The Marquess of Dorchester, Marcel Lamarr, lost his young wife to a horrible accident years before when his children were still infants. Since then he has left the raising of his children to their aunt and uncle and stayed away, visiting only a few times a year. He has also built up quite a reputation as a scoundrel and womanizer without shame.

Marcell Lamarr, Marques of Dorchester, was tall, well formed, impeccable elegant and austerely handsome. His dark hair was silvering at the temples. His face narrow, with high cheekbones and a somewhat hawkish nose and thin lips. His eyes were dark and hooded. He looked upon the world with cynical disdain, and the worked back upon him—when it dared look at all—with someone bonding upon fear.

Miss Viola Kingsley, former Countess of Riverdale, was the center of a great scandal that resulted in her title as well as her children’s titles being stripped and their fortune taken away. It was not their fault and her children have moved on to a better life than she could have ever dreamed, but she still feels ashamed and unworthy of the love and acceptance her late husband’s family have given her.

Who was she? The question, which popped so unexpectedly into her head, was a little frightening because it had no obvious answer. For many years she had thought she was the Countess of Riverdale and had identified herself with that title and everything that went with it—the social position, the obligations, the respect. She had become, in effect, not a person but…but what? A mere table? A mere title? She had become something that had no basis in fact. She had never been the Countess of Riverdale. Was she really nothing at all, then? Nobody? Like a ghost?

Fourteen years ago Marcel wanted Viola but she was married and would not entertain his advances. He respected her wishes and left her alone. They both fell in love the moment they met but pushed those feelings aside as they could not be together. Years later they met again and decided to go away together with no restrictions, both of an age to do as they wished and both widowed with seemingly nothing to lose.

Seemingly, indeed, since for a woman of that time it didn’t matter what her status or age were, she could still lose it all. It was not an easy decision for Viola to go away with Marcel.

She raised her eyes to his. “It is not in my nature,” she said, “to reach out for what I want.”

“Then we are quite incompatible,” he told her. “It is not in my nature to do anything else. What do you see in your future, Viola? What will your life be like?”

“Safe,” she said. “Respectable.”

In the name of respectability she was going to live a very lonely rest of her life, then? But it probably always had been like that. Lonely and dreary. It often seemed to be a woman’s lot in life to endure. Simply that. He as very glad he was not a woman.

When their affair goes on longer than they planned, both of their families become worried and go looking for them only to find them in a most curious position. Both Marcel and Viola underestimated their worth and the consequences of what they thought would be a harmless enjoyment.

All of the Westcotts are present and the author, Mary Balogh, knows how to keep the reader entertained. If you love a well-written story with true romance and familial humor, then you will not be disappointed.

Another stellar entry in the Westcott series! Mary Balogh continues to delight readers with the story of the former Mrs. Westcott's tale.

This is the fourth book in Mary Balogh’s Westcott series and I loved all the stories before it, but this one was the closest to my heart because it tells the story of two mature people in their early forties. Not many authors dare to venture into telling grown up romances.

This story touches on many topics and beautifully told from both points of view, the heroine’s and hero’s. After the death of her husband who in the end turns out to have never divorced or annulled the marriage to his first wife, this strong woman is shaken to the core and left to deal with the aftermath of a broken promise, and broken family.

She is confused, angry and has a need to vent and finally come to terms of who she really is and who she wants to be. In order to do that, she decides that she needs to be alone and think things through. Leaving a family gathering and attempting to do just that, Serendipity has a totally other plan for her and puts her right in the middle of the path of a man that fifteen years ago had intended to have an affair with her, which she had rebuffed.

Marcel Lamarr, Marquess of Dorchester is the perfect man for Viola Kingsley. Actually, they are both what the other needs and they agree to spend some time alone, away from their families. Both of them are hiding the attraction they felt for one another all those years ago, and both feel that this chance meeting will only lead to a short affair.

This was one of the best grown up romances I’ve read to date. It had heart and warmth and plenty of grown up sex. Between listening to it and reading the ARC, I was really touched by this love story. I highly recommend it.

