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Waite #2-3
A Counterfeit Betrothal/The Notorious Rake
New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh presents two of her classic Regency-era romances—seductive tales of ladies who are running away from love . . . and rogues who enjoy the chase.
A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL
Lady Sophia Bryant has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Her one desire is to reunite her parents, who have been estranged for fourteen years. Surely, if she happens to announce her betrothal—even a false one—they will be forced to see each other. Devilishly handsome Lord Francis Sutton seems perfect for such deceit, always agreeable to games of passion in which he has nothing to lose. The trap is set—if only Lady Sophia can keep her foolish heart from falling prey to her brilliant snares.
THE NOTORIOUS RAKE
Lord Edmund Waite is everything that Lady Mary Gregg despises: lewd, lascivious, mocking—the most incorrigible and successful rogue around. A bluestocking like her would never tempt a man whose taste runs to pretty playthings—so Mary is startled to find herself the object of Lord Edmund’s desires. Even more surprising is her reaction to his shocking advances. She may be a lady, but this man knows so well how to make her feel like a woman.
A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL
Lady Sophia Bryant has no intention of marrying anytime soon. Her one desire is to reunite her parents, who have been estranged for fourteen years. Surely, if she happens to announce her betrothal—even a false one—they will be forced to see each other. Devilishly handsome Lord Francis Sutton seems perfect for such deceit, always agreeable to games of passion in which he has nothing to lose. The trap is set—if only Lady Sophia can keep her foolish heart from falling prey to her brilliant snares.
THE NOTORIOUS RAKE
Lord Edmund Waite is everything that Lady Mary Gregg despises: lewd, lascivious, mocking—the most incorrigible and successful rogue around. A bluestocking like her would never tempt a man whose taste runs to pretty playthings—so Mary is startled to find herself the object of Lord Edmund’s desires. Even more surprising is her reaction to his shocking advances. She may be a lady, but this man knows so well how to make her feel like a woman.
560 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published April 28, 2013
237 people are currently reading
992 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,337 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 151 reviews
May 26, 2013
This book contains two Mary Balogh novels from 1992, and thanks to Mary for making her backlist available in mass market PB and ebook format at a reasonable price.
As other reviewers have noted, A Counterfeit Betrothal actually features two romances. Lady Sophia Bryant, who has no desire to marry, persuades the rakish Lord Francis Sutton to pose as her fiance. Sophie's hope is that the attendant festivities will help reunite her parents, who have been separated for fourteen years. Everyone gathers for a house party, and the expected results ensue. The parents' romance was more interesting (as I think it was meant to be), while Sophie's and Frank's false engagement brings in lots of humor. Overall, it's a good read, just not as good as Balogh's later books. Three stars
The Notorious Rake is quite different. It opens with Lord Edmund and Lady Mary succumbing to lust in the middle of Vauxhall Gardens during a thunderstorm. No one would be surprised to hear that Edmund engaged in such activity, but Mary is considered a prim and proper widow. Opposites sometimes attract, and this turns into a lovely, angsty romance, as Edmund determinedly pursues Mary. Very enjoyable. Definitely five stars.
As other reviewers have noted, A Counterfeit Betrothal actually features two romances. Lady Sophia Bryant, who has no desire to marry, persuades the rakish Lord Francis Sutton to pose as her fiance. Sophie's hope is that the attendant festivities will help reunite her parents, who have been separated for fourteen years. Everyone gathers for a house party, and the expected results ensue. The parents' romance was more interesting (as I think it was meant to be), while Sophie's and Frank's false engagement brings in lots of humor. Overall, it's a good read, just not as good as Balogh's later books. Three stars
The Notorious Rake is quite different. It opens with Lord Edmund and Lady Mary succumbing to lust in the middle of Vauxhall Gardens during a thunderstorm. No one would be surprised to hear that Edmund engaged in such activity, but Mary is considered a prim and proper widow. Opposites sometimes attract, and this turns into a lovely, angsty romance, as Edmund determinedly pursues Mary. Very enjoyable. Definitely five stars.
January 5, 2022
A Counterfeit Betrothal:
Open me for review:
The Notorious Rake:
Open me for review
Open me for review:
The Notorious Rake:
Open me for review
April 8, 2025
This was my first book by Mary Balogh. From the book blurb, both stories sounded like they could be great, light love stories.
I was really disappointed that the first story, The Counterfeit Betrothal, focused more on the parents love story and hardly any time on the young couple that were faking the betrothal. I felt that the author could have done so much more in developing the characters and it could have been a great love story.
The second story, The Notorious Rake, was also a disappointment. To me, the characters bickered and fought through out the whole story and did not get along or fall in love until the last 4 pages. The guy was flat out rude, obnoxious and basically a stalker. The girl was inconsistent with her hateful/wishy-washy feelings towards him. Not a horrible book, but it wasn't a warm, fuzzy feeling book for me, too much arguing.
I was really disappointed that the first story, The Counterfeit Betrothal, focused more on the parents love story and hardly any time on the young couple that were faking the betrothal. I felt that the author could have done so much more in developing the characters and it could have been a great love story.
The second story, The Notorious Rake, was also a disappointment. To me, the characters bickered and fought through out the whole story and did not get along or fall in love until the last 4 pages. The guy was flat out rude, obnoxious and basically a stalker. The girl was inconsistent with her hateful/wishy-washy feelings towards him. Not a horrible book, but it wasn't a warm, fuzzy feeling book for me, too much arguing.
September 29, 2017
Liked both these but The Notorious Rake blew me away. The story begins in an almost shocking manner. A storm - An anxiety attack (PTSD?) - and a dark and sexy rake... Oh my! Almost impossible for the rest of the story to live up to it, but leave this to Mary Balogh. Yes. Read both of these. But tell me what you think of the unique plot twist in Notorious rake!
August 22, 2020
Very emotional and very typical Balogh.
August 2, 2017
Omg this was SO BAD. I still don't know how this could be written by the same author who did Slightly Dangerous or The Arrangement.
The first story was bad but I did finish it even if the younger romance was a little childish and the parents second chance romance made me uncomfortable as hell. Maybe it's my hatred for cheating or how possessive the father was but I actually wished they hadn't end up together.
The second story I didn't get padt the second chapter. It was that BAD! A woman is afraid of storms and she gets stuck at a party, with a rake she hates, because of the rain. An awful storm starts and since she's super scared of them the hero(?) ends up sexing her to calm her and afterwards she wants nothing to do with him cause it was all desperation and she's embarrassed. When she says no, of course, the hero starts obsessing about her and persuing her even though he thinks she's not that great, or beautiful but he WANTS her no matter what. I seriously had to put it down. It was that or burn it.
I'm so glad I didn't pay for this book. I found it in my grandpa's building library but I so regret giving it a chance. I should now go and read something that I actually liked by Mary Balogh so I can erase this awful book from my mind.
The first story was bad but I did finish it even if the younger romance was a little childish and the parents second chance romance made me uncomfortable as hell. Maybe it's my hatred for cheating or how possessive the father was but I actually wished they hadn't end up together.
The second story I didn't get padt the second chapter. It was that BAD! A woman is afraid of storms and she gets stuck at a party, with a rake she hates, because of the rain. An awful storm starts and since she's super scared of them the hero(?) ends up sexing her to calm her and afterwards she wants nothing to do with him cause it was all desperation and she's embarrassed. When she says no, of course, the hero starts obsessing about her and persuing her even though he thinks she's not that great, or beautiful but he WANTS her no matter what. I seriously had to put it down. It was that or burn it.
I'm so glad I didn't pay for this book. I found it in my grandpa's building library but I so regret giving it a chance. I should now go and read something that I actually liked by Mary Balogh so I can erase this awful book from my mind.
August 1, 2013
The Counterfeit Betrothal 3.5/5.0 (C+)
I really enjoyed the wit and humor found in the romance between Lady Sophia Bryant and Lord Francis Sutton. They fake a betrothal to reunite Sophie's estranged parents. Sophie and Francis grew up together and have a history of arguing and hostility. Sophie is funny and Francis teases her to death. I love the way they play each other and end up together. This is a light and fun pair. On the other hand the romance between Sophie's parents is seriously painful. It's the type of romance I usually love to read, but in this case the incredible lack of communication between these two adults, the resulting misunderstandings and lack of trust made me question that love would triumph or last. Thank goodness for Sophie and Francis whose romance made this book an average read for me. Otherwise, I think The Counterfeit Betrothal would have been my first DNF (did not finish) by Balogh.
