"terrific Regency romance"
Twenty-nine-year-old Anne Jewell may be a pariah in some
circles as an unwed mother to nine year old David, but she
enjoys her independence and teaching at Miss Martin's
School for Girls, a place with a well earned reputation of
providing a fine academic education to girls from all
social classes. Her only friend from a decade ago when
she fled Wales, Marquess Joshua Moore and his wife wants
to acknowledge David as their cousin. They invite Anne
and David to spend the summer at the Bewcastle estate in
Wales where she once was governess and home to David's
father. Aristocrat Sydnam Butler wears a patch to cover the eye he
lost in the Peninsula Wars, but has nothing to hide his
missing right limb. He has become a recluse, but earns
his bread as steward to the Duke of Bewcastle. Neither
Sydnam or Anne are in the market for a spouse; however
neither anticipated the kindhearted Bewcastle clan having
enlisted David as one of them deciding that this mentally
wounded pair make a perfect match. However, in spite of
their efforts, it remains a question of whether Anne or
Sydnam trust love nurtured in a style unlike what either
once dreamed of. This is a terrific Regency romance starring two delightful
protagonists who have suffered in life, but with the help
of others may have found happiness if they can step
outside the barriers that traumas have placed around their
hearts. The delightful plot is a simple love story made
complex by the insecurities and loneliness of Sydnam and
Anne. Mary Balogh is at her Regency best with this strong
SIMPLY LOVE tale. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 8, 2006
SummaryContinuing the dazzling series that began with SIMPLY
UNFORGETTABLE, New York Times bestselling author Mary
Balogh delivers an irresistible, breathtaking romance.
New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh returns
to the elegance and sensuality of Regency England as she
continues the enthralling story of four remarkable
women—friends and teachers at Miss Martin's School for
Girls. At the center of this spellbinding novel is Anne
Jewell, a teacher haunted by a scandalous past...until she
meets a man who teaches her the most important lesson of
all: nothing is simple when it comes to love....
She spies him in the deepening dusk of a Wales
evening—a lone figure of breathtaking strength and
masculinity, his handsome face branded by a secret pain. For
single mother and teacher Anne Jewell, newly arrived with
her son at a sprawling estate in Wales on the invitation of
an influential friend, Sydnam Butler is a man whose
sorrows—and passions—run deeper than she could
have ever imagined.
As steward of a remote seaside manor, Sydnam lives a
reclusive existence far from the pity and disdain of others.
Yet almost from the moment Anne first appears on the cliffs,
he senses in this lovely stranger a kindred soul, and
between these two wary hearts, desire stirs. Unable to
resist the passion that has rescued them both from
loneliness, Anne and Sydnam share an afternoon of exquisite
lovemaking. Now the unwed single mother and war-scarred
veteran must make a decision that could forever alter their
lives. For Sydnam, it is a chance to heal the pain of the
past. For Anne, it is the glorious promise of a future with
the man who will dare her to reveal her deepest
secrets...before she can give him all her heart.
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