Melanie for b2b

Gift ARC provided by the publisher

Audible audio purchased

Life does go on but sometimes while it moves on you just stop living. That is what has happened to Viola Kingsley but when she finally starts living again she goes all out. I liked that Violal has her own story. She had a bad marriage that turned out to not be a marriage at all. She deserves a HEA and when she sees Marcel Lamarr both decided to run away from everything and just enjoy life. Of course that only last so long. Family can be both the best and worst when they interfere in your private life. It takes both to bring Marcel and Viola together in the end.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

40-year-olds exist as more than just the roles they play in life. They are more than just moms, grandmas, daughters, aunts, or even wives. It’s a point not often made in romance novels, especially historical ones. Let’s be real, a woman such as Viola is not generally heroine age material. She is 42. Her children are grown. She has three grandchildren. But she is first and foremost her own person. She just needs to figure out who that is. And she wants to be loved for it.

This is book four in Mary Balogh’s Wescotts series. You could probably read this as a standalone, but there are a lot of characters that may be hard to keep up with if you have not read the previous books. Suffice it to say, the premise of the series is that after the death of Viola’s first husband, she and her three children learn he had never been her husband in the first place. He was still married to his first wife and the daughter he had with her was the true heir to his fortune. The discovery made Viola a tainted woman and her children, bastards. At the start of this book, a couple of years have passed, but she is just starting to really deal with what happened to her.

She runs away from her well-meaning family members and comes face to face with Marcel, a handsome rake who had propositioned her once during the course of her marriage. She had been interested in him, but turned him down soundly because of propriety, duty, and his reputation. Turns out that the mutual interest never went away. So when he invites her for a getaway, she accepts and an affair begins. And it’s great, until her family and his come looking for them, forcing a betrothal no one had signed up for.

If you couldn’t tell already, I am a fan of a couple who breaks out of the normal mold. That’s not to say either of them is perfect. Viola is a bit of a martyr at times and Marcel can be extremely selfish. The real roadblock to their happiness–their unwillingness to bare their real feelings to each other– is a problem of their own making. There were times I was frustrated with each of them. And as in the case in so many romance novels, a great deal of angst could have been avoided by an honest conversation.

But. I liked the book. I liked the message. And despite the flaws of the main characters, I liked the couple. They were good for each other. I loved their silly trip to the market and fake jewelry. I loved how Viola was brave enough to live a little for herself. And I loved how Marcel manned up and faced his children and his responsibilities.

This may not be for everyone, especially if you need a 20-something couple, a virgin heroine, or tons of action. But I liked it and would recommend for folks looking for an older couple… or something just a little bit different.

Rating: B

I love how Ms. Balogh can bring the Regency period to life and give us such superb characterizations. We sympathize with Viola’s anxiety and choices, and we understand Marcel even if we disagree with his choices. We become totally invested in both the H & h.
We are given cameo appearances by Viola’s extended family that brings us up to date on their lives. In depth looks at Marcel’s children and family round out a very large cast of characters. At times so many characters can be a bit overwhelming but their appearance in the novel is necessary to understand Viola and Marcel’s dealings.

This is the fourth book in the A Westcott Novel series and can standalone but I do encourage you to read the previous books in the series for a more complete understanding of Viola and her family.

Someone to Care was one of my most-anticipated reads of the year so, I'm sad to say it was disappointing. This story had everything going for it- mature leads, an older heroine, and good side characters- but I felt it didn't do any of those things justice.

There is not enough focus on the romance, which is probably this book's biggest problem. E.g. there are whole chapters in which neither the hero nor heroine appears. After the seventh chapter, they pretty much are never together (romantically) until the last one. I felt a lot of the middle chapters could've been cut as they feature pointless conversations between family members that do nothing to move the story forward. I kept waiting for a spark but it never came. I did finish the book, however, and though it had a happy ending, I wasn't convinced about the compatibility of the leads. It felt very forced because there was nothing to lead up to an HEA.

Overall, this book was very difficult to read.

