What do you think?
Rate this book
The Glorious Victorious Darcys #1.5
His Broken Angel
From the author of Her Sky Cowboy comes a sexy new novella about rebellion, redemption, and the healing powers of love and tolerance amid budding global chaos.
Doc Blue has never had it easy. Born a Freak, the offspring of a Vic—a native Victorian—and a Mod—a time traveler from the future—he’s lived on the fringes of society, hiding his true identity and preternatural healing abilities from even his closest friends. His brief support of the Freak rebellion has only left him with even more problems, losing him both his job and one of his greatest allies, the Sky Cowboy, Tucker Gentry. So when Tuck’s kid sister, Lily, ends up blinded in an air skirmish on her way from America to England, Doc jumps at the opportunity to be the one to rescue her and use his powers to mend her wounds.
Curing Lily proves harder than anticipated, and Doc realizes that to restore her sight he will have to spill his biggest secret and embrace his Freak nature like never before. But, with Lily’s help, Doc may be able to reach the full potential of his abilities, heal Lily’s broken heart, and learn, finally, how to open his.
Doc Blue has never had it easy. Born a Freak, the offspring of a Vic—a native Victorian—and a Mod—a time traveler from the future—he’s lived on the fringes of society, hiding his true identity and preternatural healing abilities from even his closest friends. His brief support of the Freak rebellion has only left him with even more problems, losing him both his job and one of his greatest allies, the Sky Cowboy, Tucker Gentry. So when Tuck’s kid sister, Lily, ends up blinded in an air skirmish on her way from America to England, Doc jumps at the opportunity to be the one to rescue her and use his powers to mend her wounds.
Curing Lily proves harder than anticipated, and Doc realizes that to restore her sight he will have to spill his biggest secret and embrace his Freak nature like never before. But, with Lily’s help, Doc may be able to reach the full potential of his abilities, heal Lily’s broken heart, and learn, finally, how to open his.
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2013
1 person is currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Beth Ciotta
42 books471 followersStorytelling comes naturally to award-winning author Beth Ciotta. Limiting herself to one sub-genre does not. Dubbed “fun and sexy” by Publisher’s Weekly, Beth specializes in writing Romantic Comedy with a Twist of Suspense and is published in contemporary, historical, and paranormal romantic fiction. “I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than writing stories where everyone (except the villain, of course) gets a happy ending!”
Beth lives in New Jersey with her husband, two zany dogs, and one crazy cat. Although writing takes up most of her time, she still performs occasionally as a singer, character actress, emcee, and storyteller. To support literacy, Beth also works at her local library.
To learn more about her chaotic life you can visit her Web site at www.bethciotta.com
Beth lives in New Jersey with her husband, two zany dogs, and one crazy cat. Although writing takes up most of her time, she still performs occasionally as a singer, character actress, emcee, and storyteller. To support literacy, Beth also works at her local library.
To learn more about her chaotic life you can visit her Web site at www.bethciotta.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 30, 2024
2024 Read Harder Challenge - Science fiction novella.
January 21, 2019
Doc Blue has never had it easy. Born a Freak, the offspring of a Vic—a native Victorian—and a Mod—a time traveler from the future—he’s lived on the fringes of society, hiding his true identity and preternatural healing abilities from even his closest friends. His brief support of the Freak rebellion has only left him with even more problems, losing him both his job and one of his greatest allies, the Sky Cowboy, Tucker Gentry. So when Tuck’s kid sister, Lily, ends up blinded in an air skirmish on her way from America to England, Doc jumps at the opportunity to be the one to rescue her and use his powers to mend her wounds.
Curing Lily proves harder than anticipated, and Doc realizes that to restore her sight he will have to spill his biggest secret and embrace his Freak nature like never before. But, with Lily’s help, Doc may be able to reach the full potential of his abilities, heal Lily’s broken heart, and learn, finally, how to open his.
So this was a cute little story but it felt really rushed and slightly...unfinished?
I've read the rest of the series previously and thoroughly enjoyed both books. This was a great way to see more of Doc Blue, but I felt like it could have either been expanded to give Blue and Lily more of a story or somehow worked into one or both of the other books. I did like the way that Doc cared for Lily, even when he was fighting the love at first touch thing.
