Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

August 8, 2019
Let’s think about it…No, no, not that, not think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all know that I believe Mary Balogh is a Romanceland Goddess. But, even a Goddess can have a bad day. Normally, when Ms. Balogh writes one of her delicately, quiet, slow books, it is full of breathtaking moments, and filled with compelling people. However, for me the sixth book in the Westcott series, Someone to Honor, left me a little underwhelmed.  Why did this happen?  Well, my little Petunia’s, since you asked…I’ll tell you. It’s the thinking!!! OMG, the thinking!!! Someone, make it stop!

While I often whine about characters in books having too much dialog and not enough brain-think, this book turned out to be the complete opposite. There was just not enough dialog between our heroine, Abigail Westcott and our hero, Gilbert Bennington. Because of the lack of dialog, there was no chemistry formed between our two intrepid leads while they are puzzling over the meaning of life. Maybe I missed the Vulcan mind-meld that blended their thoughts together, but I don’t think so.   

Let’s start our journey with Abigail Westcott. It’s been six years since the big brouhaha over discovering Abigail’s father wasn’t legally wed to her mother. As the series progresses, things are starting to sort out.  Don’t get too excited about the end of the Westcott series; there are still plenty of characters who need their loose ends tied. As I was saying, it’s been six years, and Abigail has been struggling to find herself. She is pretty much a lost soul, the person she thought she was, no longer exists. While she loves her Westcott family and all of the assorted family connections, they can be overwhelming. She needs some time away from them to sort things through. Well, as luck would have it, her brother Harry has just returned from the war. He is recovering from a bad injury he sustained while fighting against Napoleon, one from which he almost died. Now he is returning to his country estate to recuperate. He has the same sentiments as Abigail does about his family. He loves them dearly, but he also knows they would be toooo overprotective. He doesn’t’ want all of his family mollycoddling him as he recovers. He wants peace. Which is why he’s returning to the country and not London where his family is residing. He is also bringing his friend Gil Bennington along.

Gil has oodles of problems. This may explain why he thinks so much. Gil is illegitimate; he is also involved in a child custody case. His wife is dead and her parents will not let him have his child.  I did have an issue with this custody set-up. I thought it was odd that the courts allowed Gil’s in-laws any custodian rights. This was the 17th century, and he was the father. I had a hard time buying into this story line. Anyway, Gil and Harry are in the country trying to recover, and at the same time have some peace. Then allllll of the Westcotts, the extended family members, and friends descend on them. So much for quiet solitude. Thankfully, the noisy hordes of Westcotts get the hint and leave Gil and Harry. Abigail stays behind to help Harry and find herself. 

When Abigail first stumbles across Gil, he is chopping wood without his shirt on. Gil is the one who is shirtless, not the wood. Whoever heard of a piece of wood wearing a shirt? Anyway, Abigail insults Gil. She thinks he’s a peasant, and he thinks she’s a bitch. It takes a while for them to get over their dislike of each other. Then one day, Gil’s lawyer/solicitor suggests that if Gil weds he might have a better chance at winning custody of his daughter. Ummmm. Whom could he get? Harry suggests Abigail. After pages of thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, Abigail and Gil decide marriage is the right option. Then they think some more about their marriage.  They think about each other. They think about their relatives. They think about the cow down the road. Their brains hurt.

Embarrassing scenes. Sometimes when I read something, or view a movie, a scene embarrasses me. I’m not sure why, after all I’m not in the scene. But there’s just something about the scene; maybe it’s just silly writing, or bad dialog, or improbable antics, or maybe I would be embarrassed if it actually happened to me. There is one of these moments in this book. When Gil’s custody case goes to court, everyone shows up. I mean everybody. The entire Westcott family, connected family members, and even Gil’s father all make an appearance. They were there to show their support for Gil. His father, who he’s never had anything to do with, even stands up and makes a speech. It was just tooooo sappy for me. It was cringe worthy.

Overall, Someone to Honor does not stand alone very well. While I’ve enjoyed the Westcott series, the appearance of alllll the Westcott’s was overwhelming. Why? Because I have forgotten a number of them. I could not remember who they were, what they did, or why they did it. I found the characters of Abigail and Gil to be humdrum. There was an excessive amount of introspection by the hero and heroine. Sorry to say, this story did not live-up to what I have come to expect from a Mary Balogh book.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality:Biblical