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The Secret Pearl
He first spies her in the shadows outside a London theatre, a ravishing creature forced to barter her body to survive.
To the woman known simply as Fleur, the well-dressed gentleman with the mesmerizing eyes is an unlikely savior. And when she takes the stranger to her bed, she never expects to see him again. But then Fleur accepts a position as governess to a young girl…and is stunned to discover that her midnight lover is a powerful nobleman. As two wary hearts ignite—and the threat of scandal hovers over them—one question remains: will she be mistress or wife?
To the woman known simply as Fleur, the well-dressed gentleman with the mesmerizing eyes is an unlikely savior. And when she takes the stranger to her bed, she never expects to see him again. But then Fleur accepts a position as governess to a young girl…and is stunned to discover that her midnight lover is a powerful nobleman. As two wary hearts ignite—and the threat of scandal hovers over them—one question remains: will she be mistress or wife?
401 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
267 people are currently reading
3606 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,346 followersMary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 560 reviews
May 12, 2011
I know.
I am evil.
I am saying this book was not good.
:hides from angry mob:
It just that...it was so goody goody two shoes!
Ughh.
The hero made me want to rip my hair out!
He had sex with the heroine. Oh no!
He cheated on his wife!
He is evil!
At least he thinks he is wicked,wicked,wicked.
Even thou his wife will not touch him,his marriage is not consummated and his kid is actually his brothers bastard.
So what ever.
And even thou he is in love with the heroine,he tells her how he could not divorce. Because of his kid. The kid would be crushed because she loves her mother.
Wait,stop!
Why does she love her mother?
The mother rarely pays her any heed.
And she is a really crappy mother in general.
While the heroine is one of his daughters favorite people in the world.
No matter...if he had to choose he would pick his kid. (even thou we have no idea what the kid has to do with the separation)
And the heroine tells him she is not mad. No. He loves him for being so good.
Goody two shoes as I said. He was just so good you wanted to hurl from all the angst.
He goes back to his wife. She is ill. No! She can not be ill! He will make her better! She must live! Because she is unhappy! Oh noo!
What ever.
His wife is a selfish bitch.
Let her die.
And she does.
Not for a second thinking about her kid. AGAIN.
Now he will not ho straight to the heroine.
No.
He will take the year of mourning.
Because he and his kid deserve it.
What for?
The bitch is dead! Long live the bitch!
I mean she fu.king killed herself because her ex lover,THAT LEFT AND DISCARDED HER was killed in a drunken brawl.
OMG! Right? Right??
After this he,you know,goes to the heroine,they will marry and live happy ever after.
Gah.
The whole book was just too much. EVERYTHING was so extreme! The heroines troubles, the heroes marriage, every last bit of this book! And when the hero told the heroine Panelope was not his kid I just exclaimed-WHAT!She is not even his? Man! The DRAMA!!
I love this author. As a given. But this book was just too much for my taste.
What can I do.
I am evil.
I am saying this book was not good.
:hides from angry mob:
It just that...it was so goody goody two shoes!
Ughh.
The hero made me want to rip my hair out!
He had sex with the heroine. Oh no!
He cheated on his wife!
He is evil!
At least he thinks he is wicked,wicked,wicked.
Even thou his wife will not touch him,his marriage is not consummated and his kid is actually his brothers bastard.
So what ever.
And even thou he is in love with the heroine,he tells her how he could not divorce. Because of his kid. The kid would be crushed because she loves her mother.
Wait,stop!
Why does she love her mother?
The mother rarely pays her any heed.
And she is a really crappy mother in general.
While the heroine is one of his daughters favorite people in the world.
No matter...if he had to choose he would pick his kid. (even thou we have no idea what the kid has to do with the separation)
And the heroine tells him she is not mad. No. He loves him for being so good.
Goody two shoes as I said. He was just so good you wanted to hurl from all the angst.
He goes back to his wife. She is ill. No! She can not be ill! He will make her better! She must live! Because she is unhappy! Oh noo!
What ever.
His wife is a selfish bitch.
Let her die.
And she does.
Not for a second thinking about her kid. AGAIN.
Now he will not ho straight to the heroine.
No.
He will take the year of mourning.
Because he and his kid deserve it.
What for?
The bitch is dead! Long live the bitch!
I mean she fu.king killed herself because her ex lover,THAT LEFT AND DISCARDED HER was killed in a drunken brawl.
OMG! Right? Right??
After this he,you know,goes to the heroine,they will marry and live happy ever after.
Gah.
The whole book was just too much. EVERYTHING was so extreme! The heroines troubles, the heroes marriage, every last bit of this book! And when the hero told the heroine Panelope was not his kid I just exclaimed-WHAT!She is not even his? Man! The DRAMA!!
I love this author. As a given. But this book was just too much for my taste.
What can I do.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2023
Balogh writes beautifully and her characters are well thought out. Why did I find myself frustrated then with them. Fleur made a decision that between starving and prostitution she chose to live. I understand that would be very difficult especially for the era this book is written. I could also understand her questioning the motives of the duke. My main problem with the book is that the duke is too much of a martyr. The side characters were totally unlikeable. Yet Allen continues to hold the one-sided marriage together. If someone cries pretty and says they hate you for 5 years believe them. I did like the couple seemed destined to be together. I went from 5* to 3* and back so I ended up with 4*
July 28, 2015
I was reluctant to read this. Adultery is not a good basis for romance, but the story is so much more than that and the adulterous parts are handled seriously and not glorified or lengthy. It is a very beautiful love story and a tear jerker. I'd encourage anyone hesitant because of the content to take a chance.
It's important to note, that while the hero was married, his marriage was in name only. His wife loved another man and was disgusted by the hero's scars from the Napoleonic war. He had loved her once and it was heartbreaking to read about his joyous return home from war only to find that his betrothed didn't want him back and found him disgusting. Still, he tried his very best to make a good marriage out of what they had.
Honestly, I would never have had the patience with the wife that the hero did. I realize part of it was because of the daughter, but still he was far more forgiving of her selfish, self-pitying behavior than I would have been. I pitied her as well, but it was more of in a 'how sad that you're so self-centered and weak that you can't make the best of life and pay more attention to your own desperately lonely child!' A disgusted sort of pity, I suppose you'd call it. I don't believe I could have been as gentle with her as the hero was.
When you read the first bleak chapter, you will find it hard to believe that the hero is actually a very honorable and selfless person. Balogh painted a great portrait of the complexities of the human psyche and the human failings even the best of us have.
The heroine was a strong, very courageous and honorable character as well.
Obviously there is HEA or this wouldn't be a romance, but expect to cry quite a bit before you get there.
It's important to note, that while the hero was married, his marriage was in name only. His wife loved another man and was disgusted by the hero's scars from the Napoleonic war. He had loved her once and it was heartbreaking to read about his joyous return home from war only to find that his betrothed didn't want him back and found him disgusting. Still, he tried his very best to make a good marriage out of what they had.
Honestly, I would never have had the patience with the wife that the hero did. I realize part of it was because of the daughter, but still he was far more forgiving of her selfish, self-pitying behavior than I would have been. I pitied her as well, but it was more of in a 'how sad that you're so self-centered and weak that you can't make the best of life and pay more attention to your own desperately lonely child!' A disgusted sort of pity, I suppose you'd call it. I don't believe I could have been as gentle with her as the hero was.
When you read the first bleak chapter, you will find it hard to believe that the hero is actually a very honorable and selfless person. Balogh painted a great portrait of the complexities of the human psyche and the human failings even the best of us have.
The heroine was a strong, very courageous and honorable character as well.
Obviously there is HEA or this wouldn't be a romance, but expect to cry quite a bit before you get there.
September 11, 2022
This story is quintessential early 90s historical romance. With the exception of the first chapter, that was shockingly graphic for this kind of story. I really adored this love story.
✔️A wounded veteran
✔️A woman forced to sell the only thing she has of value
✔️Forced proximity
✔️The best slow burn
✔️One of the best heroes
✔️A non-simpering heroine
Yes, this book does deal with cheating (not between the H/h), but please don't let that stop you from reading it. You'll understand once you get the entire picture. The angst, the guilt, the unrequited love, the murder mystery, the bitchy sick cheating wife, the asshole younger brother, and the virgin whore. It had everything! First published in 1991, there are parts that completely felt Austen-like in the BEST way. The pinky holding in the carriage?? Come on, I could feel the swoony from my comfy reading chair.
Unfortunately, I've become accustomed to modern romances, so there were large chunks of this story that felt incredibly dry and yawn inducing. Still, I wish modern romances had more of this kind of heart and passion. How many book boyfriends would wait a year for the woman they love? They be out nursing that wounded heart on a club bunny or some woman picked up at a bar until the love of their life came back again. Pffffffft!
✔️A wounded veteran
✔️A woman forced to sell the only thing she has of value
✔️Forced proximity
✔️The best slow burn
✔️One of the best heroes
✔️A non-simpering heroine
Yes, this book does deal with cheating (not between the H/h), but please don't let that stop you from reading it. You'll understand once you get the entire picture. The angst, the guilt, the unrequited love, the murder mystery, the bitchy sick cheating wife, the asshole younger brother, and the virgin whore. It had everything! First published in 1991, there are parts that completely felt Austen-like in the BEST way. The pinky holding in the carriage?? Come on, I could feel the swoony from my comfy reading chair.