Pros

- Older heroine
- Mature leads (40+)
- Quality of writing

Cons

- Sagging middle
- Not enough romantic scenes
- Lots of chapters that don't move the love story forward
- Too many side-characters that don't add to the story
- No chemistry
- Not enough tension/ conflict

3.5 Stars

Viola Kingsley used to be the Countess of Riverdale until she found out the marriage was invalid since her late husband was already married to another woman. She and her children lost the title and fortune, but in the time since her family has rallied around her, and her children have come through remarkably well. Still, Viola hasn’t really dealt with her feelings about the whole situation and suddenly, she’s feels the need to escape the family gathering she’s attending. Hiring a carriage and fleeing for home, she becomes stranded in a small town when the carriage breaks down.

This is where she runs into Marcel Lamarr, The Marquess of Dorchester, and prior acquaintance. The man was temptation personified, but as a married woman, as she thought, Viola turned him down. Now seeing him again, fourteen years later, his appeal hasn’t diminished. They run off together, both trying to escape life temporarily, and they do, for a while.

Mary Balogh is one of my favorite historical romance writers, and I’ve loved all the stories in this Westcott series. Viola and Marcel have aches in their heart each escape by running away together and enjoying each other’s company, both physically and mentally. They have meaningful conversations, steamy nights, and grow closer than they thought possible. The cottage in Devonshire where they spent their time was dreamily described and sounded gorgeous!

I was a little disappointed Viola and Marcel kept their true feelings, both deeper than they wanted to admit, from each other. It was obvious to everyone that they loved each other, but their pride and worry over being more hurt stopped them from sharing what was in their heart and it went on longer than I would’ve liked. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out at any rate, and although this wasn’t my favorite installment, I still heartily recommend it.

Ms. Balogh is an author that I always enjoy when I get a chance to read her work.

Someone to Care focuses on an "older" couple (they are 40 and 42) and both have a bit of a reputation to contend with. While the story gets off to a bit of a slow start, it ends up being really very sweet.

I enjoyed watching Marc slowly reveal himself to be a better man that he appeared to be. Viola is a much easier character to like from the get go, but my respect for her grew as the story went along.

There is a large secondary cast that could have easily overwhelmed the story, but careful crafting kept them in their place to make the story that much more robust.

If you enjoy historical romance that may not follow the exact formula, then this is definitely a book to read.

Two reviews of this book appeared on our blog. The first was by Kaetrin and posted on April 30, 3018. It can be found at the following link: http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-plus-reviews/review-someone-to-care-by-mary-balogh-2/ The second was by me and posted today (May 2, 2018). It can be found at the following link: http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/review-someone-to-care-by-mary-balogh/

Be still my heart: Someone to Care is a love story starring two damaged and flawed grownups. Two years after learning that her marriage was bigamous, Viola Kingsley, once the Countess of Riverdale, is by no means recovered. All the love showered on her by her devoted family is not enough to lift her spirits.

She did not know what was happening to her. Except that she felt … empty. Utterly and totally empty. A black hole yawned inside her, but she could not see to the bottom of it and was frightened at what she might discover there if she could.

At the age of forty-two, she abruptly takes leave of her family who are gathered to celebrate the christening of new grandson. Viola is inexplicably desolate: she wants “someone to care” just for her, a wish that seems fantastical in its improbability.

Marcel Lamarr, who recently came into the title of Marquess of Dorchester, has been a widower for almost twenty years. A widower and a “notorious womanizer”. Years earlier, when Viola was a young mother, she came under his spell. Although she resisted being seduced by him, she was greatly tempted.

Marcel never quite forgot Viola. He and his brother André, on their way home to Redcliffe Court (reluctantly, on Marcel’s part), make an unexpected stop at an unprepossessing inn and who should be there? The woman who “told him to go away,” and “badly bruised” his pride.

While André natters on, Marcel avidly drinks in every aspect of the one who got away: “Hers was a face that had suffered, Marcel thought, and was strangely more beautiful as a result.” Suddenly André notices that “Miss Kingsley” is sitting in the inn’s dining room and events take on a life of their own. Marcel tells André to take their carriage and leave him there. Alone. With a woman whose hair is “still the color of honey.”

Marcel asks Viola to attend the village fair and simply “jollificate” alongside him. “Assuming, that is, you do not find me unutterably boring.” Boring? Hardly. Viola finds it almost impossible “to describe him accurately.” Balogh is unerring in her ability to bring Viola’s thoughts to life.

