Book Review

Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh

Someone to Wed somehow manages to both be a feel-good read and full of emotional catharsis. It hurts so good, you guys. I had all the feelings. So many feelings.

Like a number of Balogh’s books, it’s a romance about healing – especially creating the space in which to heal – and that’s a plotline that works so well for me.

At the age of twenty-nine, Wren Heyden is firmly on the shelf. Up until the point when the novel opens, she had been living as a recluse, hiding from society. Wren was born with a large purple birthmark covering one-half of her face, and she hid at her aunt and uncle’s country estate, content for them to be the only people in her life. When said aunt and uncle pass away, Wren realizes how terribly lonely she is. Luckily, she is also wealthy, and she has a neighbor in need of a fortune.

Alexander Wescott has recently, and unexpectedly, become the Earl of Riverdale.  He now has a large, crumbling estate and no money to properly care for it or his tenants.

When he’s invited to Wren’s house for tea, he expects it’s just a polite social call, but instead he’s met by a veiled lady who offers him the funds he needs in exchange for marriage.

Alexander is initially mortified and angry, but chills out long enough to realize this might not be all bad. Wren shows him her face and he doesn’t run away screaming into the night like she expects him to. He’s intrigued by her, but also guarded:

What repelled him, paradoxically, was the very thing that had brought him back here. Her pain. It was very carefully guarded. It was veiled more heavily than her face was, in fact. It was encased in a coolly poised manner. But it screamed at him from the very depths of her, and he was both horrified and fascinated. He was horrified because he did not want to get drawn into it and because he suspected the pain could engulf her if her poise ever slipped. He was compelled by her though, because she was human and he had been blessed or cursed with a compassion for human suffering.

Part of the beauty of this novel is the slow unraveling of Wren’s past. Alexander is astute enough to realize that more than a birthmark caused Wren to withdraw from society. The reader, along with Alexander, knows Wren isn’t giving us the whole story, but we’re only fed tiny clues as to what happened to her, crumb by crumb.

The other part of the book that was so delightful to read was the slow burn romance between Wren and Alexander. Alexander agrees to a trial courtship with Wren, unwilling to just jump straight into marriage. He also lets her know that as his wife, a countess, she will need to function in society in some regard.

Alexander does a wonderful of job of balancing between being exquisitely careful with Wren as she ventures out into society, and also calling her on her bullshit when she’s self-pitying or cruel to herself. He’s supportive without enabling her, and that’s such a delicate balance to hit.

Even as Wren considers herself a beast to Alexander’s beauty, he refuses to engage in her cruelty to herself:

Her eyes fell to their hands, and she removed her own. “Well?” she said. “Did you notice today?”

That she was not wearing a veil? But then he realized what she meant–though I noticed the last time and  notice again now, I would be willing to wager that after seeing you a few more times I will not even see the blemish any longer. 

“Yes, I did,” he said. “But it is only the third time I have seen you. I have still not recoiled, however, or run screaming from the room.”

“Perhaps,” she said, “you are very desperate for my money.”

He drew a slow breath before allowing himself to reply. “And perhaps, Miss Heyden,” he said, “I will take my leave and allow you to start adding from the top of that column again.”

The color had flooded back into her cheek. “I beg your pardon,” she said. “I ought not to have said that.”

“Why did you?” he asked her. “Do you value yourself so little that you believe only your money gives you any worth at all?”

She was taking the question seriously, he could see. She was thinking about it. “Yes,” she said.

It was the moment at which he really out to have taken his leave. It was a devastating answer, and it had not even been given in haste. He could not possibly take on such brokenness, even if she had all the riches in the world to offer. Good God, all because of an unsightly birthmark?

“What happened to you?” he asked her, but he held up a staying hand even as he spoke the words. “No. I have no right to an answer. But I will not marry you for your money alone, Miss Heyden. If you truly believe you have no more to offer than that, and if you truly believe that I have nothing but marriage to offer in exchange for your money, then say so now, and we will put an end to this. I will take my leave and you need never see me again.”

Wren does agree to a courtship with Alexander, and to visit him in London where she stays with his mother and sister. Some of the most beautiful moments in this book were when Wren found friendships outside of Alexander, with other women who accept and support her.

Balogh’s writing is incredibly precise in that every moment of every scene is pushing the plot forward, and even as I read about teas and making calls, I realized how integral these scenes were to Wren learning to be with people again. Balogh took the social practices of the era which are often used as window-dressing, and made them a vital part of the novel and the heroine’s development.

That development, and Wren and Alexander’s budding romance, is slow in the making, which made it feel sweeter to me. There’s no insta-lust here. Wren and Alexander start as awkward acquaintances, then move to friends, then something more. Their romance felt organic and believable.

And when we finally do get to the pain behind Wren’s seclusion, that secret she’s keeping, it makes total sense why it would devastate her without being dark enough to require any kind of trigger warning.

And that’s why I loved this book so, so much. It was emotionally rich, with a deeply engaging, slow-building romance centered around a conflict that didn’t ruin me. There’s sadness there, but not darkness. And as someone who struggles with self-kindess, I even felt that I identified with Wren in some ways.

If you love slow-burn romance or just a really beautifully written Regency, pick up Someone to Wed. You won’t be disappointed.

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Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh

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  1. Katty says:

    Sold!
    Only it’s not available yet where I live, which is disappointing. But then again, I only have to be patient until tomorrow, so I guess I’ll survive!

