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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extraordinary story, April 4, 2001
This review is from: One Night for Love (Mass Market Paperback)
It's a perfect spring day, and Nevill Wyatt, Earl of Kilbourne, waits for his bride to walk down the aisle towards him. When she does, he is shocked, because although his wife is walking towards him, she is not the woman he'd intended to marry that day. Instead, she's the woman he married on a battlefield eighteen months before and thought was dead. Lily, the illiterate daughter of a sergeant, had survived the attack which severely wounded Neville, but she'd then been captured and had been held prisoner for many months. Her captors had refused to accept that she was an officer's wife and she had become the sexual slave of one. Finally, she was released and she walked through Portugal before she managed to get transport back to England and Neville. But, once reunited with the man who had married her as a death-bed promise to her father that he would protect her, Lily realises just how far apart they are. Neville is a member of the nobility, surrounded by family and friends who are just like him. She doesn't know how to dress, to make polite conversation, to behave among the upper-classes; she can't even read, write or play the piano-forte. Much as she loves Neville, she just doesn't fit in. She's not even sure, at first, whether Neville wouldn't have preferred her to be dead, although before long he shows her in the most perfect way that he still loves her. But she still doesn't fit in... and then Neville finds out that their marriage was never registered, which means that they aren't legally married. He instantly tells her that he will take her to London to marry her again, legally this time, but she refuses. She will not stay with him in a world where she doesn't belong. He has a second chance, without her. Enter Elizabeth, Neville's aunt, and a wonderful character. She's an independent woman in her thirties, wealthy, who never married because she couldn't bear being submissive to a man she didn't love. (She has a beau, and he's rather lovely too, but that's beside the point for now). Elizabeth offers Lily a position as her companion, but what she actually has in mind is a Pygmalion-like task. And will Neville let her go? How will he convince her that he really loves her and win her back? As ever, Mary Balogh refuses to write a tame, ordinary Regency novel. I shudder to think what would be made of a plot like this in another author's hands; Neville would have paid Lily off and married Lauren, I imagine. There was only element of the plot which I found a little unnecessary, and that was the aspect concerning Lily's parentage. Much as I like Elizabeth's beau, I would have found it more fascinating had Balogh left Lily as she was when we first met her. Oh, and in response to another reader, how could anyone think that Neville listened to his mother too much where Lily was concerned, and treated her with disrespect as a result? *He* insisted that his mother should receive her. He insisted that she should be treated with all due respect as his wife. His mother had no choice but to go along with it, and Neville made sure that Lily was treated well. This is another keeper from a very talented writer.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written, but a somewhat hard story to read, November 22, 2004
This review is from: One Night for Love (Mass Market Paperback)
In many ways, this is one of Mary Balogh's best books. It is beatifully written, with a strong sense of emotion throughout. But I found that I really didn't like it, and even stopped reading the story halfway through when I first read this book a year ago. I came back to this book when I started "A Summer to Remember" and realized that Lauren, the heroine of that book, is the same Lauren as "One Night for Love". I enjoyed this story more the second time around, when I realized that Lauren will have a happy ending eventually, and I also found it helpful in understanding "A Summer to Remember". While Lauren is first introduced in this book, she is definitely a developed person here, and it makes "A Summer to Remember" much more meaningful when I have already met Lauren in the previous book.
But I still didn't like this book too much. Not because this is not well written - this is probably one of the most beautifully written books that I have ever read. Just that it is so sad, in so many ways.
Every romance book has to have an impediment to everlasting happiness between the h/h - otherwise there wouldn't be a story. Sometimes outside forces (the easiest way to accomplish this is when they are from different worlds - class differences in an historical novel, or in a contemporary - different ways of life - construction worker/intellectual, rich/poor, etc.), sometimes it is the personalities of the two people themselves, oh, the list can be quite long depending on the ingenuity of the writer herself. In this book there are quite a few obstacles to everlasting happiness between Neville, our hero, and Lily, who is the designated heroine of this book. So many obstacles, in fact, that they at first seem unsurmountable, and it is only your faith in a writer such as Mary Balogh that all will be resolved at the end that keeps you reading. However, I did wonder, many times - so many obstacles? Can she really resolve them all to my satisfaction? Perhaps I am a bit picky, but in this case she did not. They were not all resolved totally to my satisfaction. This is a very common sensation that I get from reading other novels, other authors, but coming from Mary Balogh, it was a real let-down.
Firstly, there is Lily, herself. Can she, a sergeant's daughter, used to the rough-and-tumble life of the army, where survival is the only essential rule of the game, acclimate to the very different life of the ton? At first it seems that not only does the family have a problem with her non-manners, she finds it the many rules and regulations of the upper class stifling.
