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Westcott #6.5
Someone to Remember
It's never too late to fall in love in this enchanting new story, a novella in the Westcott series from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.
Matilda Westcott has spent her life tending to the needs of her mother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, never questioning the web of solitude she has spun herself. To Matilda, who considers herself an aging spinster daughter, marriage is laughable--love is a game for the young, after all. But her quiet, ordered life unravels when a dashing gentleman from her past reappears, threatening to charm his way into her heart yet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, does not expect to face Matilda Westcott thirty-six years after their failed romance. Moreover, he does not expect decades-old feelings to emerge at the very sight of her. When encountering Matilda at a dinner hosted by the Earl of Riverdale, he finds himself as fascinated by her as he was the first day they met, and wonders whether, after all these years, they have a chance at happiness together. Charles is determined to crack the hard exterior Matilda has built up for more than three decades, or he will risk losing her once again....
*Includes bonus excerpts from the Westcott novels*
Matilda Westcott has spent her life tending to the needs of her mother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, never questioning the web of solitude she has spun herself. To Matilda, who considers herself an aging spinster daughter, marriage is laughable--love is a game for the young, after all. But her quiet, ordered life unravels when a dashing gentleman from her past reappears, threatening to charm his way into her heart yet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, does not expect to face Matilda Westcott thirty-six years after their failed romance. Moreover, he does not expect decades-old feelings to emerge at the very sight of her. When encountering Matilda at a dinner hosted by the Earl of Riverdale, he finds himself as fascinated by her as he was the first day they met, and wonders whether, after all these years, they have a chance at happiness together. Charles is determined to crack the hard exterior Matilda has built up for more than three decades, or he will risk losing her once again....
*Includes bonus excerpts from the Westcott novels*
231 pages, Hardcover
First published November 5, 2019
1120 people are currently reading
3587 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
200 books6,339 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 522 reviews
June 2, 2024
This book shows why women need more than marriage as a life option
This was too depressing. She spent her whole adult life (36 or her 56 years) pining for him while he led a full life. 🤮
Matilda deserved better. A romance with a 56 yr old heroine deserved way better representation. I want to complain about no sex scenes but you all know I dislike Mary Balogh’s steamy writing and can’t imagine how terrible she would make the sex for a 56 year old virgin so this was for the best. Also most of this book was previews of other books in the series. I don’t recommend anyone bother buying this. I imagine in the next book we get scenes with Matilda in her HEA so this isn’t worth $9.
I’m not impressed with this reread. I’m knocking it down to three stars.
This was too depressing. She spent her whole adult life (36 or her 56 years) pining for him while he led a full life. 🤮
Matilda deserved better. A romance with a 56 yr old heroine deserved way better representation. I want to complain about no sex scenes but you all know I dislike Mary Balogh’s steamy writing and can’t imagine how terrible she would make the sex for a 56 year old virgin so this was for the best. Also most of this book was previews of other books in the series. I don’t recommend anyone bother buying this. I imagine in the next book we get scenes with Matilda in her HEA so this isn’t worth $9.
I’m not impressed with this reread. I’m knocking it down to three stars.
December 7, 2019
Sigh... I really didn't want to do this, but I have to do this, give one of my used-to-be fave-authors a mediocre rating.
Here's the thing:
* I got the sample just to be safe. The sample ended after 2 pages. Why???? Because all of the sample was taken up by MB's long, LONG introduction to the series and how she ended up writing this book. So I got 2 pages to judge the book by. So, not really a sample at all.
* So then I got the book. And I wish I asked someone and had the patience to wait for the answer, but I leaped ahead. Paid for it, realized about a little bit of the way through that OVER 40% of the book IS NOT THE BOOK!!!! It's the intro stuff, as I mentioned, and the remaining 40% is snippets from other books in the series!!!!! The actual book itself is TOTALLY NOT WORTH $5.99+ tax!!!! WTH????!!!! It was short enough that it should have been FREE! Or $0.99 for the length! For heaven sakes!
* There's no sex. I researched this. There is NO SEX in this book. Not that I was hankering to see 56 year-olds go at it, but... if Lisa Kleypas can make Sebastian and Evie going at it as grandparents sound hot, why not still stunningly handsome Charles and OK-figured Matilda? Why not? Charles was a rake until recently. He's had SCORES and SCORES (these are quotes) of women, as in hundreds... so it ought to have been hot, right????
Which brings me to the last point:
* Charles is a man-whore. For 36 years, and also before he met Matilda, he's been a man-whore. Blame it on her rejecting him at 20, SUuuuuurrrrrRE....... that's why he has SCORES and SCORES of meaningless sex. And couldn't even wait ONE YEAR or whatever months to TRY AGAIN for the hand of the woman he supposedly loves and only ever loved and promised undying devotion and fidelity to. Days or weeks later, he impregnates a washer woman who has a son by him who he doesn't see for 36 years.
I am not fond of Charles!!! Nothing about him makes me feel like he deserves to have a second chance or that he was really in love with Matilda in the first place. The only reason I believe he'd be faithful to her now is because HE'S 56 AND he's finally gotten tired of playing the field!!!!!
HOW I ABSOLUTELY DETEST MANWHORES IN ANY GENRE!!!!
Ugh...
The only reason I give it 2 stars is that the writing is not bad. But the relationship progressed too fast, the rekindling, all because they were thrown together in the same place again, and he kept bringing up the past. It was just too sudden and unbelievable. Seriously woman, he had HUNDREDS of women and sired lots of children and GRANDCHILDREN for 36 years, and suddenly you're seeing each other for a couple hours over a couple days and BAM! You're IN LOVE again??????
UNBELIEVABLE.
Here's the thing:
* I got the sample just to be safe. The sample ended after 2 pages. Why???? Because all of the sample was taken up by MB's long, LONG introduction to the series and how she ended up writing this book. So I got 2 pages to judge the book by. So, not really a sample at all.
* So then I got the book. And I wish I asked someone and had the patience to wait for the answer, but I leaped ahead. Paid for it, realized about a little bit of the way through that OVER 40% of the book IS NOT THE BOOK!!!! It's the intro stuff, as I mentioned, and the remaining 40% is snippets from other books in the series!!!!! The actual book itself is TOTALLY NOT WORTH $5.99+ tax!!!! WTH????!!!! It was short enough that it should have been FREE! Or $0.99 for the length! For heaven sakes!
* There's no sex. I researched this. There is NO SEX in this book. Not that I was hankering to see 56 year-olds go at it, but... if Lisa Kleypas can make Sebastian and Evie going at it as grandparents sound hot, why not still stunningly handsome Charles and OK-figured Matilda? Why not? Charles was a rake until recently. He's had SCORES and SCORES (these are quotes) of women, as in hundreds... so it ought to have been hot, right????
Which brings me to the last point:
* Charles is a man-whore. For 36 years, and also before he met Matilda, he's been a man-whore. Blame it on her rejecting him at 20, SUuuuuurrrrrRE....... that's why he has SCORES and SCORES of meaningless sex. And couldn't even wait ONE YEAR or whatever months to TRY AGAIN for the hand of the woman he supposedly loves and only ever loved and promised undying devotion and fidelity to. Days or weeks later, he impregnates a washer woman who has a son by him who he doesn't see for 36 years.
I am not fond of Charles!!! Nothing about him makes me feel like he deserves to have a second chance or that he was really in love with Matilda in the first place. The only reason I believe he'd be faithful to her now is because HE'S 56 AND he's finally gotten tired of playing the field!!!!!
HOW I ABSOLUTELY DETEST MANWHORES IN ANY GENRE!!!!
Ugh...
The only reason I give it 2 stars is that the writing is not bad. But the relationship progressed too fast, the rekindling, all because they were thrown together in the same place again, and he kept bringing up the past. It was just too sudden and unbelievable. Seriously woman, he had HUNDREDS of women and sired lots of children and GRANDCHILDREN for 36 years, and suddenly you're seeing each other for a couple hours over a couple days and BAM! You're IN LOVE again??????
UNBELIEVABLE.
June 10, 2024
Mary Balogh is known for her life wisdom. The message she conveys here is whatever you do, DO NOT listen to your mama.
Matilda’s parents hadn’t accepted Charles’s marriage proposal when Matilda and Charles were twenty so she broke up with him. They parted ways and she spent thirty six years carrying smelling salts for her mother, pining after him and generally being miserable. All that while he married someone else, had children and fucked half of London on the side.
I don’t mind a reformed rake trope, but a rake should get reformed shortly after meeting his heroine. We’re talking weeks here, maybe months, not thirty six years.
He was disgusting and yet, I didn’t hate him as much as I pitied Matilda. If she loved him so much why did she let him go in the first place? And if she did, why didn’t she do anything else with her life? As a punishment for having no spine? Probably, because it was so pathetic it hurt.