The Notorious Rake 5.0/5.0 (A-) Review
The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh was originally published in 1992 by Signet and rereleased by Dell in an omnibus this year. It is a 224 page-long character driven Regency historical romance novel, and the last of the Waite trilogy. The first two books are The Trysting Place and The Counterfeit Betrothal. My first impression? After all this time I'm still amazed at the depth of characterization Balogh achieves and the amount of information she packs in so short a novel.
The story begins at Vauxhall with Lady Mary Mornington and Lord Edmund Waite surprised to be included in the same party. She's a not so attractive bluestocking, and he's a disgraced,unacceptable man. Mary, however, accepts his offer to stroll around the gardens out of courtesy. Unfortunately, an electric storm catches them unaware, and even after they find shelter Mary's terrified reaction to electric storms drives Edmund to comfort her. But nothing works until the two are wrapped around each other and end up having an unexpectedly passionate sexual encounter. Still in shock, Mary spends an unforgettable night of passion with Edmund. At least it becomes unforgettable to Edmund, who begins a relentless, and almost stalkerish, pursuit of Mary the very next morning.
This novel has the perfect title. Edmund is crude, vulgar, a womanizer who doesn't hide who he is or what he has become. He admits to everything he is accused of by the ton: killing his brother and mother, jilting his fiancée for another woman and getting jilted himself, whoring, drinking, gambling. There's no end to what Edmund has done or won't admit to, he's upfront about all of it when he pursues Mary and hopes she will become his mistress. In Edmund, Balogh creates a self-loathing, unlikable hero. I need to check if there is a more self-loathing one in her repertoire, but Edmund is definitely at the top of the list.
Balogh likes to throw this curve around in her romances once in a while, I know, and I tend to love her hero-centric novels because she makes them work. You see, the thing about Edmund is that he kind of takes the place of the heroine in this romance. He is the one with the angsty past. He's the one with layers to peel behind the mask he presents to the world. Yet, Edmund believes that there is nothing to him and Mary buys it hook, line and sinker. Mary is an independent, strong woman in her own right. She doesn't just dislike Edmund, she despises the superficial wastrel she believes him to be. Mary feels she owes him for rescuing her at Vauxhall but is flabbergasted when she realizes that he is not going to go away easily. She is rude, judgmental, and hurtful to Edmund, but who can blame her. I mean, initially Edmund is obnoxious, insulting, and truthfully those first three weeks when he pursues her in London turn into a debacle when it comes to courting.
Of course there is more to Edmund, and Balogh goes on to peel those layers. It takes a lot to get underneath because this man's belief that he has nothing to offer is ingrained and goes deep. And Mary? With Mary it is a case of her "body" betraying her attraction while she fights her dislike of the man, and yes, she tells Edmund so. Mary is an intellectual, strong and sharp, but I would say that women's intuition fails her -- particularly after she learns more about him.
The Notorious Rake is not one of Balogh's uber romantic novels with the innocent child bride or a woman willing to sacrifice herself for love. It is not one of her novels where the hero is a respectable man of character. Yet, I found this romance to be better than that. It is intense and passionate with conflicted protagonists that are flawed, frustrating, and redeemable. Edmund is a memorable character, and although Mary's "body betrayed her" a few times here and there, she is a ruthlessly frank woman and I couldn't help but like that about her. I can see why so many Balogh fans love this novel.
I really enjoyed the wit and humor found in the romance between Lady Sophia Bryant and Lord Francis Sutton. They fake a betrothal to reunite Sophie's estranged parents. Sophie and Francis grew up together and have a history of arguing and hostility. Sophie is funny and Francis teases her to death. I love the way they play each other and end up together. This is a light and fun pair. On the other hand the romance between Sophie's parents is seriously painful. It's the type of romance I usually love to read, but in this case the incredible lack of communication between these two adults, the resulting misunderstandings and lack of trust made me question that love would triumph or last. Thank goodness for Sophie and Francis whose romance made this book an average read for me. Otherwise, I think The Counterfeit Betrothal would have been my first DNF (did not finish) by Balogh.
The Notorious Rake 5.0/5.0 (A-) Review
The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh was originally published in 1992 by Signet and rereleased by Dell in an omnibus this year. It is a 224 page-long character driven Regency historical romance novel, and the last of the Waite trilogy. The first two books are The Trysting Place and The Counterfeit Betrothal. My first impression? After all this time I'm still amazed at the depth of characterization Balogh achieves and the amount of information she packs in so short a novel.
The story begins at Vauxhall with Lady Mary Mornington and Lord Edmund Waite surprised to be included in the same party. She's a not so attractive bluestocking, and he's a disgraced,unacceptable man. Mary, however, accepts his offer to stroll around the gardens out of courtesy. Unfortunately, an electric storm catches them unaware, and even after they find shelter Mary's terrified reaction to electric storms drives Edmund to comfort her. But nothing works until the two are wrapped around each other and end up having an unexpectedly passionate sexual encounter. Still in shock, Mary spends an unforgettable night of passion with Edmund. At least it becomes unforgettable to Edmund, who begins a relentless, and almost stalkerish, pursuit of Mary the very next morning.
He wanted to have her to start his days and as dessert to his luncheon, as a mid-afternoon exercise, as an appetizer before whatever entertainment the evening had to offer, and as a nighttime lullaby and a middle-of-the-night drug.
This novel has the perfect title. Edmund is crude, vulgar, a womanizer who doesn't hide who he is or what he has become. He admits to everything he is accused of by the ton: killing his brother and mother, jilting his fiancée for another woman and getting jilted himself, whoring, drinking, gambling. There's no end to what Edmund has done or won't admit to, he's upfront about all of it when he pursues Mary and hopes she will become his mistress. In Edmund, Balogh creates a self-loathing, unlikable hero. I need to check if there is a more self-loathing one in her repertoire, but Edmund is definitely at the top of the list.
Balogh likes to throw this curve around in her romances once in a while, I know, and I tend to love her hero-centric novels because she makes them work. You see, the thing about Edmund is that he kind of takes the place of the heroine in this romance. He is the one with the angsty past. He's the one with layers to peel behind the mask he presents to the world. Yet, Edmund believes that there is nothing to him and Mary buys it hook, line and sinker. Mary is an independent, strong woman in her own right. She doesn't just dislike Edmund, she despises the superficial wastrel she believes him to be. Mary feels she owes him for rescuing her at Vauxhall but is flabbergasted when she realizes that he is not going to go away easily. She is rude, judgmental, and hurtful to Edmund, but who can blame her. I mean, initially Edmund is obnoxious, insulting, and truthfully those first three weeks when he pursues her in London turn into a debacle when it comes to courting.
Of course there is more to Edmund, and Balogh goes on to peel those layers. It takes a lot to get underneath because this man's belief that he has nothing to offer is ingrained and goes deep. And Mary? With Mary it is a case of her "body" betraying her attraction while she fights her dislike of the man, and yes, she tells Edmund so. Mary is an intellectual, strong and sharp, but I would say that women's intuition fails her -- particularly after she learns more about him.
The Notorious Rake is not one of Balogh's uber romantic novels with the innocent child bride or a woman willing to sacrifice herself for love. It is not one of her novels where the hero is a respectable man of character. Yet, I found this romance to be better than that. It is intense and passionate with conflicted protagonists that are flawed, frustrating, and redeemable. Edmund is a memorable character, and although Mary's "body betrayed her" a few times here and there, she is a ruthlessly frank woman and I couldn't help but like that about her. I can see why so many Balogh fans love this novel.
May 12, 2013
Two books, so two ratings really.
A Counterfeit Betrothal: One Star Full disclosure, I only skimmed the last sixty pages of this book, because, by then, I didn't give a rat's ass about any of the characters.
Romance novels, by current definition, end on a happily ever after(HEA) note, so they really need to shine in characters and/or plot. Given this book's rather straight forward plot, we needed characters way less flat than Sophia and Francis, sorry, Lord Francis* turned out to be. They were forgettable and lacked any chemistry what-so-ever.
Sophia's parents were a bit better, but what interest I had in them was killed by watching them make no effort towards solving their problems for about a hundred and ninety pages. By the end of this book you will know that, 1)Sophia's parents have lived apart for fourteen years, 2)They only had five years of happiness, 3)They still love each other, because these three things are constantly brought up and seem to dominate her parent's inner monologues. Neither of them seem to realize that bringing point three up in a conversation is a good idea. Instead, we get the literary equivalent of watching paint dry.