Second, there is the slight problem of Neville himself - whom does he love - Lily or Lauren? He did marry Lily, but that was a quickie wedding, and he WAS about to marry Lauren, in a huge society wedding. Neville had married Lily in the battle-camp, on the day of her father's death, because he had promised her father to protect her, and marriage seemed the most promising way to accomplish that fact. They were married that day, had one night of *love*, hence the title. The next day in battle, Neville was injured, and Lily was declared dead. But does Neville really love Lily? Or Lauren, his intended bride?
Then there are the minor problems. While Lily loves Neville, and the thought of his love kept her going throughout her year in captivity, now that she is here she is not at all sure that she belongs here, as Neville's wife, nor is she still sure that her love is returned. When at the time of their marriage, she did realize there was a class difference, at the time she did not realize just how very deep that difference really was. Never would she have imagined that Neville is really an Earl, with a huge estate, and now she will have to be a Countess. Will she ever be able to fit in to his life, in the way that Lauren would have? Does Neville love her? Did he ever really love her? Did he once love her but now rather loves Lauren? What is motivating him to acknowledge Lily as his wife, perhaps it is only his sense of honor?
And there is Lily herself. It is obvious, in this story, that she is miserable trying her best to be good wife to Neville, to fit into his life, and she is failing. Not only does she have no idea how to behave as a Countess, the very idea of conforming to the strict rules and regulations of the English upper class seems horrifying and stifling to her. Never to feel the wind or the sun on your face, or water between your toes, never to have the freedom of movement that she has until now taken for granted, can she ever be happy in such a life?
And then there is the problem of society around her. Will they ever accept her totally as Neville's wife, as his Countess?
And what about Lauren, although not the heroine of our story, it seems so not fair, somehow, that her life should be disrupted in this way. Part of the reason that I could not finish this book the first time I read it was because I really got to like Lauren, and therefore I had a hard time dealing with, and liking Lily. I thought that Lauren dealt with the whole situation with class, and even though Mary Balogh tried to make her look in the wrong as she was not dealing with her feelings, I thought she was acting beautifully. Not only that, but I felt bad for Lily, being forced into a situation that she did not seem equipped, nor did she seem happy to deal with. Nor did I feel in Lily the heroine that Ms. Balogh usually does such a good job potraying. While there were many good parts to Lily, her main claim to fame seemed that she embraced the physical world around her, in a way that her more sheltered English counterparts did not, but that seems more a product of her upbringing rather than a goodness from within Lily herself.
Also, I did not feel equipped to judge Lauren. Although by our standards she seems repressed and unhappy, I that Lauren was very much a product of her upbringing and environment. Certainly, she fit into what was expected of her, and always acting properly in every way and at every time, being every inch the lady, she assumes that this will bring her happiness in the world that she lives in. By the end of this book, she finds out differently. Although she has always played by the rules, the rules have let her down, and she ends up with nothing. In the next book, "A Summer to Remember", Lauren deals with the fact that living for other's expectations has only brought her unhappiness until now, and she starts thinking and living for herself, she starts to realize that acting by the rules is not always best, and we see a metamorphosis happening in Lauren. But in this book, we only see Lauren's unhappiness, her saddness, we are witness to her realization that Neville and Lily have something that until now she did not even know existed, and this is what causes her to finally come to terms with her feelings.
While I think that this was a necessary part of Lauren's growth, still, I felt bad for her, and actually, I felt bad for both of them - Lily, and Lauren - each one wondering what the other has that they themselves don't have. Lauren thinks - he loves Lily more, there is more passion, and Lily thinks - I could never be Lauren, I could never fit into his world as well as Lauren does. And Neville himself is not sure what he wants, while passion is good, there is the all the rest of their lives to consider, Lauren fits in his life better, perhaps there is passion underneath as well? Lily and Lauren are torn, Neville himself is torn - this is a very hard novel to read. (When Lily asks Neville - if you heard I was dead, why didn't you check to make sure? If you loved me, why did you marry Lauren so easily a year later? And Neville does not answer. Perhaps he is not sure himself).
All in all, Mary Balogh has placed so many obstacles to this couples true happily-ever-after that I simply could not see a happy ending, which is why I had stopped reading it halfway through. This time around, I did finish it, and I'm still not sure about the ending. While many obstacles were indeed overcome, and very happily so, others did not seem totally resolved to my satisfaction. We are now sure of Neville's love, and Ms. Balogh has determined that the ton will now happily accept Lily, but will Lily ever be happy in her new life? Or will she always yearn for the freedom of being able to what she wants when she wants to, as she was used to doing? (Remember "The Prince and Pauper"?) I don't think this is an issue that is so easily resolved, this was definitely a theme that recurred throughout history, of both men and women that were high-born and having to deal with the fact that they could not do what they wanted when they wanted, in fact this is the theme of many an historical novel.