Unfortunately, I've become accustomed to modern romances, so there were large chunks of this story that felt incredibly dry and yawn inducing. Still, I wish modern romances had more of this kind of heart and passion. How many book boyfriends would wait a year for the woman they love? They be out nursing that wounded heart on a club bunny or some woman picked up at a bar until the love of their life came back again. Pffffffft!
October 19, 2015
This book, a Mary Balogh classic from 1991, is gripping, dark, and ultimately uplifting.
In the opening chapter, a man hires a young, sad looking woman outside Covent Garden and proceeds to have swift and rather brutal sex with her, realizing only after it's too late that she is a virgin. Afterward, he is haunted by the memory and sends his secretary to track her down. Upon his master's order, the secretary hires her to be a governess to the master's five-year-old daughter. It's hard to know what to think of this man, who turns out to be Adam Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway. We gradually learn, however, that he is a kind, caring, morally decent man married uphappily to a woman who loathes him and cares not a whit for their daughter.
Fleur, our heroine, does not realize who her benefactor is until after she's ensconced at the duke's country estate. Her reaction to him is one of loathing and fear, but gradually she learns to trust him and eventually to love him.
The story is sweet but filled with obstacles -- not just romance-novelly frivolous obstacles -- but serious problems. The ultimate HEA is so touching that I found myself puddling up, which almost never happens to me when reading HR.
Highly recommended.
In the opening chapter, a man hires a young, sad looking woman outside Covent Garden and proceeds to have swift and rather brutal sex with her, realizing only after it's too late that she is a virgin. Afterward, he is haunted by the memory and sends his secretary to track her down. Upon his master's order, the secretary hires her to be a governess to the master's five-year-old daughter. It's hard to know what to think of this man, who turns out to be Adam Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway. We gradually learn, however, that he is a kind, caring, morally decent man married uphappily to a woman who loathes him and cares not a whit for their daughter.
Fleur, our heroine, does not realize who her benefactor is until after she's ensconced at the duke's country estate. Her reaction to him is one of loathing and fear, but gradually she learns to trust him and eventually to love him.
The story is sweet but filled with obstacles -- not just romance-novelly frivolous obstacles -- but serious problems. The ultimate HEA is so touching that I found myself puddling up, which almost never happens to me when reading HR.
Highly recommended.
September 25, 2020
Reseña completa: https://masromance.blogspot.com/2020/...
Segunda lectura de esta novela y me ha gustado igual que la primera vez,
Cuánto he disfrutado releyéndola. No es una novela redonda porque, en mi opinión el final es demasiado precipitado pero me ha encantado
A esta mujer le encantan los descacharraditos, así que este va directo a la lista.
Tras un comienzo estupendo, pero duro y frío, la relación de esta pareja se va fraguando a paso muy lento y, a la par que la protagonista, la autora nos va dibujando a un Adam atado a unas circunstancias, porque nada es lo que parece, y provocando que ese rechazo inicial vaya evolucionando hacia un aprecio sincero
Una novela de personajes en las que la evolución es lo importante, una novela con dos misterios, cada uno con el nombre propio de los protagonistas y que se va desarrollando al mismo tiempo que esa relación
Una novela controvertida por el tema inicial, sorprende que tras tantos años siga siendo tan original y no haya perdido ni un ápice de su encanto
Muy recomendable
Segunda lectura de esta novela y me ha gustado igual que la primera vez,
Cuánto he disfrutado releyéndola. No es una novela redonda porque, en mi opinión el final es demasiado precipitado pero me ha encantado
A esta mujer le encantan los descacharraditos, así que este va directo a la lista.
Tras un comienzo estupendo, pero duro y frío, la relación de esta pareja se va fraguando a paso muy lento y, a la par que la protagonista, la autora nos va dibujando a un Adam atado a unas circunstancias, porque nada es lo que parece, y provocando que ese rechazo inicial vaya evolucionando hacia un aprecio sincero
Una novela de personajes en las que la evolución es lo importante, una novela con dos misterios, cada uno con el nombre propio de los protagonistas y que se va desarrollando al mismo tiempo que esa relación
Una novela controvertida por el tema inicial, sorprende que tras tantos años siga siendo tan original y no haya perdido ni un ápice de su encanto
Muy recomendable
February 12, 2022
Like most MB books, it was well written with a great ending. My problem was the story before the great ending. There really isn't a romance till the last 50 pages. The h being disgusted most of the book with the H put a cramp in the romance. Though she had some cause, she needed to get over it sooner.
I loved Adam, but he was way too honorable. Everybody treats him horribly but he's too much of a gentleman to cause pain to anybody. That gets annoying fast!
This wasn't the book for me. It was just too sad!
I loved Adam, but he was way too honorable. Everybody treats him horribly but he's too much of a gentleman to cause pain to anybody. That gets annoying fast!
This wasn't the book for me. It was just too sad!
September 10, 2017
The goodreads blurb (and the library blurb, and probably the back cover blurb...) definitely downplay some of the major themes of The Secret Pearl. Here's a more accurate description, I think:
Adam is a scarred veteran Duke, who hires a rather dreary-looking prostitute for an evening of forgetfulness one late night in London. Upon taking Fleur to bed, he discovers that she was a virgin! GASP, HORRORS, GUILT. So he hires the prostitute as a governess for his daughter! And finds himself even more attracted to her! BUT WAIT: NOW THAT HER HAIR IS SHINY AND VOLUMINOUS AGAIN, COULD IT BE THAT IT IS FULL OF SECRETS? WHY YES! ALSO SHE'S FUCKING TERRIFIED OF HIM!! Therein follows a novel of angst and sturm und drang and drama before we get our damned HEA.
1. HERE'S THE THING THOUGH, THAT AIN'T ALL OF IT:
2. I knew there was going to be a happy ending, but at what cost??
3. SO. MUCH. GUILTY. ANGST.
Adam is a scarred veteran Duke, who hires a rather dreary-looking prostitute for an evening of forgetfulness one late night in London. Upon taking Fleur to bed, he discovers that she was a virgin! GASP, HORRORS, GUILT. So he hires the prostitute as a governess for his daughter! And finds himself even more attracted to her! BUT WAIT: NOW THAT HER HAIR IS SHINY AND VOLUMINOUS AGAIN, COULD IT BE THAT IT IS FULL OF SECRETS? WHY YES! ALSO SHE'S FUCKING TERRIFIED OF HIM!! Therein follows a novel of angst and sturm und drang and drama before we get our damned HEA.
1. HERE'S THE THING THOUGH, THAT AIN'T ALL OF IT:
2. I knew there was going to be a happy ending, but at what cost??
3. SO. MUCH. GUILTY. ANGST.
August 19, 2020
Me gustó, aunque no fue la “gran” novela que yo esperaba y que es la carta de presentación de esta autora. Personajes muy sufridos, honorables hasta la exasperación, que no esperan nada de la vida y que se conforman con migajas de felicidad. Aunque están muy bien construidos, no logré empatizar con ninguno, excepto algunos secundarios como el Sr. Houghton, el secretario del duque, y Sidney, su ayuda de cámara.
Reconozco que el avance de la historia es muy convincente al dar vuelta ese tórrido comienzo; su desarrollo es muy pausado, los sentimientos nacen con mucha finura y son casi platónicos hasta las últimas páginas, que tampoco digamos que son para tirar cohetes. Además, la situación que finalmente permite que la pareja pueda estar junta, se ve venir desde las primeras páginas y... no sé... era como estar a la espera de la desgracia de otros.
De todas maneras, Mary Balogh escribe muy bien y logra una lectura placentera y con mucho sentimiento.
Reto Rita 4.0 (agosto)
Reto #7 PopSugar 2020: El primer libro que toques de tu biblioteca, estantería, colección con los ojos cerrados
Reconozco que el avance de la historia es muy convincente al dar vuelta ese tórrido comienzo; su desarrollo es muy pausado, los sentimientos nacen con mucha finura y son casi platónicos hasta las últimas páginas, que tampoco digamos que son para tirar cohetes. Además, la situación que finalmente permite que la pareja pueda estar junta, se ve venir desde las primeras páginas y... no sé... era como estar a la espera de la desgracia de otros.
De todas maneras, Mary Balogh escribe muy bien y logra una lectura placentera y con mucho sentimiento.
Reto Rita 4.0 (agosto)
Reto #7 PopSugar 2020: El primer libro que toques de tu biblioteca, estantería, colección con los ojos cerrados
January 18, 2022
1/18/2022 re-read.
I hate how mean everyone is to the precious Hero. I torture myself every time I read this book, but I always come back.
______________
I'm not sure how I've read this book 4x now and have never written a review? Anyway, my feelings for this book change every time I read it. I hate the book and love the book. I can honestly say I dislike everyone except the MCs. Sure, there are a few minor characters that were decent, but other than that, everyone is horrible.