Then there's the method she uses to bring them back together. *SPOILER* Because unplanned pregnancies solve all problems.
*This character, and only this character, was so consistently referred to as "Lord" in the narrative, that if this book didn't have a copyright date of 1992, I'd swear her NaNoWriMo word count was a bit short.
The Notorious Rake: Three Stars Well, it was better than the other book in the volume. Edmund and Mary both had personalities at least.
Probably due to the length of the book, the romance seemed rushed, however the story still seemed to drag in places. And I wasn't thrilled about stalkerish behavior on the part of our hero, plus I suspect the first hookup between the leads could be troubling for some readers due to some dubious seeming consent issues.
Not a terrible book, but there are better romances out there.
A Counterfeit Betrothal: One Star Full disclosure, I only skimmed the last sixty pages of this book, because, by then, I didn't give a rat's ass about any of the characters.
Romance novels, by current definition, end on a happily ever after(HEA) note, so they really need to shine in characters and/or plot. Given this book's rather straight forward plot, we needed characters way less flat than Sophia and Francis, sorry, Lord Francis* turned out to be. They were forgettable and lacked any chemistry what-so-ever.
Sophia's parents were a bit better, but what interest I had in them was killed by watching them make no effort towards solving their problems for about a hundred and ninety pages. By the end of this book you will know that, 1)Sophia's parents have lived apart for fourteen years, 2)They only had five years of happiness, 3)They still love each other, because these three things are constantly brought up and seem to dominate her parent's inner monologues. Neither of them seem to realize that bringing point three up in a conversation is a good idea. Instead, we get the literary equivalent of watching paint dry.
Then there's the method she uses to bring them back together. *SPOILER* Because unplanned pregnancies solve all problems.
*This character, and only this character, was so consistently referred to as "Lord" in the narrative, that if this book didn't have a copyright date of 1992, I'd swear her NaNoWriMo word count was a bit short.
The Notorious Rake: Three Stars Well, it was better than the other book in the volume. Edmund and Mary both had personalities at least.
Probably due to the length of the book, the romance seemed rushed, however the story still seemed to drag in places. And I wasn't thrilled about stalkerish behavior on the part of our hero, plus I suspect the first hookup between the leads could be troubling for some readers due to some dubious seeming consent issues.
Not a terrible book, but there are better romances out there.
August 18, 2020
This is classic Balogh so cranked up angst was a must. A very emotional read about a couple who has been married for 19 years and separated the last 14 meet again for their daughter's upcoming nuptials.
I Highly recommend this one set in the Regency period.
I Highly recommend this one set in the Regency period.
January 21, 2023
I'm updating my stupid shelves, which I hate to do, but I realized that I haven't reviewed books that I really love.
This is a twofer, daughter trying to get mom and dad back together finds love for herself, too. But in reality it's about mom and dad. It's an emotional doozy. I've had the dead tree copy since it came out (I'm old) and I have the ebook, that's how much I love it.
This was the review for dummies (me being the dummy, not you. Maybe ;-)).
If you like historical romance and cheating angst fests, this is worth the cost. Balogh is an impeccable writer, so there's that. I'ts also heartwarming (the daughters romance and theirs, ultimately). Balogh is very realistic author, it's not a CR dressed as a historical.
The Notorious Rake is ok, lol. I just realized I reviewed under the duo and not just A Counterfeit Betrothal. Save yourself some money and just get the ebook version of that one, unless the rake one interests you. I like that one too, angsty as well, but in Balogh style, nothing is resolved until the end, so it's not a 5 star for me. Please forgive my run on sentences, or not.
This is a twofer, daughter trying to get mom and dad back together finds love for herself, too. But in reality it's about mom and dad. It's an emotional doozy. I've had the dead tree copy since it came out (I'm old) and I have the ebook, that's how much I love it.
This was the review for dummies (me being the dummy, not you. Maybe ;-)).
If you like historical romance and cheating angst fests, this is worth the cost. Balogh is an impeccable writer, so there's that. I'ts also heartwarming (the daughters romance and theirs, ultimately). Balogh is very realistic author, it's not a CR dressed as a historical.
The Notorious Rake is ok, lol. I just realized I reviewed under the duo and not just A Counterfeit Betrothal. Save yourself some money and just get the ebook version of that one, unless the rake one interests you. I like that one too, angsty as well, but in Balogh style, nothing is resolved until the end, so it's not a 5 star for me. Please forgive my run on sentences, or not.
September 19, 2016
So, I was looking for a book where the hero grovels to my satisfaction, and lord did I get it in the form of FOURTEEN YEARS OF REGRET AND SUFFERING. Marcus had a one-time idiotic, youthful indiscretion that he immediately realized was the biggest mistake of his life, and Olivia could not bring herself to take him back. Fast forward to their daughter's "engagement" to her childhood frenemy, Francis, which is really a fake dating scheme they concocted in order to Parent Trap Marc and Olivia into getting back together. And of course, it gets very real.
Great book, seriously angsty, and very satisfying. I loved both plotlines that ran simultaneously.
Great book, seriously angsty, and very satisfying. I loved both plotlines that ran simultaneously.
November 7, 2014
Okay, given that I have been sitting on this for days, I am probably not going to do a proper review. That will be Kris's job. But ratings for the individual books:
A Counterfeit Betrothal, 5/5 STARS, WOULD READ AGAIN.
Parent trapping by way of fake engagement. GET THEE TO A LIBRARY.
The Notorious Rake, 3/5 stars, maybe? Sure.
I don't really know how to rate this one. There was a weird amount of sex in it. And I think I liked the idea of it more than I actually liked it except when the characters got out of their own way it was pretty good.
A Counterfeit Betrothal, 5/5 STARS, WOULD READ AGAIN.
Parent trapping by way of fake engagement. GET THEE TO A LIBRARY.
The Notorious Rake, 3/5 stars, maybe? Sure.
I don't really know how to rate this one. There was a weird amount of sex in it. And I think I liked the idea of it more than I actually liked it except when the characters got out of their own way it was pretty good.
January 9, 2018
(3.5 stars maybe) These two Balogh regencies are from 1992. I would have loved them more back then. Since that time, unfortunately, I've gotten older and more impatient with irrational or foolish behavior. These novels have characters that either behave with too much pride and reticence (A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL) or willfully behave in a self-destructive manner (A NOTORIOUS RAKE). Of course, since they're written by Balogh, they're still very good reads.
A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL: This has 2 nicely-developed romances in one. How cool is that? 18-year-old Lady Sophia doesn't want to marry. What she wants is for her parents' marriage to be real again after 14 years of living apart. So she connives with childhood friend Lord Francis Sutton to pretend to be engaged. They assume this will horrify her parents and unify them in the attempt to break up the young couple, since Francis has a rather unfortunate reputation as a rake. Well, what a tangled web we weave..., right? The pretend romance between the youngsters gets complicated and confusing even to them and though they know one of them will have to jilt the other, they seem to be getting dangerously close to a point of no return. Or not?
But the beautifully angsty romance here is that between Sophia's parents. A long-ago foolish indiscretion on her father's part and her mother's intransigent refusal to forgive him have kept them apart for years. They're now in each other's presence for the first time in 14 years. It's an awkward, strained, sad, heart-wrenching relationship of two people still in love but too proud to really talk to each other. It was also a bit annoying for me because I couldn't understand why they had let 14 years go by and why Sophia hadn't tried years earlier to get her parents together. They separated when she was 4. Surely she could have laid a guilt trip on them long before she turned 18. Another annoyance was that now that they are finally together again, there's still no real communication and lots of misunderstanding that they could have cleared up. So this was angsty but frustrating for me.
THE NOTORIOUS RAKE: Holy heck, but the guilt in this one can be cut with a knife. Our hero Lord Edmond Waite is a dissolute wastrel and rake with apparently no redeeming qualities. Lady Mary Gregg is a widow and a bit of a plain, rather boring bluestocking. (She is also, BTW, the "dear friend" of Sophia's father from the previous book.) Lady Mary's terror of storms leads to intimacy between her and Lord Edmond even though she despises everything about him and his way of life. In spite of themselves, they find that they are drawn to each other.
The part of this story that drew me in was Edmond's history, what happened to make him what he is. The rest did not feel quite right, although Balogh does her best to make us feel the romance. My problems with this were: 1)Edmond becomes obsessed with Mary because of her passion in bed. Apparently she's the only sexual partner in all his 15 years of raking that is truly passionate. It seems doubtful to me that all his bed partners before were frigid or tepid. 2)We are told over and over again that Mary is plain and unattractive. Why, then, does Viscount Goodrich, a widower with 2 legitimate sons want to marry her? He doesn't need her to produce heirs, nor does he need her money, nor does he seem especially attracted to her. Puzzling to me. He seemed to just be plopped into the story by Balogh for a bit of a romantic triangle, as it were.
