Someone to Trust by Mary Balogh

December 17, 2018
A cornucopia of characters can be overwhelming – even from the best

https://marybalogh.com/
I always look forward to Mary Balogh’s books. She’s always been one of my favorites. From the very beginning in 1983 with The Masked Deception, I knew she was special. Her books were always fuller, deeper, and more involved than most of the rest. She can handle tricky, controversial subjects with a quiet, subtle hand. Is she a Goddess? Well, yes! Does she sometimes not succeed? Well, yes – sometimes even Goddesses trip over words.

I was so excited when Someone to Trust came out. It was the first book I read when the new books hit the shelves. This story happens to be one of her more quiet romances and, much to my sorrow, it didn’t have the sparkle I have come to expect in a Balogh story. In fact, at times I found the narrative exhausting. Why is that, you may ask. Well, my little Petunia’s, every character in her Westcott series is in the book. The story seemed as if it were one gigantic epilogue, but instead of butterflies flapping we have snowflakes falling.

Someone to Trust begins where Someone to Care ends. It also happens to be set in the wintertime around the holidays, hence the snow. This story's romantic pair are Colin Handrich, Lord Hughes, and Lady Elizabeth Overfield. And, they get lost in the shuffle. Even though there is a pedigree chart in the front of the book, it only helps a little. For me, all those characters together were one big noisy clutter and trying to keep track of them gave me a headache. Let’s see, we have Eugenia, Dowager Countess of Riverdale. She is the grandmother of Camille Cunningham, the wife of Joel Cunningham. They are the parents of Winifred, Robbie, Sarah, and newborn Jacob. Camille was a Westcott, which means her siblings are Harry and Abigail Westcott. Those two haven’t had their stories, yet. Their mother is Viola Kingsley - notice the last name is different, (see Someone to Care). Viola recently married Marcel Lamarr and we are celebrating their marriage when this story begins. There is also Anna Archer, aka Westcott, aka Duchess of Netherby; her husband is Avery, Duke of Netherby. They have a child, Josephine. Then we have Alexander Westcott, Earl of Rivendale (he’s legitimate); he is married to Wren who is the sister of Colin – our hero. Wren has a birthmark on her face. They have a gooey child by the name of Nathan. All of these people are talking and having snowball fights – but wait there’s more! There is Lady Jessica Archer, half-sister to Avery and daughter of Louise. There is Boris, Ivan, and Peter. There is Michael, Mary, Matilda, Althea, Estelle, Bertrand, Louise, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Sleezy. Oh, and don’t forget Sir Geoffrey Codaire, but he’s not at the party. Also not at this party are Colin’s family, Lady Hodges and his sisters – they show up in a later section of the book. These are not the only people who populate this novel – there are just waaaay tooooo many for me to remember. Whenever, any of these people were introduced we also were given a brief wrap-up of their story. All of these characters overwhelmed the narrative and I was not able to enjoy Colin and Elizabeth’s romance.

Colin and Elizabeth’s romance is buried in the plethora of characters who move through the pages of this story. The main theme of the book was an age difference – she’s the eldest by nine years. But that was buried under the chaos. Let's not forget Colin’s horrible mother, who should never have been forgiven. She was a vain creature who thought only of herself. She was emotionally and psychologically abusive to mostly Wren, but Colin was also occasionally on the receiving end of his mother’s actions.  For some reason Ms. Balogh chooses to sugarcoat Lady Hodges' character at the end. As far as I’m concerned, Colin and his sister Wren should never have had anything more to do with their mother. Why they would ever expose their future children to this woman was beyond me. As I’ve said before – just because people are related doesn’t been they should be part of the family.

Anyway, bottom line. I was disappointed in this story. I was overwhelmed by all of the characters who made an appearance in the book, both past and future ones. All of these supporting people distracted from the main couple, and I was not able to find any spark between Elizabeth and Colin. Normally, Ms. Balogh’s quiet books have a chemistry between the hero and heroine which is burning just below the surface. For me, there was no burning, yearning, or desire between Colin and Elizabeth. Sadly, they were hidden beneath too many people for a romance to develop.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Mislaid