In any case, I am not sure why not playing the piano, embroidering, etc. are so badly a detriment to Lily's future happiness. If I remember my history correctly, weren't there many *eccentric* men and women of the nobility, who did not fit into any mold at all? I wonder if we have an incorrect assumption as to what life was like in those days. While it's true that perhaps in London it was expected of one to conform to the ton, I wonder if the same was true for those who lived most of their lives in the country, who never went past *riding* or *hunting*. To be accepted in society in London it was true that there were many nuances to adopt, but perhaps life in the country was different? And while the restrictions on a single woman in England were stifling, I think that married women did have more freedom. But in any case, even with all this, women did have many stifling rules that were not there for the men. Women in England were so sheltered, that Lily simply does not enjoy it. The real question,...
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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A premise that wasn't explored thoroughly enough, January 4, 2003
This review is from: One Night for Love (Mass Market Paperback)
Neville Wyatt, the Earl of Kilbourne, is standing at the altar, waiting for his bride, when a woman dressed like a beggar barges into the church. Much to the shock of the beau monde gathered for the occasion, Neville immediately recognises the intruder as Lily Doyle, the woman he secretly married on a battlefield in Portugal one year earlier, their union the result of an honour-bound promise made to Lily's father as he died. Neville thought Lily was dead; the day after their wedding and one night of passion mingling with their mourning for Lily's father, they'd been caught in an ambush and both of them were shot. In fact, Lily was made a prisoner and despite the protection of her marriage to an officer, she was forced to become her jailor's sexual slave before she was freed and could travel back to England to find Neville -- a traumatising experience that is somewhat underused. But back to the general premise... Neville had been taken away from the ambush scene unconscious. He had woken later, had been told that Lily was dead, and had gone back to England and Newbury Abbey, where he'd proceeded get on with his life as the Earl of Kilbourne. This included a marriage to his cousin and childhood friend, Lauren, betrothed to him by birth. One reviewer wonders why Neville didn't bother to look for Lily, and although I wouldn't put it in quite as strong terms, it is an interesting question. Neville was an army officer at the time, and one who'd just escaped from what could have been a lethal bullet wound. If he'd loved Lily that dearly, why hadn't he looked for her instead of running back home and gone back to his life? Lily forgives him and even claims there was no guilt to begin with, but I wasn't convinced myself. How could Neville go on with the plan of marrying another woman barely one year after vowing his love to Lily Doyle? We could argue that Neville agreed to marry Lauren because she was the woman that his father wanted him to marry. Neville, after all, had left Newbury as part of the rebellion of his young age, and though not without his father's consent, at least not with his blessing. Marrying Lauren was probably a way to redeem himself and obtain forgiveness from his dead father, but this aspect was unfortunately not developed in One Night For Love. But Neville is determined to honour his promise to Lily's father and be a husband to her. His wedding to Lauren is therefore cancelled in the very beginning of the book, and Lily awkwardly enters the circle of the Newbury family. As a sergeant's daughter, she lacks the education that would at least make her pass for a Lady. She astonishes the whole of Newbury Abbey by spending time with the tenants in the village or down in the kitchen with the servants. In truth, Lily feels extremely inadequate among Neville's peers. She doesn't read, doesn't write, doesn't play the pianoforte, and she knows nothing about the propriety and attitude expected from a Countess. The book tends to focus on Lily's character, and I think it suffers from this one-sided focus. It's sometimes difficult to understand Neville's motivations indeed. He appears like a cold character in the beginning of the book, as if he didn't care much about Lily's feelings of inadequacy. He's aware of them, but doesn't do enough to reassure her. She married Major Newbury, but the man she finds at Newbury Abbey is the Earl of Kilbourne. In the first few scenes of the book, Lily even doubts Neville's love for her and wonders if he didn't give up on the idea of marrying Lauren (a woman who is completely suited for him) simply out of a sense of duty. And one can wonder if it is the case at first. Even when he discovers that his wedding to Lily isn't officially valid, his first argument to marry her rightfully is that he wants to honour the promise made to Lily's father. But Lily refuses his offer and decides to accompany Neville's aunt Elisabeth to London and become her companion. Which brings me to the second problem I had with One Night For Love. It tends to take sharp turns before an issue is thoroughly explored, and as a reader I sometimes felt dragged along instead of willingly accompanying the characters on their paths, as if those sharp turns were only here to keep the characters apart artificially. And this was a frustrating element of a book that would have been excellent otherwise. The heroine, Lily, is a character you can easily like. Her inadequacy during her stay at Newbury brought me to tears on a couple of occasions. I had more trouble with Neville, but I suspect that if his character had been more thoroughly dealt with, he could have convinced me of the sincerity of his feelings. However, Mary Balogh's impeccable style is right there. Her evocative descriptions of the valley and the beach at Newbury, as well as the level of poignancy in her emotional scenes, kept me reading all along. And it *is* a good romance... Just not unforgettable.
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