But, as I said, the best thing about this story is Edmond. Nobody does a seemingly irredeemable rake like Mary Balogh. I was pulling for him all the way and resenting the heck out of his family, especially his father and brother, who allow him to shoulder all the blame for the unfortunate incident 15 years ago. Balogh has us supposing they're good people, but their actions and inaction over the years was unforgivable.
So all in all these are both good stories, but I felt that the timelines in each were far too long. 14 and 15 years is an excessive amount of time.
A COUNTERFEIT BETROTHAL: This has 2 nicely-developed romances in one. How cool is that? 18-year-old Lady Sophia doesn't want to marry. What she wants is for her parents' marriage to be real again after 14 years of living apart. So she connives with childhood friend Lord Francis Sutton to pretend to be engaged. They assume this will horrify her parents and unify them in the attempt to break up the young couple, since Francis has a rather unfortunate reputation as a rake. Well, what a tangled web we weave..., right? The pretend romance between the youngsters gets complicated and confusing even to them and though they know one of them will have to jilt the other, they seem to be getting dangerously close to a point of no return. Or not?
But the beautifully angsty romance here is that between Sophia's parents. A long-ago foolish indiscretion on her father's part and her mother's intransigent refusal to forgive him have kept them apart for years. They're now in each other's presence for the first time in 14 years. It's an awkward, strained, sad, heart-wrenching relationship of two people still in love but too proud to really talk to each other. It was also a bit annoying for me because I couldn't understand why they had let 14 years go by and why Sophia hadn't tried years earlier to get her parents together. They separated when she was 4. Surely she could have laid a guilt trip on them long before she turned 18. Another annoyance was that now that they are finally together again, there's still no real communication and lots of misunderstanding that they could have cleared up. So this was angsty but frustrating for me.
THE NOTORIOUS RAKE: Holy heck, but the guilt in this one can be cut with a knife. Our hero Lord Edmond Waite is a dissolute wastrel and rake with apparently no redeeming qualities. Lady Mary Gregg is a widow and a bit of a plain, rather boring bluestocking. (She is also, BTW, the "dear friend" of Sophia's father from the previous book.) Lady Mary's terror of storms leads to intimacy between her and Lord Edmond even though she despises everything about him and his way of life. In spite of themselves, they find that they are drawn to each other.
The part of this story that drew me in was Edmond's history, what happened to make him what he is. The rest did not feel quite right, although Balogh does her best to make us feel the romance. My problems with this were: 1)Edmond becomes obsessed with Mary because of her passion in bed. Apparently she's the only sexual partner in all his 15 years of raking that is truly passionate. It seems doubtful to me that all his bed partners before were frigid or tepid. 2)We are told over and over again that Mary is plain and unattractive. Why, then, does Viscount Goodrich, a widower with 2 legitimate sons want to marry her? He doesn't need her to produce heirs, nor does he need her money, nor does he seem especially attracted to her. Puzzling to me. He seemed to just be plopped into the story by Balogh for a bit of a romantic triangle, as it were.
But, as I said, the best thing about this story is Edmond. Nobody does a seemingly irredeemable rake like Mary Balogh. I was pulling for him all the way and resenting the heck out of his family, especially his father and brother, who allow him to shoulder all the blame for the unfortunate incident 15 years ago. Balogh has us supposing they're good people, but their actions and inaction over the years was unforgivable.
So all in all these are both good stories, but I felt that the timelines in each were far too long. 14 and 15 years is an excessive amount of time.
October 3, 2021
DNF at 23%. This book was a mess of 2 different plots and sets of characters. The side story (which seemed like the main one, in fact) of Marcus and Olivia, the h’s parents, were more interesting than the main plot.
This would have been quite a good book had they separated the stories and given each the depth of characters and range of emotion they deserved. 2 stars for the what I read before giving up.
This would have been quite a good book had they separated the stories and given each the depth of characters and range of emotion they deserved. 2 stars for the what I read before giving up.
December 8, 2017
Reviews on the respective books.
September 4, 2024
A counterfeit betrothal is sweet. The Notorious Rake is very good.
June 1, 2013
Thanks to Librarything and the publishers for the early review copy of this book.
This is a re-issue of two of Mary Balogh's best loved novels, together in one volume.
The first novel is The Counterfeit Betrothal. This book was originally released in 1992, I believe. This is an ageless and timeless novel.
Lady Sophia loudly and proudly proclaims to a group of her closest friends that she will never, under any circumstances, marry. When pressed about this by her friends, she gives them the example of her own parents failed marriage. This conversation leads the group to concoct a plan that would bring Lady Sophia's parents together for the first time in fourteen years.
What is the plan? Lady Sophia and her childhood tormentor, Lord Francis Sutton, a man with a wild reputation, will pretend to be madly in love and on the verge of a betrothal.
Olivia and Marc separated fourteen years ago after a betrayal on Marc's part that drove a wedge between them that could not be overcome. Eventually, they decided on a marriage in name only. Now their daughter is about to make the same mistake they made, by getting married too young. So, the parents agree to meet with their daughter together to take measure of the situation.
This is two love stories in one. The light, fun and silly young couple and the more mature couple dealing with pain and heartbreak.
Will Sophia's plan work?
A classic regency romance. The young couple are getting themselves deeper and deeper into the pretend relationship until they begin to feel trapped into actually going through with a wedding.
In the meantime, Olivia and Marc find they are still attracted to each other and are still in love, but after fourteen years they do not know if they can ever come together again.
I LOVE this story! It's sweet, emotional and funny at times. It's regency romance at it's best.
The second story is "The Notorious Rake". In this novel we meet Lady Mornington again. She plays a role in the first novel, but we never really get to know her.
Mary is mourning the loss of her close friendship with Marc. She is lonely. After accepting an invitation to a social event, she finds herself caught out in a storm with the most notorious rake there ever was, Lord Edmond Waite. As they seek shelter, Mary is overcome with her fear of storms and Lord Waite is only too happy to offer comfort.
After the storm clears and they are back in their own homes, Mary hopes that will be the end of it, but Lord Waite experienced something with Mary he had never felt before. He is determined to win her over.
Mary on the other hand longs not to be someone's mistress, but to have a stable, respectable marriage, and maybe even start a family. So, she begins a courtship with a Viscount.
But, when she is placed in a weeklong birthday celebration with Lord Waite, she learns some terrible truths about Lord Waite's past that has her thinking of him in a new way.
This is another wonderful regency period romance of a mature nature. The terrible tragedy that haunts Lord Waite is a sad and emotional story that will tug at the heart strings. Will Mary be able to help him put the past behind him and look to the future with hope and promise?
Mary Balogh is the queen of regency! No one does it better. A+ all the way!
This is a re-issue of two of Mary Balogh's best loved novels, together in one volume.
The first novel is The Counterfeit Betrothal. This book was originally released in 1992, I believe. This is an ageless and timeless novel.
Lady Sophia loudly and proudly proclaims to a group of her closest friends that she will never, under any circumstances, marry. When pressed about this by her friends, she gives them the example of her own parents failed marriage. This conversation leads the group to concoct a plan that would bring Lady Sophia's parents together for the first time in fourteen years.
What is the plan? Lady Sophia and her childhood tormentor, Lord Francis Sutton, a man with a wild reputation, will pretend to be madly in love and on the verge of a betrothal.
Olivia and Marc separated fourteen years ago after a betrayal on Marc's part that drove a wedge between them that could not be overcome. Eventually, they decided on a marriage in name only. Now their daughter is about to make the same mistake they made, by getting married too young. So, the parents agree to meet with their daughter together to take measure of the situation.
This is two love stories in one. The light, fun and silly young couple and the more mature couple dealing with pain and heartbreak.
Will Sophia's plan work?
A classic regency romance. The young couple are getting themselves deeper and deeper into the pretend relationship until they begin to feel trapped into actually going through with a wedding.
In the meantime, Olivia and Marc find they are still attracted to each other and are still in love, but after fourteen years they do not know if they can ever come together again.
I LOVE this story! It's sweet, emotional and funny at times. It's regency romance at it's best.
The second story is "The Notorious Rake". In this novel we meet Lady Mornington again. She plays a role in the first novel, but we never really get to know her.
