Review and Giveaway: Only Enchanting

Only Enchanting (Survivor's Club - Book 4) by Mary Balogh

Publication Date: 10/28/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Signet
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 400
ISBN-10: 0451469666
ISBN-13: 978-0451469663

(Received for an honest review from Signet)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, itunes

Mary Balogh on the WEB: website, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series: 

Survivor's Club

1. The Proposal
2. The Arrangement
3. The Escape
4. Only Enchanting

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, Only Enchanting, courtesy of the author's website.

Synopsis:

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.

Thoughts:

Only Enchanting is the fourth book in the Survivor's Club series by Mary Balogh. Balogh is one of the queen's of historical romance and she proves it with this series. The series follows several survivors from the Napoleonic Wars and chronicles their injuries both physical and emotional and how they find love and regain their optimism and dignity. With a great premise and a hero and heroine that are exceptional, Only Enchanting couldn't be better!

What I liked:

Mary Balogh is a master at writing to period. She has the Regency era down pat. Her characters know their place and don't act up. The circumstances are never outside the Regency box nor do they upset the apple cart by being too sexual or not sexual enough. That sounds pretty predictable doesn't it? Balogh's writing it anything but. She not only thinks up new and different plots for each of her books, but she is able to capture situations that the reader will find unique to the genre. Who would have thought to have a hero with a traumatic brain injury? Mary Balogh did!

Flavian is such an interesting man. Really all of the Survivor's Club members have their own special circumstances and situations to work through. I loved the whole premise of the series. These people have been through thick and thin together literally and helped each other through some of the most traumatic times in their lives. Each story could have been the same only changing a few details to distinguish them and this series would have been boring. But Balogh didn't go that route, in Only Enchanting she gives us Flavian, a man with a stutter, with holes in his memory and a need for a safe relationship. He was unique, interesting, sexy and lovable. Can't ask for much more than that in a good hero.

Agnes is a gal after my own heart. She is an artist, a widow, and she lives with her sister. But when she meets Flavian at a ball held by her best friend Sophie, she falls head over heels. I loved the fact that she didn't find Flavian's issues daunting or something that would keep her from loving him. She accepted that about him and she gave him the strength he needed to move forward. One thing I admired about her was that she didn't really find herself all that remarkable. She thought she was just your average woman, but she was so much more. Balogh's character development was flawless.

Flavian's old girlfriend who left him for his best friend ends up causing a bit of trouble, now that she is widowed and his family seems to think she is a perfect match for him, but Agnes proves to be exactly what he needs. I like a good villain and this chick fit the bill. She started rumors and she said a few uncalled for things, but in the end she got was was coming to her and the hero and heroine got their happily ever after. 

Bottom Line:

This is Balogh at her best. She takes the constraints of the Regency period and stamps it with her own special blend of romance and passion. I loved the characters and thought they played well with each other. She didn't overstate the sex, but she made it feel natural and not too overdone. I liked this one a lot and I think many readers will too.

Only Enchanted is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including the acclaimed Slightly and Simply novels, the Mistress trilogy, and the five titles in her Huxtable series:First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Seduction, At Last Comes Love, Seducing an Angel, and A Secret Affair.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Only Enchanted by Mary Balogh.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, December 10th.

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