For with him it had never been just looks. It was … everything. Presence. Charisma. Power. Ruthlessness. Sexuality—though that was not a word very common to her vocabulary.

Viola, surprising herself, says yes. She is in a mood “to do something unexpected and outrageous to fill in the hours and take her mind off herself.” Marcel and Viola wile away a magical afternoon, listening to warbling church choirs, partaking of fairings, and buying frivolities, including a cascade of brilliant jewels.

All of them large and sparkling—even the pearls—and perfectly shaped. All of them unutterably vulgar and not even convincing fakes. He decked her out in some of the more ostentatious of them and paid three times what the two flustered ladies who ran the booth asked of him.

Day drifts into night and Marcel kisses Viola. It seems to her that “she had never been kissed with any expertise.” Until Marcel.

The thought of parting seems impossible. Marcel asks Viola to run away with him: to “go somewhere, anywhere, everywhere until we are ready to return.” How often do adults venture into the “land of running away?” She says yes. Marcel is sure his family won’t miss him and Viola pens a quick note to her daughters, telling them not to worry, that she won’t be home for a bit. Does it sound too good to be true? Will their halcyon days and weeks stretch on forever? Or are they incorrect in thinking that their absence won’t be noticed? It is at this point that their idyllic isolation turns farcical – but charmingly and believably so. Balogh portrays their loving families accurately, all crotchety and concerned.

What was it about Someone to Care that seemed so familiar? It was Georgette Heyer’s Sprig Muslin that had me drawing parallels, particularly the element of farce, here defined as “ludicrously improbable situations.” Secondly, the notion that in the prescribed world of most aristocrats, running away from the ton is a prerequisite for untrammeled, pastoral, passionate romance. Marcus and Viola’s initial relationship is wildly reckless and enchanting – and their journey after their private bubble bursts is equally absorbing. If ever a pair deserved their happily-ever-after, these two do.

FINAL DECISION: I loved this serious and mature romance between two people in their forties getting a second chance at a love that was impossible before. Balogh is a marvel at these slow developing love stories.

THE STORY: Two years after the death of the Earl of Riverdale, his family has adjusted to their changed circumstances. Except that at what should be a joyful moment, the woman who was unhappily "married" for over twenty years only to find out her marriage was illegal feels everything overwhelming her. Viola flees her family and friends intending to return home. On the way, however, she meets Marcel Lamarr. Years ago, the two had a flirtation that Viola would not pursue because she was married. Marcel is a rake, but when the two meet again, Marcel intends to finally get the woman who got away.

OPINION: I loved this book. I loved that Marc and Viola are mature characters compared to the normal heroes and heroines in historicals. They are in their early 40s and its nice to see that their story isn't locked into a typical mature story.

Marc and Viola demonstrate that even when having adult children, a person can want to escape, to be alive and have passion and even a bit irresponsible. Even more interesting to me, these characters have pasts filled with mistakes. And their romance doesn't go smoothly at all.

Marc is a man running from his responsibilities. He was devastated by the death of his wife, he removed himself from his children and instead lived a life of a irresponsible rake. Afraid of love, filled with grief and guilt, Marc doesn't know how to connect to the very thing he truly wants.

Viola did everything she was supposed to do. She obeyed her father when he contracted a marriage for her. She was faithful to a man who gave nothing to her but children. Always proper, always respectable, she was horribly betrayed when she discovered that her husband was actually a bigamist and she was no wife at all.

A chance encounter between the two and the memory of the time years ago when they felt an attraction to one another brings Marc and Viola together. Viola is willing to throw off all the years of being responsible. Balance would require that eventually Marc but toss off all the years of being irresponsible. The question for most of the book is whether the two can find their way to balance.

I loved these two. Their journey is serious and takes time. I really love the Balogh romances which allow the characters time to breathe in their relationship. The story has an interesting balance where there is an initial and hot part and then the growth and chance for these characters is allowed to take the time it needs to be real and lasting.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book turns the events of the "normal" romance novel on their head with things happening in a different order than I normally expect.

