NB: Welcome to Flashback Friday! If you didn’t catch it, Carrie had a disappointing experience reading Mary Balogh’s latest release, Someone to Love, due to racist stereotypes. But, if you’re hoping to read Balogh without DNF-ing, Elyse wrote a glowing review of Only a Promise. This review was originally published June 10, 2015. Only a Promise was the first book I read by Mary Balogh, and I rectified that situation pretty damn quick. It was so so amazingly good that … Continue reading Only a Promise by Mary Balogh →
Someone To Love is an interesting romance novel because it deals with two people who are highly skilled at concealing their emotions. This book is relatively slow and calm and quiet but with so much emotion just beneath the surface. Overall, I loved it, but when it had problems… boy, were they big ones. The story involves Anna Snow, who was raised in an orphanage. Unlike many institutions of the day, the establishment was well … Continue reading Someone to Love by Mary Balogh →
Lightning Reviews are back! We’ve got some earlier Mary Balogh, a scifi novel that was on sale last week (hopefully it still is!), and a historical romance with a tattooed, Viking-esque hero.
Mary Balogh’s re-release of her former Signet Regency titles are a gift. I’ve read several while traveling over the past 2 weeks, and each is like sinking into a warm and soft comforter made of words. Really, really good words. This one (so far – there are more I haven’t read yet) (which, THANK GOODNESS because I have more plane travel ahead) is my favorite. Piers Westhaven and Alice Penhallow were childhood friends who grew up … Continue reading A Certain Magic by Mary Balogh →
A Certain Magic by Mary Balogh is $1.99! This is a friends to lovers, second chance romance Regency. Some readers thought the hero of this one didn’t really stand out as much compared to Balogh’s other heroes, but many recommend A Certain Magic if you’re looking to read some of Balogh’s earlier romances. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
Continue reading →
Sometimes a book just makes me sit back and sigh a happy sigh. Only Beloved is one of those books. It left me in an unexpected and rare place of peacefulness. Every time I think about it I feel calm – not bored, not “meh,” not analytical, but truly, happily, peacefully calm. This book is the culmination of a series in which people learn to come to terms with trauma, and it’s a lovely, gentle … Continue reading Only Beloved by Mary Balogh →
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of The Survivors’ Club series by Mary Balogh. I devoured Only Beloved the minute it hit my hot little hands. The final book in the series features The Survivors’ Club founder, The Duke of Stanbrook. Stanbrook has suffered some serious losses in his life–his son died at war and his wife committed suicide. Now at the age of 48, he realizes how lonely he is, and he … Continue reading An Interview with Mary Balogh →
RECOMMENDED: Falling into Bed with a Duke by Lorraine Heath is $1.99! This was Elyse’s first Heath book and she gave it a B+:
When I picked up this book, I wanted something that would pull me out of crappy day and the dead mouse smell that we couldn’t pinpoint in the office. So I took this book to the coffee shop, grabbed a cup of English breakfast, and proceeded to get lost in the Victorian Era. Falling Into Bed With a Duke is good like that–it’s a one-sitting book that draws you in because you’re so in love with the hero and heroine. The only reason this book didn’t get an A is because I was disappointed a bit by the end.
Continue reading →
If you’re going to read Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh, plan on calling in sick to work. Trust me–just do it. Either you’ll need the day off to power through the book because putting it down is not an option, or you’ll need time to recover from the crushing weight of your own feels and the emotional hangover you’ll have. I recommend calling your boss and starting off with “I got dinner from a … Continue reading Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh →
RECOMMENDED: My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin is $1.99 at Amazon right now. This is a historical “My Fair Lady” style romance – set in the Tang Dynasty in China. It is just lovely – so, please, think about grabbing a copy. I think this deal expires tomorrow! The Nobleman Who Turned a Tea Girl Into a Princess… Yan Ling tries hard to be servile—it's what's expected of a girl of her class. Being intelligent … Continue reading Books on Sale: Historical Romance From Jeannie Lin, Mary Balogh, and Jude Deveraux →
I started reading this because when I posted the $1.99 sale alert, Samalamadingdong, a reader, said that this was one of her favorite Balogh novels. I love me some historicals so off I went to read it. I thought to myself, while I was reading the opening chapters, “Well, this isn't exactly my cup of tea, there's a lot of infodumpery and some of these characters talk in exposition and that's too bad. I'll give … Continue reading Irresistible by Mary Balogh →
