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A review by elenajohansen
A Secret Affair by Mary Balogh
2.0
What started off with an interesting and original-to-me premise became bogged down in stilted repetition and the stifling confines of Regency propriety, the endless litany of who is where and who is riding in whose carriage and who is attending what ball and who is related to whom.
This is my third Balogh novel and definitely my last. They've all gotten two stars from me, and despite how much this author has been recommended to me in the past, clearly we're not gelling.
I did have higher hopes for this one, based on concept. I've never really seen the "it's just a fling" trope in a Regency setting before. But once the lovers hop into bed together, it all goes downhill, and I'm not saying that as a sex-starved reader who just wants smut and should probably be reading NA romances instead of Regency.
I'm saying it because all the sex scenes after that were either short and summarized, or glossed over with a fade-out from the scene, or in one case, interrupted. If the primary vehicle that these two lovers have to get to know each other is lust, because they're lovers but not in love, why isn't there much lust?
So of course, with this trope, the point is that eventually they realize they've caught feelings. That definitely happens here. But the banter it should be happening through also gets less present and less interesting as the novel slowly wends its way along. It takes both characters multiple chapters and repeated internal monologue to convince themselves/admit to themselves that they're falling in love. Both characters use precisely the same language in the process, both suffer the same doubts, and both have the same qualms about admitting their growing feelings to each other.
Essentially, for all their seeming differences of gender, power, social standing, and personality, the narrative treats them for a good chunk of the book like they're the exact same person.
That isn't the only place where the story suffers from excessive repetition, either. During the climax, when the fate of the romance hinges (seemingly) on the outcome of a judge's ruling on the sentence for a mentally handicapped thief, the story of what the thief did is told by one character to another several times in a chain of "I know this but now I'm telling it to you," and the story is almost word-for-word each time. They should be similar, yes, but not exact, not when one factors in things like character voice, and the Telephone effect of words or small details changing. The author is clearly aware of how a tale can grow and change in the telling--it's referenced in gossip among the ton but not in this little tale, which everyone has memorized word-perfect, and I have to read about six times over ten pages.
I KNOW! I KNOW WHAT HE DID! STOP TELLING ME BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO INFORM OTHER CHARACTERS! SUMMARIZE IT OR GLOSS OVER IT OR SOMETHING!
Thanks to used book sales and the number of times Balogh was recommended to me, I do actually own one more book of hers, but I'll be donating it back to my library's book sale room unread, because after three bland and mediocre reads, I think it's safe to say I'm unimpressed with this author.
This is my third Balogh novel and definitely my last. They've all gotten two stars from me, and despite how much this author has been recommended to me in the past, clearly we're not gelling.
I did have higher hopes for this one, based on concept. I've never really seen the "it's just a fling" trope in a Regency setting before. But once the lovers hop into bed together, it all goes downhill, and I'm not saying that as a sex-starved reader who just wants smut and should probably be reading NA romances instead of Regency.
I'm saying it because all the sex scenes after that were either short and summarized, or glossed over with a fade-out from the scene, or in one case, interrupted. If the primary vehicle that these two lovers have to get to know each other is lust, because they're lovers but not in love, why isn't there much lust?
So of course, with this trope, the point is that eventually they realize they've caught feelings. That definitely happens here. But the banter it should be happening through also gets less present and less interesting as the novel slowly wends its way along. It takes both characters multiple chapters and repeated internal monologue to convince themselves/admit to themselves that they're falling in love. Both characters use precisely the same language in the process, both suffer the same doubts, and both have the same qualms about admitting their growing feelings to each other.
Essentially, for all their seeming differences of gender, power, social standing, and personality, the narrative treats them for a good chunk of the book like they're the exact same person.
That isn't the only place where the story suffers from excessive repetition, either. During the climax, when the fate of the romance hinges (seemingly) on the outcome of a judge's ruling on the sentence for a mentally handicapped thief, the story of what the thief did is told by one character to another several times in a chain of "I know this but now I'm telling it to you," and the story is almost word-for-word each time. They should be similar, yes, but not exact, not when one factors in things like character voice, and the Telephone effect of words or small details changing. The author is clearly aware of how a tale can grow and change in the telling--it's referenced in gossip among the ton but not in this little tale, which everyone has memorized word-perfect, and I have to read about six times over ten pages.
I KNOW! I KNOW WHAT HE DID! STOP TELLING ME BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO INFORM OTHER CHARACTERS! SUMMARIZE IT OR GLOSS OVER IT OR SOMETHING!
Thanks to used book sales and the number of times Balogh was recommended to me, I do actually own one more book of hers, but I'll be donating it back to my library's book sale room unread, because after three bland and mediocre reads, I think it's safe to say I'm unimpressed with this author.