CONNECTED BOOKS: SOMEONE TO CARE is the fourth book in the Westcott series. The romance is self-contained, but I believe the book is better having read the others in the series because it gives understanding to Viola's state of mind.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Full disclosure, I had a difficult time getting into this book and even getting through it. Ms. Balogh is normally a big draw for me – I love most of her books – but for some reason I struggled to get into this 4th book in her Wescott series. It is extremely well written and her characters are brilliant, as usual, but so many factors of this story just did not do it for me.

Viola Kingsley has had her life torn apart through no fault of her own. The life she once knew is lost to her and its time to move on and start anew… if only she could bring herself to commit to do it. She is angry and sick of trying to please her family and pretend that she is settled with her new circumstances. So, when a man she once discarded for a different life enters her new one unexpectedly, she takes the chance to escape for just a brief while.

Marcel Lamarr, Marquess of Dorchester, has had his fair share of tragic circumstances and years of living a life that just didn’t feel like it fit. He is restless and discontented and just begging for a change. When he encounters Viola, the woman who scorned him so many years ago, he can’t forget the way she made him feel and all the warm fuzzies she STILL makes him feel. A sensual encounter and a chance to forget his responsibilities for even a few days is exactly what he needs but will a casual encounter ensnare them both in a way they will not be able to escape a second time…

I love the concept of a second chance at love – both main characters have had previous marriages – but when said characters are in the 40’s with adult children, it just doesn’t feel like the typical period romance that I find myself interested in. Don’t get me wrong, the simpering virgin bride annoys the heck out of me and is so unrealistic given modern sensibilities. But, as much as I might relate to an older heroine more than a younger one, I feel like this novel was better suited for a modern romance than a historical one. Not that older characters didn’t find love in the 1800’s… but I don’t read romance for its realism but more for a little escape from my own reality for a few hundred pages. That said, Ms. Balogh has still written a lovely romance that might really attract a wide audience but the concept just wasn’t for me.

I really loved Viola’s character in the pervious books in the series so I was excited to read her story and see her get a happy ending. But, this book opened a window to a woman I found that I didn’t like as much as I did previously. She has a touch of the poor-me syndrome and as much as I understand wanting to get away from it all, her escape is a little selfish as are many of her comments and actions throughout the book which also annoyed me. But her journey to becoming a better lover, mother and person is quite lovely so I didn’t close the book disliking her.

Marcel is also not the most likeable man. I think his personality and his actions over the course of the last 20 years are part of what made it hard for me to get invested in this story. He lost his first wife tragically when they were very young and has spent his life in a debauched haze of women and ignoring his children. Any man who would let his pain rule his life for so long, comes across as weak and not sexy in my eyes… he even let other people raise his children who he sees once a year. No thanks. He might also have a slightly touching redemption at the end of the book but I could not get past how crappy a parent he was, whatever the reasons.

Overall, I gave the book a 3 knowing that others will find the story touching and authentic. It has some great moments that made me smile and remember why Ms. Balogh is an institution in the romance world but you need to get past the main characters first.

~ Danielle

*4.5 stars*

A regency romance that pushes all the boundaries…

I am a huge fan of Mary Balogh but drifted away from her books as I found myself reading less from the regency genre. Tastes change I guess and the genre as a whole seemed to tell a similar story with little variation. This series caught my eye, though, and I’m beyond happy it did as this author has taken the regency I thought I knew and turned it on its ear. Marcel and Viola’s story quickly reminded me why I loved this author’s writing as this couple’s story revealed a new perspective on a time long past…

“A brief escape offered by fate.”

Viola and Marcel were not in their twenties anymore, pushing forty actually, which immediately made me happy. Love is not limited to certain people, places or ages so having a mature hero and heroine ticked the first ‘happy’ box. They had met years ago but circumstances meant romance was off the table. Meeting now, they each had many life experiences to draw on and their circumstances had changed. That didn’t mean a relationship between would be easily had or accepted…

“She was forty-two years old and probably looked it. So what? Was her age something to be ashamed of?”

And take a chance they did. They flouted convention and borderline respectability to enjoy each other’s company and explore what could be. Things got steamy and intimate, pushing all boundaries. Temporary? Long-lasting? Nothing was a given except their appreciation for each other and the pull they could no longer resist.

