "Damien is the deadliest assassin in all of England", as if that's where the story took place. Aquitaine is a region in the southwest part of France, and even though England and France had the same ruler at certain times, the distinction is clearly made in historical documents. Aquitaine was never considered England, only an English possession. Some other historical details were incorrect, and so attention to the historical aspects of this region and revisions would be nice if there is any re-publication.
Overall, even though there were a few issues that detracted from the book, I enjoyed the story about Damien and Lady Aurora, and if you are a fan of medieval fiction, this book is definitely for you.
