Customer Reviews

Simply Unforgettable

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Here's another ho-hum story, unfortunately, from the pen of the immensely talented romance writer Mary Balogh. It's not that this book is poorly written or plotted, it's just that Ms. Balogh has written books that were far superior. This will entertain you for the time it takes to read it, but "simply unforgettable" it ain't. In fact, it's been a week since I read it and I can barely remember the plot!

It's my sense Ms. Balogh, for about 4 years now, has been writing by formula. Worse, several of the books she's produced in that time seem to be trying hard to cover all the politically correct bases. The heroine in this novel has not one career but (count 'em) two! She's a school marm AND a world-class opera singer (who, interestingly, doesn't need to practice the 2 - 3 hours a day other great singers seem to require.) Of course her Regency era hubby is ecstatic about her performing in public and can't wait to promote her artistic career (that's what nannies are for, right?) I'm sure all male, British aristos in the early 19th century would have done the same.

Despite my disappointment with this latest work, I'll never give up hope Mary Balogh will one day write another unforgettable Regency-era romance (sans those plot elements that smack of 21st century sensibilities. I like my Regencies straight up with no ice, thank you very much.) The author who gave us The Notorious Rake, Heartless, Lord Carew's Bride, Dancing With Clara, and The Temporary Wife has already enriched the genre immeasureably and earned her place on the short list of the best living romance authors. In the meantime, I'll keep my well worn copy of those and others of her works close by and hope her next book will be their patiently awaited equal.

Ah, Mary Balogh begins her new, much anticipated series - a quartet of books about four teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls in Bath. Ok, so what did I think of the first entry? Although, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE is pleasant, it is too tranquil, too restrained, it is like warm milk before bed. Sadly, Balogh's romantic spark and familiar poignancy are missing. After all, this is an author who can bring tears simply by describing a faded gown or a frayed hem. Regrettably, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE may be enjoyable but it is lifeless.

Mary Balogh brings Miss Frances Allard and Lucius Marshall together on a snow-clogged road. Was it fate or coincidence? Who knows? Nevertheless, that random accident changed their lives forever.

Frances Allard loves her life in Bath. She is content. She enjoys teaching and feels she is doing something useful. She enjoys her independence and enjoys her solitude. Yes, Frances Allard is content, but is she happy?

Lucius Marshall is wealthy, fashionable, and handsome. He is also the Viscount Sinclair of Cleve Abbey, but he is restless. He has promised his aging grandfather he will take a bride. So what is it the viscount now offers to Frances Allard? He offers to pay for her lodgings, her clothes, her jewels, is she to become his mistress? Alas, it does not matter, for Miss Allard walks away. Yes, Lucius Marshall is restless, but he is persistent.

That persistence is the governing focus of Balogh's story. Lucius Marshall will not give up Frances Allard. Is it fate that continues to bring them together, or is it the viscount's determination? Is it coincidence that continues to bring them together, or is it the viscount's tyranny?

Mary Balogh writes this story with her usual polish. Her words flow over the pages, and her story is easy to read. This devoted fan recommends SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE for true Balogh readers, but don't expect the usual Balogh flair. Although I was disappointed, the blandness did not discourage me, I certainly will be buying the next book in this series.

Mary Balogh has been around a long time, and has quite a large following of faithful fans. Of course, loyal readers know exactly who the secret patron to Miss Martin's School for Girls is, but don't miss the delightful reference to Baron Heath, the musical connoisseur - he is the hero, from the novella THE BOND STREET CAROLERS, from the 1997 anthology 'A Regency Christmas Carol.' A nice memory, Mary!
Grade: B-

MaryGrace Meloche
Reviewer for: Romance Designs.com

Lucius, Viscount Sinclair rescues Frances Allard during a snowstorm when her carriage overturns. The two find shelter in an inn that has been closed for the Christmas Holiday. Over the next few days, while cooking together, talking about literature, having snowball fights and building snowmen, the two realize they are very attracted to each other and consummate their relationship.

Parting ways once the snow clears, Frances returns to her job in Bath as a school teacher while Lucius returns to London to propose to the woman everyone expects him to marry.

But contrived circumstances reunite the pair where Lucius discovers that Frances is a world class singer. Determined to rescue her from her boring dreary life as a teacher, Lucius encourages her singing.