Mary is mourning the loss of her close friendship with Marc. She is lonely. After accepting an invitation to a social event, she finds herself caught out in a storm with the most notorious rake there ever was, Lord Edmond Waite. As they seek shelter, Mary is overcome with her fear of storms and Lord Waite is only too happy to offer comfort.
After the storm clears and they are back in their own homes, Mary hopes that will be the end of it, but Lord Waite experienced something with Mary he had never felt before. He is determined to win her over.
Mary on the other hand longs not to be someone's mistress, but to have a stable, respectable marriage, and maybe even start a family. So, she begins a courtship with a Viscount.
But, when she is placed in a weeklong birthday celebration with Lord Waite, she learns some terrible truths about Lord Waite's past that has her thinking of him in a new way.
This is another wonderful regency period romance of a mature nature. The terrible tragedy that haunts Lord Waite is a sad and emotional story that will tug at the heart strings. Will Mary be able to help him put the past behind him and look to the future with hope and promise?
Mary Balogh is the queen of regency! No one does it better. A+ all the way!
May 9, 2013
Two books in one.
The Counterfeit Betrothal - Sophia wants to get her parents back together. They have been separated for years. So, Sophia has this brilliant idea, a fake betrothal. Surely approving a marriage and arranging a wedding will bring her distant parents together. There are 2 stories here. One is Sophia and her fake relationship with Francis. He was a childhood friend who treated her badly, and they still treat one another as though they were arguing children. The second story is about her parents and whether they will find their former relationship.
I liked this book, because it is funny. Sophia and Francis have wonderful conversations. They argue and snipe at one another. The attraction is there but their history seems to hold them in the pattern from childhood.
This is a really good romance. The characters are well developed and the plot is all about finding love in the most unusual places. The humor, the plot and the characters make this much fun to read.
The Notorious Rake - A much more difficult book to like.
Edmond has a reputation that is really terrible. During a thunderstorm, when Mary is hysterical with fright, Edmond comforts her and then basically takes huge advantage of her. Mary is compliant, but you get the feeling it is because she is nearly out of her mind with fear.
During this book, Edmond pursues Mary at every turn. And she keeps telling him to leave her alone and disappear. But, in reality, she is not certain that is what she truly wants. She cannot forget the amazing sex and the fact that he comforted her when she was so desperate.
I had a hard time at first continuing to read. Edmond is many things that are not the least heroic. But, the farther we go into the story, the more we learn about his past and why he acts the way he does. He is stuck in a holding pattern of pain and loss and his bad responses to those things.
This is a very dark book, and generally that is not what I expect from a Mary Balogh book.
I am glad I finished it. I found that Edmond is not the monster I thought him to be, and Mary's ambivalent feelings are based on her sound instincts.
All in all, these 2 books are quite an experience. The first is filled with light and humor and humanity. The second book starts out to be very dark, but if you follow through you find it is about flawed human beings who have reasons for the way they respond to life. And being flawed humans the way they respond is not always pretty to watch.
I recommend both these stories. It is a heck of a ride.
The Counterfeit Betrothal - Sophia wants to get her parents back together. They have been separated for years. So, Sophia has this brilliant idea, a fake betrothal. Surely approving a marriage and arranging a wedding will bring her distant parents together. There are 2 stories here. One is Sophia and her fake relationship with Francis. He was a childhood friend who treated her badly, and they still treat one another as though they were arguing children. The second story is about her parents and whether they will find their former relationship.
I liked this book, because it is funny. Sophia and Francis have wonderful conversations. They argue and snipe at one another. The attraction is there but their history seems to hold them in the pattern from childhood.
This is a really good romance. The characters are well developed and the plot is all about finding love in the most unusual places. The humor, the plot and the characters make this much fun to read.
The Notorious Rake - A much more difficult book to like.
Edmond has a reputation that is really terrible. During a thunderstorm, when Mary is hysterical with fright, Edmond comforts her and then basically takes huge advantage of her. Mary is compliant, but you get the feeling it is because she is nearly out of her mind with fear.
During this book, Edmond pursues Mary at every turn. And she keeps telling him to leave her alone and disappear. But, in reality, she is not certain that is what she truly wants. She cannot forget the amazing sex and the fact that he comforted her when she was so desperate.
I had a hard time at first continuing to read. Edmond is many things that are not the least heroic. But, the farther we go into the story, the more we learn about his past and why he acts the way he does. He is stuck in a holding pattern of pain and loss and his bad responses to those things.
This is a very dark book, and generally that is not what I expect from a Mary Balogh book.
I am glad I finished it. I found that Edmond is not the monster I thought him to be, and Mary's ambivalent feelings are based on her sound instincts.
All in all, these 2 books are quite an experience. The first is filled with light and humor and humanity. The second book starts out to be very dark, but if you follow through you find it is about flawed human beings who have reasons for the way they respond to life. And being flawed humans the way they respond is not always pretty to watch.
I recommend both these stories. It is a heck of a ride.
June 8, 2013
I only read a counterfeit betrothal. It is my first book by Mary Balogh having been recommended the story and told how funny it is I tried it. Now I normally enjoy historical romances they fill in when my normal fair gets to heavy. This was not the case with this one, instead of a enjoyable light romance I got a brain dead annoying character in Sophia that left me with absolutey no clue as to why Lord Francis would even like her let alone love her. I never once felt any love there at all. Sure he teased her in a way that I am sure was supposed to make the story more light hearted but all I got from it was him laughing at her and her being dumb in return. The other relationship in the story just drove me nuts. All the unspoken words just made me want to give up reading. I know it is a plot device but surely they could have tried a little to talk about their issues instead of being icy or silent, ugh! And the reason behind their seperation I find toatlly reasonable, I get why they are no longer together but most other reviewers seem to find it easy to see them back together never having stopped loving each other (really after 14 years without so much as passing in the steets?)
*Spoiler*
He was 26 when he went to a party and under peer pressure took a whore really? 26 years old and he was peer pressured give me a break he wanted to do it and did. I suppose in those days a little stepping out was the norm but they were supposed to be totally enamoured with one another. If this truly was a love match he would never have strayed so easily, there is always a reason usually something in the relationship that is not working or a need not met in the person who is unfaithful as to why one steps out. As you can probably tell I greatly dislike stories involving infedility or cheating they do not make me happy and that was what I was looking for from this book, I didn't get it. So in short this story totally did not work for me both romances felt pushed and molded to the authors whym, contrived and completely boring by the end. Can't say I will be going for one of her books again any time soon but I can always hope her others are better as her readers seem to really enjoy her stories. So heres to second chances just as she advocates in the book.
*Spoiler*
He was 26 when he went to a party and under peer pressure took a whore really? 26 years old and he was peer pressured give me a break he wanted to do it and did. I suppose in those days a little stepping out was the norm but they were supposed to be totally enamoured with one another. If this truly was a love match he would never have strayed so easily, there is always a reason usually something in the relationship that is not working or a need not met in the person who is unfaithful as to why one steps out. As you can probably tell I greatly dislike stories involving infedility or cheating they do not make me happy and that was what I was looking for from this book, I didn't get it. So in short this story totally did not work for me both romances felt pushed and molded to the authors whym, contrived and completely boring by the end. Can't say I will be going for one of her books again any time soon but I can always hope her others are better as her readers seem to really enjoy her stories. So heres to second chances just as she advocates in the book.
October 20, 2015
Enjoyed book one. Book two--I stopped after the first 50 or so pages and said "Oh HELL no!" Spoilers ahead--
Okay, so in "The Notorious Rake", said Rake is at a house party with several guests and finds himself in the company of a Lady of Dubious Character. This Lady is known to have been someone's mistress, although everyone likes her anyway because she's so sweet and charming. He and Lady go for a walk in the woods, flirt just a little, so far so good.
A huge storm blows in--lightning, thunder, darkness and high winds, the works--and Rake and Lady take shelter in a gazebo or a gamekeeper's hut or something. Lady, it turns out, is *terrified* of storms for deeply hidden personal reasons, and they send her near mindless with primal fear. So when Rake holds her close for comfort, it turns into hot and heavy sex very quickly. And it was *explicit* that she's not really in her right mind--she's looking for a distraction, any distraction, from her fear, and orgasms are a decent choice. Rake, meanwhile, has only the faintest qualms about all this. Hey, he's getting to have sex with a pretty woman! Everyone wins!