I did feel like their relationship developed way too fast, but since this was a really short novella, I guess there wasn't much choice. Still. It was interesting seeing Lily trying to "paint" him at the beginning. She might have been falling into a depression or whatever, but she still tried to use her other senses to accommodate. Granted, that was after meeting Doc but whatever, she still started trying.
I would have loved to see more of Lily's art and also see about figuring out how things had gone back home. Were her relatives really stealing any money Tuck was sending back? Had they lied about putting her on a transport? I'd also have liked an explanation on the traitor and Jasper and PJ and really, I just want more.
Don't get me wrong, I liked getting to see Doc Blue get his potential HEA and start towards his redemption. But at the same time, there were several things that were hinted at that there's no explanation for.
Curing Lily proves harder than anticipated, and Doc realizes that to restore her sight he will have to spill his biggest secret and embrace his Freak nature like never before. But, with Lily’s help, Doc may be able to reach the full potential of his abilities, heal Lily’s broken heart, and learn, finally, how to open his.
So this was a cute little story but it felt really rushed and slightly...unfinished?
I've read the rest of the series previously and thoroughly enjoyed both books. This was a great way to see more of Doc Blue, but I felt like it could have either been expanded to give Blue and Lily more of a story or somehow worked into one or both of the other books. I did like the way that Doc cared for Lily, even when he was fighting the love at first touch thing.
I did feel like their relationship developed way too fast, but since this was a really short novella, I guess there wasn't much choice. Still. It was interesting seeing Lily trying to "paint" him at the beginning. She might have been falling into a depression or whatever, but she still tried to use her other senses to accommodate. Granted, that was after meeting Doc but whatever, she still started trying.
I would have loved to see more of Lily's art and also see about figuring out how things had gone back home. Were her relatives really stealing any money Tuck was sending back? Had they lied about putting her on a transport? I'd also have liked an explanation on the traitor and Jasper and PJ and really, I just want more.
Don't get me wrong, I liked getting to see Doc Blue get his potential HEA and start towards his redemption. But at the same time, there were several things that were hinted at that there's no explanation for.
October 14, 2014
A short and easy read that holds true to the action, adventure and romance of the rest of the series.
Amazingly, this short story reminded me of the movie 'Valentine's Day'. A slue of characters that seem separate at first but end up having certain relationships in common, or portions of their lives that overlap. Ciotta brings in Doc Blue's brother, a distant(unheard of) cousin of Amelia Darcy and Tucker Gentry's sister.
I found two things a bit hard to understand. The first being that Doc Blue and Lily Gentry fell in love almost instantaneously despite the fact that Lily is blind upon their intital meeting. Also, they are ready to marry come the end of the story. That had to be what, a few weeks, if that. The rushed relationship puts somewhat of a damper on enjoying the romance for me personally.
The second, and I am surprised I didn't question this before - but if Freaks use tinted glasses in order to make their kaleidoscope eyes appear "normal", wouldn't them wearing colored spectacles be a big red flag that they aren't exactly human? The use of corneatacts (colored contacts) would make more sense if they wanted to blend into general society, but what about tinted glasses says that you are like everyone else? Just seems counterproductive to me.
Amazingly, this short story reminded me of the movie 'Valentine's Day'. A slue of characters that seem separate at first but end up having certain relationships in common, or portions of their lives that overlap. Ciotta brings in Doc Blue's brother, a distant(unheard of) cousin of Amelia Darcy and Tucker Gentry's sister.
I found two things a bit hard to understand. The first being that Doc Blue and Lily Gentry fell in love almost instantaneously despite the fact that Lily is blind upon their intital meeting. Also, they are ready to marry come the end of the story. That had to be what, a few weeks, if that. The rushed relationship puts somewhat of a damper on enjoying the romance for me personally.
The second, and I am surprised I didn't question this before - but if Freaks use tinted glasses in order to make their kaleidoscope eyes appear "normal", wouldn't them wearing colored spectacles be a big red flag that they aren't exactly human? The use of corneatacts (colored contacts) would make more sense if they wanted to blend into general society, but what about tinted glasses says that you are like everyone else? Just seems counterproductive to me.
May 29, 2013
His Broken Angel is a short connected to Ciotta's Glorius Victorius Darcys steampunk series, and falls after the first book Her Sky Cowboy: The Glorious Victorious Darcys which I started but didn't finish - I liked the idea of the series but didn't get immediately hooked.
