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A review by ithiliens
Remember Love by Mary Balogh
5.0
4.5*
The two part aspect of this was a surprise but definitely felt like a return to form. I loved the Westcott series but I think Balogh was right to move on from it for now (presumable). This actually reminded me in the beginning of some of her standalone romances from the late 90s which I can’t recall the name of now. But the point is I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh this felt. Mary Balogh has written *so* much regency romance you might expect it to wear a little but it absolutely doesn’t because she is incredibly invested in the psychological and emotion nuance of her characters. This one really felt the most well shaded yet and had a lot to say not just about love but loving. And yet it was comforting in the way that her books often are. I realized reading this that part of that is the warmth of community that is present in many of her recent works. This one may be a bit fanciful in some of the hmm political economy of the time (Devlin is *so* decent) but HR are fantasies and there’s no real point in quibbling with it here to my view. I also loved the Welsh bits here which felt so natural I think because Balogh is Welsh herself?
In all a lovely read and I can’t wait to see whose story is next. I’m hoping for Ben
The two part aspect of this was a surprise but definitely felt like a return to form. I loved the Westcott series but I think Balogh was right to move on from it for now (presumable). This actually reminded me in the beginning of some of her standalone romances from the late 90s which I can’t recall the name of now. But the point is I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh this felt. Mary Balogh has written *so* much regency romance you might expect it to wear a little but it absolutely doesn’t because she is incredibly invested in the psychological and emotion nuance of her characters. This one really felt the most well shaded yet and had a lot to say not just about love but loving. And yet it was comforting in the way that her books often are. I realized reading this that part of that is the warmth of community that is present in many of her recent works. This one may be a bit fanciful in some of the hmm political economy of the time (Devlin is *so* decent) but HR are fantasies and there’s no real point in quibbling with it here to my view. I also loved the Welsh bits here which felt so natural I think because Balogh is Welsh herself?
In all a lovely read and I can’t wait to see whose story is next. I’m hoping for Ben