Gabriel's Angel by Nora Roberts: Romance Novel, A Young Girl Who is Pregnant and Alone
Gabriel's Angel (1989), a Silhouette romance novel, is about a young woman, Laura, who is heavily pregnant and alone when, one icy Colorado night, she almost collides with a Jeep driven by the famed artist Gabriel Bradley. Gabriel (Gabe) rescues Laura by taking her back to his cabin in the mountains of Colorado that night. There, the two bond with one another and begin to fall in love. Both Laura and Gabe have come here escaping something: Laura has been running from the wealthy and heartless parents of her recently dead, abusive and philandering husband Tony, the father of her unborn child; and Gabe has come here to quietly grieve the untimely death of his younger brother, for which he feels secretly, tragically responsible, and to try to develop the will to paint again. In order to be able to love one another, both Gabe and Laura must find the courage to open up to one another about the sad secrets of their pasts, face their respective demons, and risk trusting one another. Slowly, all of that is accomplished, with great pain and effort, by the end of the story. While still in Colorado, Gabe and Laura are married by a justice of the peace inside Gabe's mountain cabin. After the baby is born (whom they name Micha
In Chapter Seven, Gabe, Laura, and the infant Michael begin their life as a family together in Gabe's San Francisco house. They learn to juggle Gabe's painting with spending time together and taking care of the baby together. Gabe is a doting and very attentive father to baby Michael. He yearns for Laura very much physically, now that she is no longer pregnant, but is unsure of how she feels, with having been so recently pregnant, and having gone through so much before that. It is still difficult at this point for either to completely open up. Still, they are very happy together while taking care of their son. As Laura thinks at one point "Those were the best times, those simple family times" (p. 157). Within Chapter Ten, the plot begins escalating toward the climax of the story, when Lorraine Eagleton shows up on Laura's doorstep, and Laura goes to Marion's gallery to confront Marion about having called the Eagletons. When Gabe arrives back from a break and overhears Laura and his agent engaged in a confrontation, he tells Marion off, saying that some clients that were due at the gallery any minute "Can buy the paintings or go to Hell. Leave us alone, Marion" (p. 239). The second chapter, foreshadowing one of the major threads of the story, begins with Laura's having a nightmare about someone taking her baby away. When she wakes, Gabe is there to reassure her. Within this chapter also, the two fall into a household routine together within a few days, with Gabe chopping wood outside early in the morning for a fire, and later doing his painting with Laura as his model, and Laura busying herself cooking and straightening up. Meanwhile, they are becoming comfortable together, learning more about each other, and beginning to fall in love. Laura realizes Gabe is very kind and gentle, and much different from Tony, her now-deceased abusive husband and the father of her unborn child. Still, because of all she has been through in the past, with Tony and with her difficult childhood spent in foster homes, it is difficult for her to accept Gabe's kindness for what it is, or to believe that he will always treat her so well. "I like the profile, Laura" (p. 41), Gabe says, when Laura models for him. He appreciates her beauty, as an artist and as a man.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Gabe Laura, Laura Gabe, San Francisco, Laura Malone, Marion Bradley's, Gabe's Jeep, Lorraine Eagleton, Laura Gabe's, Boston Laura, Francisco Laura, gabe laura, san francisco, laura gabe, laura begins, lorraine eagleton, custody michael, fall love laura, able love, infant michael, begin life, tell gabe past, love gabe, father unborn child, begin life family, laura infant michael,
Approximate Word count = 2410
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
