Reviews

No Man's Mistress by Mary Balogh

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ourxstorybegins's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don’t know who the author was, but I’ve absolutely read this storyline before. Woman is living her life and the man shows up and has the deed to her house and says it’s his now. And when I’ve read it in the past, BOY it left a bad taste in my mouth because the man was just so villainous? But the way that Ferdinand approaches the entire situation with Viola immediately had me won over. I was laughing and absolutely cried at one point in the book. We also got a little bit more of their life after marriage than we did in the last book, which I always appreciate.

emma_caputi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The ending is quite unbelievable but I really liked the witticisms and growing love between Viola and Ferdinand

jackiehorne's review

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4.0

The charming, impetuous younger brother of a duke wins an estate at cards, but when he goes to inspect it, discovers a lady in residence who also claims ownership. The two match wits, trying to force the other to leave, and gradually come to admire and care for one another. But when the duke's older brother arrives and reveals secrets about the lady's past, their relationship, and the fight over the estate, becomes far emotionally fraught than either could have imagined.

Love the development of Ferdinand and Viola's relationship, and each's carefully delineated character. Dislike Viola's helplessness in her pre-estate owner life, and her need to have Ferdinand (and especially Tresham) help her to escape the reemergence of her past nemesis (although without that helplessness the plot would not have been possible). Also hard to buy into Viola's acceptance by ton society, even given Tresham and Ferdinand's championing. Love that Viola's trust in the man who gifted her her estate proves warranted.