———-
I was told this one is good for hate-reads and I already don’t like the hero, but it’s part of a series so I have to read it, I have no choice.
Matilda’s parents hadn’t accepted Charles’s marriage proposal when Matilda and Charles were twenty so she broke up with him. They parted ways and she spent thirty six years carrying smelling salts for her mother, pining after him and generally being miserable. All that while he married someone else, had children and fucked half of London on the side.
I don’t mind a reformed rake trope, but a rake should get reformed shortly after meeting his heroine. We’re talking weeks here, maybe months, not thirty six years.
He was disgusting and yet, I didn’t hate him as much as I pitied Matilda. If she loved him so much why did she let him go in the first place? And if she did, why didn’t she do anything else with her life? As a punishment for having no spine? Probably, because it was so pathetic it hurt.
———-
I was told this one is good for hate-reads and I already don’t like the hero, but it’s part of a series so I have to read it, I have no choice.
January 21, 2020
Someone to Remember is the seventh (and penultimate?) instalment in Mary Balogh’s
Westcott
saga, which has followed the fortunes of the various members of the large and close-knit Westcott family after the discovery that the late Humphrey Westcott, Earl of Riverdale, had committed bigamy and that his second marriage was therefore invalid. This discovery naturally had serious repercussions; his son and two daughters lost titles, fortunes and status; his widow couldn’t even claim to have been a wife, and the earldom diverted to a cousin who didn’t want it. Through six books, readers have followed the fortunes of various family members in the wake of these events, and now we come to Matilda, Humphrey’s older sister, a woman of mature years – fifty-six – who has appeared throughout the series as the dutiful spinster aunt who fusses over her mother because it’s something to do and has gradually faded into the background.
In order to understand the relationship in Someone to Remember, it’s necessary to refer back to the previous book in the series, Someone to Honor, so please be aware that this review contains spoilers for that book. Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Bennington returned from fighting at Waterloo to discover his late wife had left their four-year-old daughter in the care of her parents, who are now refusing to return her to his care. Although Gil was an officer, his illegitimacy and humble origins made him unacceptable to his in-laws; his father was a nobleman – Viscount Dirkson – but his mother was the daughter of a blacksmith who refused all offers of support from the viscount, and allowed Gil to believe that he had washed his hands of them. When Gil joined the army, Dirkson purchased a commission for him, but after that Gil made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with him.
But when Abigail Westcott married Gil, the entire Westcott clan naturally became interested in the situation; and when Matilda learned that Dirkson was Gil’s father, she took the unprecedented – and rather scandalous – step of paying a call upon the gentleman at his home in order to ask him to speak for Gil at the upcoming custody hearing. It was clear from the moment Dirkson’s name was mentioned that he and Matilda had some shared history, and it’s soon revealed that they had once been in love and hoped to marry, but that Matilda’s parents had opposed the match and persuaded her to give him up.
When Someone to Remember opens, Alex, the Earl of Riverdale, announces that he has invited the viscount to dinner by way of thanks for his help and support in the custody case. Matilda is profoundly unsettled by this turn of events, but puts a brave face on it, telling herself that she can manage to spend one evening in company with the man with whom she’d once been deeply in love. She already knows he has aged well, that he’s still handsome and vital, whereas she herself has become somewhat drab and disregarded, especially by her mother, who almost never has a kind word to say to or about her.
Dirkson is hugely conflicted over seeing Matilda again. On the one hand, he’s angry with her for stirring up emotions he’d thought long dead and buried, but on the other, he can’t seem to stay away from her. But his anger soon turns from being directed towards Matilda to anger on her behalf when he realizes how invisible she has become to her family. They don’t mistreat her or ignore her, but none of them really see her:
She was a person by God, even if she was past the age of fifty. Even if she was a spinster. She deserved a life.
Someone to Remember is a gentle, charming story of love lost and found. There’s not a lot of plot, but Mary Balogh excels when it comes to exploring emotions, character and relationships, and she packs quite a lot of that into the short page-count as Matilda and Charles think back on their youthful relationship, ponder their mis-steps and how their choices have shaped their lives ever since. The best thing about the story, though, is watching Matilda transform from a woman who had dwindled into a shadow of her former self into one revitalised by love and happiness. When we first met her earlier in the series, she came across as a rather stereotypical spinster aunt, somewhat fussy and always on the verge of reaching for the smelling salts, but as the series has progressed, she has been revealed to be a more complex character, one with a dry wit and sense of humour that is perhaps a little rusty from disuse, and a woman with a mind of her own who is compassionate and deeply loyal to her family and those she loves. Fellow reviewer Janet Webb wrote an interesting piece on Matilda’s presence and influence throughout the series, and if you’ve read it, many of the pointers to the things that have brought Matilda to this point in life have been dotted throughout the series like a trail of breadcrumbs, and it’s been masterfully done.
Dirkson’s backstory isn’t one filled with sunshine and roses either. After Matilda rejected him, he went off the rails a little (and had the affair that produced Gil) and earned himself a reputation as a rake of the first order. His marriage was arranged and while not unhappy, was not one in which either party felt love or passion for the other (he was wayward and she had no real interest in men) but the connection he feels to Matilda has endured and starts coming back to life as he realises that he very much wants to take advantage of the second chance life is offering him.
There’s an engaging secondary cast consisting of the younger generation of Westcotts, I enjoyed watching Matilda’s mother admit to having made a mistake when she talked her daughter out of marrying Dirkson -and for anyone wondering about the state of Gil’s relationship with his father, there’s more on that, too. Someone to Remember is a quiet story but a satisfying one that shows it’s never too late to find – or rekindle – love.
Note: The Amazon listing says this is 272 pages (and it’s priced accordingly), but Someone to Remember is a novella of around 110 pages; the rest of the page count is taken up with sample chapters of other books in the series.
In order to understand the relationship in Someone to Remember, it’s necessary to refer back to the previous book in the series, Someone to Honor, so please be aware that this review contains spoilers for that book. Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Bennington returned from fighting at Waterloo to discover his late wife had left their four-year-old daughter in the care of her parents, who are now refusing to return her to his care. Although Gil was an officer, his illegitimacy and humble origins made him unacceptable to his in-laws; his father was a nobleman – Viscount Dirkson – but his mother was the daughter of a blacksmith who refused all offers of support from the viscount, and allowed Gil to believe that he had washed his hands of them. When Gil joined the army, Dirkson purchased a commission for him, but after that Gil made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with him.
But when Abigail Westcott married Gil, the entire Westcott clan naturally became interested in the situation; and when Matilda learned that Dirkson was Gil’s father, she took the unprecedented – and rather scandalous – step of paying a call upon the gentleman at his home in order to ask him to speak for Gil at the upcoming custody hearing. It was clear from the moment Dirkson’s name was mentioned that he and Matilda had some shared history, and it’s soon revealed that they had once been in love and hoped to marry, but that Matilda’s parents had opposed the match and persuaded her to give him up.
When Someone to Remember opens, Alex, the Earl of Riverdale, announces that he has invited the viscount to dinner by way of thanks for his help and support in the custody case. Matilda is profoundly unsettled by this turn of events, but puts a brave face on it, telling herself that she can manage to spend one evening in company with the man with whom she’d once been deeply in love. She already knows he has aged well, that he’s still handsome and vital, whereas she herself has become somewhat drab and disregarded, especially by her mother, who almost never has a kind word to say to or about her.
Dirkson is hugely conflicted over seeing Matilda again. On the one hand, he’s angry with her for stirring up emotions he’d thought long dead and buried, but on the other, he can’t seem to stay away from her. But his anger soon turns from being directed towards Matilda to anger on her behalf when he realizes how invisible she has become to her family. They don’t mistreat her or ignore her, but none of them really see her:
She was a person by God, even if she was past the age of fifty. Even if she was a spinster. She deserved a life.
Someone to Remember is a gentle, charming story of love lost and found. There’s not a lot of plot, but Mary Balogh excels when it comes to exploring emotions, character and relationships, and she packs quite a lot of that into the short page-count as Matilda and Charles think back on their youthful relationship, ponder their mis-steps and how their choices have shaped their lives ever since. The best thing about the story, though, is watching Matilda transform from a woman who had dwindled into a shadow of her former self into one revitalised by love and happiness. When we first met her earlier in the series, she came across as a rather stereotypical spinster aunt, somewhat fussy and always on the verge of reaching for the smelling salts, but as the series has progressed, she has been revealed to be a more complex character, one with a dry wit and sense of humour that is perhaps a little rusty from disuse, and a woman with a mind of her own who is compassionate and deeply loyal to her family and those she loves. Fellow reviewer Janet Webb wrote an interesting piece on Matilda’s presence and influence throughout the series, and if you’ve read it, many of the pointers to the things that have brought Matilda to this point in life have been dotted throughout the series like a trail of breadcrumbs, and it’s been masterfully done.
