You don't have to love historical romance to know that you will love Mary Balogh's historical romance. She does it like almost no other, pulling at reader's capacity to feel empathy for even the characters they never saw coming.

Mary Balogh's writing has always been beautiful and there are no words to describe how amazing all of her books are! Every one of her characters is so realistic when it comes to their interactions and reactions and it's so fulfilling to read all of their stories! Camille and Joel have a subtle enemies-to-lovers relationship which is one of my favorite tropes! Loved reading their story!

The former Lady Camille deals with life after losing her legitimacy in Bath. She decides to follow in her legitimate sister’s path and gets a job at an orphanage.

This is the second story in MB’s Westcott series and it’s Camille Westcott’s story. She is Anna’s (the heroine from book one) half-sister, so when Anna inherited a fortune from a father she never knew, Camille and her family found themselves on the out with society and the ton.

The book, as usual is well written and plotted but it’s this heroine that bugged me to no end. It took all my patience to try and understand her and her actions. Almost as much as it took our hero. I mean, the man was a saint for trying to excuse and explain her behavior.

I also enjoyed Rosalyn Landor’s narration. She has a way of bringing MB’s books to life with a wonderful portrayal of a vast cast of characters.

I’m really enjoying the unique concept and the characters in this series.

Melanie for b2b

"You are an incredibly strong person, Camille," he said. "But sometimes you build a wall about yourself. You are doing it now. Is that the only way you can hold yourself together?"

She was about to utter an angry retort. But she was feeling weary. Her feet were sore. "Yes," she said.

His eyes continued to search her face. "Yet behind the wall," he said, "you are amazingly tenderhearted. And loyal hearted."

Bottom Line Up-Top. Wow, this review ended up being long. Granted, there are a fair number of excerpts here, but still—I couldn't help myself! Camille (22) and Joel (27) just shine and my love for them (especially Camille) made me wax on endlessly lol.

The story is wonderful and has everything I love from a romance! Both leading characters are fantastic, very three-dimensional. I adore Camille and she really brought out my emotions; I don't normally tear up at romance books, but I did several times here. She's so strong and determined, but so lonely and hurt too. Joel's playfulness and straightforwardness is a perfect match for her, and I loved every interaction between them (except for when they were driving me nuts of course ;-). The chemistry is great, there is development on both sides, and although my heart was sometimes breaking, I was also laughing and smiling more than I would have expected—there are some surprisingly funny lines and moments. Cannot recommend enough!

My Review. This book reminded me of why I adore Mary Balogh so very much. She is such a talented author—she's great at romance, yes, but she's also a wonderful author in terms of character-building and the depth she is able to give to her characters. Besides for a couple of duds (I could never get into any of the Survivors' Club books I tried), she has always been a hit with me, and this was no exception.

I haven't read Book 1 in this series, Someone to Love , but didn't find that an impediment to enjoying this book at all. I'm actually very curious to know what people who have read Book 1 think of Camille, because we know from this book that she definitely didn't take too kindly to the heroine, Anna.

To my surprise, Miss Camille Westcott firmly secured a spot on my Favorite Heroines shelf. I say to my surprise, because she would normally be the snotty bitch that we'd likely see as the foil to the heroine, rather than the heroine of her own novel. In this book, from the beginning we have more insight into her and so I was never put off, but prior to this book (and I'm guessing during Book 1), she was the typical spoiled Earl's daughter that one would imagine. She was never petty or mean, and even in her coldness there would never have been any malice; rather, she was aloof and haughty, an aristocratic lady through-and-through.

When we meet Camille, she's at a very low point in her life. In Book 1, she and her younger siblings were declared illegitimate, because it turns out her now-dead-father, the Earl, had married prior to marrying her mother, and that his first wife only died after his second marriage took place. No one knew this, though, and so it took the family completely by surprise: one day she was a perfect Earl's daughter, engaged to a handsome, perfect Viscount, and the next it's all gone and she is holed up at her grandmother's in Bath.
They were her blood relatives, but they were divided from her now by a great gulf of a barrier. Was she the only one who could see it? [...] There was not a one of them who did not have a title—except for Cousin Althea, who nevertheless now had the distinction of being the Earl of Riverdale's mother. All of them were of impeccable lineage. All of them had regarded Anastasia with outrage when she had been shown into the salon at Avery's house on that most infamous of days. They would have continued to do so, even after knowing she was Papa's daughter, if she had also been his illegitimate daughter. They could not seem to see that that was exactly what Camille, Harry, and Abigail were.
She's been wallowing in (well-deserved IMO!) self-pity for a few months, and when the book starts she has decided she needs to shake herself out of it all, take her situation in hand, and move on. She feels lost though: she defined herself through her position, through this "perfect lady image" that she thought was all that mattered, that she thought her being loved was dependent on (though she doesn't make that connection immediately, of course). Who is she now? Where does she fit? What is her life supposed to be about?
... Viscount Uxbury [her former fiancé] now somehow represented the whole of her life as it had been, though she had not known it at the time. It had all been built not upon rock, but upon sand. And, like even the most carefully built sand castle, it had crumbled and fallen.
She's adrift and completely lost—but not in any way that is annoying or self-pitying or turned me off in any way; I want to be clear about that, because if any of what I write gives you that impression, then the fault is through my description, not with Camille in the text. This is what made her so lovable and made me feel so strongly that I honestly teared up at a couple different points, my heart breaking for her: she's so strong, but also so vulnerable.