Fleur was so strong and fierce. She was a survivor! And she might be my favorite heroine that MB has ever written. I feel like MB woke up one day and was like, “I feel like writing a really sad fucking book today and while I’m at it, let’s make the MCs lives horrible.” Like, where did this book come from? Kudos to MB for going there, but geez talk about pulling at your heartstrings.
Now, Adam is a precious angel and needs to be protected at all costs. When he cried…. WHEN👏HE👏CRIED👏…. y’all I have never wanted to hold a fictional character and tell him it was going to be ok IN MY LIFE, but Adam got to me. Everyone was always coming at him; everyone was so cruel, and he just took it and took it. I will cut a bitch for that man!
Of course, we get our HEA, but damn did we have to work for it or what? This will always be to go-to for super angst reading. Love/hate it.
I hate how mean everyone is to the precious Hero. I torture myself every time I read this book, but I always come back.
______________
I'm not sure how I've read this book 4x now and have never written a review? Anyway, my feelings for this book change every time I read it. I hate the book and love the book. I can honestly say I dislike everyone except the MCs. Sure, there are a few minor characters that were decent, but other than that, everyone is horrible.
Fleur was so strong and fierce. She was a survivor! And she might be my favorite heroine that MB has ever written. I feel like MB woke up one day and was like, “I feel like writing a really sad fucking book today and while I’m at it, let’s make the MCs lives horrible.” Like, where did this book come from? Kudos to MB for going there, but geez talk about pulling at your heartstrings.
Now, Adam is a precious angel and needs to be protected at all costs. When he cried…. WHEN👏HE👏CRIED👏…. y’all I have never wanted to hold a fictional character and tell him it was going to be ok IN MY LIFE, but Adam got to me. Everyone was always coming at him; everyone was so cruel, and he just took it and took it. I will cut a bitch for that man!
Of course, we get our HEA, but damn did we have to work for it or what? This will always be to go-to for super angst reading. Love/hate it.
April 9, 2019
PopSugar 2019: 21. Un libro con una pieza de ropa o accesorios en la portada
Dónde está mi EPÍLOGO???
Este libro tiene una de las mejores premisas que te emociona PERO con una protagonista que no me agradó tanto.
Al contrario del prota que es un DUQUE, es un amor pero tiene alma de mártir todo mundo hizo y deshizo con él era demasiado buenito pero a mí me gustó mucho y la prota no se lo merecía se porto demasiado perra con él y no me creí su amor de la noche a la mañana.
Aunque al final me lograron convencer tuvieron escenas demasiado tiernas.
Dónde está mi EPÍLOGO???
Este libro tiene una de las mejores premisas que te emociona PERO con una protagonista que no me agradó tanto.
Al contrario del prota que es un DUQUE, es un amor pero tiene alma de mártir todo mundo hizo y deshizo con él era demasiado buenito pero a mí me gustó mucho y la prota no se lo merecía se porto demasiado perra con él y no me creí su amor de la noche a la mañana.
Aunque al final me lograron convencer tuvieron escenas demasiado tiernas.
March 3, 2017
It's 2:20am and I have to be up in 4 hours, but this story was so fucking beautiful I don't regret a thing. Mary Balogh you are magic. Holy shit I loved this story.
August 6, 2020
Cuánto he disfrutado releyéndola. No es una novela redonda porque, en mi opinión el final es demasiado precipitado pero me ha encantado
A esta mujer le encantan los descacharraditos, así que este va directo a la lista.
Tras un comienzo estupendo, pero duro y frío, la relación de esta pareja se va fraguando a paso muy lento y, a la par que la protagonista, la autora nos va dibujando a un Adam atado a unas circunstancias, porque nada es lo que parece, y provocando que ese rechazo inicial vaya evolucionando hacia un aprecio sincero
Una novela de personajes en las que la evolución es lo importante, una novela con dos misterios, cada uno con el nombre propio de los protagonistas y que se va desarrollando al mismo tiempo que esa relación
Una novela controvertida por el tema inicial, sorprende que tras tantos años siga siendo tan original y no haya perdido ni un ápice de su encanto
Muy recomendable
A esta mujer le encantan los descacharraditos, así que este va directo a la lista.
Tras un comienzo estupendo, pero duro y frío, la relación de esta pareja se va fraguando a paso muy lento y, a la par que la protagonista, la autora nos va dibujando a un Adam atado a unas circunstancias, porque nada es lo que parece, y provocando que ese rechazo inicial vaya evolucionando hacia un aprecio sincero
Una novela de personajes en las que la evolución es lo importante, una novela con dos misterios, cada uno con el nombre propio de los protagonistas y que se va desarrollando al mismo tiempo que esa relación
Una novela controvertida por el tema inicial, sorprende que tras tantos años siga siendo tan original y no haya perdido ni un ápice de su encanto
Muy recomendable
August 3, 2020
#RitaMary #RetoRita4
.
Me ha gustado mucho. Comienzo complicado, un tema "peliagudo" y unos personajes muy tocados hacen que esta historia me enganchara y no pude dejar de leer.
.
Me ha gustado mucho. Comienzo complicado, un tema "peliagudo" y unos personajes muy tocados hacen que esta historia me enganchara y no pude dejar de leer.
March 3, 2025
4.5 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
He was safety and comfort and warmth. He was home. He was everything in the world that was hope and sunshine. He took a step toward her and opened his arms to her, and she was in those arms without ever knowing how the distance between them had closed.
The Secret Pearl is an exquisitely rendered forbidden love story of two tormented souls engulfed by a burning passion and an intense yearning for a chance at happiness, but all they had known is tragedy and sorrow.
A morally questionable love in nature, but deeply emotional, tender and healing.
From the surface, it's a romance tainted by a desperate night a married man spends in the arms of a woman trading her body to gain a living—the lovemaking was nothing short of emotionless and cold. A meaningless release.
It was supposed to be one night, but it was a night of agony as the man is left to grapple with guilt and the woman, Fleur, whose soul is already broken and whose life is in great danger, is now haunted by nightmares of a different kind.
An opportunity arrives and Fleur believes that god has been too kind to reward her with a position of a Governess whose sole responsibility will be to look after the 5-year-old daughter of Mr. Kent of Dorsetshire—but god had not been that kind, for she is employed by the very same man who haunts her dreams, the very first man to touch her skin, her very first client—Adamn Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway.
But as you delve deeper into the story, what is between the Duke and Fleur is not a love that had taken root in sin even if there is a permanent taint from their first meeting, what slowly blossoms between them is so heartbreakingly beautiful and melancholic.
I will disclose that I am not a fan of adultery in romance, it ruins the story for me even if it was redeemed. What is incredible about this love story is Mary Balogh's ability to effortlessly create a cast of complex and nuanced characters. I'm in utter awe of how she crafted each character with unique multiple layers and breathed life into them. There was so much emotional depth dedicated to each character and I am so impressed.
I know the romance is questionable and forbidden as it is between a married Duke and a governess, but I promise you the author does not romanticize adultery and deals with it appropriately. Once you understand the circumstances (which is a spoiler), you will have a new perspective on this whole situation. It is rather tragic and will break your heart.
This book left me with open wounds and an aching heart, despite the fact that this was actually a reread but it didn't emotionally wreck as bad on my first read as it did now.
Content warning: dubious consent (MMC/FMC), adultery, mention of parental loss, off-page mention of attempted sexual assault (not by MMC), grief, mention of su*cide, mention of dead body, death, PTSD, physical scars, slut-shaming, harassment.
He was safety and comfort and warmth. He was home. He was everything in the world that was hope and sunshine. He took a step toward her and opened his arms to her, and she was in those arms without ever knowing how the distance between them had closed.
The Secret Pearl is an exquisitely rendered forbidden love story of two tormented souls engulfed by a burning passion and an intense yearning for a chance at happiness, but all they had known is tragedy and sorrow.
A morally questionable love in nature, but deeply emotional, tender and healing.
From the surface, it's a romance tainted by a desperate night a married man spends in the arms of a woman trading her body to gain a living—the lovemaking was nothing short of emotionless and cold. A meaningless release.
It was supposed to be one night, but it was a night of agony as the man is left to grapple with guilt and the woman, Fleur, whose soul is already broken and whose life is in great danger, is now haunted by nightmares of a different kind.
An opportunity arrives and Fleur believes that god has been too kind to reward her with a position of a Governess whose sole responsibility will be to look after the 5-year-old daughter of Mr. Kent of Dorsetshire—but god had not been that kind, for she is employed by the very same man who haunts her dreams, the very first man to touch her skin, her very first client—Adamn Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway.
But as you delve deeper into the story, what is between the Duke and Fleur is not a love that had taken root in sin even if there is a permanent taint from their first meeting, what slowly blossoms between them is so heartbreakingly beautiful and melancholic.
I will disclose that I am not a fan of adultery in romance, it ruins the story for me even if it was redeemed. What is incredible about this love story is Mary Balogh's ability to effortlessly create a cast of complex and nuanced characters. I'm in utter awe of how she crafted each character with unique multiple layers and breathed life into them. There was so much emotional depth dedicated to each character and I am so impressed.