In the aftermath, he walks her back to the house, and she essentially says to him. "I *never* do that, my God I'm so ashamed, let's never speak of this again." Time-jump ahead a bit, and suddenly, there Rake is at her door, saying "So remember that sex we had? We should do it again. A lot." She says no. He says "You weren't saying no in the gazebo. We have chemistry, and I know you want it--"
At which point came my "oh HELL no". I hatehateHATE when an alleged hero in a romance novel says "I know you want it", or "I know you better than you know yourself", or anything else that implies he's just going to stand there being smug and masculine until Heroine gives in and admits that yes, of course darling, how silly of her to want to be treated as an equal and make up her own mind.
Sorry, Ms. Balogh. Not going to be finishing this one.
Okay, so in "The Notorious Rake", said Rake is at a house party with several guests and finds himself in the company of a Lady of Dubious Character. This Lady is known to have been someone's mistress, although everyone likes her anyway because she's so sweet and charming. He and Lady go for a walk in the woods, flirt just a little, so far so good.
A huge storm blows in--lightning, thunder, darkness and high winds, the works--and Rake and Lady take shelter in a gazebo or a gamekeeper's hut or something. Lady, it turns out, is *terrified* of storms for deeply hidden personal reasons, and they send her near mindless with primal fear. So when Rake holds her close for comfort, it turns into hot and heavy sex very quickly. And it was *explicit* that she's not really in her right mind--she's looking for a distraction, any distraction, from her fear, and orgasms are a decent choice. Rake, meanwhile, has only the faintest qualms about all this. Hey, he's getting to have sex with a pretty woman! Everyone wins!
In the aftermath, he walks her back to the house, and she essentially says to him. "I *never* do that, my God I'm so ashamed, let's never speak of this again." Time-jump ahead a bit, and suddenly, there Rake is at her door, saying "So remember that sex we had? We should do it again. A lot." She says no. He says "You weren't saying no in the gazebo. We have chemistry, and I know you want it--"
At which point came my "oh HELL no". I hatehateHATE when an alleged hero in a romance novel says "I know you want it", or "I know you better than you know yourself", or anything else that implies he's just going to stand there being smug and masculine until Heroine gives in and admits that yes, of course darling, how silly of her to want to be treated as an equal and make up her own mind.
Sorry, Ms. Balogh. Not going to be finishing this one.
November 20, 2014
3.5 stars for the first book and 1 star for the second so 3 stars overall.
The first book was good, it was like a Regency version of the Parent Trap when eighteen year old Sophia went into a fake engagement with a childhood friend/nemesis (they were neighbors and he always tormented her as a kid) in order to reunite her estranged parents after 14 years of living apart. Wasn't too fond of her parents, at a few different parts I wanted to strangle them but Sophia and her "fake fiancee" were ADORABLE and I cheered at a certain point
The second book was awful. Pretty much the heroine of the story, Mary, is terribly afraid of thunderstorms and when a thunderstorm happens when she is stuck alone with Edmund, the hero rake, they have sex to get her mind off the storm (Oh Mary Balogh, I love the way you think). That part I didn't mind, what I did mind was afterwards when the heroine wanted NOTHING to do with the hero the next day/week/month but he wouldn't leave her alone because "ohmygod, a woman actually likes sex? And with me? I MUST HAVE HER" and it was gross. It was so badly done you guys, so bad it make me sick because he kept stalking her and talking to her about their night together even though she told him she hated talking about that and she told him she was ashamed of how she acted that night. And he was all "but your primal instincts don't lie, you want me!" and I wanted to hit him. I actually skipped to the end because I couldn't stomach reading it anymore. Edmund was just so adamant that he had to have Mary, he was a douchebag of the highest order that I couldn't stick around and read her falling in love with him. I'm sorry Mrs. Balogh but MARY DESERVED BETTER.
The first book was good, it was like a Regency version of the Parent Trap when eighteen year old Sophia went into a fake engagement with a childhood friend/nemesis (they were neighbors and he always tormented her as a kid) in order to reunite her estranged parents after 14 years of living apart. Wasn't too fond of her parents, at a few different parts I wanted to strangle them but Sophia and her "fake fiancee" were ADORABLE and I cheered at a certain point
The second book was awful. Pretty much the heroine of the story, Mary, is terribly afraid of thunderstorms and when a thunderstorm happens when she is stuck alone with Edmund, the hero rake, they have sex to get her mind off the storm (Oh Mary Balogh, I love the way you think). That part I didn't mind, what I did mind was afterwards when the heroine wanted NOTHING to do with the hero the next day/week/month but he wouldn't leave her alone because "ohmygod, a woman actually likes sex? And with me? I MUST HAVE HER" and it was gross. It was so badly done you guys, so bad it make me sick because he kept stalking her and talking to her about their night together even though she told him she hated talking about that and she told him she was ashamed of how she acted that night. And he was all "but your primal instincts don't lie, you want me!" and I wanted to hit him. I actually skipped to the end because I couldn't stomach reading it anymore. Edmund was just so adamant that he had to have Mary, he was a douchebag of the highest order that I couldn't stick around and read her falling in love with him. I'm sorry Mrs. Balogh but MARY DESERVED BETTER.
April 30, 2013
4.5 stars
I absolutely loved this book. It was actually 2 books in one, which is a great way to do some older book, especially if they are a series.
The first book was just a funny story for me, Sophia thought one thing was going on but it was something totally different. Francis was just an adorable hero for me, he had that girl in his back pocket and I loved it.
The second book was a little more serious, but the characters were both older and had their own things going on. I liked Mary, her character wasn't over the top even though she could have been made that way. Edmund was an interesting character because he was definitely a type. He was a little overbearing but he had a good heart at the bottom of everything.
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers
I absolutely loved this book. It was actually 2 books in one, which is a great way to do some older book, especially if they are a series.
The first book was just a funny story for me, Sophia thought one thing was going on but it was something totally different. Francis was just an adorable hero for me, he had that girl in his back pocket and I loved it.
The second book was a little more serious, but the characters were both older and had their own things going on. I liked Mary, her character wasn't over the top even though she could have been made that way. Edmund was an interesting character because he was definitely a type. He was a little overbearing but he had a good heart at the bottom of everything.
I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers
July 6, 2013
Finished A Counterfeit Betrothal, interestingly enough 2 couples in conflict and how they move forward. Unfortunately I like my reads when 2 couples are involved to run more like 80/20, 50/50 split always seems to annoy me though a few authors pull this off well but in these earlier novels I don't believe MB does. If I'm constantly looking past the "couple" I'm reading, I'm inherently losing 50 percent of the pleasure.
Rating 3.0
To underline I only read CB, not NR. The rating only reflects that title.
Rating 3.0
To underline I only read CB, not NR. The rating only reflects that title.
September 8, 2019
I cannot recommend this set of books, especially the 2nd. Both primary male characters in the books-- I cannot bring myself to call them heroes or even protagonists-- are overbearing to the point of criminality by today's standards.
The main character in Notorious Rake is a rapist. I have no doubt that there were people like him in the past when women lacked legal protections, but I don't want to read about them in a romance novel. That's for histories. When I read a Regency romance I wish to be diverted, not deeply concerned about the lives of past women.
The main character in Notorious Rake is a rapist. I have no doubt that there were people like him in the past when women lacked legal protections, but I don't want to read about them in a romance novel. That's for histories. When I read a Regency romance I wish to be diverted, not deeply concerned about the lives of past women.
September 13, 2015
These stories are earlier books written by Mary Balogh. The first one ("A Counterfeit Betrothal") was absolutely adorable and I enjoyed it very much. The second book ("The Notorious Rake") was very different from what I have come to expect from Mary Balogh, but no less enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed both books immensely and am so happy that the author is re-issuing her older books. These gems might have been missed by me. ;)
June 10, 2013
2 stars – Historical Romance
May 15, 2019
Really enjoyed both of these books! The connected stories in The Counterfeit Proposal were excellent, and Edmond's backstory was so sad.