Dirkson’s backstory isn’t one filled with sunshine and roses either. After Matilda rejected him, he went off the rails a little (and had the affair that produced Gil) and earned himself a reputation as a rake of the first order. His marriage was arranged and while not unhappy, was not one in which either party felt love or passion for the other (he was wayward and she had no real interest in men) but the connection he feels to Matilda has endured and starts coming back to life as he realises that he very much wants to take advantage of the second chance life is offering him.
There’s an engaging secondary cast consisting of the younger generation of Westcotts, I enjoyed watching Matilda’s mother admit to having made a mistake when she talked her daughter out of marrying Dirkson -and for anyone wondering about the state of Gil’s relationship with his father, there’s more on that, too. Someone to Remember is a quiet story but a satisfying one that shows it’s never too late to find – or rekindle – love.
Note: The Amazon listing says this is 272 pages (and it’s priced accordingly), but Someone to Remember is a novella of around 110 pages; the rest of the page count is taken up with sample chapters of other books in the series.
February 1, 2022
November 7, 2019
3 / 3.25 stars
Not one of Balogh’s best, and much too short.
Reviewed with Kaetrin for DA:
https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/o...
May 29, 2019:
I squeeed so hard when I saw that Matilda would be getting a book!
3 / 3.25 stars
Not one of Balogh’s best, and much too short.
Reviewed with Kaetrin for DA:
https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/o...
May 29, 2019:
I squeeed so hard when I saw that Matilda would be getting a book!
November 12, 2019
This is seventh in a series, and much of the lead-in or weight of this character is built in the previous books. Matilda has featured in all of them (I think) as a real romantic willing to support the happiness of the other leads and the first to rally the others to do something. That said, she's very much in the background of those others, so you can probably read this on its own. But why would you want to?
I can't say I was yearning for a separate story for Matilda. She has been a sympathetic character, but her fussy good will wasn't particularly interesting to me except as someone who could be counted on to look for the best in others. Admirable, yes. But kind of sappy-headed and often misguided. Still, I've enjoyed the series so well that I picked this up with at least mild expectations of a good story.
And I did get a mildly good story. This is a very short novella, with the print edition adding excerpts from all the previous books to pad it out to where it's economically feasible to make a soft-cover edition (that's not a swipe at the book, just the reality of publishing and I'm glad they went to the lengths so I could get a soft cover to go with all of the others).
Matilda and Charles had a thwarted love 36 years ago. Which makes them older than I am, which is increasingly rare in a romance. Unfortunately, that means I spent the entire time reading this thinking "so very much wasted time" because this is one of those "our love never died" stories where each recognizes that they never fully connected with anybody else because their thwarted love was still alive, though buried, all this time. A premise I have a hard time with, frankly. And the friction from that background awareness wore on my engagement more than a little, I'm afraid.
Still, Balogh is great with a story and this was exactly the right length for the story told and I did enjoy seeing them reconnect and discover their happiness together. I was particularly happy to see that Charles was as good-hearted as Matilda, in his own way. It made me happy to think that she'd have someone who not only appreciates her impulse of thinking the best of others, but who can engage with her on that level as well.
So this ends up at 3½ stars. I'm rounding up because I liked Matilda and because of something Charles thought in the end that just hit me square in the old-person feels. It's where he looks at her and thinks to himself how he can see not just who she is now, but also the reflection of who she was then colored by his love for her both then and now. And that paints his viewpoint in a way that nobody else can appreciate. I've felt that exact thing looking at Melissa sometimes and knowing that she is beautiful to me in ways nobody else will ever appreciate.
A note about Chaste: There are no explicit sex scenes in this story, which is rare for Balogh. It is perfect because of who they are and how short the story was, though, so I'm glad she went that route, here.
I can't say I was yearning for a separate story for Matilda. She has been a sympathetic character, but her fussy good will wasn't particularly interesting to me except as someone who could be counted on to look for the best in others. Admirable, yes. But kind of sappy-headed and often misguided. Still, I've enjoyed the series so well that I picked this up with at least mild expectations of a good story.
And I did get a mildly good story. This is a very short novella, with the print edition adding excerpts from all the previous books to pad it out to where it's economically feasible to make a soft-cover edition (that's not a swipe at the book, just the reality of publishing and I'm glad they went to the lengths so I could get a soft cover to go with all of the others).
Matilda and Charles had a thwarted love 36 years ago. Which makes them older than I am, which is increasingly rare in a romance. Unfortunately, that means I spent the entire time reading this thinking "so very much wasted time" because this is one of those "our love never died" stories where each recognizes that they never fully connected with anybody else because their thwarted love was still alive, though buried, all this time. A premise I have a hard time with, frankly. And the friction from that background awareness wore on my engagement more than a little, I'm afraid.
Still, Balogh is great with a story and this was exactly the right length for the story told and I did enjoy seeing them reconnect and discover their happiness together. I was particularly happy to see that Charles was as good-hearted as Matilda, in his own way. It made me happy to think that she'd have someone who not only appreciates her impulse of thinking the best of others, but who can engage with her on that level as well.
So this ends up at 3½ stars. I'm rounding up because I liked Matilda and because of something Charles thought in the end that just hit me square in the old-person feels. It's where he looks at her and thinks to himself how he can see not just who she is now, but also the reflection of who she was then colored by his love for her both then and now. And that paints his viewpoint in a way that nobody else can appreciate. I've felt that exact thing looking at Melissa sometimes and knowing that she is beautiful to me in ways nobody else will ever appreciate.
A note about Chaste: There are no explicit sex scenes in this story, which is rare for Balogh. It is perfect because of who they are and how short the story was, though, so I'm glad she went that route, here.
October 18, 2025
Lady Matilda Westcott has never married, though she was in love once, thirty six years earlier. Back then she was in love with Charles Sawyer., otherwise known as Viscount Dirkson. Matilda never expected to marry after the heartbreak at that time, though she did have suitors. But Matilda only wanted to marry for love. And so instead she stayed home, a spinster caring for her mother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale. Most of the time her mother seems angry and irritated by Matilda”s care.
When Charles Sawyer reappears in her life, Matilda does not expect the feelings she once had to resurface. But they do. Charles, despite his full life having married and fathered children, now seems intent on building a friendship with Matilda. But at fifty six it is all too late, isn’t it? She is no longer the love struck young woman she was and his behaviour proved to Matilda, he had never really loved her, given how quickly he moved on and fathered an illegitimate child with another woman. He had a reputation as a womaniser. Can people change? And do second chances exist?
This book clearly highlights the lack of choices available to women back in the day.
It is a sweet regency romance. A bit predictable and repetitive in places, but nonetheless a gentle enjoyable read. Just a light book that seemed to fit what I wanted after some other books with heavier themes. I liked seeing the changes in several of the main characters.
I hadn’t read the earlier books in this series but this read fine as a stand alone.
A little bit of escapism, with no sex scenes, this short book won’t appeal to everyone. But I enjoyed it. For me it was a case of the right book at the right time.
When Charles Sawyer reappears in her life, Matilda does not expect the feelings she once had to resurface. But they do. Charles, despite his full life having married and fathered children, now seems intent on building a friendship with Matilda. But at fifty six it is all too late, isn’t it? She is no longer the love struck young woman she was and his behaviour proved to Matilda, he had never really loved her, given how quickly he moved on and fathered an illegitimate child with another woman. He had a reputation as a womaniser. Can people change? And do second chances exist?
This book clearly highlights the lack of choices available to women back in the day.
It is a sweet regency romance. A bit predictable and repetitive in places, but nonetheless a gentle enjoyable read. Just a light book that seemed to fit what I wanted after some other books with heavier themes. I liked seeing the changes in several of the main characters.
I hadn’t read the earlier books in this series but this read fine as a stand alone.
A little bit of escapism, with no sex scenes, this short book won’t appeal to everyone. But I enjoyed it. For me it was a case of the right book at the right time.
November 13, 2019
Someone to Remember was such a lovely romance! Mary Balogh never fails to bring out emotions, and I actually shed a happy tear (or two) while reading.
Matilda as a secondary character in the past, kind of blended in, she was labeled a mild-aged, fussy spinster, and sort of shuffled off to the side. But in the last book Matilda took some initiative and made a bold move that would’ve been considered shocking at the time for the sake of a family member. There were hints at that point of a love lost between Charles and Matilda, and so I was hoping we’d get a romance between them. I was sooo thrilled that she got her second chance at with her first love!
As this is a novella, things do progress quickly between Charles and Matilda, and why shouldn’t they? They knew each other well thirty years prior, and now at a mature age it made sense that they knew exactly what they wanted once reunited. I didn’t feel cheated out of the process because at first Matilda and Charles are tentative, and unsure of each other’s feelings; they feel vulnerable admitting just how much their parting affected them at the time and over the years. But I’m happy to say that they both chose to leave regrets behind, and not dwell on the lost years, because what does that accomplish other than sorrow? And it would’ve made this a depressing read. Instead, their meeting again is a joyful reawakening of the intense passion and love they felt for each other. Matilda and Charles “twinkled” with happiness and it was such a delight!