I know the romance is questionable and forbidden as it is between a married Duke and a governess, but I promise you the author does not romanticize adultery and deals with it appropriately. Once you understand the circumstances (which is a spoiler), you will have a new perspective on this whole situation. It is rather tragic and will break your heart.
This book left me with open wounds and an aching heart, despite the fact that this was actually a reread but it didn't emotionally wreck as bad on my first read as it did now.
Content warning: dubious consent (MMC/FMC), adultery, mention of parental loss, off-page mention of attempted sexual assault (not by MMC), grief, mention of su*cide, mention of dead body, death, PTSD, physical scars, slut-shaming, harassment.
December 6, 2020
3.5 Stars
This has all the makings of a great read; I liked it, but I can’t say I LOVED it because it was so frustrating. I love angst, but I prefer it to be generated from events/hardships not self-inflicted/all in your head angst. This reads like a historical soap opera, and there’s just SO MUCH GUILT!! Everyone’s thinking about others and just tearing themselves up about it. GUILT. SHAME. LOATHING repeat. It SUCKED me in initially, but then it eventually pushed my patience. BUT-if you’re in the mood for HEAVY angst and drama… give it a shot. If you’ve got more tolerance than I do…you’ll probably love it.
Fleur is on the run from her creepy cousin. She’s starving and desperate and decides selling her body is her only option. After an awful/traumatic first encounter/loss of virginity, she’s determined not to do that again. She stumbles upon an opportunity… Mr. Kent needs a governess for his daughter. All is great until she realizes Mr. Kent is Adam, her one and only customer. If that’s not angsty enough, there’s a Mrs. Kent!!
Adam has both physical and emotional scars from the war and his loveless marriage to a selfish twat. (makes the cheating easier to swallow) He’s full of guilt for taking F’s virginity, so he hires her to care for his daughter, but bathed, she’s not so frumpy anymore which of course makes him feel more guilty because now he’s attracted to her. Fleur is extremely traumatized and takes A LONG TIME to get over her quivering and self-pity. (I still don’t understand why she didn’t reach out to her friends) Regardless, she hates/disgusted by Adam for a big chunk of the book. (I found it hypocritical that she was so judgy for his actions when she was the prostitute.) 🤷♀🤷♀
Push all that aside; my biggest grump was the pacing, which IMO was off. I found the middle painfully slow; it finally picks up for the last 60ish pages when they finally started to have some forward movement to romance land, but so much page time was dedicated to ill feelings that the “romance” felt unnatural. I also thought her switching POV’s throughout the same scene was unneeded and redundant.
Bottom Line- Maybe I’m grumpy, but the constant “taking the high road” and being “good” got old. I don’t subscribe to the thinking that I’m obligated to deal/cover-up/fix others’ poor choices… I’m not a martyr… I'm just not that nice. Almost everyone found Adam sooo good and sooo noble… I found him wimpy. I couldn’t LOVE all the self-imposed misery BUT I’m particularly sleep-deprived at the moment (my patience isn’t the greatest), and it did suck me in. I was very close to rounding up and might do so later so if you're hankering for some heavy angst... give it a shot. 😉
This has all the makings of a great read; I liked it, but I can’t say I LOVED it because it was so frustrating. I love angst, but I prefer it to be generated from events/hardships not self-inflicted/all in your head angst. This reads like a historical soap opera, and there’s just SO MUCH GUILT!! Everyone’s thinking about others and just tearing themselves up about it. GUILT. SHAME. LOATHING repeat. It SUCKED me in initially, but then it eventually pushed my patience. BUT-if you’re in the mood for HEAVY angst and drama… give it a shot. If you’ve got more tolerance than I do…you’ll probably love it.
Fleur is on the run from her creepy cousin. She’s starving and desperate and decides selling her body is her only option. After an awful/traumatic first encounter/loss of virginity, she’s determined not to do that again. She stumbles upon an opportunity… Mr. Kent needs a governess for his daughter. All is great until she realizes Mr. Kent is Adam, her one and only customer. If that’s not angsty enough, there’s a Mrs. Kent!!
Adam has both physical and emotional scars from the war and his loveless marriage to a selfish twat. (makes the cheating easier to swallow) He’s full of guilt for taking F’s virginity, so he hires her to care for his daughter, but bathed, she’s not so frumpy anymore which of course makes him feel more guilty because now he’s attracted to her. Fleur is extremely traumatized and takes A LONG TIME to get over her quivering and self-pity. (I still don’t understand why she didn’t reach out to her friends) Regardless, she hates/disgusted by Adam for a big chunk of the book. (I found it hypocritical that she was so judgy for his actions when she was the prostitute.) 🤷♀🤷♀
Push all that aside; my biggest grump was the pacing, which IMO was off. I found the middle painfully slow; it finally picks up for the last 60ish pages when they finally started to have some forward movement to romance land, but so much page time was dedicated to ill feelings that the “romance” felt unnatural. I also thought her switching POV’s throughout the same scene was unneeded and redundant.
Bottom Line- Maybe I’m grumpy, but the constant “taking the high road” and being “good” got old. I don’t subscribe to the thinking that I’m obligated to deal/cover-up/fix others’ poor choices… I’m not a martyr… I'm just not that nice. Almost everyone found Adam sooo good and sooo noble… I found him wimpy. I couldn’t LOVE all the self-imposed misery BUT I’m particularly sleep-deprived at the moment (my patience isn’t the greatest), and it did suck me in. I was very close to rounding up and might do so later so if you're hankering for some heavy angst... give it a shot. 😉
March 28, 2017
No le doy las 5 estrellas porque le ha faltado un epílogo. Y me hacía mucha falta uno. Pero por lo demás, y como siempre que leo algo de Mary Balogh, me ha encantado la historia.
Partimos de un comienzo poco convencional, más bien valiente, muy valiente, es un comienzo duro, real, en donde piensas cómo lo va a desarrollar al autora para que acabe bien.
Adam Kent, el duque de Ridgeway, un hombre atormentado, herido tanto físicamente (se recalca mucho sus heridas físicas durante todo el libro) como una enorme herida emocional que vas conociendo e intuyendo a lo largo del libro. Pero lo maravilloso de todo esto, es que ese tormento no le transforma en una persona irascible, antisocial, soberbia o cínica, sino que es un hombre que sigue creyendo en el amor, ya sea de la clase que sea. Lucha por lo que cree correcto y mantiene su ética hasta la última página.
Fleur, es una mujer que también ha sufrido y sigue sufriendo durante la mayor parte del libro. Pero no es una pusilánime, sino una mujer valiente que se enfrenta a cada problema con la cabeza bien alta y asumiendo sus actos con una valentía extraordinaria.
La relación entre los dos, se ha desarrollado perfectamente. Con los tiempos necesarios para que cada uno vaya asumiendo sus miedos, y al final, el amor surja entre los dos. No me ha parecido forzado, teniendo en cuenta, que Freu se ofreció en un primer lugar como prostituta a Adam, sino que ha permitido, sobre todo a Freu, curar ese momento duro, e ir asumiendo sus propios sentimientos, además de ir conociendo mejor a Adam. Ha habido momentos preciosos entre los dos, sencillos pero maravillosos, donde han podido ser ellos mismos y les ha permitido conocerse más y sobre todo, respetarse.
Nos da la imagen de una sociedad, cruel, regida por las apariencias y las normas sociales. Donde estas mismas normas te impedían conseguir la plena felicidad.
Merece la pena leerlo, es un viaje maravilloso, donde conoces lo peor que puede hacer una mujer para seguir viviendo y cómo, al final, ese dolor inicial, tiene la mayor de las recompensas
Partimos de un comienzo poco convencional, más bien valiente, muy valiente, es un comienzo duro, real, en donde piensas cómo lo va a desarrollar al autora para que acabe bien.
Adam Kent, el duque de Ridgeway, un hombre atormentado, herido tanto físicamente (se recalca mucho sus heridas físicas durante todo el libro) como una enorme herida emocional que vas conociendo e intuyendo a lo largo del libro. Pero lo maravilloso de todo esto, es que ese tormento no le transforma en una persona irascible, antisocial, soberbia o cínica, sino que es un hombre que sigue creyendo en el amor, ya sea de la clase que sea. Lucha por lo que cree correcto y mantiene su ética hasta la última página.
Fleur, es una mujer que también ha sufrido y sigue sufriendo durante la mayor parte del libro. Pero no es una pusilánime, sino una mujer valiente que se enfrenta a cada problema con la cabeza bien alta y asumiendo sus actos con una valentía extraordinaria.
La relación entre los dos, se ha desarrollado perfectamente. Con los tiempos necesarios para que cada uno vaya asumiendo sus miedos, y al final, el amor surja entre los dos. No me ha parecido forzado, teniendo en cuenta, que Freu se ofreció en un primer lugar como prostituta a Adam, sino que ha permitido, sobre todo a Freu, curar ese momento duro, e ir asumiendo sus propios sentimientos, además de ir conociendo mejor a Adam. Ha habido momentos preciosos entre los dos, sencillos pero maravillosos, donde han podido ser ellos mismos y les ha permitido conocerse más y sobre todo, respetarse.