Well I have to admit I had the same problem with this short, while I liked the idea of the hero Doc Blue, I had to force myself to keep picking this story back up after setting it back down several times until about 2/3rds through I finally got invested enough to read through to the finish. His Broken Angel ended up being okay, but the instalove was kind of hard to deal despite the fact that as a short story lover I am normally more forgiving. Though to be fair, in this case since hero appears in the first book the reader may have been expected to bring character development for Doc with them from the first book. I am guessing that is the case since the heroine was a bit better fleshed out.
That said, even with having to work to finish this My Broken Angel, I am still tempted to go back and try to finish the first book, we'll see if time (and the advent of new shinies) permits.
Well I have to admit I had the same problem with this short, while I liked the idea of the hero Doc Blue, I had to force myself to keep picking this story back up after setting it back down several times until about 2/3rds through I finally got invested enough to read through to the finish. His Broken Angel ended up being okay, but the instalove was kind of hard to deal despite the fact that as a short story lover I am normally more forgiving. Though to be fair, in this case since hero appears in the first book the reader may have been expected to bring character development for Doc with them from the first book. I am guessing that is the case since the heroine was a bit better fleshed out.
That said, even with having to work to finish this My Broken Angel, I am still tempted to go back and try to finish the first book, we'll see if time (and the advent of new shinies) permits.
October 11, 2013
Chapter Nine: "Now she knew her destiny lied with one of Tuck’s crew."
'lied'
Is there an editor at Signet Eclipse who owes the author a refund for services not rendered or do I have to stop reading American penned books altogether? I know this is a series about time-travel & the consequences thereof, but the abuse of the past tense in both Her Sky Cowboy and His Broken Angel turns these steampunk romances into pure horror for me.
'lied'
Is there an editor at Signet Eclipse who owes the author a refund for services not rendered or do I have to stop reading American penned books altogether? I know this is a series about time-travel & the consequences thereof, but the abuse of the past tense in both Her Sky Cowboy and His Broken Angel turns these steampunk romances into pure horror for me.
October 14, 2013
Oh. Well. Yeah. Skimmed.
It's hard to get on board for instalove. It's short, so I'll grant some leeway, but you've got to do more than tell me she's pretty and he's brave. We were cheated in that Tucker and Amelia didn't show up. If you're going to make me buy a side-shoot story, I'd better get some series plot.
It's hard to get on board for instalove. It's short, so I'll grant some leeway, but you've got to do more than tell me she's pretty and he's brave. We were cheated in that Tucker and Amelia didn't show up. If you're going to make me buy a side-shoot story, I'd better get some series plot.
January 20, 2014
I really enjoyed this one. Loved to see Blue find love, he was a character I really liked and was so torn by. However, I really want to see what happens when Tucker finds out. How will that go? I hope not to awfully - I would love to see Blue back on the Maverick. I would not recommend this to someone who hasn't read the series - well, you could but you would not have the connection to the characters nor the backstory.
July 28, 2014
From the pan into the fire
From the pan into the fire
I think Doc is jumping pretty fast into the fire. But, Lily did too when she boarded that zepplin. They are perfectly matched and I see them accomplishing their goal to bed together. It s riveting and k e pto me reading to the end. I wanted more.
From the pan into the fire
I think Doc is jumping pretty fast into the fire. But, Lily did too when she boarded that zepplin. They are perfectly matched and I see them accomplishing their goal to bed together. It s riveting and k e pto me reading to the end. I wanted more.
June 3, 2013
I thought this story was wonderfully sweet and interestingly furthered the story line introduced in the first book. I can't wait for the next book and thankfully, I only have to wait 2 days for my preordered book to be released!
May 18, 2013
I really liked Doc Blue and Lily together, but it left so many questions unanswered. Just wondering how many will be cleared up soon since the next book focuses on Simon and Wilhemina. So many of the questions involve Tucker and his crew.
June 6, 2013
This was a short, fun read while waiting for the next book in the series. As a novella, things went quickly, but it gave additional insight into some characters introduced in the first book. I hope to see the relationships developed more in the next book.
May 10, 2013
4.5 stars
July 7, 2013
3.5, pretty good but too short and had a oddly fast ending.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews