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73 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deeply moving, August 17, 2006
As usual, Balogh has written a powerful, thought-provoking, tender romance novel unlike anything I've read in a long time. She turns an extremely scarred hero into both a sympathetic and handsome man. Balogh takes us through the process her heroine goes through from initally finding him a monster to an attractive man, inside and out. The reader is constantly made aware of his disabilities (the descriptions of him not being able to see a view or the heroine with two eyes, for instance, are heart-breaking), but his strength of will and depth of character allow him to rise above the horrific injuries. As these two broken souls find friendship and love, our vision of him changes too. I was amazed again at Balogh's talent in quietly telling a tale that both moves and teaches. In this story, she doesn't use dramatic plot devices but rather the inner turmoil both characters undergo as they fall in love and heal. I think these tender tales that Balogh spins are so powerful. Her inclusion of the Bedwyn clan in her novels never bothers me as much as when other authors include series characters in theirs. Maybe it's because I like the Bedwyns so much. I think Wulfric is one of my favorite characters of all time. I'm so glad that he is a part of her hero's life and included in this novel. This is exactly what I expect when I buy a Balogh novel: an extremely well-written, moving, character-driven, wonderfully descriptive story. Keep doing what you do so well, Ms. Balogh. We will all keep buying your books.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving and life-affirming, September 7, 2006
Two tragic figures form an unlikely friendship that forever changes their lives in this emotional and satisfying read. Anne Jewell is a teacher at a private girls school in Bath. Ten years ago, while a governess, she was raped and impregnated by an earl's son, who died soon afterwards. She bore a son, David, now aged nine, who she has single-handedly raised after her family and her fiancé rejected her. Anne has never recovered from the rape. She bears the stigma of unwed motherhood, she recoils from intimacy with any man, and she refuses to identify the boy's father - even to David. David's paternal cousin, Joshua, is one of the few people who knows the circumstances of David's birth. He is very fond of the boy and invites him on holiday with his family to a ducal estate in Wales. David is clearly desperate for friendships with other children, as well as a father figure, so Anne reluctantly agrees to let him go...but only if she can go too. On her first evening in Wales, Anne is walking alone on the beach when she encounters a horribly disfigured man and flees from him in panic. When she sees him the next day at a dinner party, she seeks him out and apologizes for her thoughtless behavior, and learns that he is Sydnam Butler, the duke's estate manager and the son of an earl. Once a very handsome man, he was tortured during the Napoleonic wars five years earlier, and now has no right arm or eye, and the entire right side of his face and body is severely scarred. Moreover, he was once a promising and passionate artist, and now he will never again be able to paint. He lives a sort of half-life, tucked away on this usually vacant estate, acutely aware of his deformity and sure that no woman would ever find him attractive. Yet amazingly in Anne he sees a kindred soul, and a tentative friendship begins. But can they ever be more than friends? This is deeply moving melodrama lovingly unites two memorable supporting characters from earlier works by Balogh...Sydnam from "A Summer to Remember" and Anne from "Slightly Scandalous." There are many returning characters and some assumed prior knowledge, which is a bit daunting for new readers, but fine for the rest of us. Sydnam and Anne are wonderful multi-faceted leads - at once courageously strong and achingly fragile. They plainly deserve a chance at happiness and the reader is immediately caught up in their plight. There are many well-written tender moments when dry eyes are impossible, bur there are many joyful ones as well. I like the sense of hope and destiny that carries through the pages. This is a love story that is not very sensual - I could safely recommend it to my mother and probably will - and yet it is powerful and moving.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mary Balogh delivers another satisfying read, October 16, 2006
For quite a while I used to read every novel Mary Balogh I could get my hands on -- I didn't even bother with reading the blurb at the back of the book! I simply knew that with her books, I was bound to have a satisfying read. Over the years thought, my tastes changed a little; I found that I didn't always enjoy every single one her novels wholeheartedly (as with some of "Slightly" books and "No Man's Mistress" & "More Than a Mistress") -- I had also discovered a slight impatience with certain storylines and plot devices. Which was why I didn't read "Simply Unforgettable" when it first came out. So that when I saw "Simply Love" I was in two minds about the book: the storyline seemed interesting but it also was part of a series, and I had already decided against reading the first book in this series. In the end, though, I succumbed, and I'm rather glad that I did because "Simply Love" was a very satisfying read indeed. Yes, there were a few "problems;" but on the whole, I thought that Mary Balogh had written a lovely and moving romance novel that I, for one, would be happy to read and reread over the years. In "Simply Love," Anne Jewell, one of the teachers at the Miss Martin's School for Girls allows herself to be persuaded to go to the Duke of Bewcastle's estate in Wales for a month with her son, David. The entire Bedwyn clan will be there, and Anne's friends believe that this would be an excellent opportunity for her son to mingle with other children of his age and class. So that even though Anne has her reservations about this scheme, she agrees to go to Wales for David's sake. The last thing she expected was that she would find a kindred spirit there, one who felt as lonely and as alienated as she did, one who had known pain and rejection, and one who awakened feelings in her she thought long dead... There will be those who, used to the more main stream novels in this genre that use a lot of casual and explicit scenes of a sexual nature to pad the storyline, will find "Simply Love" slow moving, tepid and monotonous. Readers, however, who look for something more than that in their romance novel will definitely take "Simply Love" to their hearts. The storyline is a moving one, and Mary Balogh does full justice to the plot and her characters. I enjoyed the gradual manner in which she brought Anne, Sydnam and David together as a family, highlighting the difficulties that a new stepfather with handicaps would face with a young boy. It was all very beautifully done. However, that said, I did have a few niggles with "Simply Love." For example, much of Anne's and Sydnam's story can actually be found in other books ("Slightly Scandalous" & "A Summer to Remember"). Anne's story, in particular, came out in bits and starts, and it was a tad frustrating trying to piece things together (because I had forgotten most of it) before she recapped what had happened to her and how she ended up unmarried and with child. The other niggle I had was with the scene in which Anne confronts her family for their abandonment. Anne's father's explanation for their abandonment was, in my opinion, really weak, and the entire episode was quickly swept under the rug for the "feel good and happily-ever-after" ending. But those two reservations aside, I did enjoy "Simply Love," and would recommend to anyone looking for a satisfying and grown-up romance novel. In fact I like so much that I'm off to borrow the first book in this series, "Simply Unforgettable
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