So the book I’ve been reading is currently making me very cranky. I don’t like the way it’s going, so I went looking for a little palate cleanser while I contemplate whether I’ll finish the other or not. Enter a cheap Balogh romance. Usually perfect to while away a few hours on. Ms. Balogh has been writing romances for longer than I’ve been alive. There’s a lot. Recently a publisher worked with her to release a whole bunch of her back catalog from the 80’s […]
I wish this had been a novella
I feel guilty about giving this a low grade (for me), but there it is. I wish this book had been a novella instead of a novel. I rarely feel that way, but this is one of those cases. This is book 7 (the final book) of the Survivors’ Club series. I appreciate it when authors write each book in a series so that you could pick up any one of them and not be lost, but I also think it is perfectly acceptable for […]
Sensible People Falling in Love
The last book in Mary Balogh’s excellent seven book historical romance Survivors’ Club series features the kindest man in the world and a happy spinster. About a decade ago, George, Duke of Stanhope, turned his estate into a hospital and took wounded Napoleonic War veterans into his home. Six of the patients, a woman and five men, stayed behind when the others left and over three years of healing formed an intense bond. Each of them has now had a love story and embarked on a new life, so […]
I have Survived (quite happily!) the Survivors’ Club
So seven books in I have finally finished the Survivors’ Club series by Mary Balogh. As the final book was just published last week it appears I timed this out quite well in the reading of these over the past few months. The series, as a whole, has had some ups and downs, but overall it’s definitely a winner (especially if you’re in the mood for more conversation as romance and less saucy times). Our final book is the story of George, Duke of Stanbrook […]
Smugglers and torture and a menagerie of strays!
The second to last of the Survivor’s Club, and there’s only a couple of weeks till the final one is released! I’ve timed this all very well it turns out. These are survivors of the Napoleonic Wars (6 men, 1 woman), and they all have suffered greatly. This time around it’s the one woman, Imogen’s turn to find love. Imogen was married to Viscount Barclay and went off to war with him. She saw him tortured and die, and therefore has decided that she only […]
Only a Kiss Is a Swing and a Miss or Maybe a Bunt
The Survivors’ Club series has had a really good run and there is one more book to go that I will be reading when it becomes available, but Only a Kiss was a swing and a miss. I never really connected with it and, in particular, didn’t get a handle on the hero. Before I start, let’s take a moment to enjoy the gorgeous and mostly accurate (!) cover. The Survivors’ Club series follows the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars for six men and one […]