The Angel Paws Collection – Guest Post from Mindy Houng
Name of book: The Angel Paws Collection
Author: Mimi Milan
Genre: Multicultural, Contemporary Romance
Release date: December 7, 2017
Please note: Although these books are categorized as sweet fiction, unfortunately, I would not classify them as such. There is language and the sexual content is on the edge.
Scent for Angel
To fight… or fall in love?
The only thing Tanner McKoy wants is to disappear into the backwoods of North Carolina, hopefully forgetting about his tour in Afghanistan. However, forgetting seems improbable. And disappearing is impossible when a determined grad student uses her new shelter rescues to track him down.
After a miserable breakup with her fiance, Eva Perez returns to grad school to complete her thesis and become a physical therapist. Unfortunately, that means assisting on several case studies – one of which includes a surly army veteran who refuses help. How can she win a battle with someone still stuck in combat mode?
Touched by an Angel
An explosion during a tour in Afghanistan took Rhett Marshall’s sight, but not his mind. Too bad his family can’t seem to grasp that fact. He’ll do anything to regain control over his life again… even take drastic measures like marrying a complete stranger just so he can call his own shots.
Luciana Lopez came to the United States on a student visa – which is about to expire. Unfortunately, finding an employer to petition for her so she can stay in the country has proven impossible. Could marriage to a desperate army veteran be the answer to her immigration problem?
Enjoy the second novel in the groundbreaking, heartwarming series, Angel Paws Rescue, that donates twenty percent of proceeds to help army veterans and shelter animals.
When Angel Sing
Fast food, fast cars, and fast women…
Eddie Rivera, a Chicano rock star hoping to break into the American music scene, has always lived life in the fast lane. The last thing he planned on was a country cutie with the belief that a guy “won’t buy the cow if he’s getting the milk for free.” Can a shot at her lifelong dreams and a rescue kitty help him change her mind?
From boys to battlefields, Rachel Linden may have lost her hearing but she has never lost a fight. Of course, she’s never had her dream of singing dangled in front of her either. Is there a strategy she can employ to win a war of wishes… without losing her heart?
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About the Author
Mimi Milan is an award winning, bestselling author of both historical and contemporary romance. Currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University, she spends most of her time in the suburbs of Charlotte, crafting stories her family and imaginary friends inspire.
Mindy’s Thoughts
This novella collection was my introduction to Mimi Milan’s writing. All three stories are well-written, engaging, and fun to read. The setting of the three contemporary romance stories is a small town in North Carolina.
The plots of the story are well-developed, even though they are novellas. The dialogue flows well and the surrounding beauty of the town is well-portrayed in the descriptions. The characters have depth with rich layers and I found myself really bonding with them.
In the first story, Scent of an Angel, Tanner is a wounded veteran needing a prosthetic leg to learn to walk again. He’s angry, bitter, and depressed after returning to his mother’s home. Underneath all the gruffly solider attitude lies a tender and gentle heart, a determined and focused intelligence, a gift for writing, and a desire for love. Eva is a student physical therapist almost done with her schooling who gets roped into helping Tanner adjust to his new leg. She’s survived a verbally and mentally abusive relationship and decides that she needs to return to her independent, feisty, take-charge self to avoid repeating her mistakes. Sparks fly, of course, when these two butt heads. Throw in a matchmaking Mama (Tanner’s) and a great shelter dog named Hunter (Eva’s) training to be a therapy dog and you have a nice, heart-warming story.
The author also addresses some serious topics in this series like the variety of physical, mental, and emotional wounds our veterans may carry and the benefit of a guide or therapy dog, as well as the large number of animals that unfortunately do not get adopted. She also has the heroine be Puerto Rican and brings in some of PR’s distinct culture into the book, which was neat.
With the second novella, Touched by an Angel, I really liked the continuity from the first novella in the collection and enjoyed reading a bit more about Tanner and Eva who were the main characters from the first book. This particular story had some twists and turns that kept it intriguing.
In this novella, there is emphasis on different social dilemmas of today. The dilemma of those students with visas who are denied working visas after graduation, the dilemma of social expectations from a woman of ethnic background (here, the culture from Dominican Republic is detailed), the dilemma of racism and bigotry, and the dilemma of a wounded veteran working to rebuild his life are all addressed in this novella. Despite its short length, the author did a good job addressing these issues while building a story based on great characters.