“Presence. Charisma. Power. Ruthlessness. Sexuality – though that was not a word very common to her vocabulary.”

Love is a family affair and before the dust settles everyone gets involved, causing a host of complications that made this story read much too quickly. The Westcotts are pushing every boundary society has created and it is a treat to follow, and cheer them, along!

Title: Someone to Care
Author: Mary Balogh
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"Someone to Care" by Mary Balogh

My Thoughts...

This was quite a interesting Victorian historical fiction read by this author will capture your attention from the first chapter. I liked this captivating story of Viola Kingsley and Marcel Lamarr who reconnected after many years and find a second chance at love and life. What brought this story up to this point? Well, from a loveless marriage for 23 years to find out at her husband [the Earl was a bigamist] death Viola Kingsley wasn't marriaged at all and her children were illegitimate. 'Being cast out of proper society after learning her marriage and life as a Countess' was a farce she decides to leave the area for a home by herself he meets Marcel Lamarr [an old flirt, a rogue who she rejected 14 years ago] and they decide to run away together and this is where this story will take off.

To get the rest of this intriguing story you will just have to pick up "Someone to Care" to find out the rest of the story which will become somewhat a complicated life as we learn more about Viola and Marcel's feelings for each other that slowly grows into a slow friendship and then develops into love.

However, they had both had 'experienced great pain in their life and dealt with it quite differently.'
I will stop here and say if you are into a 'older heroine and hero' getting their HEA then this engaging read would be for you.

~~Reviewed by Tracy~~

Marcel Lamarr, The Marquess of Dorchester is not happy, his coach has stopped at an inn to take care of a horse with a loose shoe, and he and his brother Andre are stuck in the taproom until it can be repaired. He just wants to get home, make an appearance and then go back to his libertine lifestyle in London. Being home just reminds him of his failings and he has no desire to think about them.

While he is brooding, he happens to glance over to the dining room and sees a face from the past – the Countess of Riverdale, a woman he loved and who told him to go away 14 years ago. He learns from his brother that she no longer uses the Westcott name, she is now Miss. Kingley.

Viola Kingley is running away. Over two years have passed since she learned the awful truth – her marriage of over twenty years was invalid, she is not the Countess of Riverdale, her three children are all illegitimate and the society that used to revere her now shuns her. She thought she had made peace with it all, but at a recent family gathering, she lost it and just needed to get away and be alone. In her rush to leave, she refused all offers for transportation and rented a carriage – a carriage with a bad axle and now she is stranded at an inn in the middle of nowhere. She secures a room and goes to the dining room for a meal and that is when she sees him – the man she loved but sent away 14 years ago.

Marcel approaches her and asks if there was a time limit when she told him to go away. When she says no, he suggests they spend the day together, which leads to the night together. Then he suggests they run away together – not for forever, but for a few weeks – just until what is between them fades – which it will. Viola agrees, surprising both of them.

They enjoy a wonderful affair and when Viola senses his withdrawal, she tells him she wants to go home. He is hurt and angry, he is not ready to end things, but he lashes out with polite, yet hurtful words. They make plans to leave the next day, but everything changes in the blink of an eye. Viola’s frantic family has found them. To save her reputation, Marcel announces that they are betrothed and decided to get away and steal some private time before they told their families. Viola is shocked but plays along. Later she confronts him, but now they are interrupted by the arrival of his family! The story is repeated and plans are made.

Viola loves Marcel, but she will not marry him, she already endured one loveless marriage and has no desire to shackle herself to a man who doesn’t love her and will not be faithful. But how will they be able to end this farce without hurting anyone?

I really loved this story, Marcel is such a complexed character, he has deep hurts in his past and there are things that he must address before he can even think about a relationship with Viola. Viola too has things that she must make peace with before sharing her life with anyone. I really loved them both, but I felt like they deliberately misunderstood each other and let it drag on until almost the last page. But when they finally talk, it was wonderful and I loved it.

This is the fourth book in the Westcott series, and it can be read as a stand-alone title, but for the best understanding of Viola’s backstory, I would suggest at least reading the first book, Someone to Love before you read this story.

