Customer Reviews

Red Rose (Regency Romance)

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

 

 

Edward, the Earl of Raymore, is one of those alpha unforgettable men you sometimes run across in a book. He is so scarred from manipulative women - ones he trusted - that you can understand his hatred of the whole sex! Now he is the guardian to two young women ... debutantes ... just what he hates! He brings them to London with the idea of marrying them off as quickly as possible.

Lady Sylvia Marsh is a blond, biddable beauty. She quickly takes to the London scene and soon is betrothed to an appropriate man. But appearances are deceiving. Though she is sweet, she finds her affection is not directed at her betrothed but his brother! Can she extract herself from this horrible position?

Rosalind Darcey is a different creature all together. Tall and dark, she also has a physical infirmity which may prevent an advantageous marriage. But she longs for someone to love her as she is. Even worse, her dream love, an ideal male - is personified in Edward. And Edward seems to hate her for her outgoing personality. He pushes her to accept the first proposal that comes her way ... all the while engaging in some passionate encounters with her! But Rosalind does not waiver and rather than accept an older widower, she is courted (and slightly compromised) by Sir Bernard Crawleigh. But why does her heart beat so for the remote and angry Edward?

I loved that Edward would listen to Rosalind play the pianoforte and harpsichord from the anteroom behind the music room. He agonized with her as she learned difficult pieces. She became his passion because of her beauty and her musical nature. But would he lose her to another. Could he accept and trust a woman again. He does have difficulty in trusting her and his fights with her over "promiscuous" behavior do get tedious.

All the characters were well fleshed. I enjoyed the various places the girls attended from the theater to house parties. Craleigh was an interesting character. I never felt easy about him. But I truly enjoyed the confrontational and passionate personalities of Edward and Rosalind. The weird references to the song she sang from a Robert Burns poem was a bit over the top but was the tie in to Edward thinking of Rosalind as his Red Rose so had to be included. Very enjoyable book.

Edward, Earl of Raymore, has recently become the guardian of two young ladies, one who is the daughter of his predecessor as Earl (who was his uncle) and the other who is related to the late Countess. Rosalind Dacey, the latter of Raymore's wards, walks with a distinct limp as the result of a childhood accident; to Raymore's dismay, this makes her less marriageable as a result.

Raymore and Rosalind strike sparks off each other from the moment they meet. He wants to marry her off as soon as he can; she wants to be allowed to retire to the country and remain unmarried, thus escaping the humiliation of being found wanting by Society. He's an autocrat who dislikes women intensely, and so he expects her to obey his every order. She resents being ordered around and defies him openly on several occasions.

And yet on one occasion when she goes too far and he tells her off in his study, temper turns to irrestible attraction and he kisses her senseless.

However, someone does apparently find Rosalind attractive enough to want to marry her. But why does Raymore resent her engagement so much? Why does he seem to want to prove that her fiance isn't good enough for her? Can he simply put her out of his mind - and can she put him out of hers?

This is an enjoyable romance, but at times it does become obvious that it's one of Balogh's earlier works. There is rather too much informality between characters, which wouldn't have happened and which isn't Balogh's style in her later work. She also gets a title wrong; Raymore's unmarried cousin is several times addressed as Lady Marsh instead of Lady Sylvia, the latter being an earl's daughter and the former the wife of Lord Marsh.

Raymore's development from a misogynistic, autocratic boor to a sensitive and caring lover was not very well developed either. He went from doubting Rosalind's virtue as a result of the kiss she shared with him to (apparently) assuming that she had to be completely virtuous after all, with no real articulation of this change in his attitude.

All in all, while I enjoyed this book, I'd rather re-read another Balogh, such as A Certain Magic or Tempting Harriet.

What I liked about this story was the tension between the two main characters; the way the author was able to create two wounded, relatively disillusioned people, Edward and Rosalind (who are bitter for different reasons). These two initially dislike each other and can't be together without quarreling, but oh-so-gradually come to realize that they have this attraction for each other. This element was well written. I also liked the way the author made music the first bridge between them: Edward secretly listens to Rosalind struggling to play Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", and later, it's her tender rendition of Burns' "My Love's Like a Red, Red Rose" that touches his heart.

The two female protagonists, Sylvia & Rosalind, are both forced by societial pressure to make engagements that will suit neither of them. If they had only been given more time to make up their minds and really get to know their suitors, but there was this terrible pressure & rush to be engaged. The author nicely emphasizes what a Regency lady was expected to do as regards marriage during her first Season.

RED ROSE was a page-turner; I enjoyed it, and yet, I don't want to give it more than three stars. There is a little awkwardness about the story, somehow.

Maybe I felt cheated that there is no culminating love scene, after all that tension and simmering attraction between Edward and Rosalind! I didn't entirely grow to like Rosalind, which is coloring my feelings about the book, and it must be said that Edward is a hard character to like, though his bitter nature is improved by his love for Rosalind. But honestly, while I don't think this matched Mary Balogh's "The Temporary Wife" in terms of strength of writing; character development and depth of feeling, it's a strong early effort from her, and is worthwhile reading for her fans and Regency-romance lovers.

I believe a book is commendable when the reader doesn't want to leave the story. In "Red Rose", Mary Balogh writes a beautiful romance, she fills the pages with touching words, thus encouraging her reader's attachment.

Some argue there is a fine line between love and hate; in these pages, Balogh capitalizes on this belief. Rosalind Dacey stands alone in life. Her outlook: single she is, and single she will remain, despite her guardian's plans. Edward Marsh, the new Earl of Raymore, has another outlook: it is his duty to marry his ward off, and marry her off he will. Two separate outlooks, two tug-of-war attitudes.

Mary Balogh sheds much light on the shaping of these two outlooks. Rosalind believes no man could tolerate her disability, her dark hair, and her unfashionable full-shapely figure. Edward Marsh hates all women, he wished to heaven he did not need them, unfortunately there is that bodily craving that has to be satisfied.

For women, the early part of the nineteen-century was complex. In the Regency era, men governed society and women had little control over their own lives. Mary Balogh does a fine job demonstrating this point to her reader. She wrote an interesting book that is both entertaining and enlightening.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

I am loving reading all Mary Balogh's old books and love most of them. But I am finding that she tends to wind me up and then the final coming together of the main characters is all over in a flash - this is the case with this book. Nevertheless, it's still a keeper for me.

This book is a very enjoyable read. Excellent dialog and the plot lines are complex eonough without becoming convoluted. Great summer entertainment.