Nos da la imagen de una sociedad, cruel, regida por las apariencias y las normas sociales. Donde estas mismas normas te impedían conseguir la plena felicidad.
Merece la pena leerlo, es un viaje maravilloso, donde conoces lo peor que puede hacer una mujer para seguir viviendo y cómo, al final, ese dolor inicial, tiene la mayor de las recompensas
April 6, 2021
Don't you hate when a book has no epilogue? I am distressed, I wanted the epilogue! Hehehe
Okay, I don't abide with adultery, but this book shows that not everything is simple as black and white. There are many and many shades of gray in between and if you save your prejudices until you understand the whole of it, maybe you can forgive the hero and even like this book. But be warned, the book starts in a very shocking manner of a woman selling the only thing she has left before she starves to death, her body. It was a very shocking encounter plus discovering afterwards the adultery, but I wanted to understand the heroine reasons and so I kept going and I am glad I did.
I had such a strong dislike towards the hero's wife and his brother that I felt like I wanted to physically hurt them. Specially the wife, she was horrid.
But sometimes I also disliked the hero. He was too understanding, too selfless, too good, too faithful to someone that did not deserve. He did not deserve what he got from life, the misery of it all. To be painted as the villain when all he did was take care of everybody around him. And he never spoke up for himself. Sometimes I wanted to slap him for not doing anything. For accepting the misery of it all... that is why I am so distressed for not having an epilogue. After so much misery, we don't get to see the happiness.
Okay, I don't abide with adultery, but this book shows that not everything is simple as black and white. There are many and many shades of gray in between and if you save your prejudices until you understand the whole of it, maybe you can forgive the hero and even like this book. But be warned, the book starts in a very shocking manner of a woman selling the only thing she has left before she starves to death, her body. It was a very shocking encounter plus discovering afterwards the adultery, but I wanted to understand the heroine reasons and so I kept going and I am glad I did.
I had such a strong dislike towards the hero's wife and his brother that I felt like I wanted to physically hurt them. Specially the wife, she was horrid.
But sometimes I also disliked the hero. He was too understanding, too selfless, too good, too faithful to someone that did not deserve. He did not deserve what he got from life, the misery of it all. To be painted as the villain when all he did was take care of everybody around him. And he never spoke up for himself. Sometimes I wanted to slap him for not doing anything. For accepting the misery of it all... that is why I am so distressed for not having an epilogue. After so much misery, we don't get to see the happiness.
July 21, 2021
First, I just want to say thank you Ms. Balogh for not treating prostitution and loss of virginity lightly. I feel that one thing that has stayed consistent over the centuries is the idea that loss of virginity, morality, and responsibility seems to fall all on the female's shoulders. What's worse is that it's not just men putting blame, responsibility, shame and guilt on women but women do it to women as well. I can see this just from reading some reviews of this book where some have stated that the h should have "gotten over it already" instead of holding on to her guilt, shame and fear. News flash, anyone who has ever had their body violated will tell you that it never goes away. NEVER. You learn to live with it and move on with your life but it impacts your life in ways both big and small.
Having said that, I felt this story truly did it justice. Imagine, you're a virgin but starving and forced to sell your body. This isn't some rich handsome artistocrat great at sex taking you to some fancy inn with silk sheets. This is you standing on a street corner taking the first man who pays you for sex. You risk safety, health, and who knows what and you know what? It's terrifying. Was the H cold and uncaring in how he took her? Yes but as he said, he wasn't rough with her. She was selling her body and he paid and it was over and done with. He even goes farther to caution her about how to try and be more careful in the selecting of customers. As for her, it was terrifying. And here is where I thought Balogh did it justice. Maybe it's just the female friends I have had and do have, but except for very few of us, the first time was awful. Not only that but some of us have experienced force. Now back this up a couple hundred years where virginity equals a woman's value and my heart went out to the h. One of my favorite parts of many in the book is where the h basically says that you always think you'd rather die than sell yourself until you're actually facing death by starvation.
I loved that the story took it's time (it runs the course of 15 months or so I believe) to develop the relationship between the H and the h. It doesn't happen overnight. It's not insta-lust. Neither character looked at each other the first time and thought "wow, he/she is hot." In fact, neither had anything really positive to think about the other's looks. All of this really makes the ending that much more poignant and satisfying. Because you followed two damaged but human people trying to be as good and honorable as possible in the situation that they find themselves and not always getting it right. You follow their relationship as it grows from the dregs of human existence into something profoundly deep and moving.
As a final note, I found this book that much more moving after having read A Precious Jewel. That was such a totally different take on how the h handles prostitution. It was well written and engrossing but simultaneously a bit repugnant. A strange mix.
I will definitely continue to read more Balogh books.
Having said that, I felt this story truly did it justice. Imagine, you're a virgin but starving and forced to sell your body. This isn't some rich handsome artistocrat great at sex taking you to some fancy inn with silk sheets. This is you standing on a street corner taking the first man who pays you for sex. You risk safety, health, and who knows what and you know what? It's terrifying. Was the H cold and uncaring in how he took her? Yes but as he said, he wasn't rough with her. She was selling her body and he paid and it was over and done with. He even goes farther to caution her about how to try and be more careful in the selecting of customers. As for her, it was terrifying. And here is where I thought Balogh did it justice. Maybe it's just the female friends I have had and do have, but except for very few of us, the first time was awful. Not only that but some of us have experienced force. Now back this up a couple hundred years where virginity equals a woman's value and my heart went out to the h. One of my favorite parts of many in the book is where the h basically says that you always think you'd rather die than sell yourself until you're actually facing death by starvation.
I loved that the story took it's time (it runs the course of 15 months or so I believe) to develop the relationship between the H and the h. It doesn't happen overnight. It's not insta-lust. Neither character looked at each other the first time and thought "wow, he/she is hot." In fact, neither had anything really positive to think about the other's looks. All of this really makes the ending that much more poignant and satisfying. Because you followed two damaged but human people trying to be as good and honorable as possible in the situation that they find themselves and not always getting it right. You follow their relationship as it grows from the dregs of human existence into something profoundly deep and moving.
As a final note, I found this book that much more moving after having read A Precious Jewel. That was such a totally different take on how the h handles prostitution. It was well written and engrossing but simultaneously a bit repugnant. A strange mix.
I will definitely continue to read more Balogh books.
January 14, 2016
Mary Balogh loves redemption and often creates characters with so much baggage you wonder how she will ever win the reader over and give them a plausible HEA. This novel starts dark and moves to the light. Reading it was a visceral experience at times. I don't know if I ever want to read it again, but I'm glad I did.
November 18, 2025
This might be my new favorite Balogh. Fleur, the daughter of a baron, is in London desperate for side plot reasons I won't spoil, and is literally starving. She has one thing left to sell, and Adam the duke is there when she does. Their interaction is typical Balogh Disappointing First Time (tm) turned up to 11 - he (scarred and lonely) Grimly Shoves and she is of course untouched until that moment. It's pretty terrible.
Balogh does some interesting craft things with this first chapter to keep the action at a remove to give the characters and the reader some much-needed distance. Even in the 3rd person past of the POV, they are referred to as "the prostitute" and "the gentleman" and we don't learn their names until the next chapter (although she gives him her name when he asks once they start to interact). The book as a whole is structured in a way to have the reader saying "wait, what?" There's an aside reference to another character in his household that had me thinking ...but how??? and many hints dropped about Fleur's situation and the past. It's gripping.
Adam, who is at core a honorable man, first starts with the small actions that he can provide on the spot (buys her dinner, pays her well) which quickly morphs into guilt-induced overcompensations, and next thing you know she has a job at his house as governess. Balogh loves to have the ancestral home stand in for Family and True Self and Nobility, as she says "Willoughby, his home, England in miniature." Adam has a lot of Big Feelings about honor and doing the right thing even if it stand in the way of what his heart wants. His whole life has been about doing the right thing and upholding honor, and Fleur was the one deviation from that, and it was Not Great.
So Balogh does NOT stint on showing Fleur's stark PTSD about the event, as well as her relief at only having to do it that one terrible time and to have randomly and luckily gotten this great job. The stomach clenchingly good scene when he shows up weeks later is fantastic. I had read something about this book that he hired her under threat of exposure to keep Servicing, which is mainly why I took so long to read this. Oops not at all. He's like, you are literally just the governess, even if I wanted to, which I DEFINITELY do not, you are under my protection, not an option. Meanwhile of course he's noticing how beautiful she is not that she's not starving and terrified, and she's so good with the daughter, and she loves to ride like he does, and he likes her music. OK buddy.
I talked about the role of the Professional and the slotting into society a LOT in my review of A Precious Jewel (another Balogh fave). We find that in spades here. Fleur is labeled as a "whore" by herself and Adam, even though it was literally that one time. We see their reframing and thinking from "whore" present tense to past to "you're so brave and strong and did what you had to." When she later tells her story to someone she is close to and who should be understanding, they immediately respond with the label back to present tense, it's a big shock and shows how much growth they've had as a couple.
