Mary Balogh: One Night for Love ja A summer to remember

Mary Baloghin Bedwyn-romaanisarjaan kuuluvat kaksi ensimmäistä romaania ovat suoraviivaista viihdettä, mutta Balogh onnistuu tekemään päähenkilöistä moniulotteisempia kuin yleensä tämäntyyppisissä historiallisissa rakkausromaaneissa. Juonissa on koukeroita, mutta ei ylenmäärin, ja vaikka tarinan lopputulema on ennalta selvä, on tekstissä ja varsinkin ihmisten välissä vuoropuheluissa myös tuoretta löytämisen iloa.

One Night for Love (Dell, 1999; ISBN 0440226007)

It was a perfect morning in May...

Neville Wyatt, Earl of Kilbourne, awaited his bride at the altar—when a ragged beggar woman raced down the aisle instead. The cream of the ton saw him stare, shocked, then declare that this was his wife! One night of passion was all he remembered as he beheld Lily, the woman he'd wed, loved, and lost on the battlefield in Portugal. Now he said he'd honor his commitment to her—regardless of the gulf that lay between them.

Then Lily spoke her mind...

She said she wanted only to start a new life—wanted only a husband who truly loved her. She had to leave him to learn how to meet his world on her terms. So Lily agreed to earn her keep as his aunt's companion and study the genteel arts. Soon she was the toast of the ton, every inch a countess fit for the earl, who vowed to prove to his remarkable wife that what he felt for her was far more than desire, that what he wanted from her was much more than ... One Night for Love.

A summer to remember (Piatkus, 2011; ISBN 978-0-7499-4212-0)

Mary Balogh weaves a tantalizing web of wit and seduction in her new novel—an irresistible tale of two unlikely lovers and one unforgettable summer.

Kit Butler is cool, dangerous, one of London’s most infamous bachelors—marriage is the last thing on his mind. But Kit’s family has other plans. Desperate to thwart his father’s matchmaking, Kit needs a bride...fast. Enter Miss Lauren Edgeworth.

A year after being abandoned at the altar, Lauren has determined that marriage is not for her. When these two fiercely independent souls meet, sparks fly—and a deal is hatched. Lauren will masquerade as Kit’s intended if he agrees to provide a passionate, adventurous, unforgettable summer. When summer ends, she will break off the engagement, rendering herself unmarriageable and leaving them both free. Everything is going perfectly—until Kit does the unthinkable: He begins to fall in love. A summer to remember is not enough for him. But how can he convince Lauren to be his...for better, for worse, for the rest of their lives?