October 12, 2017
A Counterfeit Betrothal
I wanted to like this, but omg, Olivia and Marcus were so frustrating and I really ending up wanting to punch Marc by the end of it.
yes, I get that Marc did something stupid whilst drunk
yes, I get that Livy maybe held onto a little too long to her ideal of perfect Marc and her unwillingness to immediately forgive him and, later, her unwillingness to share with him that she'd forgiven him
but Marc's the one who moved on with his life, complete with a mistress, sex partners, and an emotional mistress (Mary, who is the heroine in The Notorious Rake) - "just friends," my tush! (personally, I think emotional cheating is worse than drunken sex)
beyond writing letters for a few months, Marc didn't make any effort to talk with Livy about it ("She had refused to forgive him. And she had kept on refusing until he had been forced to believe that she never would" - forced? FORCED? really??? grow up!), then a year later, he moved onto a mistress. if she's the love of your life, then how could you just let her go like that and move on? where's the adulting? or a little groveling? attempts to communicate in person? what's the victorian equivalent of a boombox over your head? (standing on a horse?)
so many choices! but moving onto a mistress is not one of them! ugh
glad that he kept a picture of her with him all those years, but that's really insufficient when there was really nothing keeping him from his baby mama
and then! he gets angry and makes snide remarks about her special friend and assumes that she's moved on as much as he has - UGH!!!!!! no, this is a NO
and after all that, he STILL doesn't go running after her! set aside your pride, man!
he's like that dog in the midst of the fire, going "this is fine," except he just sits there instead of realizing it's actually NOT fine and that he should put out the fire. stubbornness is not attractive.
I ended up liking Sophia and Francis much better, they provided a bit of comic relief and much less frustration than the supposed grown-ups (even though Soph's toad, snack, etc outrage grew tedious)
"You had better not go falling in love with me, you know. I don't want to be responsible for broken hearts or anything like that"
I liked that, despite her denials, Sophia would forget about the act and be really excited about the pending nuptials
"Just a little thought from that alien world of sanity that I used to belong to"
"Insanity is infectious"
"She was entirely happy being in a panic about nothing"
"We are different from the people we used to be. There is no going back. There never is in life. Only forward"
"There is no point in regrets"
"Life is never easy, is it?"
"Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today"
"Don't kill yourself with remorse. Guilt can eat away at you and destroy the future as well as the past"
The Notorious Rake
so, I was a bit of a non-Mary fan to start with, but then when it turned out just how close her relationship with Marc was (the fact that he comforted her through thunderstorms, that they were oh-so-close), well, I definitely judged her for it. did it never occur to her to that Marc should start acting like an adult, a good husband, and a good father, swallow his pride and just TALK to his wife? maybe she should've spent some time convincing him of that instead of using him as a crutch for her own loneliness
anyway, Mary was annoying, I don't know why she resisted and resisted Edmond so much
poor Edmond!
I couldn't believe she agreed to marry Goodrich.
why? after so many years of being alone?
ugh
anyway, I guess, for Edmond's sake, I'm glad she finally came around
I wanted to like this, but omg, Olivia and Marcus were so frustrating and I really ending up wanting to punch Marc by the end of it.
yes, I get that Marc did something stupid whilst drunk
yes, I get that Livy maybe held onto a little too long to her ideal of perfect Marc and her unwillingness to immediately forgive him and, later, her unwillingness to share with him that she'd forgiven him
but Marc's the one who moved on with his life, complete with a mistress, sex partners, and an emotional mistress (Mary, who is the heroine in The Notorious Rake) - "just friends," my tush! (personally, I think emotional cheating is worse than drunken sex)
beyond writing letters for a few months, Marc didn't make any effort to talk with Livy about it ("She had refused to forgive him. And she had kept on refusing until he had been forced to believe that she never would" - forced? FORCED? really??? grow up!), then a year later, he moved onto a mistress. if she's the love of your life, then how could you just let her go like that and move on? where's the adulting? or a little groveling? attempts to communicate in person? what's the victorian equivalent of a boombox over your head? (standing on a horse?)
so many choices! but moving onto a mistress is not one of them! ugh
glad that he kept a picture of her with him all those years, but that's really insufficient when there was really nothing keeping him from his baby mama
and then! he gets angry and makes snide remarks about her special friend and assumes that she's moved on as much as he has - UGH!!!!!! no, this is a NO
and after all that, he STILL doesn't go running after her! set aside your pride, man!
he's like that dog in the midst of the fire, going "this is fine," except he just sits there instead of realizing it's actually NOT fine and that he should put out the fire. stubbornness is not attractive.
I ended up liking Sophia and Francis much better, they provided a bit of comic relief and much less frustration than the supposed grown-ups (even though Soph's toad, snack, etc outrage grew tedious)
"You had better not go falling in love with me, you know. I don't want to be responsible for broken hearts or anything like that"
I liked that, despite her denials, Sophia would forget about the act and be really excited about the pending nuptials
"Just a little thought from that alien world of sanity that I used to belong to"
"Insanity is infectious"
"She was entirely happy being in a panic about nothing"
"We are different from the people we used to be. There is no going back. There never is in life. Only forward"
"There is no point in regrets"
"Life is never easy, is it?"
"Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today"
"Don't kill yourself with remorse. Guilt can eat away at you and destroy the future as well as the past"
The Notorious Rake
so, I was a bit of a non-Mary fan to start with, but then when it turned out just how close her relationship with Marc was (the fact that he comforted her through thunderstorms, that they were oh-so-close), well, I definitely judged her for it. did it never occur to her to that Marc should start acting like an adult, a good husband, and a good father, swallow his pride and just TALK to his wife? maybe she should've spent some time convincing him of that instead of using him as a crutch for her own loneliness
anyway, Mary was annoying, I don't know why she resisted and resisted Edmond so much
poor Edmond!
I couldn't believe she agreed to marry Goodrich.
why? after so many years of being alone?
ugh
anyway, I guess, for Edmond's sake, I'm glad she finally came around
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2024
All three books in this trilogy have the same problem. They all have stellar concepts for relationship drama that should make for very emotional page turners, but Balogh never seems to be quite willing to go as far as she would need to for the stories to be truly captivating.
The first in the trilogy, The Trysting Place, is the weakest of the three. It is a second chance love story with a love triangle, and the odd man out in the triangle becomes the main male lead of the final book in the series. The real love story of the first book is about a woman who recently became a widow after having been married to man old enough to be grandfather. She married him to save her family from financial ruin, and in doing so, she was forced to give up her childhood love. When she finally returns home after eight years of marriage, she sees her original intended for the first time and convinces herself that she only feels platonic love for him now and that she no longer wants the same things in life that they had planned for together all those years before. She then enlists his help via a fake relationship to try to draw the attention of Lord Edmond Waite, who is a "notorious rake" that has the connections she has convinced herself she truly wants. Predictably, she realizes almost too late that she never really lost the love she had for her adolescent romance. On the surface, this is the kind of story I love, but it's just too rushed. If we had more scenes of the two main leads together, I would have eaten it up. But Balogh spent more time repeating facts about scenes we had literally just read and then wrapped up what should have taken a couple of chapters to fix, in less than four pages. It just left me very underwhelmed.
The second book, which came out about four years later I believe, once again had a very interesting premise for the relationships involved. Two young people who had antagonized each other in childhood fake an engagement so that the young woman's estranged parents will be forced to spend time together again and, hopefully, fix their marriage. In terms of drama, this book is great. You've got a couple that married young and were so happy for the first five years of their marriage and then didn't speak to each other for fourteen years straight. Every scene of theirs is just steeped in angst and conversations they should be having, but just don't for some reason. In juxtaposition to that you have their daughter and her (fake) fiance who just rile each other up in private but hide the jabs behind what looks to be loving smiles and gazes to the outsiders. Their scenes are cute and rooted for them instantly even if all the "twists" about their relationship are predictable from the first moment. But because these two stories are always happening simultaneously the tonality of the novel just is all over the place. While I love the scenes with the younger couple, I think Balogh should have just told the story from the older couple's perspective and had the fact that it was a fake engagement be a huge reveal for the end. But maybe that would have just made the novel too much of a downer because any comedy in this book came from the younger characters. *shrugs* I don't know. The issues the older couple has are just too big to be dealt with in less than 300 pages that is shared also with reading about the ideas and actions of a whole other couple. It needed more space. (And how is this connected to the other two books in the Waite series? A character who appears for half a page and is mentioned a few times in passing is the main female lead in book 3. That's the only connection.)
And then we have the final book in the Waite Trilogy. The romance in this one did absolutely nothing for me. I mean, they bang less than ten pages into the story. That's not enough time for me to care about anyone involved. What does work in this story is the back story about Lord Waite and the tragedy that occurred with his family and how that made him into the character that we saw in The Trysting Place and The Notorious Rake. I actually had a tear in my eye during the conversations with his older brother and his father. That was some good character writing and relationship development. I just think the romance side of things could have been better handled.