I voluntarily read an Advance Readers’ Copy of this book and all the opinions in this review are mine.

This fourth book in Mary Balogh’s Westcott series is a gently moving and beautifully observed story about a woman trying to define herself and her purpose in life after the death of the man she had believed, for more than twenty years, to be her husband. Readers familiar with the series will recall that the Westcotts were thrown into upheaval by the revelation that the head of the family, the Earl of Riverdale, had contracted his second marriage bigamously, rendering his son and two daughters illegitimate and his wife… not his wife at all.

Viola Kingsley had, when a much younger woman, been pretty much sold into marriage to Humphrey, the Ear of Riverdale, who was in desperate need of her large dowry. For more than twenty years, she had been the perfect wife, mother and countess; composed, confident, poised and dignified, she had been widely respected and, in spite of the fact that her marriage was not at all happy, she had a comfortable life, children she adored, friends and such occupation as she desired.

Two years earlier, however, she discovered that her life had been based on a lie, that she was not and had never been the Countess of Riverdale at all, but that she had lived in sin with the Earl for more than two decades. In shame and humiliation, and shunned by society, she fled with her daughters, Camille and Abigail, to her mother’s home in Bath and then, with Camille about to be married, Viola left Abigail with her mother and went to live with her brother, a country vicar, and re-assumed her maiden name. But she couldn’t remain with her brother forever – and when she was reunited with the family, was surprised and touched when her husband’s legitimate daughter Anna (the Duchess of Netherby) asked her to return, with Abigail, to her previous home at Hinsford. Viola has been a mess of roiling emotions for the past couple of years; feeling she has no right to be counted as one of the Westcott family, she has repeatedly tried to distance herself from them, only to be brought back to the fold by the generous and sympathetic group of people who, regardless of legalities, continue to regard Viola as one of their own.

At the end of the previous book, Someone to Wed , we learned that Viola had, without telling anyone where she was going, absented herself from the family gathering celebrating the birth of Camille’s son. But Viola has finally snapped. The love and acceptance she has encountered from her not-family is stifling her, and although she knows she is being incredibly ungrateful, she just can’t bear to be around them. For two years she has tried to disappear into the background, maintaining a façade of quiet acceptance, internalising her own pain and suffering - and she can’t do it any more. She needs to figure out who and what she is – she has spent her forty-two years being a countess, a wife, a daughter, a mother… but who is she now?

When the hired carriage she is travelling in needs to be repaired, Viola breaks her journey at an inn, where she encounters someone she hasn’t seen in almost fifteen years – the austerely handsome and compellingly attractive Mr. Marcel Lamar, a man whose reputation as an inveterate womaniser has only grown over the years. Their last encounter had been at a ball when Viola, who was deeply infatuated with Marc, but was nonetheless a faithful wife in spite of the unhappiness of her marriage, had rebuffed his flirtation and told him in no uncertain terms to leave her alone – and he took her at her word.

Marc has, for the past two years, been the Marquess of Dorchester, although it appears that Viola is unaware of this and still refers to him as “Mr.” – he doesn’t bother to correct her. He is widely known to be a rake, reputed to be a man without a heart and doesn’t put himself out for anyone or anything. He has stopped at an inn on his way to pay one of his semi-annual visits to his country seat where he will spend a couple of days with his twins, Bertrand and Estelle who are nearing their eighteenth birthdays, and then he will disappear back to London and his own life, leaving them in the capable hands of their aunt, to whom he entrusted them following his young wife’s death almost twenty years previously.

He is somewhat surprised to recognise Viola when she arrives at the inn, and not at all surprised to find that he is as attracted to her now as he was the last time he’d seen her. They strike up a conversation and agree to spend the next day together, and Marc delights in watching Viola gradually breaking out of her carefully constructed shell of dignity and propriety to reveal a woman with a wonderful sense of the ridiculous, who does not stand on ceremony and, he suspects, is possessed of hidden depths of passion he very much hopes to explore.

