Mary Balogh, A Summer to Remember

Mary Balogh, A Summer to Remember:  The hero Kit, Viscount Ravensberg, is different from the general run of rakes in historical romances. The family estrangement is there, but the ruthless womanizing and imbibing of alcohol is thankfully absent. Kit routinely shocks society by fighting with laborers in the park or jumping into the river, but he always has a good and even charitable reason for his actions and performs them with irresistible joie de vivre. He suffers, as so many Regency heroes do, from post-traumatic stress related to service in the Napoleonic wars, but Balogh puts a twist even on that, linking his experiences more directly into the plot.

The relationship between Lauren and Kit is the most compelling part of the book. Both characters are real and vulnerable. At first, Lauren sees Kit as an opportunist and he sees her as an arrogant and unfeeling society woman. They swiftly outdistance these initial impressions, mainly through Kit's persistence, and become friends before they are lovers. Their friendship carries the relationship along; each finds in the other a person different from expectation and more compatible; one can truly believe these two people would marry and have a long and happy life. All in all, a happy reading experience.

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Victoria Janssen
The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, Harlequin Spice, 12/08
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