The Constant Heart (Signet) [Paperback]

Mary Balogh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 1987 | Series: Signet

THE ROGUE'S RETURN... Miss Rebecca Shaw had lost her heart once in her young life - lost it and had it broken. At last it had mended - mended enough for her to say yes when the handsome, high-minded young Reverend Phillip Everett asked her to be his wife and share a life of the purest propriety and best of good works. But now Christopher Sinclair had returned. He was fee now of the marriage that had given him fabulous wealth at the price of leaving Rebecca behind and betrayed. He was free now to turn Rebecca's head again... away from the man who soon would be her lawfully wedded husband. And Rebecca was also free to change her mind - but was she foolish enough to turn toward a love that had proven faithless once and now could be utterly ruinous. . . .?

Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Signet (July 7, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451148835
• ISBN-13: 978-0451148834
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,499,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Slightly novels: Slightly Married, Slightly Wicked, Slightly Scandalous, Slightly Tempted, Slightly Sinful, and Slightly Dangerous, as well as the romances No Man's Mistress, More than a Mistress, and One Night for Love. She is also the author of Simply Love, Simply Unforgettable, Simply Magic, and Simply Perfect, her dazzling quartet of novels set at Miss Martin's School for Girls. A former teacher herself, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The past returns to haunt the present..., August 11, 2002

By 

Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Constant Heart (Signet) (Paperback)

Rebecca Shaw, schoolteacher daughter of the late vicar, is engaged to be married to the current vicar, Philip Everett. It's a passionless relationship of friends who respect and like each other; it will be a marriage in which each does their duty to each other and to the parish. However, what Philip doesn't know is that Rebecca was once engaged to Christopher Sinclair, who, now widowed, is returning to the village...

Seven years ago, Becky and Christopher had been crazily in love. Until he broke her heart when he came to tell her that he'd met a wealthy woman in London and he was engaged to marry her. He dumped Becky and married for money. And she'd never seen him since.

Now, though, he's back. And she's running into him at every turn - in the village, at the school, in her home. And it's very hard to ignore him, so she has to be civil to him even though she loathes him. And Christopher himself doesn't make it easy; he talks to her, engages her in conversation, and even suggests that he still cares about her.

And when he apologises for abandoning her, and even kisses her, one day after escorting her home, she doesn't know how to react. Quite apart from the fact that she's engaged to someone else, how could she ever forgive him for the way he behaved to her? How could she forget that he was a fortune-hunter, and that if he broke his promise to her once he could do it again?

She is also hearing stories about Christopher's behaviour towards his wife which are not to his credit at all, which makes her opinion of him tumble still lower. And yet his behaviour since returning, combined with her knowledge of him before he'd jilted her, is completely at odds with these rumours about him. What can she believe? And does any of it matter anyway, since she's going to marry Philip?

This is a book with a cast of secondary characters to match Jane Austen, and there are plenty of very delightful sub-plots, secondary romances and entertaining figures. The will-they-won't-they plot between Becky and Christopher takes us almost to the final page, and it's worth every second of the read. Balogh does separated lovers and angst very well indeed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Expected More!, January 23, 2007

By 

MaryGrace Meloche (Ontario, Canada.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Constant Heart (Signet) (Paperback)

Mary Balogh's ability to educate her reader in proper Regency decorum is her greatest asset in an otherwise routine tale of 19th-century behavior and lost love. Told from the heroine's side only, THE CONSTANT HEART lacks Balogh's usual poignancy.

Once upon a time, Rebecca Shaw gave her heart away and Christopher Sinclair returned it - shattered! Life's cruelest lesson was a lesson well learned and woefully, Rebecca learned it well! She vowed never to love again! Although now betrothed, Rebecca is most certainly NOT in love! She will wed her friend, for they suit each other. But love? Never! Christopher Sinclair had taught Rebecca Shaw only too well! Love hurt! And then suddenly . . . he was home again! Christopher had lied! He had promised never to come back! The man was truly despicable and Rebecca hated him anew!

Reviewer's Comments:

In THE CONSTANT HEART, Mary Balogh's main characters seem to lack a romantic buzz. Although the storyline talks about a huge one-time romance, somehow that's all it is - talk. Probably because Balogh chooses to tell her story solo, through the heroine and without the benefit of the hero's view, the story lacks character interaction. The characters never truly mesh. The relationship has no real substance. Despite the fact Balogh allowed fine secondary characters to walk and talk their way throughout the story, I still wanted more. I wanted the usual high level of emotional intensity associated with a Mary Balogh story! Sadly, THE CONSTANT HEART offers very little beyond mild enjoyment.

MaryGrace Meloche.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Rogue's Return, March 30, 2001

By 

"ketera" (Euclid, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Constant Heart (Signet) (Paperback)

Miss Rebecca Shaw had lost her heart once in her young life-lost it and had it broken. At last it had mended-mended enough for her to say yes when the handsome, high-minded young Reverend Phillip Everett asked her to be his wife. But now Christopher Sinclair had returned. He was free now of the marriage that had given him fabulous wealth at the price of leaving Rebecca behind and betrayed. He was free now to turn Rebecca's head again.. But was she foolish enough to turn toward a love that had proven faithless once.