ONLY ENCHANTING by Mary Balogh is book four in the
Survivors'
Club series, a group of six men and one woman who have
all
been wounded by the Napoleonic War and recovered together
at
Penderris Hall in Cornwall. While all the characters from
prior books are present here, this book can be read as a
standalone. This is a gentle love story which is deeply
enchanting, and a deep sigh of happiness rose from me when
I
closed the book on the last page. Balogh consistently
delivers compelling period romances with heroes and
heroines
who will capture your heart, and this book continues to
justify her auto-buy status to me.
Agnes is a respectable widow, living a quiet life with her
spinster music teacher sister in a little village in
Gloucestershire. Friends with Vicount Darleigh's wife
Sophia (of Survivors' Club book 2, The
Arrangement), she
meets Flavian Arnott, Vicount Ponsonby, at a local ball.
The two come together again when Ponsonby returns six
months
later to Vicount Darleigh's manor for the Club's annual
reunion, where the survivors meet informally to renew
their
bonds of friendship and help one another with their
continued postwar physical and mental traumas.
Early childhood events taught Agnes to fear passion, and
so
she is sensible and soothing. Balogh shows us repeatedly
that Ponsonby finds Agnes "safe." I very much
appreciated
that Agnes is down to earth, without the silly dithering
of
so many historical heroines. I could relate very well to
Agnes, and that drew me rapidly into the romance. I
especially loved how well she stood up for herself as the
story progressed.
Ponsonby had major head trauma during the war, having been
shot in the head, fallen off his horse and landed on his
head, and then run over by another horse. He lost his
memory of the event, and much of his earlier memories as
well. Ponsonby is left with a stutter and impulse control
issues. I thought the presentation of the head injury was
fairly accurate early in the book, and I appreciate
Balogh's
adroit handling of the medical facts. His memory recovery
later in the book seems too fortuitous, but as it was an
easy plot device, I let it go in my overall enjoyment of
the
book. He is a very sympathetic character, fairly noble
and
with that suffering mien that makes me want to cuddle him
against my bosom! Of course, lucky Agnes gets to do that
instead.
Velma, Ponsonby's fiancée, left him for his best friend
when
Ponsonby is left nearly insensible right after his injury.
Now newly widowed, Velma is once again on the market, and
Ponsonby's mother is trying to throw her son together with
Velma. Ponsonby meets Agnes and pursues her quickly for
marriage, and then the fur begins to fly! The unfolding
mystery is solved by our hero's returning memories,
showing
things are not at all as they seemed.
ONLY ENCHANTING is
a solid addition to Balogh's extensive work, and I look
forward to reading about the next Survivor!
The Survivors' Club: Six men and one woman, all wounded in
the Napoleonic Wars, their friendship forged during their
recovery at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. Now, in the fourth
novel of the Survivors' Club series, Flavian, Viscount
Ponsonby, has left this refuge to find his own salvation—
in
the love of a most unsuspecting woman.…
Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, was devastated by his
fiancée’s
desertion after his return home. Now the woman who broke
his
heart is back—and everyone is eager to revive their
engagement. Except Flavian, who, in a panic, runs straight
into the arms of a most sensible yet enchanting young
woman.
Agnes Keeping has never been in love—and never wishes to
be.
But then she meets the charismatic Flavian, and suddenly
Agnes falls so foolishly and so deeply that she agrees to
his impetuous proposal of marriage.
When Agnes discovers
that the proposal is only to avenge his former love, she’s
determined to flee. But Flavian has no intention of
letting
his new bride go, especially now that he too has fallen so
passionately and so unexpectedly in love.
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