There's a slow one step forward, two steps back transition for her from her terror/ptsd state. It definitely helps that he thinks to himself ONCE that he only took what she was offering, and then switches into repair mode with reassurance/apology/compliment/autonomy, always careful of her. He's in martyr never think for himself mode like with all other aspects of his life, and if some of his thoughts (I would have made it good for her if I knew, I wish she had asked me, the customer, for help instead of providing a service) seem a little ret-conned and probably unrealistic, we'll let him have it. There's a lot of "She had only shrunk from him, naked terror and revulsion in her eyes" where he's like, oh she finds me repulsive because of my scars, and not really thinking about her very real trauma.
So he's aware of who she dances with at a ball, just keeping an eye. She's starting to think of him as good looking, "the scar somehow enhancing rather than detracting from the strength of his features." All the images of him that were in her nightmares are reframed, as the events of that night are added to and diluted by many positive interactions and behaviors. There are a LOT of barriers to this working out (understatement).
So of course enter a figure from her past, the actual manifestation of everything she was frightened about with Adam. If Adam abused her once (and at this point she, too, is in the "I provided a service he paid for" reframe of that) this person wants to keep her in a degraded state for good. This whole side plot was both very Balogh Villain Side Character, and also resolved and had highly interesting twists. Plus was a perfect framework for some forced proximity realizations later.
Balogh really set a high bar to have a couple with their start and their current circumstance transition to a romance, and she clears it. There's a lot of craft choices that help, there's a road trip (the perfect opportunity for real communication and a lot of time together to bond), shared secrets, of course, time stutters between POVs so we see everything, a good use of time jumps, and there's on page equality in emotional investment. In fact, the POV in intimate scenes shifts fluidly back and forth on a sentence to sentence level not seen in rest of book. They are both vulnerable with a lot to lose.
I could go on forever with this text, the role of his scars/her past and the effects of them, the role of family both blood and found, honor and duty, double standards (she's literally only been with him, he's literally been with "dozens" and SHE'S the whore, the other character knee-jerk labeling her), class, fidelity, betrayal, the country house as Home, this book has everything.
Balogh does some interesting craft things with this first chapter to keep the action at a remove to give the characters and the reader some much-needed distance. Even in the 3rd person past of the POV, they are referred to as "the prostitute" and "the gentleman" and we don't learn their names until the next chapter (although she gives him her name when he asks once they start to interact). The book as a whole is structured in a way to have the reader saying "wait, what?" There's an aside reference to another character in his household that had me thinking ...but how??? and many hints dropped about Fleur's situation and the past. It's gripping.
Adam, who is at core a honorable man, first starts with the small actions that he can provide on the spot (buys her dinner, pays her well) which quickly morphs into guilt-induced overcompensations, and next thing you know she has a job at his house as governess. Balogh loves to have the ancestral home stand in for Family and True Self and Nobility, as she says "Willoughby, his home, England in miniature." Adam has a lot of Big Feelings about honor and doing the right thing even if it stand in the way of what his heart wants. His whole life has been about doing the right thing and upholding honor, and Fleur was the one deviation from that, and it was Not Great.
So Balogh does NOT stint on showing Fleur's stark PTSD about the event, as well as her relief at only having to do it that one terrible time and to have randomly and luckily gotten this great job. The stomach clenchingly good scene when he shows up weeks later is fantastic. I had read something about this book that he hired her under threat of exposure to keep Servicing, which is mainly why I took so long to read this. Oops not at all. He's like, you are literally just the governess, even if I wanted to, which I DEFINITELY do not, you are under my protection, not an option. Meanwhile of course he's noticing how beautiful she is not that she's not starving and terrified, and she's so good with the daughter, and she loves to ride like he does, and he likes her music. OK buddy.
I talked about the role of the Professional and the slotting into society a LOT in my review of A Precious Jewel (another Balogh fave). We find that in spades here. Fleur is labeled as a "whore" by herself and Adam, even though it was literally that one time. We see their reframing and thinking from "whore" present tense to past to "you're so brave and strong and did what you had to." When she later tells her story to someone she is close to and who should be understanding, they immediately respond with the label back to present tense, it's a big shock and shows how much growth they've had as a couple.
There's a slow one step forward, two steps back transition for her from her terror/ptsd state. It definitely helps that he thinks to himself ONCE that he only took what she was offering, and then switches into repair mode with reassurance/apology/compliment/autonomy, always careful of her. He's in martyr never think for himself mode like with all other aspects of his life, and if some of his thoughts (I would have made it good for her if I knew, I wish she had asked me, the customer, for help instead of providing a service) seem a little ret-conned and probably unrealistic, we'll let him have it. There's a lot of "She had only shrunk from him, naked terror and revulsion in her eyes" where he's like, oh she finds me repulsive because of my scars, and not really thinking about her very real trauma.
So he's aware of who she dances with at a ball, just keeping an eye. She's starting to think of him as good looking, "the scar somehow enhancing rather than detracting from the strength of his features." All the images of him that were in her nightmares are reframed, as the events of that night are added to and diluted by many positive interactions and behaviors. There are a LOT of barriers to this working out (understatement).
So of course enter a figure from her past, the actual manifestation of everything she was frightened about with Adam. If Adam abused her once (and at this point she, too, is in the "I provided a service he paid for" reframe of that) this person wants to keep her in a degraded state for good. This whole side plot was both very Balogh Villain Side Character, and also resolved and had highly interesting twists. Plus was a perfect framework for some forced proximity realizations later.
Balogh really set a high bar to have a couple with their start and their current circumstance transition to a romance, and she clears it. There's a lot of craft choices that help, there's a road trip (the perfect opportunity for real communication and a lot of time together to bond), shared secrets, of course, time stutters between POVs so we see everything, a good use of time jumps, and there's on page equality in emotional investment. In fact, the POV in intimate scenes shifts fluidly back and forth on a sentence to sentence level not seen in rest of book. They are both vulnerable with a lot to lose.
I could go on forever with this text, the role of his scars/her past and the effects of them, the role of family both blood and found, honor and duty, double standards (she's literally only been with him, he's literally been with "dozens" and SHE'S the whore, the other character knee-jerk labeling her), class, fidelity, betrayal, the country house as Home, this book has everything.
March 14, 2019
No entendí el título la verdad...
Fue una buena historia pero ella me cayó muy mal y él era demasiado lindo, demasiado bueno y demasiado TODO para ella hahah
A mis amigas les gustó mucho más que a mí pero quizás es que no me agarraron en buen mood.
2.5
LE FALTÓ EPÍLOGO!!!
Fue una buena historia pero ella me cayó muy mal y él era demasiado lindo, demasiado bueno y demasiado TODO para ella hahah
A mis amigas les gustó mucho más que a mí pero quizás es que no me agarraron en buen mood.
2.5
LE FALTÓ EPÍLOGO!!!
June 27, 2017
Rating: 3 ½ stars
The Secret Pearl is a thought provoking, tragic and unusual novel that explores the worst and best aspects of what makes us human. Some people don’t care for Mary Balogh’s writing because at times, her style comes across as distant. What I’ve found in her books is that she shows the reader what is needed and reveals what is important in the story by using the plot, the characters’ actions and dialogue. Balogh trusts her audience to understand and to come to their own conclusions.
With that said…
Isabella/Fleur and Adam are truly strong people. They are also quite weak, corrupted by social structures, forced into committing immoral acts in times of desperation. Adam is a long-suffering hero trapped in circumstances of his own making and others that are not his fault. Isabella/Fleur is a victim of her gender and social status in this era. Women had no power at all. They were subject to laws, society, tradition and fate. Isabella/Fleur is rewarded and punished when she defies the norms of her world.
The manner in which Adam and Isabella/Fleur first meet was not agreeable to me at all. It was repugnant. I was invested in the novel to see how the author would redeem Adam’s actions and deal with Fleur/Isabella’s suffering and trauma. Considering the roles men and women were forced to live by in this era, Balogh does succeed in bringing this unfortunate pair together. She succeeds in making them sympathetic characters despite their actions. It is up to the reader to decide if they are held accountable for everything that unfolds. I can appreciate that she did not put Adam and Isabella/Fleur on a pedestal. Even if their actions were not relatable or likable to me because of my personal beliefs, I could pray for their redemption through love and forgiveness.
If you decide to read this book be warned. There is adultery, rape, and the mistreatment and dehumanization of women. Sadly in 2017, women are faced with various forms of violence , misogyny and abuse. It reminds you of where we are and how far we still need to go. Not everyone finds a HEA like Adam and Isabella.
The Secret Pearl is a thought provoking, tragic and unusual novel that explores the worst and best aspects of what makes us human. Some people don’t care for Mary Balogh’s writing because at times, her style comes across as distant. What I’ve found in her books is that she shows the reader what is needed and reveals what is important in the story by using the plot, the characters’ actions and dialogue. Balogh trusts her audience to understand and to come to their own conclusions.