If you’ve read the synopsis, you’ll know that Viola and Marc agree to run away together to indulge in a brief affair. Both are running from their families for different reasons, which, in Marc’s case, prove to be especially heartbreaking. For almost twenty years, he has denied himself the love and affection of his children and those around him because of the burden of guilt he carries over the death of his wife, believing himself to be an unworthy and unfit father. He has deliberately isolated himself, indulging only in physical relationships and thinking himself incapable of falling in love… although of course, what Ms. Balogh does brilliantly is to show him doing just that while completely unaware of what’s happening - or at least in very deep denial about it.

Equally brilliant is the way Ms. Balogh has so perfectly captured and conveyed Viola’s situation. She needs time and space to work out who she is and where she goes from here, and much as she loves her daughters and other members of her extended family and feels guilty for not wanting to be with them, she knows she can’t continue as she has been doing and needs to break out of the rut. I’m sure there are many women who will relate to her predicament whether it be in relation to the loss of a partner or “empty nest” syndrome; there comes a point when we realise we’ve been defining ourselves in one way for many years and that we’re a bit lost when we no longer fit that definition. I applauded Viola for wanting to take time for herself and for being selfish for probably the first time in her life. She’s a grown woman – why shouldn’t she have an affair with a handsome man? Provided they’re discreet, they’re hurting no-one - and they both know it’s a finite fling… don’t they?

The first half of the book, in which Viola and Marc embark upon their physical relationship and at the same time develop a friendship outside of the bedroom is beautifully done, peppered with moments of humour and tender affection, insight and longing. In the second half, however, things start to run away a bit; I won’t spoil the storyline, but while there were things I really liked – such as meeting Marc’s children – there were others that struck me as a bit off, such as Marc jumping to a fairly unwarranted conclusion about Viola’s wishes. His misguided attempt to protect her reputation is understandable, but there are too many fingers in too many pies, and I just wanted everyone to go home so that Marc and Viola could straighten things out between them without any more needless angst!

Had the second half of Someone to Care continued in the same vein as the first, I probably would be calling it my favourite of the series, but the weaker second half means it just misses that appellation. Still, it’s an excellent addition to the Westcott canon, and I, for one, was delighted to read a story featuring an attractive, vibrant heroine in her forties. Ms. Balogh once again delivers a character-driven romance of great emotional depth and insight and I’m sure fans will enjoy it.

Grade: B+ / 4.5 stars

Another beautifully written romance from Mary Balogh. Some patrons may be troubled by the hero's backstory.

Viola, the onetime Countess of Riverdale, is so overwhelmed by the family circumstances that it hits her at her grandchild's baptism in Bath that she runs away. When the carriage breaks down, she winds up in the same country village as Marcel Lamarr, the Marquess of Dorchester. He had flirted with her fourteen years before, and she now agrees to a liaison with him. She feels physical passion for the first time and well understood.

As part of the Westcott family series, it does involve some knowledge of the circumstances that led to disgrace and fall from being a Countess. It's clearly woven into the text if you haven't read earlier novels in the series, so you can pick it up and follow along without any difficulty. Viola is 42 years old, so this isn't a story about a young girl with her first Season in London, but a woman looking to figure out what she wants out of her life other than to be defined by the roles she takes with others. It's what we would recognize now as a midlife crisis of sorts, because in her time she didn't have interests other than controlling a household or looking after children, and those are not tasks she has to take on now that she is no longer a countess.Marcel, on the other hand, runs from emotional entanglements. We learn why about two-thirds of the way through the book when we really see how Marcel interacts with people.

The structure follows that of the usual Regency romance, with a little bit of a twist. Usually, we have the hero and heroine meet cute in some way, have an emotional connection, get separated by some kind of thrilling circumstance, then come together and get married. Here, there was the physical connection first, and the "thrilling circumstance" is less of an outside force than their own fears and emotional baggage driving them apart even as the external situation forces them together. It's more realistic for these two, who have realized that romantic love isn't the center of the universe, but the part that makes it worthwhile to keep going and try. There are all kinds of love, and we see shining examples of it in every relationship here.

Balogh is such a talented writer -- she makes the extraordinary ordinary and the commonplace sublime.

https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2018/05/01/keira-soleore-recommended-historical-romances-mary-balogh-elizabeth-kingston/