  2. Holly Bush says:

    I am so looking forward to seeing this book magically appear in my Kindle! The books in this series are terrific and I am so looking forward to Alexander’s story! And Viola’s story in May!

  3. Tina M says:

    Mary Balogh has a way of writing broken and damaged people that hits me right in the feels.

  4. Magenta says:

    Someone to Love – the first one in the Westcott series – is currently available for 99 cents at Amazon. (At least here in Europe)

  5. Heather S says:

    This book sounds absolutely fantastic.

  6. Heather S says:

    Also, Mary Balogh invariably gets the most gorgeous covers.

  7. Katty says:

    @Magenta: Thank you so much for that info! After reading the review for Someone to Love here on SBTB I was very hesitant to read it, though I generally love Mary Balogh’s novels. For 99 Cent, though, I’m willing to risk it!

  8. Hazel says:

    I think I liked the first one in this series, and I was certainly curious to read the others. This one sounds lovely, Elyse, thank you.

    I do appreciate how carefully Balogh deals with psychological distress and with people learning to live as fully as possible after loss. I like her use of language, too. Mostly it is time- and place-appropriate, but also, her style very smoothly slips me into her characters’ frames of mind. I may just one-click this one.

  9. C.F. says:

    I can’t wait. Mary Balogh novels are self care for me!

  10. MClaudia says:

    I preordered this one and I am soooo looking forward to having it tomorrow. Mary Balogh is a master!

  11. mel burns says:

    With all the crap going on in the world a new Mary Balogh is going to be like a cozy blanket of comfort. I’ll be gripping my Kindle @9pm PDT waiting for it to appear.

  12. Julie says:

    After what happened in Texas yesterday I need to curl up with this book NOW.

    I’d rather have a comfort BOOK than comfort FOOD.

  13. DonnaMarie says:

    It may be time to pull the pin and finally read my first Balogh.

  14. mel burns says:

    @DonnaMarie: Start with A Summer to Remember!

  15. chacha1 says:

    I have pre-ordered because I really want this book waiting for me when I get home tomorrow. 🙂

  16. BellaInAus says:

    I’ve been waiting for this one since the first book in the series.

    But I’m going to have to sit on my grabby hands until the library can afford to buy it, since my book budget is currently my library card.

    Off to read something else and pretend that I don’t know that this is out yet.

  17. Critterbee says:

    Thank you, Elyse. This was my favorite of a very good the series (so far).

  18. Kareni says:

    I was already looking forward to reading this … now more so!

  19. J.E. says:

    What a review! I wasn’t in a hurry for this one but now, one-click. Sounds like Balogh at her best.

  20. HeatherS says:

    I bought the ebook, started it this morning, went to the bookstore and emerged with a whole stack of Mary Balogh’s books (the whole Survivor’s Club series and the three in this series). I forsee Thanksgiving binge-reading in my future! I will also probably be up late tonight to read more of this one; it was so difficult to tear myself away to go to the bookstore this morning! At a third of the way through, this book is just what I need right now. It’s my first MB book and I think it has been a good choice to start with.

  21. Hazel says:

    I must have read a romance novel or two in my youth, but I think it was Balogh who made me sit up and take notice, maybe 10 years ago. Slightly Married is not one of her best-written books, but its characters stayed with me, and it became part of my comfort reading, as did Slightly Dangerous. Since then I’ve appreciated Simply Love, the Survivors’ Club books and several others.

    @HeatherS: you have a great time ahead of you. In fact, I think I shall do some re-reading. 🙂

  22. greennily says:

    Oh, I need this! Now! Balogh seems to get better and better with every new book and series… LOVE her books!

  23. GraceElizabeth says:

    I picked this up as my first Mary Balogh and was not disappointed! Off to go find all of the others now.

  24. Caro says:

    I started reading this book this morning. Huge mistake. I nearly forgot the time, I was so enthralled and engaged and had to seriously hustle. I have managed to finish it in one day because any chance I got, I read it. It is delightful. I loved how Wren gradually she’d her reclusiveness and how Balogh described her thought processes as she did so. And the slow burn romance is so sweet. A wonderful read.

  25. Kathe Rich says:

    I can’t think of a single Mary Balogh book I haven’t liked, and most of them I’ve loved. I tend to save them for a time when I really need to read a good book. Have a couple of unread ones that are calling to me.

  26. Hazel says:

    I’ve just read this and the first one, Someone to Love. I’m sorry to disagree, but I think they were both disappointing. I think Balogh has done far better.

  27. SB Sarah says:

    @Hazel: disagreement is welcome! Are there Balogh titles you recommend most of all?

  28. Hazel says:

    The ones I mentioned before, Sarah, Simply Love and Slightly Dangerous were the ones I remembered best and liked enough to re-read; one or two of the Survivors’ Club as well. I may have to re-read and see which titles I might recommend.

    I was very put off by this one, (I thought both use of language and characterisation were poor.) but perhaps I’ll revisit some of the others and see what impresses me.

  29. Rhonda says:

    I spent this morning (Thanksgiving in the US) reading this since it’s due back to the library tomorrow. I was also impressed by the unfolding of Wren’s backstory and Alexander’s support of her. I loved the challenge between Wren and Viola!

  30. Malena says:

    I read this one last week and really enjoyed it. I loved Wren’s characterization, and found the way the story of her childhood slowly unfolded very moving. Alexander was a little too perfect a romantic lead for my taste but, I mean, that’s a very minor quibble. Actually ALL the Westcotts are kind of perfect, LOL! But their kindness warmed my heart. Thanks for the rec!

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