What follows is a series of chapters with Lucius pursuing and Frances retreating because there is some big secret in her past.

The only thing that saves this book from being a dreary bore is the fact that Mary Balogh is a talented writer. For the most part though, this is a by-the-numbers-plot with a by-the-numbers romance. It was pleasant enough but when the big secret from the past is finally revealed it is rather a let-down.

Oh yeah, it is rather glaring that this is a contemporary novel disguised as a regency. It has a very "modern" feel that seems out of place.

Save your money and don't buy this book at the hardcover price. It's not worth it. There's nothing wrong with it but it's clear that Balogh is losing her voice and inspiration: the result is a bland book that's totally forgettable. The hero is just another washed down version of Wulfric (complete with internal monologues about unsuitable behaviour and the now famous love/in love thing) and the heroine is very very annoying. Add to that the fact that it reads like an overpadded traditional Regency and the author's lost me by page 150. I forced myself to finish it, hoping it would improve, and, well, it didn't. The hero and heroine are thrust together in the worst contrived manner possible and I'm still wondering what the hero saw in the heroine.

I borrowed the book from my sister after she had read it. I asked her how she liked it and she just shrugged, like she didn't know what to say. We are both Balogh fans. I went ahead and read it but I have to admit I skipped a lot. The 'big misunderstanding' turned out to be so stupid, my reaction was "Is that all??" The hero kept asking the heroine the same thing and she kept telling him the same answer. It was boring. If you cut about 100 pages out of this book, it might have been good. I got the feeling that to justify the price of a hard cover book, either the publisher, Ms. Balogh or both thought it had to be so many pages long, even if the story didn't need that many. I expected more from Ms. Balogh. I'm also really glad I didn't pay for this book!

First off, I adore Mary Balogh and her Bedwyns. That series has set the bar very high so maybe if this book was not measured against those I would have liked it better. Or not. Frankly I simply did not like either one of the main characters. Occasionally they would say something witty and warm and I would think Ah, now it will start up. But it never did. And the big secret was such a rip off, something that could have been resolved in ten minutes if the right questions had been asked and answered. And they would have been in the normal course of things, if her big secret wasn't simply a plot device so had to be held to the end.

And worst of all, all the secondary characters conversations were all so stupid and trivial. I found myself constantly saying "ridiculous people" under my breath.

But Mary is allowed a lousy book and she's still a first clas writer in my book. I have hope for the rest of the series. Maybe. The whole teacher thing is so uninspiring for me. The idea that any woman would prefer it to a home and family is just too ridiculous. In the present sure, but not back in that time. Being a spinster teacher was Simply Dreary.

This is the first Mary Balogh book I have read and probably my last.
Although well written, it doesn't read like a romance at all. I don't think Ms. Balogh's style is for me.

The hero and heroine are thrown together due to adverse weather at an remote inn.
Frances is a prime and proper school teacher and a virgin.
Lucius is rather undefined and never really develops.

After a day or two together they end up making love on their last night together. My problem with this is that there is no chemistry between them and nothing that leads up to the bedroom scene. Also for a virgin, Frances acts very much like an experienced woman. This rather confused me... Love scenes are my favorite part and the reason I read romances. However a virgin who ends up in bed with a man she doesn't know after just a few days...makes no sense.

After a few months they come back in contact and the rest of the book is nothing but a constant chase. Lucious trying to convince Frances to marry him. Frances refusing due to some "deep dark secret" that ends up being rather silly.

The few love scenes in the book are rather flat and dull. Lacking passion and intensity.

If you are looking for a book about human nature where the main characters are soul searching for what is really important in life and what they want out of it...then this is for you.

If like me you are seeking a well written plot with romance, passion and sensuality...then you should read Sabrina Jeffries or Lisa Kleypas.

Allow me to preface my review by saying that Mary Balogh is one of my favorite authors. I have been reading her romance novels for ages, and I usually enjoy them very much. Therefore, I was quite disappointed to read this, the first book in her new series. In a word, it was tedious. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what's wrong, but I'll try. For starters, it was about 150 pages too long. I felt that it dragged on...and on...and on. I also felt that the character development was non-existent. Lucius and Frances, the main characters in the book, were so one-dimensional. And boring. (I was surprised, as Mary Balogh usually does a great job in creating characters who have distinct and engaging personalities.) I hope Lucius and Frances don't reappear in future novels. In essence, Simply Unforgettable was a disappointing and tedious read. I guess even our favorite authors can fail us once in a while.