The first in the trilogy, The Trysting Place, is the weakest of the three. It is a second chance love story with a love triangle, and the odd man out in the triangle becomes the main male lead of the final book in the series. The real love story of the first book is about a woman who recently became a widow after having been married to man old enough to be grandfather. She married him to save her family from financial ruin, and in doing so, she was forced to give up her childhood love. When she finally returns home after eight years of marriage, she sees her original intended for the first time and convinces herself that she only feels platonic love for him now and that she no longer wants the same things in life that they had planned for together all those years before. She then enlists his help via a fake relationship to try to draw the attention of Lord Edmond Waite, who is a "notorious rake" that has the connections she has convinced herself she truly wants. Predictably, she realizes almost too late that she never really lost the love she had for her adolescent romance. On the surface, this is the kind of story I love, but it's just too rushed. If we had more scenes of the two main leads together, I would have eaten it up. But Balogh spent more time repeating facts about scenes we had literally just read and then wrapped up what should have taken a couple of chapters to fix, in less than four pages. It just left me very underwhelmed.
The second book, which came out about four years later I believe, once again had a very interesting premise for the relationships involved. Two young people who had antagonized each other in childhood fake an engagement so that the young woman's estranged parents will be forced to spend time together again and, hopefully, fix their marriage. In terms of drama, this book is great. You've got a couple that married young and were so happy for the first five years of their marriage and then didn't speak to each other for fourteen years straight. Every scene of theirs is just steeped in angst and conversations they should be having, but just don't for some reason. In juxtaposition to that you have their daughter and her (fake) fiance who just rile each other up in private but hide the jabs behind what looks to be loving smiles and gazes to the outsiders. Their scenes are cute and rooted for them instantly even if all the "twists" about their relationship are predictable from the first moment. But because these two stories are always happening simultaneously the tonality of the novel just is all over the place. While I love the scenes with the younger couple, I think Balogh should have just told the story from the older couple's perspective and had the fact that it was a fake engagement be a huge reveal for the end. But maybe that would have just made the novel too much of a downer because any comedy in this book came from the younger characters. *shrugs* I don't know. The issues the older couple has are just too big to be dealt with in less than 300 pages that is shared also with reading about the ideas and actions of a whole other couple. It needed more space. (And how is this connected to the other two books in the Waite series? A character who appears for half a page and is mentioned a few times in passing is the main female lead in book 3. That's the only connection.)
And then we have the final book in the Waite Trilogy. The romance in this one did absolutely nothing for me. I mean, they bang less than ten pages into the story. That's not enough time for me to care about anyone involved. What does work in this story is the back story about Lord Waite and the tragedy that occurred with his family and how that made him into the character that we saw in The Trysting Place and The Notorious Rake. I actually had a tear in my eye during the conversations with his older brother and his father. That was some good character writing and relationship development. I just think the romance side of things could have been better handled.
June 2, 2024
3 and half stars for A Counterfeit Betrothal, which splits its time between an adorably zany couple fake dating (which quick escalates to fake wedding-planning) in order to parent trap the heroine's estranged parents back together again and said parents slowly reconciling. It's a little marred by how much focus it gives to the older couple over the younger (which is completely in line with how much Balogh loves her mature, kind of depressing romances), and by how much the older hero, Clifton, tries to "both sides" his failed marriage with his wife Olivia, and how much Balogh lets him get away with pretending that infidelity and being unable to forgive infidelity are somehow equivalent offenses. But I'm a sucker for books that revolve around a wedding being planned right now, and the cuteness of the secondary story overcome the touch of ick for me.
Not so for the second story in this double feature, which only scrapes up a star and a half. Sadly, Lord Edmund Waite is not the worst Regency romance hero I've read, but he's definitely up there. The premise here is that respectable widow, Mary, Lady Mornington, spends a wildly out of character night with Waite after they are stranded alone during a storm. (Mary is terrified of storms). The initial encounter is questionably written, but both characters insist throughout the narrative it was 100% consensual on both sides, so whatever. But afterwards, Waite assumes Mary will become his mistress, but Mary quickly and clearly shuts him down. Instead of accepting this, Waite begins showing up at events Mary is hosting and places he knows she will be, calling her by her first name and implying they are on close terms to all Mary's acquaintances, and continually attempting to draw her into private encounters by threatening to make a scene if she doesn't acquiesce. Every single time he does this, Mary reaffirms that she does not want to have any kind of relationship with him, romantic, platonic, or physical, and asks him to respect her boundaries and leave her alone. He does not. Eventually Mary has another suitor and Waite does his best to ruin that as well. At one point Mary starts shaking and crying at Waite and tells him she doesn't know what to do because she doesn't know how to make him stop. This changes absolutely nothing about his behavior.
Despite all this, we are somehow supposed to see the "hero" as a sympathetic broken bird because he has TRAUMA, you see. No matter that the heroine has literal PTSD from what she saw during the Napoleonic War, during which she lost her husband. No matter that there's barely the flimsiest of explanations of how the guilt over his brother's death made the hero go from a bookish goody two shoes to a hard-drinking, gaming, and womanizing rake. No matter that his trauma has absolutely no connection to Mary or her actions or how he treats her or ANYTHING. Nope, we just have to accept he acts bad, but is really good and sweet at heart.
There's a brief chapter or two when it seems like he will reform because of his overwhelming instalove for the heroine. As eyerolling as that would have been, it would have been a relief compared to what actually happens. Having decided he is not good enough for her, Waite decides to "protect" Mary from falling in love with him by acting like the same a-hole he's been all book, except on purpose obnoxious this time. He even goes as far to assault Mary by kissing and groping her against her will - which at least is portrayed as nauseating and horrific, although Balogh also expects the reader to forgive him as easily as Mary does. In the end, we're supposed to root for the reformed Waite because Mary's intended is an uptight, arrogant jerk who doesn't actually love her and doesn't plan to be faithful to her. But even to the last page, I just wanted Mary to toss them both out on their ear. Girl, you are a young, respected Regency widow. You've got money, social status, AND the power to control your own life. You can legally own your property! Neither of those guys was offering you anything even close worth throwing all that away for.
Not so for the second story in this double feature, which only scrapes up a star and a half. Sadly, Lord Edmund Waite is not the worst Regency romance hero I've read, but he's definitely up there. The premise here is that respectable widow, Mary, Lady Mornington, spends a wildly out of character night with Waite after they are stranded alone during a storm. (Mary is terrified of storms). The initial encounter is questionably written, but both characters insist throughout the narrative it was 100% consensual on both sides, so whatever. But afterwards, Waite assumes Mary will become his mistress, but Mary quickly and clearly shuts him down. Instead of accepting this, Waite begins showing up at events Mary is hosting and places he knows she will be, calling her by her first name and implying they are on close terms to all Mary's acquaintances, and continually attempting to draw her into private encounters by threatening to make a scene if she doesn't acquiesce. Every single time he does this, Mary reaffirms that she does not want to have any kind of relationship with him, romantic, platonic, or physical, and asks him to respect her boundaries and leave her alone. He does not. Eventually Mary has another suitor and Waite does his best to ruin that as well. At one point Mary starts shaking and crying at Waite and tells him she doesn't know what to do because she doesn't know how to make him stop. This changes absolutely nothing about his behavior.
Despite all this, we are somehow supposed to see the "hero" as a sympathetic broken bird because he has TRAUMA, you see. No matter that the heroine has literal PTSD from what she saw during the Napoleonic War, during which she lost her husband. No matter that there's barely the flimsiest of explanations of how the guilt over his brother's death made the hero go from a bookish goody two shoes to a hard-drinking, gaming, and womanizing rake. No matter that his trauma has absolutely no connection to Mary or her actions or how he treats her or ANYTHING. Nope, we just have to accept he acts bad, but is really good and sweet at heart.
There's a brief chapter or two when it seems like he will reform because of his overwhelming instalove for the heroine. As eyerolling as that would have been, it would have been a relief compared to what actually happens. Having decided he is not good enough for her, Waite decides to "protect" Mary from falling in love with him by acting like the same a-hole he's been all book, except on purpose obnoxious this time. He even goes as far to assault Mary by kissing and groping her against her will - which at least is portrayed as nauseating and horrific, although Balogh also expects the reader to forgive him as easily as Mary does. In the end, we're supposed to root for the reformed Waite because Mary's intended is an uptight, arrogant jerk who doesn't actually love her and doesn't plan to be faithful to her. But even to the last page, I just wanted Mary to toss them both out on their ear. Girl, you are a young, respected Regency widow. You've got money, social status, AND the power to control your own life. You can legally own your property! Neither of those guys was offering you anything even close worth throwing all that away for.
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