Matilda might be considered to be in the “shady” part of her middle age, at fifty-five, but before you go thinking that fifty-five is old, think about some of these women and tell me if you see them as elderly: Gillian Anderson is fifty-one, Sigourney Weaver is seventy, Famke Janssen is fifty-four. As a woman turning fifty soon, I can tell you I don’t feel old, well most days I don’t, lol. I didn’t get into running until my mid-forties and I ran my second half-marathon earlier this year. So of course, I’m over the moon that Matilda got her chance to shine and reclaim her one true love.
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
Matilda as a secondary character in the past, kind of blended in, she was labeled a mild-aged, fussy spinster, and sort of shuffled off to the side. But in the last book Matilda took some initiative and made a bold move that would’ve been considered shocking at the time for the sake of a family member. There were hints at that point of a love lost between Charles and Matilda, and so I was hoping we’d get a romance between them. I was sooo thrilled that she got her second chance at with her first love!
As this is a novella, things do progress quickly between Charles and Matilda, and why shouldn’t they? They knew each other well thirty years prior, and now at a mature age it made sense that they knew exactly what they wanted once reunited. I didn’t feel cheated out of the process because at first Matilda and Charles are tentative, and unsure of each other’s feelings; they feel vulnerable admitting just how much their parting affected them at the time and over the years. But I’m happy to say that they both chose to leave regrets behind, and not dwell on the lost years, because what does that accomplish other than sorrow? And it would’ve made this a depressing read. Instead, their meeting again is a joyful reawakening of the intense passion and love they felt for each other. Matilda and Charles “twinkled” with happiness and it was such a delight!
Matilda might be considered to be in the “shady” part of her middle age, at fifty-five, but before you go thinking that fifty-five is old, think about some of these women and tell me if you see them as elderly: Gillian Anderson is fifty-one, Sigourney Weaver is seventy, Famke Janssen is fifty-four. As a woman turning fifty soon, I can tell you I don’t feel old, well most days I don’t, lol. I didn’t get into running until my mid-forties and I ran my second half-marathon earlier this year. So of course, I’m over the moon that Matilda got her chance to shine and reclaim her one true love.
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
November 16, 2019
I'm not entirely sure how to criticize what I didn't like it about this book but I'm going to try.
1) Lazy, sparse characterization. Charles was a rake in the past, frivolous and free, ending with him impregnating a woman and refusing to marry her although he was unmarried and could have. I could not for the life of me get into Someone to Honor so I don't know the full effect of how this affected his illegitimate son, Gil, who's the hero in the other book. Some people say that Gil's version of events is different than Charles's is here, and while I can't say for certain, I wouldn't put it past him. Charles's recollections seem very weird. He paints himself as the victim because Matilda once rejected him on her parents' say-so, even though nothing we learn about his behavior indicates he would be a good match to make. He's also not that great to her in his thoughts, which are at turns, obsessive, condescending, and off-putting. But we're supposed to believe he's just a great guy, and I'm not sure I ever got that impression totally. He definitely wasn't the worst romance hero--and he's better than half the heroes in this story--but something about his thought process in general seemed very off to me. I wasn't thrilled with him, but he could have been worse.
Matilda, on the other hand, has very little characterization in my opinion. I don't remember much of her from previous novels and she has very little to do here. She's 56 years old, and apparently all she does is fuss over her mother, who doesn't want her to fuss (we'll get to that in a minute). Matilda is basically just a good sport who takes care of her mother. I didn't hate her, but I can't think of anything to say about her. She's barely a character, let alone a person. She does absolutely nothing with her life but coddle her mother and pine for Charles. This is not what unmarried women do with their lives. Matilda exists in a space where she's just waiting for her life to start/mourning what she lost thirty years ago. It makes her an exceptionally bland character overall, although I liked her interactions with the twenty-something year olds.
The inconsistent characterization comes about in full force with Matilda's mother. Literally nothing about her interactions with Matilda give off the impression--well, without spoilers, Matilda's mother has a change of heart/apparently always felt this way at the end of the novella, and it comes out of nowhere and isn't remotely believable.
2) Entirely too much focus on age, especially Matilda's. I was pretty sick of it. Who cares if people talk? It's not like she'd be marrying a man twenty years her junior--not that I'd think much of it if she did. Surely people wouldn't talk that much?
3) Contrived placement in each other's life. Not to mention, no real discussion on how this will impact Charles's illegitimate son, who also married into the Westcott family. It feels like that should have at least warranted a discussion.
4) Lots of talking about the same things over and over. Just lots of talking in general. A staple in Balogh's books. On the one hand, it was such a short book I almost didn't care. On the other hand, for such a short book, I was kind of annoyed with how many times Charles could bring up the past.
5) Too much focus on the Westcotts in general. This was too short of a book to function as a Westcott updater. It could have been saved for Jessica's book. It felt like they took too much time in the beginning.
6) No sense of romance--everything was from the past more or less. I hate when romance novels do this. If someone's still holding on ten years or more down the line, they have some serious issues to work out with a therapist. Granted, there weren't therapists in the Regency era, but I wish romance novelists stopped with this trope. After thirty plus years apart, their entire romance is based on them (unrealistically) remembering every detail of their few kisses and reconnecting in all the same places. I would have rather they hadn't had a past together more than just knowing each other because they ran in the same circles. The past connection was a crutch for the present day romance, and it ended up sapping the life out of it.
1) Lazy, sparse characterization. Charles was a rake in the past, frivolous and free, ending with him impregnating a woman and refusing to marry her although he was unmarried and could have. I could not for the life of me get into Someone to Honor so I don't know the full effect of how this affected his illegitimate son, Gil, who's the hero in the other book. Some people say that Gil's version of events is different than Charles's is here, and while I can't say for certain, I wouldn't put it past him. Charles's recollections seem very weird. He paints himself as the victim because Matilda once rejected him on her parents' say-so, even though nothing we learn about his behavior indicates he would be a good match to make. He's also not that great to her in his thoughts, which are at turns, obsessive, condescending, and off-putting. But we're supposed to believe he's just a great guy, and I'm not sure I ever got that impression totally. He definitely wasn't the worst romance hero--and he's better than half the heroes in this story--but something about his thought process in general seemed very off to me. I wasn't thrilled with him, but he could have been worse.
Matilda, on the other hand, has very little characterization in my opinion. I don't remember much of her from previous novels and she has very little to do here. She's 56 years old, and apparently all she does is fuss over her mother, who doesn't want her to fuss (we'll get to that in a minute). Matilda is basically just a good sport who takes care of her mother. I didn't hate her, but I can't think of anything to say about her. She's barely a character, let alone a person. She does absolutely nothing with her life but coddle her mother and pine for Charles. This is not what unmarried women do with their lives. Matilda exists in a space where she's just waiting for her life to start/mourning what she lost thirty years ago. It makes her an exceptionally bland character overall, although I liked her interactions with the twenty-something year olds.
The inconsistent characterization comes about in full force with Matilda's mother. Literally nothing about her interactions with Matilda give off the impression--well, without spoilers, Matilda's mother has a change of heart/apparently always felt this way at the end of the novella, and it comes out of nowhere and isn't remotely believable.
2) Entirely too much focus on age, especially Matilda's. I was pretty sick of it. Who cares if people talk? It's not like she'd be marrying a man twenty years her junior--not that I'd think much of it if she did. Surely people wouldn't talk that much?
3) Contrived placement in each other's life. Not to mention, no real discussion on how this will impact Charles's illegitimate son, who also married into the Westcott family. It feels like that should have at least warranted a discussion.
4) Lots of talking about the same things over and over. Just lots of talking in general. A staple in Balogh's books. On the one hand, it was such a short book I almost didn't care. On the other hand, for such a short book, I was kind of annoyed with how many times Charles could bring up the past.
5) Too much focus on the Westcotts in general. This was too short of a book to function as a Westcott updater. It could have been saved for Jessica's book. It felt like they took too much time in the beginning.
6) No sense of romance--everything was from the past more or less. I hate when romance novels do this. If someone's still holding on ten years or more down the line, they have some serious issues to work out with a therapist. Granted, there weren't therapists in the Regency era, but I wish romance novelists stopped with this trope. After thirty plus years apart, their entire romance is based on them (unrealistically) remembering every detail of their few kisses and reconnecting in all the same places. I would have rather they hadn't had a past together more than just knowing each other because they ran in the same circles. The past connection was a crutch for the present day romance, and it ended up sapping the life out of it.
November 14, 2019
So now I have read and absolutely loved this book. Charles made the renewed romance happen and I loved his inner thoughts. Matilda was short on courage most of her life but she finally finds enough to declare her love for Charles and to accept his. There is a scene that made me cry when Matilda tells Charles what is was like for her loving him over 36 years and hum realizing he had not done enough when he was 20 to pursue her hand in marriage despite her parents qualms. They both never found the deep love they had at age 20 with anyone else. I was moved many times by these two characters. This is a true romance and I hope we get more of them in the last two books in this series. I have greatly enjoyed this series and it keeps getting better. So I wrote this before reading: I am so happy that Matilda is going to get a second chance with her true love. I have known many people who get more than one chance at love with their first loves. People marry all the way into their 90's. I have never liked the way Eugenia treats Matilda, so I rooting for Matilda to break away from her lonely servitude and finally find her happiness. From the preview at the end of Someone to Honor the reader is left with a hope that Charles, Viscount Dirkson, will be welcomed into the Wescott enclave and finally have the opportunity to develop a healthy relationship with Gil his long lost illegitimate son. I know without a doubt that I will very much enjoy reading about how Matilda and Charles bring the magic back into their lives.
June 21, 2020
Just delightful.
As I have become older, I have grown to appreciate older heroines, and Aunt Matilda is a great older heroine. She has appeared in several of the earlier titles in this series, always as the almost elderly spinster who fusses over her mother. In this book, however, we learn that there is more to Matilda than we thought. Mary Balogh excels at writing this kind of sweet, insightful plot, and you'll be rooting for Matilda and Charles to make a go of it.
As I have become older, I have grown to appreciate older heroines, and Aunt Matilda is a great older heroine. She has appeared in several of the earlier titles in this series, always as the almost elderly spinster who fusses over her mother. In this book, however, we learn that there is more to Matilda than we thought. Mary Balogh excels at writing this kind of sweet, insightful plot, and you'll be rooting for Matilda and Charles to make a go of it.
November 7, 2020
A nice and comfy read.
January 8, 2020
Sweet old aunt Matilda is about to have an HEA of her own and it is beautiful!
Aunt Matilda shows up in several books in the Westcott series and evolved from a small side character into an important instrument of the family’s happiness. She is old, prim, always fussing after her mother, but she is also loyal, intelligent and fun.
At the blooming age of 57, Matilda is about to rekindle an old flame and experience a mature, but not less intense love with the dashing Viscount Dirkson, aka Charles.
As always, Mary Balogh’s prose is enchanting and emotional and the result is a sweet and insightful novella.
Great read!
Aunt Matilda shows up in several books in the Westcott series and evolved from a small side character into an important instrument of the family’s happiness. She is old, prim, always fussing after her mother, but she is also loyal, intelligent and fun.
At the blooming age of 57, Matilda is about to rekindle an old flame and experience a mature, but not less intense love with the dashing Viscount Dirkson, aka Charles.
As always, Mary Balogh’s prose is enchanting and emotional and the result is a sweet and insightful novella.
Great read!
October 30, 2019
Someone to Remember is the 7th installment to Mary Balogh's Wescott series. I would call it book #6.5 since it is the length of a novella, but that's just me. It shines light on an older member of the Wescott family, Matilda, who has been cast until now as the spinster aunt who is a bit of a romantic.
After finishing Someone to Honor, I was intrigued by Matilda's past with Viscount Dirkson. I was so pleased to see that she was getting her own Happily Ever After! It is smaller than the rest of the books in the Wescott series, but the novella length was ideal for this story. Back during the days of Matilda's debut, Charles Sawyer was her beau for a time and even asked to marry her. Matilda ended up turning him down, and since then never remarried. Now it's about thirty years later, and Charles has become Viscount Dirkson. His "natural" son (conceived before marrying) has recently married into the Wescott family. So Matilda is seeing quite a bit more of him.
Charles was heartbroken when he was rejected by Matilda in his youth. It set him off on some very bad behaviors and gave him a bad reputation. However, he did end up marrying and is now a widow. Matilda being back in his life is restirring all of his old feelings and some adorable protective ones against anyone who doesn't pay her attention. He starts to wonder if there is still a chance for them.
I loved Charles and Matilda both. Their trips down memory lane are so sweet! It was amazing to see Matilda shine, and Charles was the perfect hero to help her do so. This book was short and sweet, and it had snippets from the other books in the series at the end if you are interested in picking one of them up. Can't wait to see who Mary Balogh has fall in love next!
(From before reading...)
Oooh! Mary Balogh definitely hinted at this in Someone to Honor, which I just finished. I am super excited about it!
After finishing Someone to Honor, I was intrigued by Matilda's past with Viscount Dirkson. I was so pleased to see that she was getting her own Happily Ever After! It is smaller than the rest of the books in the Wescott series, but the novella length was ideal for this story. Back during the days of Matilda's debut, Charles Sawyer was her beau for a time and even asked to marry her. Matilda ended up turning him down, and since then never remarried. Now it's about thirty years later, and Charles has become Viscount Dirkson. His "natural" son (conceived before marrying) has recently married into the Wescott family. So Matilda is seeing quite a bit more of him.
Charles was heartbroken when he was rejected by Matilda in his youth. It set him off on some very bad behaviors and gave him a bad reputation. However, he did end up marrying and is now a widow. Matilda being back in his life is restirring all of his old feelings and some adorable protective ones against anyone who doesn't pay her attention. He starts to wonder if there is still a chance for them.
I loved Charles and Matilda both. Their trips down memory lane are so sweet! It was amazing to see Matilda shine, and Charles was the perfect hero to help her do so. This book was short and sweet, and it had snippets from the other books in the series at the end if you are interested in picking one of them up. Can't wait to see who Mary Balogh has fall in love next!
(From before reading...)
Oooh! Mary Balogh definitely hinted at this in Someone to Honor, which I just finished. I am super excited about it!
November 28, 2019
A very delightful and comfy read by Mary Balogh. I enjoy her stories although she does have some that are hit or miss, however this did not fail for me as I enjoyed it alot.
4-Stars
4-Stars
December 14, 2025
4 stars
I have never touched the Westcott series until now and I am glad that I actually started with this novella set into the midst of the series' timeline. Because it spared me having to discover the series on piecemeal basis. And MB very obligingly wrote a beautiful intro to set the scene and explain her motivation to explore the main characters of this novella, and included a very helpful family tree (loved it all 🥰!!).
This story was very sweet and emotional, and explored so well the issues arising from second chance romance between late middle age characters. Of course, one may disbelieve that feelings would survive and arise so strongly (and so quickly!) 36 years after young love was first contrived, but MB's pen excelled at drawing the palpable and believable emotional layers for Matilda and Charles. The what-ifs and what-could-have-beens of their situation were constantly and repeatedly put forward - maybe in an obsessive way that might have required editing but by the end I think, this also added a realistic layer to the characters' behaviours. The ending might have been all happy bows all around, but I think Matilda and Charles wholeheartedly deserved it - and love has no age after all. And their happiness made me smile along and touched the candid in me - so this book deserves a high rating.
I also loved how family love and all its nuances were explored in this book. The Westcotts (and all their relatives) and the Sawyers helped brightened this little book, and I now look forward to exploring this series next year.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2019
If you have been following the Westcott series, you know that at the end of Someone to Honor, Lady Matilda Westcott – Abigail’s maiden aunt, goes to see Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson and asks him to help Gilbert get custody of his daughter. In that book, it is clear to the reader that Charles and Matilda share a past and did not part on the best of terms, but the reader is never enlightened about what transpired and when.
Lady Matilda acts as caregiver/companion to her mother, the dowager Countess of Riverdale, she is fifty-six and has never married, but that doesn’t mean she was never in love or never wanted to marry, truth is, she was in love and wanted to marry Charles Sawyer, but her parents forbid the match and Matilda sent him away. Looking back, she believes it was the right choice, Charles went on to father an illegitimate child (Gilbert) and became a renowned rake, even after he married and sired 3 children. Matilda will admit to herself that she never stopped loving Charles, but wonders if he ever really loved her. It took all her courage to seek him out to help Abigail’s husband Gilbert and talking to him stirred up old feelings she has tried hard to bury. She was sure the worst was over, but now she has been invited to a family dinner honoring him for his assistance.
Charles doesn’t want to go to dinner any more than Matilda wants him there, but a small part of him needs to know why he has never forgotten her and why she is the only woman he has ever loved. At dinner he is annoyed about how she is treated by her mother and how her family largely ignores her, he tries to talk to her, but she brushes him off. Later when some of the young adult children want to visit Kew Gardens, Charles volunteers to chaperon and asks Matilda to help.
She goes to the gardens and is assaulted by memories of her courtship with Charles, later at the top of pagoda, he kisses her – just like he did 36 years ago. Thus begins a sweet courtship of two people who made mistakes years ago and are lucky enough to be granted a second chance at love.
This was a very sweet read, no real conflict, no drama and no villains, just two older people recapturing a love they shared 36 years ago. It is short, but well written and paced nicely, the love scenes are limited to kisses and the “courtship” does move rather quickly, but I felt considering their shared past, it was believable and I was rooting for their HEA.
This is the seventh book in the series, but it can easily be a stand-alone, however, if you read Someone to Honor – you will definitely want to read this book too, because it will answer the lingering questions you might have had at the end of that story. Either way, it is a very sweet read and I am happy to recommend it.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*
Lady Matilda acts as caregiver/companion to her mother, the dowager Countess of Riverdale, she is fifty-six and has never married, but that doesn’t mean she was never in love or never wanted to marry, truth is, she was in love and wanted to marry Charles Sawyer, but her parents forbid the match and Matilda sent him away. Looking back, she believes it was the right choice, Charles went on to father an illegitimate child (Gilbert) and became a renowned rake, even after he married and sired 3 children. Matilda will admit to herself that she never stopped loving Charles, but wonders if he ever really loved her. It took all her courage to seek him out to help Abigail’s husband Gilbert and talking to him stirred up old feelings she has tried hard to bury. She was sure the worst was over, but now she has been invited to a family dinner honoring him for his assistance.
Charles doesn’t want to go to dinner any more than Matilda wants him there, but a small part of him needs to know why he has never forgotten her and why she is the only woman he has ever loved. At dinner he is annoyed about how she is treated by her mother and how her family largely ignores her, he tries to talk to her, but she brushes him off. Later when some of the young adult children want to visit Kew Gardens, Charles volunteers to chaperon and asks Matilda to help.
She goes to the gardens and is assaulted by memories of her courtship with Charles, later at the top of pagoda, he kisses her – just like he did 36 years ago. Thus begins a sweet courtship of two people who made mistakes years ago and are lucky enough to be granted a second chance at love.
This was a very sweet read, no real conflict, no drama and no villains, just two older people recapturing a love they shared 36 years ago. It is short, but well written and paced nicely, the love scenes are limited to kisses and the “courtship” does move rather quickly, but I felt considering their shared past, it was believable and I was rooting for their HEA.
This is the seventh book in the series, but it can easily be a stand-alone, however, if you read Someone to Honor – you will definitely want to read this book too, because it will answer the lingering questions you might have had at the end of that story. Either way, it is a very sweet read and I am happy to recommend it.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*
February 18, 2020
This book seemed a bit big for a novella. (But I may not know the exact rules for that.)
A new Westcott novel is always an occasion. New family members. New romances for family members. And you know it's all going to work out (regardless how stubborn the main characters are), because - hey - the Westcotts are so cool.
This book was just wonderful - and a little different. It is so cool that the author pays attention to the older members of the family and gives them a second chance at love.
A new Westcott novel is always an occasion. New family members. New romances for family members. And you know it's all going to work out (regardless how stubborn the main characters are), because - hey - the Westcotts are so cool.
This book was just wonderful - and a little different. It is so cool that the author pays attention to the older members of the family and gives them a second chance at love.
July 1, 2021
2019 bk 359. 2021 bk 187. (2021 - my comments earlier hold true.) The 7th episode in the Westcott Family drama. This is truly a novella that has been padded out by an extensive author's comment and then at the back end with excerpts from the other 6 books. The story of fifty-something Matilda, the maiden aunt, seemingly stuck caring for her mother and eventually for nieces and great nieces with no real life of her own. I will say - I am tired of books depicting single women caring for parents and wasting their own lives in this manner. Balogh does make an attempt to say that Matilda is the caregiver out of love for her family, but that was not really evident in earlier novels. There are traditions out there, where the oldest or youngest daughter, were trained to duty, to caring for the elderly. That does not mean their life is wasted. I was disappointed, Balogh could have had this romance rekindled - but she could have also shown Matilda's life, the one in addition to caring for her mother, the one where she writes or does charitable work, or raises funds for an orphanage, or something. But no, this was a little trite, expressing that for 30 + years she did nothing, something I feel hard to believe as she is an intelligent woman. I also have problems with the concept that caring for parents is 'wasting a life' where caring for a man is 'not'. They are both hard jobs, requiring tact, diplomacy, and a lot of love and intelligence.
January 12, 2020
What a tragic story! Don't get me wrong ... there is a lovely beginning to a happily ever after here, but only after 36 years of separation. Thirty-six years!!!! It made me sad to think of the opportunities lost due to a series of tragic choices made while Matilda and Charles were young and in love. It hurt my heart. As we know from the earlier books in the Westcott series, Matilda is the "spinster" aunt who hovers around her dowager mother, giving her smelling salts and adjusting her shawls at every chance. But it turns out that she had a chance at love when she was twenty and lost it when her parents refused to allow Charles to offer for her. Instead of fighting for their love Matilda sent Charles away, and the dejected and rejected Charles decided to nurse his hurt with riotous living. While Matilda was living a life of pious celibacy Charles fathered a child, got married, had three more children who also married and had children, and then eventually watched his wife of many years die. Now through a set of circumstances he finds himself thrown back into the path of his first (and only, it turns out) love, Matilda.
Here's where things were a little confusing for me. I have been getting these books from my local online library, and this book became available before book six. I thought I could read this without missing much, but it turns out that the events of book six in this series were pretty important for this story. In book six we are introduced to Charles' son, Gil, and there is a complicated history there that bleeds into the events of this story. It didn't totally harm my enjoyment of this book, but I feel like I would have really felt deeper emotions as I read if I understand all the backstory I had missed. It's okay. I think the hold for book six is almost over, so I'll get to catch up on things soon.
This was an unusual love story because the principle characters are in their mid-fifties, and they essentially begin the story already in love. Sure, they have been separated for a looooooong time, and they have tried to move past those initial feelings in the past 36 years. But they are in love. They just have to admit it out loud. It doesn't take all that long to fall back into a relationship, considering all that they've been through. In fact, if there were a criticism to make about this story I would say that it is that not enough time is really spent on showing exactly what happened in their youth, and then not enough time was spent showing the renewal of feelings in their older ages. I got all sorts of warm feelings seeing Matilda finally getting her happily ever after, but it might have been nice to have a slower pace in this story. Charles and Matilda are barely reacquainted, and before hardly any time has passed at all, they are engaged. Yay for the HEA, but it made for a surface level story. So, yeah, it was a surface level story, but I couldn't help but be happy to see Matilda get her HEA. She deserved it. Four stars. I really liked this.
Here's where things were a little confusing for me. I have been getting these books from my local online library, and this book became available before book six. I thought I could read this without missing much, but it turns out that the events of book six in this series were pretty important for this story. In book six we are introduced to Charles' son, Gil, and there is a complicated history there that bleeds into the events of this story. It didn't totally harm my enjoyment of this book, but I feel like I would have really felt deeper emotions as I read if I understand all the backstory I had missed. It's okay. I think the hold for book six is almost over, so I'll get to catch up on things soon.
This was an unusual love story because the principle characters are in their mid-fifties, and they essentially begin the story already in love. Sure, they have been separated for a looooooong time, and they have tried to move past those initial feelings in the past 36 years. But they are in love. They just have to admit it out loud. It doesn't take all that long to fall back into a relationship, considering all that they've been through. In fact, if there were a criticism to make about this story I would say that it is that not enough time is really spent on showing exactly what happened in their youth, and then not enough time was spent showing the renewal of feelings in their older ages. I got all sorts of warm feelings seeing Matilda finally getting her happily ever after, but it might have been nice to have a slower pace in this story. Charles and Matilda are barely reacquainted, and before hardly any time has passed at all, they are engaged. Yay for the HEA, but it made for a surface level story. So, yeah, it was a surface level story, but I couldn't help but be happy to see Matilda get her HEA. She deserved it. Four stars. I really liked this.
November 6, 2019
A bittersweet and tender romance!
After reading 'Someone to Honor' I noted 'the amazingly secretive meeting of Aunt Matilda (Lady Matilda Westcott) with someone she has previously known,' and exclaimed, 'therein lies a story!'
Therein did lie a story! A story of lost dreams, of lives taking different paths and an endearing love lying hidden for more than thirty-six years, pushed into the depths of the couple in question's respective hearts, until they meet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, and natural father to Gil Bennington, now married to Abigail Westcott, and Matilda's niece, loved Matilda when he was twenty. Charles had proposed but had been refused by Matilda as her parents disapproved of him and his lifestyle. Matilda has never married, despite various opportunities, and had reconciled herself to being a loving aunt and her mother's somewhat put upon companion.
Recently, unbeknownst to all but her nephew Bertrand, Matilda had visited Charles to ask him to assist Gil in a custody case for his daughter Katy. As a result the Westcott family has invited Charles to a social gathering 'en famille' to thank him. Charles and Matilda (upon inner reflection and to their own disturbance) find that that the attraction they had for other all those years ago has not lessened.
This is a delightful story of 'second chance' love. And the fact that it is with their 'first chance' love, the road not taken so long ago, makes the story even more bittersweet.
(A little digression, apparently this sub genre is being referred to as 'seasoned', to me a rather ghastly term as it conjures up a seasoned roast chicken or a slab of beef. Not an attractive thought to have ricocheting around in my head! So I am using 'second chance' until some enlightened soul finds a more endearing term.)
Back to the story! I loved that Matilda enjoys traveling in curricles. As we're so enchantingly told Matilda, "remembered that heady feeling of being much farther off the ground than she had expected. The feeling of danger and exhilaration. She laughed aloud." Wonderful!
I love that this apparently staid spinsterish, middle aged woman is a secret rebel with a heart for adventure, who would like nothing better than for Charles to "spring the horses."
Balogh has given us a poignant and at times whimsical (due to the two delightfully reflective and original lead characters) romance that pulls at the heartstrings.
A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley
After reading 'Someone to Honor' I noted 'the amazingly secretive meeting of Aunt Matilda (Lady Matilda Westcott) with someone she has previously known,' and exclaimed, 'therein lies a story!'
Therein did lie a story! A story of lost dreams, of lives taking different paths and an endearing love lying hidden for more than thirty-six years, pushed into the depths of the couple in question's respective hearts, until they meet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, and natural father to Gil Bennington, now married to Abigail Westcott, and Matilda's niece, loved Matilda when he was twenty. Charles had proposed but had been refused by Matilda as her parents disapproved of him and his lifestyle. Matilda has never married, despite various opportunities, and had reconciled herself to being a loving aunt and her mother's somewhat put upon companion.
Recently, unbeknownst to all but her nephew Bertrand, Matilda had visited Charles to ask him to assist Gil in a custody case for his daughter Katy. As a result the Westcott family has invited Charles to a social gathering 'en famille' to thank him. Charles and Matilda (upon inner reflection and to their own disturbance) find that that the attraction they had for other all those years ago has not lessened.
This is a delightful story of 'second chance' love. And the fact that it is with their 'first chance' love, the road not taken so long ago, makes the story even more bittersweet.
(A little digression, apparently this sub genre is being referred to as 'seasoned', to me a rather ghastly term as it conjures up a seasoned roast chicken or a slab of beef. Not an attractive thought to have ricocheting around in my head! So I am using 'second chance' until some enlightened soul finds a more endearing term.)
Back to the story! I loved that Matilda enjoys traveling in curricles. As we're so enchantingly told Matilda, "remembered that heady feeling of being much farther off the ground than she had expected. The feeling of danger and exhilaration. She laughed aloud." Wonderful!
I love that this apparently staid spinsterish, middle aged woman is a secret rebel with a heart for adventure, who would like nothing better than for Charles to "spring the horses."
Balogh has given us a poignant and at times whimsical (due to the two delightfully reflective and original lead characters) romance that pulls at the heartstrings.
A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley
October 27, 2019
FINALLY someone has written the book I've been wanting for years: a romance starring a middle-aged woman (of 56), who is as capable of and as deserving of love, romance, and joy as a woman in her teens, twenties, or thirties. I cheered and smiled and even grew teary over Matilda's awakening to love and her decision to embrace happiness and the life she once gave up. A lovely second-chance novella. Full review to come.
October 20, 2019
In the last Westcott book, we learned a surprise about Mathilda's past- she had a disappointment in love and so had he and then they met again with that old magic still there. I needed that story... and, here it is. It was all I could have hoped for in a reunion romance.
Someone to Remember is the seventh installment of the Westcott series. Each could be read standalone in a pinch. However, the further one gets in the series, the harder it is to read standalone since there is a great deal of family togetherness and references back to their connections.
Mathilda, oldest daughter of the Dowager Countess, has long since been on the shelf. She has been living out her days fussing over a mother who doesn't need the fussing. Her life is gray and she tries to be content. Until she encounters Charles once again while on a family mission for her niece Abigail. He is all that she remembered and regrets. She pushed him away when her parents declared him unsuitable and has wondered for over thirty years if she was right to do so- he certainly lived up to his rakish reputation. But... Now, they are in company again and she knows that she never stopped loving him, but can it still matter?
Charles once loved Mathilda and they spoke their love and then she pushed him away because of his reputation. If he had the rep before that, he certainly added to it afterwards and didn't give it up until later. His encounters with her are unsettling and he's angry with her for making him feel when he thought he got past all that decades before. But, he can't stay away from her and finds himself escorting her to the places where their tenderest moments happened. Dare he try again with an older, mature Mathilda? Would her answer be different?
This was a long novella and this second chance reunion romance fit into that shorter page count perfectly. It was as developed as the author's longer works, brought out the emotions, and engaged the reader with the characters and their romance. I liked how it explored their past and why it didn't worked, who they were then and now, and how a renewed romance would work in their present. Mathilda has to step out of the gray shadows and she is a lovely personage when she emerges. Charles is right there to encourage her even while coming to terms that his own behavior in the past led to her rejection and now he must show that he's not that young rakehell and that his family would welcome her with open arms. For those who wanted a bit more with Gil and his father, this is explored a little, too.
This one was light and full of tender romance and I adored it. Now, I'm looking forward to the next Westcott series installment. This is a great series for those who love Regency era romance with a focus on family and personal growth as much as the slow-burn lightly spiced romances.
My thanks to Berkley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Someone to Remember is the seventh installment of the Westcott series. Each could be read standalone in a pinch. However, the further one gets in the series, the harder it is to read standalone since there is a great deal of family togetherness and references back to their connections.
Mathilda, oldest daughter of the Dowager Countess, has long since been on the shelf. She has been living out her days fussing over a mother who doesn't need the fussing. Her life is gray and she tries to be content. Until she encounters Charles once again while on a family mission for her niece Abigail. He is all that she remembered and regrets. She pushed him away when her parents declared him unsuitable and has wondered for over thirty years if she was right to do so- he certainly lived up to his rakish reputation. But... Now, they are in company again and she knows that she never stopped loving him, but can it still matter?
Charles once loved Mathilda and they spoke their love and then she pushed him away because of his reputation. If he had the rep before that, he certainly added to it afterwards and didn't give it up until later. His encounters with her are unsettling and he's angry with her for making him feel when he thought he got past all that decades before. But, he can't stay away from her and finds himself escorting her to the places where their tenderest moments happened. Dare he try again with an older, mature Mathilda? Would her answer be different?
This was a long novella and this second chance reunion romance fit into that shorter page count perfectly. It was as developed as the author's longer works, brought out the emotions, and engaged the reader with the characters and their romance. I liked how it explored their past and why it didn't worked, who they were then and now, and how a renewed romance would work in their present. Mathilda has to step out of the gray shadows and she is a lovely personage when she emerges. Charles is right there to encourage her even while coming to terms that his own behavior in the past led to her rejection and now he must show that he's not that young rakehell and that his family would welcome her with open arms. For those who wanted a bit more with Gil and his father, this is explored a little, too.
This one was light and full of tender romance and I adored it. Now, I'm looking forward to the next Westcott series installment. This is a great series for those who love Regency era romance with a focus on family and personal growth as much as the slow-burn lightly spiced romances.
My thanks to Berkley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 31, 2019
Recommended Read! SOMEONE TO REMEMBER is perfection. I laughed, cried, smiled, and sighed my way through this novella. It is utterly lovely, and the sweetest midlife romance. Author Mary Balogh infinitely reigns as the Regency romance queen.
Charles and Matilda are enchanting together. Matilda is flawlessly designed as the suffering spinster, fussing over her aging mother, who decidedly does not want her assistance. Matilda’s first and only love, the notorious rake, Viscount Dirkson — her Charles — has never forgotten their moment in time. Can they really have a second chance?
Mary Balogh illustrates unrequited love with such heartache and longing that you can’t help but want more for these aging characters. Is it ever too late to rekindle love lost? In addition, she executes an outing with young people, and this couple as their chaperones, beautifully. It’s always such a joy to reenter the worlds Balogh lavishly creates.
As always, the author does so many things beyond compare in SOMEONE TO REMEMBER. Fans will adore glimpses of their favorite characters from the Westcott series. Avery, Duke of Netherby, was, as always, his “quite so” self while wielding his quizzing glass. He is my favorite, so I was thrilled with his appearance.
Even those who haven’t read the entire series are given enough explanation to hopefully entice them to read more. They won’t be disappointed. I love this series and have only missed one book (SOMEONE TO HONOR) which I hope to remedy soon.
Although this addition to the Westcott series is shorter than the other books, nothing is lacking. Balogh knows how to touch the reader with her words, no matter the length, and, truthfully, sometimes I love sinking into a quick love story just like this. Its length is the reason I chose to review it over SOMEONE TO HONOR.
