Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh

November 30, 2017
Pass me the chocolate - Puleese.

http://www.marybalogh.com/
Ahhhhhh, you know I love Mary Balogh. There isn’t anyone quite like her when it comes to putting words together – tons and tons and tons of words. And allllll of those words mean something, they all have to be studied, felt, and cried over.  Here’s the deal: I’ve read a number of Ms. Balogh’s books in the last few months and I think it’s time to take a breather. I have developed word-i-tis, a disorder often found in romance readers' brains. It’s caused by an over-abundance of angst and hero brain-think.

Someone to Wed is the third in the Westcott family series. The story continues with Alex, who is now the Earl of Riverdale thanks to his bigamist uncle. In this story we get to see that it isn’t only the children of the original earl who were harmed by his actions, but also those on the periphery.  Alex had his own estate. He was doing quite well making it profitable and had recently helped his mother and sister to have quite comfortable lives. Everything seemed to be going well for him, then the bigamy thing happened. Now he has a decrepit estate with no money in its coffers and people who are depending on him to fix it. By the way, Alex is a beta hero and he has to fix everything that needs to be fixed. He’s a real nice guy, almost toooo nice. So what is Mr. Nice guy going to do to save alllll the people on his estate? Well, he has to marry someone, someone with lots of money.

Miss Wren Heyden has lots of money. She inherited her money from her uncle’s glass-work factory and she’s been running it ever since his death. She’s one smart cookie. She’s pretty much happy with most of her life, except for one thing. She’s lonely. She wants to be loved. She wants a family, she wants children, and she wants to know the sensual side of marriage. She doesn’t necessarily want grand passion but a little tweak every now and then wouldn’t be bad. But how does she go about it? You see, she’s a recluse. She’s hidden herself away from the world all of her life. Why? She has a large purple birthmark on one side of her face. This is where Balogh’s angst comes in. While Wren is a strong woman in many ways, she has a lot of insecurities when it comes to her physical appearance. That also leads to some mental anguish. She wears a veil which covers her face, but even when that veil is removed she protects herself by hiding behind a self-imposed shell. When the story begins, she has been interviewing men for the role of husband. So far, she has crossed two men off of her list. On her list of eligible men is Alex. She has invited him to her house and he has accepted. He believes he is going to a house party, imagine his surprise when he finds out he is the only one invited. Then he finds out why. At first he is insulted, then he isn’t.

Wren and Alex are an interesting couple. This is a slow moving romance. These two circle each other, they do a lot of thinking, and they don’t like each other at first. Alex is repulsed not by Wren’s face but the negative person that she has become.  Then they start to know each other, become friends, then decide that they wouldn’t make a good marriage and end the relationship. Alex goes back to London and Wren visits her glass factory. Wren knows there are just too many public things she would have to do to be an earl’s wife. Then there is a lot of brain think. Alex thinks about his problems, he thinks about his sister, he thinks about his land, he thinks about Wren. Wren thinks about Alex, she thinks about glass, she thinks about pretty women. Lots of brain think. I do recommend lots of Advil. Then Wren goes to London because she wants to give Alex’s life a chance. So, she starts to step out into the world. This is where I have a little quibble with the book.

Wren is the one who has to change the most. She has to accommodate his world, she has to throw off the veil, she has to go to the opera, she has to meet his family, and she has to walk in the daylight. For their marriage to work, she has to do the hard stuff – all he has to do is accept and support. It didn’t really seem to be a fair balance.

Overall, if you like Mary Balogh you will like this book, but it is a heavy-duty Balogh brain think story. Wren and Alex take a long time to find their romance, they take a long time to grow. When the conclusion to the story arrives you know that Wren and Alex will have a successful, mature marriage, maybe not a grand, maniacal passionate marriage, but one that will last.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Warm/Hot the Balogh's way