This is the first of Mary Balogh's "Simply" series currently being written which focuses on four women who teach at a school in Bath. Although this book works well as a standalone, long-time Mary Balogh fans will spot links to some of her other series (the Bedwyns are mentioned, as are a few other characters who have shown up in other books).

Frances Allard is travelling back from her two great-aunts' house after spending Christmas with them. She's on the road to Bath when a significant snowstorm causes her problems. Eventually her coach slides into a ditch and she's rescued by a rude and insulting gentleman. She has to go with him in his carriage to the nearest Inn - which turns out to be closed. However, she and the gentleman, Lucius Marshall, have to make the Inn habitable and stay there whilst the snow makes travelling impossible.

Of course, being thrown together with a dishy man in the privacy of an Inn for a couple of days makes her change her initial view of him as rude and unfriendly - they discover a shared enjoyment of simple fun like peeling potatoes, building snowmen, waltzing... and their relationship moves to rather more intimate. When the snow melts Lucius delivers her to Bath, trying to persuade her to become his mistress - but Frances refuses. She is content with her life as a teacher and not willing to throw this all away on a rake's whim.

At this point I wondered where the story was going - how would they meet again? Lucius happens to be Viscount Sinclair, heir to his grandfather's Earldom (his father has already died) and he has promised to get married by the summer. His intended, Portia Hunt, is perfect but cold and he has no real interest in her, but family pressure is strong. However, he finds himself back in Bath with his grandfather, bumps into Frances again after a gap of three months, and this meeting has significant consequences for both of them and for their futures.

The book is, in some ways, a coming-of-age book although the hero is 28 and the heroine 23. Lucius discovers, over the course of the book, that his youthful desire for raking and having fun is changing - he now appreciates far more the traditional grown-up and dull things such as his family and the concept of a wife and home - as long as it is the correct wife. Frances had a rather unusual upbringing but a bad experience aged 20 has caused her to be afraid of danger and exposure to London people and to hide herself away as a teacher. She has an amazing gift for singing but is afraid of the repercussions if people hear her who remembered her before and her hint of scandal. Many of Mary Balogh's books seem to have a heroine with a secret in her past which turns out not to be such an issue when faced - in some ways this theme is getting a little tired to me.

Viscount Sinclair is an unusual hero in that, although physically gorgeous (of course!) he seems to work his way through the book doing whatever he wants and not really respecting Frances' wishes. He seems to go back on his word ("I won't bother you anymore, this will be goodbye") a surprising amount of times for an honourable nobleman! Still, who wouldn't find a handsome man pursuing you with marriage proposals rather pleasant - I know I would!

One of my traditional gripes - Mary Balogh, despite being born in England, has fallen into some of the traps that American authors of Regencies write. Or perhaps it was her editor. The spelling in my edition is American (which is to be expected) but some sentence forms and structures are also not entirely English. The Christmas time is called "holiday" in phrases where it wouldn't be in British English; people "visit" when we would use a different sentence structure; and, a common Mary Balogh failing, the Baron of somewhere is "Baron Cliffe" rather than "Sir John Cliffe" or "Sir John." No-one is referred to as "Baron X" in the English peerage. Such a simple error but remarkably annoying when I read it regularly in her books.

Overall this book is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon - there are some good scenes, the dialogue is good, the attraction between the two (although apparently based mostly on physical appearance) does make sense, but having read this book I don't think I'll remember much about it in six months. It wasn't fresh and gripping enough to be simply unforgettable.

This is a disappointment, a bit of froth; and I wonder what has happened to the Mary Balogh who gave us Longing and Secret Pearl and Silent Melody and others already listed in these reviews. Simply Unforgettable is a quick and probably unrealistic view of the times in which it was written. But I long for the Mary Balogh of depth and darkness and desperation and redemption and abiding love. And I would beg Mary to fight the editors, if that is what it takes, and return to those beautiful, haunting LOVE stories that captured the imaginations of all her many fans who want HER to remain unforgettable.