Balogh is a master at depicting large gatherings. The confusion of everyone talking at once is brilliantly explored, making me laugh and anticipate more. Matilda is a perfect, ageless heroine. She blossoms before the reader, and it’s the best kind of character development. Charles is exactly who he should be for Matilda, making me adore him for admitting what they lost, then gained.
I am one happy Balogh fan. More, just like this, please!
Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies. Digital ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley.
Charles and Matilda are enchanting together. Matilda is flawlessly designed as the suffering spinster, fussing over her aging mother, who decidedly does not want her assistance. Matilda’s first and only love, the notorious rake, Viscount Dirkson — her Charles — has never forgotten their moment in time. Can they really have a second chance?
Mary Balogh illustrates unrequited love with such heartache and longing that you can’t help but want more for these aging characters. Is it ever too late to rekindle love lost? In addition, she executes an outing with young people, and this couple as their chaperones, beautifully. It’s always such a joy to reenter the worlds Balogh lavishly creates.
As always, the author does so many things beyond compare in SOMEONE TO REMEMBER. Fans will adore glimpses of their favorite characters from the Westcott series. Avery, Duke of Netherby, was, as always, his “quite so” self while wielding his quizzing glass. He is my favorite, so I was thrilled with his appearance.
Even those who haven’t read the entire series are given enough explanation to hopefully entice them to read more. They won’t be disappointed. I love this series and have only missed one book (SOMEONE TO HONOR) which I hope to remedy soon.
Although this addition to the Westcott series is shorter than the other books, nothing is lacking. Balogh knows how to touch the reader with her words, no matter the length, and, truthfully, sometimes I love sinking into a quick love story just like this. Its length is the reason I chose to review it over SOMEONE TO HONOR.
Balogh is a master at depicting large gatherings. The confusion of everyone talking at once is brilliantly explored, making me laugh and anticipate more. Matilda is a perfect, ageless heroine. She blossoms before the reader, and it’s the best kind of character development. Charles is exactly who he should be for Matilda, making me adore him for admitting what they lost, then gained.
I am one happy Balogh fan. More, just like this, please!
Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies. Digital ARC provided by publisher through Netgalley.
November 5, 2019
I’m so happy to have read Someone to Remember because it was a second chance of love story for an older couple. The romance genre needs a story to show that love happens at any age and not just for the young. Matilda Westcott has lived in the background as a spinster and being her mother’s companion. She came to the forefront in the last story (Someone to Honor) to initiate a happy ending for its couple. Now she is about to find her match herself with the love of her youth.
36 years ago, she turned down the marriage proposal to Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, when her parents disapproved. Now he’s part of her extended family. He invites her to help chaperone and they retrace their own youthful romance from long ago. Matilda starts to remember all those feelings and wonders if Charles is feeling the same thing. Charles is and can’t believe that those feelings are emerging again. They both reflect about how their lives have turned out and wonder about regrets. Matilda brings it all around to live in the present and she feels brave enough to reach out and grab her own happiness.
Mary Balogh develops her heroines to stand up and grab the brass ring when it comes to their happiness. Bringing Matilda to the forefront in this novella was another way to showcase an older heroine and understand the choices she’s made in life. Nothing warms my heart is to happiness in one’s heart and it came across magnificently in Matilda.
Review copy provided for a voluntary review.
36 years ago, she turned down the marriage proposal to Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, when her parents disapproved. Now he’s part of her extended family. He invites her to help chaperone and they retrace their own youthful romance from long ago. Matilda starts to remember all those feelings and wonders if Charles is feeling the same thing. Charles is and can’t believe that those feelings are emerging again. They both reflect about how their lives have turned out and wonder about regrets. Matilda brings it all around to live in the present and she feels brave enough to reach out and grab her own happiness.
Mary Balogh develops her heroines to stand up and grab the brass ring when it comes to their happiness. Bringing Matilda to the forefront in this novella was another way to showcase an older heroine and understand the choices she’s made in life. Nothing warms my heart is to happiness in one’s heart and it came across magnificently in Matilda.
Review copy provided for a voluntary review.
February 11, 2022
What a delightful novella. I was wondering about Lady Matilda Wescott. The spinster daughter of the Dowager Countess of Riverdale. The one who was always fussing about her mother's health. She seemed like a person who needed to be needed. We also find out about Matilda's one time love, Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson. This sweet book has the two, ex-lovebirds meeting up thirty-six years after their failed romance. They are both in their fifties and, while Matilda thinks love is for the young, Charles feels like his love has lain dormant for these many years. Neither protagonists have given their hearts to another, though Charles did marry and has three children by that marriage. Now thirty-six years later, Charles asks Matilda to marry him again. Will she say no like she did when they were young in love or will she follow her heart and say yes?
There is an innocence and a maturity to this story. Matilda identifies herself as the spinster daughter and the maiden aunt, never just Matilda. She hides behind the labels and invisibility within her family and society. Charles reappearance in her life makes her more visible and her memories more alive. The plot is straightforward. The characterization is brought forth through the the remembrance of the past and the creating of a new future. There are new characters, preferably Charles' side of the family and his natural born son, Gil Bennington and his wife and daughter. The descriptions are short but sweet. The settings honed by the primary and secondary characters. I especially liked the descriptions of Kew Gardens and Vauxhall.
There is an innocence and a maturity to this story. Matilda identifies herself as the spinster daughter and the maiden aunt, never just Matilda. She hides behind the labels and invisibility within her family and society. Charles reappearance in her life makes her more visible and her memories more alive. The plot is straightforward. The characterization is brought forth through the the remembrance of the past and the creating of a new future. There are new characters, preferably Charles' side of the family and his natural born son, Gil Bennington and his wife and daughter. The descriptions are short but sweet. The settings honed by the primary and secondary characters. I especially liked the descriptions of Kew Gardens and Vauxhall.
November 28, 2019
Too much regret and heartache and not enough sweet... I cried my eyes out through the story and did not get much satisfaction in the end to really balance it out. I hoped for more, both for Mathilda and for me...
January 7, 2020
So I'm really glad Matilda got a story. She's not the kind of character who normally gets one. And I'm always into "old" characters getting romance (they're both 56). Buuuuut it's also a second chance romance, which rarely works for me (people change and grow! They hadn't talked to each other for 36 years!) and in this case, I think the fact that Matilda is "old" made it work even less well for me. What if you're 56 and DIDN'T have a great thwarted love when you were 20? Are you just out of luck then?
PS: I read this as a paperback and the novella ends at page 149 and the book ends at page 244. (There's a preview for each of the Westcott books.) So watch out for that!
PS: I read this as a paperback and the novella ends at page 149 and the book ends at page 244. (There's a preview for each of the Westcott books.) So watch out for that!
December 2, 2023
A very nice read, possibly the best of this series. An unusual historical romance, as both protagonists are in their mid-fifties. But Balogh carries it off well, and the second-chance relationship is convincing.
Matilda and Charles first fell in love when they were both aged about twenty, but Matilda's parents refused Charles' suit due to his reputation as a young rake. Matilda was obedient to her parents, as children were expected to be in that time period. She broke off the relationship, although there was much grief and regret on both sides. She never married, although Charles later did. He is now a middle-aged widower with grown-up children and even some young grandchildren.
Matilda and Charles meet again, and they are drawn to each other just like when they were young. The development of their renewed relationship is very sweet and there is a lovely HEA.
This book is a 149-page long novella, or short novel perhaps. The shorter length suits the storyline. The book itself is actually much longer, as it contains samples from most of the other books in the Westcott series, which is nice if you haven't read them before.
I recommend this one as an unusual but most enjoyable historical romance.
Matilda and Charles first fell in love when they were both aged about twenty, but Matilda's parents refused Charles' suit due to his reputation as a young rake. Matilda was obedient to her parents, as children were expected to be in that time period. She broke off the relationship, although there was much grief and regret on both sides. She never married, although Charles later did. He is now a middle-aged widower with grown-up children and even some young grandchildren.
Matilda and Charles meet again, and they are drawn to each other just like when they were young. The development of their renewed relationship is very sweet and there is a lovely HEA.
This book is a 149-page long novella, or short novel perhaps. The shorter length suits the storyline. The book itself is actually much longer, as it contains samples from most of the other books in the Westcott series, which is nice if you haven't read them before.
I recommend this one as an unusual but most enjoyable historical romance.
December 30, 2019
Novella featuring Matilda following the set up in the previous book. Matilda is the 50's aunt to many in the Wescott family most known for taking care of her mother and staying in the background. In book 6 we got to see her as a whole person, and this short expands on that as we learn the reasons she never married. It's a complete story, despite its length, but I felt some expansion would have been helpful, especially as the main couple get to know each other again after so many years apart. This one is completely G rated, and I think pushing the PG or R boundaries would have made it better. Sweet addition to the Wescott series but more for fans who know all the backstories rather than new readers.
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