Rhett is blind but is a gifted artist. He’s a kind, gentle, soulful, loyal and thoughtful man trying to get away from his father’s controlling ways. Lucy is an art historian struggling to figure out how to stay in US since being denied her working visa. She’s feisty, passionate, and loving. Bear, the service dog, is adorable and adds quite the excitement to the plot. Lucy’s aunt Maria is absolutely hilarious and adds a lot of humor to the dialogue and storyline. No spoilers here – but the second half of the novella did take me by surprise and I did not see that epilogue coming. I would love for this novella to be expanded into a full-length novel!
The third novella, When Angels Sing, addresses different social dilemmas from the previous two novellas. There is an element of suspense in this novella, which was a fun surprise.
It was nice to see Lucy in this story from the second book. I really liked that the author allowed previous characters to make cameo appearances to tie the three books together.
In this book, Eddie is a rising Latino rock star who survived a terrible childhood in California and went through the foster system. He’s set his sights on getting that number one single and likes to party quite a bit. Yet deep down, he yearns for home, hearth, and family. But he doesn’t realize it until he meets Rachel. Rachel is a veteran who lost her hearing but loves to sing. She’s a farmer by day and by choice, hefting the responsibility of managing and working her family’s farm. Yet her dream is to sing, and maybe even be on stage one day. I really connected with Eddie and Rachel and loved how deep and layered their personalities were. The cat, Mr. Kitty, is adopted from Angel Paws but has less of a role in this book since he can’t really be of service to a deaf woman. Rachel’s mom is a lovable secondary character and helps to matchmake a little.
This story addresses the havoc created by alcohol and drug abuse, havoc created by greed that propels people to do unreasonable things, and the brokenness of the foster care system, among other things. Even in the darkness of this havoc, Rachel clings to her dream and her sunshine helps Eddie see his dream into reality.
I really enjoyed all three of the novellas in this series. Each novella is surprisingly very different from the other, but each has a wounded veteran and an arts person as the hero and heroine with a pet/service animal adopted from Angel Paws Rescue. I recommend the series to anyone who enjoys clean, heart-warming contemporary romance.
I received a copy of this book through CelebrateLit Tour. I was not required to give a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
Guest Post from Mimi Milan
I have to be honest.
I don’t know why I wrote Scent of an Angel.
The journey first began when I was asked to join a box set of sweet contemporary romances with seven other authors. Eager for a new experience (my first box set!) I immediately agreed. However, I wasn’t sure what I would write. I had never written a sweet contemporary before – only historicals. While clean and even inspirational, my stories were all full of action and suspense, too. That didn’t exactly sound like “sweet contemporary” to me. So, I set out to find stories that would draw inspiration.
At the same time, I was assigned to read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. (Did I mention I’m now in grad school?) I couldn’t get the story out of my mind. I kept dwelling on all the pain and suffering soldiers must endure in order to keep the rest of us safe here at home. Their pain doesn’t end, either. Many return to the States with both physical disabilities and mental illnesses that most civilians couldn’t imagine living with. Right then, I knew I wanted to do something that helped the ones that made it back to us. Since the books in my first series, The Jericho Resistance, donates funds to fight against human trafficking, I liked the idea of copying the same model to help support our veterans. That’s when Tanner McKoy and Eva Perez came to life, driving the story and my mission onward.
Touched by an Angel and When Angels Sing were natural follow-ups for the Angel Paws Rescue anthology.
Today, I’m pretty fortunate. I was asked to join yet another series, The Twelve Days of Christmas Mail Order Brides. So, I’m about to finish up edits on my contribution, The Dancing Lady. I’m at my kitchen table in my nice, warm two-bedroom home with a cup of coffee and a muffin from my favorite local bakery. The children are still asleep, making the house unusually quiet. Looking out the frosted window at a yard lightly dusted with white, I feel safe and at peace. All is right in my small corner of the world. I thank God for that.
I thank Him for the veterans that make it so.
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Mimi is giving away a grand prize of The Angel Paws Collection Celebration Tour Giveaway!!
Click below to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries! https://promosimple.com/ps/c5db