ONLY A PROMISE is Book five in Mary Balogh's Survivors'
Club series. I recommend reading ONLY A PROMISE after
reading at least one or two of the previous books in
order to get a better understanding of Ralph Stockwood.
He is a man who is suffering from survivor's guilt and as
a result he relates to his close friends, who have been
through something similar, differently than he does to
other people. You also have a better reference for when
some of his Survivors' Club friends make an appearance in
this story. It is also nice to see appearances by
characters from Mary Balogh's Bedwyn series.
I am so happy Mary Balogh chose to tell ONLY A PROMISE
from both points of view. Very often Chloe and Ralph
don't act in a way that reflects how they truly feel --
particularly Ralph. This added insight into the
characters makes them seem more three dimensional.
Although Ralph has visible physical scars, they aren't
really a problem for him and that's not the focus of the
story. His scars are psychological and in ONLY A PROMISE
he struggles to finally deal with emotions he hasn't
worked through for years. Chloe is an equally fascinating
and complex character. Her physical appearance has been
an issue for her because of so many different things it
represents. With ONLY A PROMISE, Mary Balogh has written
a very character-driven story with a romance that takes
the hero and heroine by surprise.
ONLY A PROMISE is a perfect example of why I adore a Mary
Balogh book -- complex characters, raw emotion, and great
story-telling. In ONLY A PROMISE, as with other books by
Mary Balogh, happiness is not an end result but rather an
ongoing and often collaborative process that doesn't
follow a given formula. The marriage between Ralph and
Chloe might be one of mutual convenience but the romance
that develops happens very organically. I look forward to
the next installment in this Survivors' Club series
by
Mary Balogh.
The new Survivors' Club novel from the New York Times bestselling
author.
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, for one of
them, striking a most unusual bargain will change his life forever.…
Ralph Stockwood prides himself on being a leader, but when he
convinced his friends to
fight in the Napoleonic Wars, he never envisioned being the sole
survivor. Racked with
guilt over their deaths, Ralph must move on...and find a wife so as
to secure an heir to
his family’s title and fortune.
Since her Seasons in London ended in disaster, Chloe Muirhead is
resigned to
spinsterhood. Driven by the need to escape her family, she takes
refuge at the home of
her mother’s godmother, where she meets Ralph. He needs a wife. She
wants a husband. So
Chloe makes an outrageous suggestion: Strike a bargain and get
married. One condition:
Ralph has to promise that he will never take her back to London. But
circumstances
change. And to Ralph, it was only a promise.
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