With that said…
Isabella/Fleur and Adam are truly strong people. They are also quite weak, corrupted by social structures, forced into committing immoral acts in times of desperation. Adam is a long-suffering hero trapped in circumstances of his own making and others that are not his fault. Isabella/Fleur is a victim of her gender and social status in this era. Women had no power at all. They were subject to laws, society, tradition and fate. Isabella/Fleur is rewarded and punished when she defies the norms of her world.
The manner in which Adam and Isabella/Fleur first meet was not agreeable to me at all. It was repugnant. I was invested in the novel to see how the author would redeem Adam’s actions and deal with Fleur/Isabella’s suffering and trauma. Considering the roles men and women were forced to live by in this era, Balogh does succeed in bringing this unfortunate pair together. She succeeds in making them sympathetic characters despite their actions. It is up to the reader to decide if they are held accountable for everything that unfolds. I can appreciate that she did not put Adam and Isabella/Fleur on a pedestal. Even if their actions were not relatable or likable to me because of my personal beliefs, I could pray for their redemption through love and forgiveness.
If you decide to read this book be warned. There is adultery, rape, and the mistreatment and dehumanization of women. Sadly in 2017, women are faced with various forms of violence , misogyny and abuse. It reminds you of where we are and how far we still need to go. Not everyone finds a HEA like Adam and Isabella.
November 11, 2021
I find Mary Balogh's writing style to be formal and unemotional which prevents me from becoming completely invested in her stories. But I keep reading because her storylines are interesting and the obstacles she places in front of her protagonists seem impossible. And, wow, the conflicts Adam and Fleur faced certainly fit that category! Their journey wasn't an easy path, but this is a romance so they do find their happy ending.
Adam was a wonderful hero and the true jewel or "secret pearl" of this book. I loved his code of honor, loyalty, and compassion for others. No matter how provoking the situation or manner of the person he dealt with Adam always acted like a gentleman.
In contrast to Adam I didn't like Fleur as much because of her martyrdom complex. She made the idea of becoming a prostitute a bigger deal than it needed to be. Fleur did what had to be done in order to not starve, but instead of feeling pride for her courage placed too much shame upon herself. A shame which actually felt more like self-pity considering how very brief her illicit career had been. And I hate to sound crass, but Fleur still had friends she could have gone to (I felt her circumstances weren't as desperate as she made them out to be).
Adam was a wonderful hero and the true jewel or "secret pearl" of this book. I loved his code of honor, loyalty, and compassion for others. No matter how provoking the situation or manner of the person he dealt with Adam always acted like a gentleman.
In contrast to Adam I didn't like Fleur as much because of her martyrdom complex. She made the idea of becoming a prostitute a bigger deal than it needed to be. Fleur did what had to be done in order to not starve, but instead of feeling pride for her courage placed too much shame upon herself. A shame which actually felt more like self-pity considering how very brief her illicit career had been. And I hate to sound crass, but Fleur still had friends she could have gone to (I felt her circumstances weren't as desperate as she made them out to be).
November 28, 2021
DNF
daha fazla katlanamiycam🤦♀️
daha fazla katlanamiycam🤦♀️
November 22, 2010
The Secret Pearl is another book where Mrs. Balogh uses a different, and for many authors and readers, forbidden theme as a plot device. At the beginning of the story, the heroine decides to work as a prostitute! This is not a spoiler as it does happen in the first pages. The hero is leaving the theatre one night when he sees a prostitute in the shadows, he asks her her price and he takes to an inn where the consummate the act. However she touches him in some way and realising she had been a virgin and seems starving he buys her dinner.
Fleur, our heroine, decided on prostitution as a last resort to feed herself and pay her bills but she had no idea how she would feel about it afterwards. After spending a few days closeted in her room she decides to look for a job again. Meanwhile, the hero, the Duke of Ridgeway has spent some time thinking on the young prostitute he engaged for the night, he realises that she has refined manners and is probably just down on her luck and decides to send his secretary to the job agencies to see if he finds someone by the name of Fleur looking for work. He does and that is how Fleur, quite unexpectedly finds herself as the new governess of the Duke's daughter.
Fleur has no idea who hired her. She is immediately sent to the country, where the child and the Duchess are, and she applies herself to her new duties. When the Duke finally decides to visit she is shocked and scared when she recognises him. She has to live side by side with the man who knows her shame and hurt her and he seems to want some kind of relationship with her. Adam, the Duke, is trapped in an unhappy marriage and now he feels responsible for the young woman he ended up ruining and hurting without meaning to, he wants to give her a chance in their world again but she has a natural distrust of him that is not easy to overcome.
Besides this very bad start both Adam and Fleur have situation and people in their past who trouble them. This accounts for some of their choices and behaviours. Adam seems cold and remote but you see that he really loves his daughter and that he tries to be fair in all his dealings with people. Fleur is easier to like although for a time you just don't realise what made her act like she did. Although this may seem like a very convoluted story the fact is that Ms Balogh makes it all work. And I appreciated the happy ending all the more because it seemed so difficult to reach.
I suppose some readers might not like the prostitution thing and the adultery associated with the first scene but, if you can overlook that, this is an intense, poignant story where two people find love. It's not easy to read, it is emotional and sometime heart wrenching but I found it a very worthy read!
Grade: 4.5/5
Fleur, our heroine, decided on prostitution as a last resort to feed herself and pay her bills but she had no idea how she would feel about it afterwards. After spending a few days closeted in her room she decides to look for a job again. Meanwhile, the hero, the Duke of Ridgeway has spent some time thinking on the young prostitute he engaged for the night, he realises that she has refined manners and is probably just down on her luck and decides to send his secretary to the job agencies to see if he finds someone by the name of Fleur looking for work. He does and that is how Fleur, quite unexpectedly finds herself as the new governess of the Duke's daughter.
Fleur has no idea who hired her. She is immediately sent to the country, where the child and the Duchess are, and she applies herself to her new duties. When the Duke finally decides to visit she is shocked and scared when she recognises him. She has to live side by side with the man who knows her shame and hurt her and he seems to want some kind of relationship with her. Adam, the Duke, is trapped in an unhappy marriage and now he feels responsible for the young woman he ended up ruining and hurting without meaning to, he wants to give her a chance in their world again but she has a natural distrust of him that is not easy to overcome.
Besides this very bad start both Adam and Fleur have situation and people in their past who trouble them. This accounts for some of their choices and behaviours. Adam seems cold and remote but you see that he really loves his daughter and that he tries to be fair in all his dealings with people. Fleur is easier to like although for a time you just don't realise what made her act like she did. Although this may seem like a very convoluted story the fact is that Ms Balogh makes it all work. And I appreciated the happy ending all the more because it seemed so difficult to reach.
I suppose some readers might not like the prostitution thing and the adultery associated with the first scene but, if you can overlook that, this is an intense, poignant story where two people find love. It's not easy to read, it is emotional and sometime heart wrenching but I found it a very worthy read!
Grade: 4.5/5
June 14, 2020
He would be happy again and happy forever. He would open the oyster shell and find the pearl within.
I LOVED THE SECRET PEARL. I can't remember the last time a romance made me want to scream and cry but The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh is simply amazing. I was hooked from the first page. I loved everything about it - the engaging writing style, the nuanced character development, the good plot, and the surge of emotions Balogh made us feel for everyone.
Fleur Hamilton is a street worker who spends a night with Adam Kent, Duke of Ridgeway. During the events that transpire that night, Adam can't forget about Fleur and decides to have his secretary find Fleur and secure her as a governess to his child, Lady Pamela. Fleur, however, is running away from her second cousin, Matthew, who is hot on her trail...
Adam is your protector duke. He's the knight in armour. He's nobly suffering, putting everyone's interests ahead of his own. Basically, his whole life after the war is a tragedy. I felt so much for Adam. The last time I remember welling up with every other page of the hero's sad life was probably in Gaelen Foley's Lady of Desire. The Secret Pearl is how you write a nobly suffering duke who loves someone he knows he can't have. So noble, so hot. Adam's relationship with his wife, Sybil and his half-brother, Thomas, was one of the most complicated and balanced depictions of extramarital affairs I've read in romancelandia.
Thank you Balogh for making us sympathetic to Sybil and thank you Balogh for not making Thomas the villain. I felt for Sybil early on because it's clear she's an unhappy woman who believes what she says to herself. I did lose sympathy when she told Adam she knows the truth but is consciously choosing to blame Adam for everything, but she is a character to ultimately pity because her weakness was to love a man who did not love her. I was never on Thomas' side but I didn't hate him. Yes, he was a selfish man who wanted to play games but he wasn't a cartoon villain who takes a gun out in the third act. It's nice because it's not predictable, and it was a relief they were simply moral shades of grey.
Fleur's mysterious past reminds me a lot of Bel in Gaelen Foley's The Duke, where the heroine runs away from one gentleman in pursuit of her into the hero's arms, and how far that gentleman is willing to go to make the heroine destitute or with no other options than to be his wife/mistress.
Definitely recommend as an introduction to Mary Balogh and for anyone who enjoys mistress heroines and nobly suffering dukes.
