Repetitive

I like that Mary Balogh weaves in less than perfect characters in her books but I felt there was too much repetition in this one, especially the whole story about the previous Countess of Riverdale and her illegitimate children.
I also found Alex, the male protagonist a little emotionally needy.
Will still read the other books though

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Wonderfully heartwarming

Oh man what a gorgeous love story. A woman marred by a birthmark and the resulting horrible treatment of a family not worthy of her. A man seeing past the surface to the strong, intelligent and beautiful woman beneath. What a great story line. I love the non main stream approach to the historic story line. The MFC is real and brave while the MMC is supporting and wonderful and the character development is superbly written especially for the MFC. Her personal growth in this book is so nicely written it’s not even funny. The plot line is equally superb.

Narration is great too. Ringing out the characters and lending the appropriate grace to a period piece such as this one.

Truly recommend this read to anyone who want to see a previously suppressed woman come in to her own and falling in love with a worthy man. HEA guaranteed. 😁

💕💕

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A worthwhile story.

Both the Hero and Heroine are looking for a practical marriage. They both realise that respect and caring, must also be added to the list.
Despite having been a recluse most of her life the Heroine is gentle tugged into the Westcotts family. As more important problem need to be overcome, her natural reserve goes unnoticed.

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A realistic tale of love and building respect

When Mary Balogh chose to write the character of Alexander, she was crafting the ideal, modern man who is strikingly handsome with a few flaws but still willing to dig deeper to find the best version of himself. I enjoyed reading about Alex and would love to see the man and father he would become. Ren came forward as a hard stubborn woman who needed to give herself more grace, but the merging of these characters was so enjoyable to read/listen.

Rosalyn Landor is a Master, as usual.

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Nearly Perfection

Rosalyn Landor is my favourite narrator, she's warm, funny and carries the emotional scenes well.

Mary Balogh is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, though I do have a bone to pick with this specific series. She has a habit of dropping in dramatic hints to set up what you expect to be a finale of epic proportions but there is no pay off. I'm not saying I want the epic finale but it feels like you are being prepared for a dramatic confrontation between the main character and the villain of the piece that never happens, this means that the ending of the book always feels anticlimactic. It would be better not to have the set ups for this when there is no pay off.

An example of this would be: (CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM HERE ON IN though I shall not name the villain to avoid people accidentally seeing spoilers)

Wren's brother is insistent of how dangerous the villain is and how Wren should stay away from them. After Wren's visit it is clear that the villain of the piece means to discredit Wren, do we believe that the two goons her husband physically overpowered the only members of this person's circle? No of course not, the villain has been built up as a monster too much for us to expect her to stop there. So during Wren's final ball you wait for the climactic event - the public showdown - to happen but it doesn't and so the ending takes you by surprise. It feels unfinished. Now I'm not a huge fan of melodramatic endings, far from it, I love the way Mary Balogh never descends into melodrama but I wish she wouldn't build up to dramatic events that never happen. That said, I'm still going to try and read everything she's written, I just need to make sure that expectations of dramatic endings aren't raised in me!

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1 person found this helpful

Beautifully Told

A very enjoyable ‘practical’ tale of a proposed marriage of convenience with practical, emotional and financial considerations to encounter and overcome!

The entire story is absorbing, but I’m sure that many will enjoy chapter 21! I would have dearly loved to have an additional scene included around that scenario.

My second favourite story thus far.

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Really enjoyable

Enjoyed every chapter and didn't want it to end. Like that it wasn't overly 'flouncy' plusbthe narrator was excellent . Recommend

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Enchanting storyline…

I thoroughly enjoyed this story in this series - as it showed a lot of passion and inner feeling which were suppressed far too long.

A great twist in the story 👌

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Heartwarming

A really enjoyable story that was a bit twee in places. Rosalyn Landor also gets a bit too treacly at times.

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Another gem

Mary Balogh writes such lovely stories with well developed characters and gentle good humour. This is another such book. Rosalyn landor’s wonderful narration brings the story to life making it a real joy to listen to. I’d highly recommend this series.

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1 person found this helpful