Where Ben And Lady Jennifer Get Their Courage Up

Always Remember: Ben's Story by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There aren't very many surprises in the book, but it does everything you want it too, just the same.

You know going in that illegitimate son/brother Ben is going to find some way to end up with the high-born but disabled Lady Jennifer. He doesn't fit in anywhere because of his origins; she doesn't fit well because the marriage market was cruel; but they're both great people who deserve to ignore the rules.

What I love about Mary Balogh books is the way she weaves in subplots and interesting conflicts. For Lady Jenny, there is a subplot regarding everyone who helps take care of her, especially her aunt, who is patient and giving but would kinda like to remarry, but she won't do anything to abandon her niece. And for Ben, there's the issue often brought up but never resolved about who his mother was, who her family was, and when a half-brother finds him and reaches out to him by letter, he's not sure if he wants to try to meet a whole family who may not want to actually know him. There's also his own family's feelings about who he is to them and how he should live his life, and he has a young daughter to think about. She really wants a mother, and he's prepared to choose someone he doesn't love if there is no other option.

So the romance progresses in fits and starts, with both cautious about being anything more than friendly, but his kindness changes her feelings, and her lovableness makes him start to have the courage to break society's rules. Both of their families see what is happening and urge them to be careful, but they win them over as much as they win each other over. As usual, the author has the main characters growing and changing individually as much as she has them growing together, and I find that very satisfying. And entertaining, of course.

The first half moves a little slowly (still pretty good), but it picks up the rest of the way, and the second half especially is great. IMO.

Recommended.

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Where Grandma and Grandpa Crack Me Up

Remember Me by Mary Balogh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very good book. IMO. All five stars.

As a reader, coming from the Jane Austen universe, I've always liked a Regency setting, which makes this author and series a draw for me. I didn't understand any of it when I read Pride and Prejudice in college--but that was a while ago, and now it makes a lot more sense to me. I also like how these novels are clustered in "series," though they're more related than consecutive. (Which is fine, either way.) That means the reader already has an idea of characters and backgrounds going into the novel, making the early parts smoother and more entertaining. I feel the same way about big series, like Star Trek books, or Doc Savage, or popular characters like Sherlock Holmes, where you're familiar with the people and background so you can pick up the book and be into the story very quickly. It lowers barriers to enjoying the novel. And the way Mary Balogh writes several books about a single family, you have the same advantage here--many of the same characters show up in multiple books.

I especially find that a help when I'm trying to remember the names of the characters, who is related to whom, and where we know "Aunt Kitty" from. I have often made charts for myself (and taught students to do the same) because I am crap at names in books and real life. And TBH, the author OFTEN throws a whole paragraph of names at the reader in a way I can't absorb all at once--but spread across several books, I work it out. It's a brain saver.

Speaking of the book on its own--it's really good. This is a satisfying story with a lot of sympathetic characters and human moments. The FMC and MMC are likable from the start, but so are most of their relatives and extended families. The main characters are flawed, sure; they're damaged, for certain. But they're good people, and it's easy to root for them. What I found very curious is how the two had a genuine issue separating them, a moment in their past when Lucas accidentally insulted Philippa in her hearing. What he said was horrible, particularly for that era, but it was out of character for him, being spoken in anger, and we learn [spoiler of a general nature]....................... that he had good reason to be angry--just not at her. Anyway, it's a wall between them, when they should have been perfect for each other. The curious part is how his grandfather, acting like a matchmaker or fairy godfather, pushes at them to break down that wall. He's relentless, and kinda selfish because he wants his heir to marry and make another generation of heirs, but he's also sympathetic and pretty funny. His wife is cool, too. But the point is--still spoiling a bit--his meddling is an actual help.

(He's like the anti-Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whose opposition and meddling did more to drive Elizabeth and Darcy together than almost anything else. He meddles on the side of the angels.)

And the final ending (you see, there is a sort of ending, then a bigger ending, then a final ending...) is touching and sweet, and though the novel has its obligatory HEA, a very satisfying one, there is also a sad, sweet, lovely ending after that.

I found this both fun to read and emotionally satisfying--a love story as well as a family story. Recommended for just about any reader.

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Where Devlin Puts His Foot in It

Remember Love by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another satisfying and entertaining book by an author I really enjoy. It didn't have quite as much closure as I would have liked, but I think some of that is coming in the sequels.

[Some minor spoilers. Probably none are surprising.]

I enjoyed the whole thing, but I especially liked it from about a third of the way in, part 2 of the book, where the story really begins. The first part is more like an extended prologue, with the characters half-formed and their relationships murky. This leads to the huge scene at the end of part 1, when Devlin blows up his family, his love life, his future, and the whole community by publicly revealing his father's infidelity. Very quickly, he finds himself pushed out, and goes straight into an officer's position in Spain against Napoleon. And we jump ahead six years.

I find all of Balogh's books have a somewhat awkward setup. It's like those chess puzzles in the newspaper where the pieces have been put in odd positions and the reader is supposed to put the black king in check mate in so many moves. It doesn't really matter how we got to that point, or if such a starting position is realistic or not. Just accept it and move on. That's how the author's plots are constructed--usually starting in a rather odd place that doesn't feel exactly organic, but that works its way through in a realistic way after that to a satisfying conclusion. The sudden emergence of love or revelation of love between young Devlin and even younger Gwyneth, occurring on the same day that he sabotages his future by acting in the most astonishing, foolish way, getting himself kicked out of the house and disappearing for six years, is a bit awkward. But the rest of the story, IMO, makes up for it, progressing in a much more believable way.

And all her stories (that I've read) are kinda similar. I think she dreams up the setup and has to work backwards to explain how they got there, then go forwards again. This is my theory. Ahem.

Anyway, the rest of the book works well, leading the protagonists towards each other once again in a slow, choppy, seemingly-hopeless but ultimately inevitable way. What I like is how so much of the story is taken up with all the other relationships that need repair, like that between Devlin and his younger sisters, his brothers, his friends, and between him and the community. Nothing is simple, but there is growth and forgiveness and healing in all of these areas that makes good sense. The fact that some of the repairs are not absolutely completed by the end of the book but are hinted at works well enough, and that includes Devlin's somewhat muted emotions. It's a curious deviation from genre norms, I think, a bending of the rules even, but nothing broken.

I was sad that his sister Pippa still seems broken by the events early in the book and isn't exactly herself by the end, but I think that may be resolved, as I said, in the sequels. And his half-brother is still not quite there. Same answer, I guess.

Anyway, I liked it. It's supposedly the first in the series, though I don't think they have to be read in order.

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