I LOVED THE SECRET PEARL. I can't remember the last time a romance made me want to scream and cry but The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh is simply amazing. I was hooked from the first page. I loved everything about it - the engaging writing style, the nuanced character development, the good plot, and the surge of emotions Balogh made us feel for everyone.
Fleur Hamilton is a street worker who spends a night with Adam Kent, Duke of Ridgeway. During the events that transpire that night, Adam can't forget about Fleur and decides to have his secretary find Fleur and secure her as a governess to his child, Lady Pamela. Fleur, however, is running away from her second cousin, Matthew, who is hot on her trail...
Adam is your protector duke. He's the knight in armour. He's nobly suffering, putting everyone's interests ahead of his own. Basically, his whole life after the war is a tragedy. I felt so much for Adam. The last time I remember welling up with every other page of the hero's sad life was probably in Gaelen Foley's Lady of Desire. The Secret Pearl is how you write a nobly suffering duke who loves someone he knows he can't have. So noble, so hot. Adam's relationship with his wife, Sybil and his half-brother, Thomas, was one of the most complicated and balanced depictions of extramarital affairs I've read in romancelandia.
Thank you Balogh for making us sympathetic to Sybil and thank you Balogh for not making Thomas the villain. I felt for Sybil early on because it's clear she's an unhappy woman who believes what she says to herself. I did lose sympathy when she told Adam she knows the truth but is consciously choosing to blame Adam for everything, but she is a character to ultimately pity because her weakness was to love a man who did not love her. I was never on Thomas' side but I didn't hate him. Yes, he was a selfish man who wanted to play games but he wasn't a cartoon villain who takes a gun out in the third act. It's nice because it's not predictable, and it was a relief they were simply moral shades of grey.
Fleur's mysterious past reminds me a lot of Bel in Gaelen Foley's The Duke, where the heroine runs away from one gentleman in pursuit of her into the hero's arms, and how far that gentleman is willing to go to make the heroine destitute or with no other options than to be his wife/mistress.
Definitely recommend as an introduction to Mary Balogh and for anyone who enjoys mistress heroines and nobly suffering dukes.
September 3, 2020
La reseñan en el blog https://alacamaconunlibro.blogspot.co...
August 28, 2017
Las circunstancias de la vida llevan a Fleur Hamilton a poner en marcha su último recurso y es vender su cuerpo y nada más y nada menos que a Adam Kent, duque de Ridgeway. Más tarde sus caminos volverán a cruzarse de nuevo, ahora Fleur como institutriz de la hija del duque.
Había leído buenas referencias sobre esta autora pero hasta el momento no había tenido la oportunidad de leer algo de ella y este ha sido un buen comienzo. “La perla secreta” es una novela de esas que se disfrutan, donde la historia se cuece a fuego muy lento pero que te deja muy buenas sensaciones y eso que la trama tiene lo suyo. Nuestra protagonista Fleur es una muchacha que se ve avocada a algo que nadie querría y aunque al principio parezca débil es eso, solo lo parece, porque es una mujer muy valiente aunque a veces me faltó que interactuara más con el duque (los diálogos entre ellos a veces eran un monólogo de Adam).
La trama tiene mucho con lo que jugar: matrimonios sin amor, las diferencias entre las clases sociales, el papel de la mujer en ese mundo… y la autora ha sabido llevarlo por buen camino y mostrárnoslo. Además con algún que otro secreto creando bastante intriga.
Si Fleur ya de por sí es un personaje atípico por así decirlo, Adam también lo sería en el sentido de que a pesar de tener sus cicatrices es un hombre con un corazón excepcional que siempre vela por los demás más que por sí mismo y su corazón. Adam es la piedra angular de la novela y a veces me dolió como lo trataba Fleur, no se lo merecía y otros personajes, de bueno a veces era tonto. Pero todo esto es bueno, cuando los personajes nos transmiten sentimientos es que la historia está siendo buena.
El resto de personajes también me han despertado muchas sensaciones: Matthew, ese primo obsesionado con malas intenciones; Sybil, una mujer bastante insoportable y de la que me costó entender ese “amor” por su hija; Pamela, una niña bastante insoportable para mí y ya eso es difícil pero así ha sido, es que ni al final; y Thomas, este personaje es que también me chirriaba.
La novela me ha fascinado y también la historia de amor de Fleur y Adam, dura, intensa y muy emotiva. Adam sobre todo se lleva todo el mérito y mi corazoncito. La autora por supuesto se lleva mis felicitaciones, me ha tenido enganchada devorando el libro, casi me quedo cegata leyendo sin parar, jajaja. Eso sí, como he visto por alguna reseña me hubiese gustado un epílogo y ver qué pasaba con Adam y Fleur.
Había leído buenas referencias sobre esta autora pero hasta el momento no había tenido la oportunidad de leer algo de ella y este ha sido un buen comienzo. “La perla secreta” es una novela de esas que se disfrutan, donde la historia se cuece a fuego muy lento pero que te deja muy buenas sensaciones y eso que la trama tiene lo suyo. Nuestra protagonista Fleur es una muchacha que se ve avocada a algo que nadie querría y aunque al principio parezca débil es eso, solo lo parece, porque es una mujer muy valiente aunque a veces me faltó que interactuara más con el duque (los diálogos entre ellos a veces eran un monólogo de Adam).
La trama tiene mucho con lo que jugar: matrimonios sin amor, las diferencias entre las clases sociales, el papel de la mujer en ese mundo… y la autora ha sabido llevarlo por buen camino y mostrárnoslo. Además con algún que otro secreto creando bastante intriga.
Si Fleur ya de por sí es un personaje atípico por así decirlo, Adam también lo sería en el sentido de que a pesar de tener sus cicatrices es un hombre con un corazón excepcional que siempre vela por los demás más que por sí mismo y su corazón. Adam es la piedra angular de la novela y a veces me dolió como lo trataba Fleur, no se lo merecía y otros personajes, de bueno a veces era tonto. Pero todo esto es bueno, cuando los personajes nos transmiten sentimientos es que la historia está siendo buena.
El resto de personajes también me han despertado muchas sensaciones: Matthew, ese primo obsesionado con malas intenciones; Sybil, una mujer bastante insoportable y de la que me costó entender ese “amor” por su hija; Pamela, una niña bastante insoportable para mí y ya eso es difícil pero así ha sido, es que ni al final; y Thomas, este personaje es que también me chirriaba.
La novela me ha fascinado y también la historia de amor de Fleur y Adam, dura, intensa y muy emotiva. Adam sobre todo se lleva todo el mérito y mi corazoncito. La autora por supuesto se lleva mis felicitaciones, me ha tenido enganchada devorando el libro, casi me quedo cegata leyendo sin parar, jajaja. Eso sí, como he visto por alguna reseña me hubiese gustado un epílogo y ver qué pasaba con Adam y Fleur.
September 2, 2024
The Secret Pearl (1991) is heartbreaking romance full of emotional suspense. I was enthralled. One of the rewards of reading a paperback: I could easily flip thru pages later in the story to calm my nerves… yes, I cheated on this one, and even quickly glanced at the ending. Not sorry!
It’s a story of a wounded and horribly scarred man (Battle of Waterloo)… Adam, Duke of Ridgeway who’s in a loveless marriage, and has a five year old daughter, Pamela. Fleur Hamilton is a fugitive escaping from a crime whom he meets late at night on the streets of London.
After the grim first chapter the story takes an unexpected turn and then more jolts to the plot. Throughout most of the story Fleur is afraid of him, full of revulsion when she sees him and it’s not cuz of his scars. Adam is a man of dignity and honor with his wife who hates him, and also with Fleur.
Adam when younger had felt the world was his oyster with a precious pearl within… and in reality it wasn’t until he met Fleur that this happened to him. She’s courageous as she handles her situation with dignity. No easy choices for them: honor or love? Balogh has crafted richly detailed character arcs for Adam and Fleur.
This is certainly an unconventional story… , raw and dark with crackling sexual tension and longing right up until nearly the end. Exquisite writing as only Mary Balogh can do…a memorable masterpiece. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It’s a story of a wounded and horribly scarred man (Battle of Waterloo)… Adam, Duke of Ridgeway who’s in a loveless marriage, and has a five year old daughter, Pamela. Fleur Hamilton is a fugitive escaping from a crime whom he meets late at night on the streets of London.
After the grim first chapter the story takes an unexpected turn and then more jolts to the plot. Throughout most of the story Fleur is afraid of him, full of revulsion when she sees him and it’s not cuz of his scars. Adam is a man of dignity and honor with his wife who hates him, and also with Fleur.
Adam when younger had felt the world was his oyster with a precious pearl within… and in reality it wasn’t until he met Fleur that this happened to him. She’s courageous as she handles her situation with dignity. No easy choices for them: honor or love? Balogh has crafted richly detailed character arcs for Adam and Fleur.
This is certainly an unconventional story… , raw and dark with crackling sexual tension and longing right up until nearly the end. Exquisite writing as only Mary Balogh can do…a memorable masterpiece. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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