Customer Reviews

A Promise of Spring

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Thirty-five-year-old Grace Howard has kept house in the village of Abbotsford for her younger brother, Paul, the vicar, for nine years. The Howards seem to have no other family. Unbeknownst to the villagers, Paul and Grace left home after an acrimonious family quarrel, occasioned by the accidental death of Grace's out-of-wedlock child. Now Paul is dead, also the result of an accident involving great heroism: he saved a farm laborer's child and lost his own life. Grace has no one to turn to, think Paul's friends and his parishioners, so one of them, Sir Peregrine Lampman, offers to marry her. Grace agrees, but only after she tells him her tragic story. It will be a marriage of convenience, but Perry is fond of her, and she of him, though he is ten years her junior. He is also an outwardly jolly, gently flirtatious man who adores women...of all ages...and they, him. By contrast, Grace is quiet, of a serious bent, almost severe. And so begins this romance of a seemingly mis-matched pair who overcome family estrangement and the sudden appearance of Grace's old lover from the past and begin, slowly, to forge their own happiness. They have been right for each other all along, despite the age and personality differences. Sweet and gentle, and one of Mary Balogh's most heart-rending, poignant love stories, this is also one of her most unforgettable Regency novels. It was a daring move to make the heroine so much older than the hero, but Balogh---in her inimitable fashion--- makes it work!

There are 2 things that make Mary Balogh such a great writer (to me). First is her ability to create stories with original plots and conflicts. Never once have I started a Balogh book knowing, just from pure experience as an avid Regency reader, what her story is going to be about or how the conflict is going to be resolved. With so many Regency romance novels out there, that alone is a very huge feat. A Promise of Spring is a story about the marriage between a woman matured through the years by very painful experiences and a man 10 years her junior. Given that in the period she writes, marriages between women and men much much older than them were the norm, the backward approach Balogh takes in this novel is a pure original.

The second thing that makes Balogh such a wonderful writer is her ability to delve into the characters' beings, to portray them to the reader in a way that makes them real and believable. Her characters are never EVER flat. She deftly takes us into the minds and the hearts of her players each and every time, so that we the readers can understand and sympathize with them and their dilemma. That's why her stories are always so moving (I couldn't name a single Balogh title that didn't form tears in my eyes), because we feel what the characters feel. Or perhaps it's the other way around--Balogh creates her characters so fully, so convincingly, giving them all the emotions and vulnerability of a normal human being like you or me, that the characters are no longer just players in a fiction--they are the representatives of real people, they feel what WE feel. In that, we get the sense that the author understands us, which in turn makes it that much easier for us to empathize with the characters in her book.

This is vintage Balogh at her finest. The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I reserve that for the extra EXTRA good books that not only have depth of character and originality but also wit and humour, something Balogh's books tend to lack. Which isn't to say that this book isn't worth the read--it is!

This is my favorite short Regency by Balogh. When his friend dies, leaving his sister destitute and alone, Lord Perry marries her, despite being ten years her junior. To their surprise, in a marriage began in kindness on his part and gratitude on hers, Grace and Perry begin to find real love, a love that is put to the test when secrets from Grace's past are revealed. This is a sweet, touching story about two good people who discover love despite the odds.

I read this book when I was in my mid-twenties (I'm now almost 40), to this day, I remember crying by the fourth page of the book. I wish that I still have this one in my collection. Unfortunately, I loaned it to my sister back 1995 and she has yet to return it to me.

I recommend this book to anyone that loves to have a good cry. This is a true romance. If you don't fall in love with Perry, then romance books are not for you. I wish that I could find my very own Perry.

I have really enjoyed some of Mary Balogh's Regency novels (her Signet Regencies - The Temporary Wife; Christmas Beau, for example). And some of her short stories. However, in this novel she displays every one of her faults as a writer in full measure.

Grace, the heroine, seemed to be very weak. For instance, she is totally unable, despite being described by Ms. Balogh as "headstrong" and "determined", to tell the man who fathered her son (and who calls that son a "nasty mistake") that he should go - stuff himself. No, she actually still feels a kind of half-hearted physical attraction to him, and fears his pull! She lets herself fall into her eventual marriage with the hero, Perry, but makes no attempt to establish an open, confiding relationship with her husband, and is just a terribly indecisive woman overall. Plus, every belief she has about the people in her life is proven wrong during the course of the story: how dumb is that? How unperceptive can she be?

Then the author makes the mistake of referring to Perry, the hero, as a boy too often. He really is overly boyish; too sweet, too charming to everyone, and too willing to let Grace go if she wants, despite his love for her. Even when he finally cracks, loses his temper and yells "Damn you!", at Grace, it's too little, way too late. I never 'got' Perry's attraction to Grace, and I certainly never got her attraction to him. Their relationship seemed derived from pity and fear. It never resolved itself (despite the requisite happy ending) into a believable, mature love.

And of course, there are the usual disappointing descriptive love scenes, which seem to be a Mary Balogh trademark. I've come to believe this author has a real issue with realistically describing a physical affair between a man and a woman. It's all about the man's comfort, never about a woman's. The woman just lies still, maybe with her arms around his shoulders, and lets the man do what he wants to achieve release. Ugh. I don't mean to imply that I need to read rock the bed-erotic descriptions, but this passive, lie-back-like-a-cushion-for-him approach to lovemaking that Mary Balogh inflicts on her fictional female characters is almost insulting.

I lost interest in these characters very quickly and had to force myself to finish the book. Very, very disappointing read.

I am afraid to say that I found this book a little disappointing. As usual Balogh does a great job of building the up the story & I was gritting my teeth knowing everything was going to go bad but not bearing to know how and why. But despite really looking forward to reading this book, and loving the idea of the younger man- older woman premise, I actually got a bit bored. It seemed to lack real passion. The only time Grace really came alive was when she was with her ex-lover. And Perry started off being a lovely man but became a wet blanket as far as I was concerned. I just wanted to shake them, see them have a huge row and make up with passionate love making. But everything fizzled out and now I am about to pass the book on. This book is worth reading but will not be a keeper (very sadly) for me.

SPOILER! Marriage of convenience between 25-year-old man & lady 10 years older than him. Although I'm sure the age gap would have been a big issue back in the day, but did it have to be mentioned in the story every few pages? The story ran for a period of 2 1/2 years, and yes, her age was brought up all the time. 2 1/2 years of insecurity on her part.

Unfortunately, I did not like this story due to this repetitive issue - it kept distracting me from the storyline so much that I felt that the heroine's insecurity of her age was essentially the main idea of this story.

I am a great fan of all her books and try to collect as many as I can. a promise of Spring delighted me as the Charactors appear in other of her novels, indeed carries on the pair into the web series. I enjoyed this book so much it is well written and her storyline is easy to follow. Perry and Grace are well suited even if it would seem to be a marriage of convenience at the start. But turns into a love match, even with the difference of age. Grace is such an interesting woman,she has so much love to give but loosing her son no one to give it to until Perry comes along. I have read it 3 times since getting it and I still enjoy it so much




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