One Night for Love (Mass Market Paperback)

by Mary Balogh (Author) "Despite the early hour and the chilly weather, the yard of the White Horse Inn in Fetter Lane, London, was crowded and noisy..." (more)
Key Phrases: one night for love, rhododendron walk, dower house, Newbury Abbey, Duke of Portfrey, Mary Balogh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Mary Balogh's latest historical romance, One Night for Love, will delight readers with the skillfully woven tale of Neville Wyatt, Major Lord Newbury, the Earl of Kilbourne, and Lily Doyle, beautiful but common-born daughter of Kilbourne's sergeant, who has spent her life following her father and England's army. When Lily's father is mortally wounded, Neville promises the dying man that he will protect Lily by marrying her and giving her his name; as an officer's wife--and a viscountess to boot--Lily will be treated with respect in case of capture. But the two share only one glorious night of passion and discovery after their wedding, for the next day Neville watches in horror as Lily, his wife and the woman he loves, is killed in a skirmish with the French. He, too, is severely wounded and barely escapes with his life. Eighteen months later, Neville is again preparing to be married, this time to the eminently suitable young woman his family has always planned for him to wed. However, one of the guests, albeit uninvited, has grounds to object to the union; the groom is already married--to her! Neville and Lily struggle to wed their worlds together while overcoming the horror of Lily's capture and imprisonment, while a secret lurks nearby that threatens to destroy their growing love. Balogh's latest effort is an extraordinary tale of love found, lost, and found again. --Alison Trinkle

From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling author Balogh (The Last Waltz) bursts the bounds of genre in this emotionally complex Regency. Enchanting and lovely Lily Doyle, a sergeant's daughter, is hurriedly married to Neville Wyatt, Major Lord Newbury, in Portugal, after her father is killed in a military skirmish: if she's captured by the French, her status as an officer's wife will protect her. Another battle ensues, and Neville, who's wounded, wakes up believing that Lily has been killed. More than a year later, back in England, a very much alive Lily interrupts Neville's second wedding. Aside from one jilted bride, all's as it's meant to be. But whatever seemed right and good in Portugal is suddenly terribly wrong in England. Lily's no lady: illiterate and rough around the edges, she's hardly the proper material for an earl's wife. Love may not conquer all. A passionate novel with mature, compelling characters who struggle for self-knowledge and for the survival of their loves, this is one of Balogh's best. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dell (July 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440226007
• ISBN-13: 978-0440226000
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #49,669 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary story, April 4, 2001

By	Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not the greatest from Ms. Balogh..., July 8, 2000

By	Pamela Leung "pamahla" (Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked the book, the cover art and enjoyed the story. The story I liked, because it was different from other typical regency novels. The ending was surprising and unexpected. But I did not think the characters were that great. The love between the Earl of Kilbourne, Neville, and Lily Doyle did not really convince me. I can believe that the two of them fell in love at first sight, that was realistic. But after the separation, and Lilly reappears just before Neville exchanges his vows with his childhood sweetheart, the two 'lovers' just seemed too 'different'. As a reader, you soon realize that the two characters are very unsuited for each other. Whether that was Ms.Balogh's purpose or not, you soon lose interest in the characters. Neville's character seemed too weak. He battles with his feelings for Lilly, not because he was confused, but because he couldn't lead his own life. He kept on following his mother's and sister's opinions on Lilly, and that was what the 3/4 of the novel on. Near the end of the story, he finally snaps awake, and follows his heart. The story just drags on a little too long.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A premise that wasn't explored thoroughly enough, January 4, 2003

By	"kaethel" (France) - See all my reviews

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.