I have stuff going on in my personal life right now (as do we all from time to time) so I found myself ready to check out of reality for a bit and sink into a safely fictional reality where things end happily. Off to Romancelandia I went to visit Mary Balogh’s Survivors’ Club and check off the Brain Candy square for bingo. The Arrangement is the second book in the series, and I’ll admit that I was a bit put off by which characters […]
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 […]
Only a wonderful adult romance full of heart
So I’m to book 5 now of the Survivor’s Club series by Mary Balogh, and there’s only one more so far published. I’m not ready to let these folks go, especially as we’ve had two big wins in a row. This is the story of Ralph, Earl of Berwick and only heir to the Duke of Worthingham, and Chloe, a woman who’s run from the ton twice due to indiscreet behavior of others. They meet at the Duke of Worthingham where Chloe is a “guest” […]