She decides to start teaching at the orphanage in Bath that Anna, her half-sister, grew up in, and almost starts to kind of take on Anna's life, before she was discovered to be an heiress and went off to marry a duke. Her sister Abigail says to her:
"We cannot change it by agonizing over it or imagining how different everything might have been. Why do you need to go to that orphanage, Cam? Are you trying to ... punish yourself somehow for the fact that it was she who grew up there when strictly speaking it ought to have been us?"
Part of it is indeed a kind of self-imposed punishment, but it's also about rediscovering herself and who she is now—who she can and has to be. She wants to prove to herself and to everyone else that she's strong and can stand on her own, that she's as strong as she thought herself to be before all of this happened and she saw herself crumble in devastation, feeling lost and out of place.

Mr. Joel Cunningham is a fantastic hero period, but he's also a perfect hero for Camille. They are opposites in so many ways and at the beginning, there is definite tension between them. On Camille's part, she's wary of and cold / distant with everyone (except for the children); on Joel's part, he was Anna's best friend growing up and even loves/loved her before she married, so he knows that she badly wants a relationship with Camille and her siblings, but that they haven't reciprocated.

He's illegitimate, an orphan, very laidback and casual, and a painter to boot—completely opposite from anything having to do with her previous life and the men she met there. She's also aware of him in a way she's never been, and her internal battle regarding that is extremely amusing to watch—watching her think something and then be scandalized by her own thoughts lol :-). And of course once she starts noticing, she can't stop ... ;-)
She did not want to be attractive to any man. The very idea! Least of all did she want to attract the art teacher with his slovenly appearance and wicked, insolent grin and his dark, bold eyes, which seemed to see through to the back of her skull and the depths of her soul. He somehow represented chaos, and her life had always been characterized by order.
Joel dislikes her and is annoyed by her at the beginning, but he's also a very good guy who is surprisingly understanding and sensitive, so even at the beginning, when he finds himself put off by her, he often ends up reaching out in a way that lowers her defenses a bit. He doesn't want to like her, but in spite of himself, he finds himself admiring and respecting her, and wanting to discover more.
Perfection as she had known it was no longer possible for Camille Westcott, and she was not willing to settle for anything less. She must search for something wholly new instead. It was not easy to like the woman, but he felt a grudging sort of respect for her.

He amended his thought immediately, however, for when she was in the schoolroom, flushed and animated and in full military sergeant mode and surrounded by organized chaos, he almost did like her. Indeed, he was almost attracted to that teacher self of hers. Perhaps because that self suggested some underlying passion. Now that was a startling thought.
The summary is a bit misleading, in that while Joel is indeed hired to paint her portrait, the summary makes it seem like that's what the book centers around and that's not at all the case. Camille and Joel's interactions are grounded in her teaching (view spoiler) at the school every day and the fact that he teaches art there twice a week; he sketches her during the book, but when the book ends he hasn't even started on her portrait yet. (Why do romance summaries always do this?? #petpeeve).

What makes for a nice interplay is that while Camille's journey through all of this is one of self-discovery, Joel's process for doing someone's portrait revolves around getting to know who that person really is; he doesn't do portraits that flatter the person by making them appear 20 years younger or a lot thinner, etc. (as was sometimes done in that day and age), but he's able to show them as they are physically, while also capturing the essence of who they are as a person and bringing their inner beauty out. That involves knowing and understanding the person he's painting though, and so there's this continual thread throughout the book of him wondering about and trying to discover and understand Camille at the same time that she is doing the same thing. She says to him at one point early on:
"I would warn you that I will not make it easy for you. But if you do get to know me, please let me know what you discover. I have no idea who I am."
And later:
By God, he thought, she was a fascinating person. She was going to take some knowing, some understanding. For the first time in a long while he began to doubt his artistic abilities. How would he ever get her right? And what would he do if he never could?
And ...
"Do you realize how incredibly fascinating you are, Camille?" he asked. And how irritating? [LOLOL]

"Nonsense," she said. "I have never cultivated either beauty or charm, much less womanly wiles. I have cultivated only the will to do what I believe to be right in all circumstances."

He glanced up at her and smiled. She was looking prunish. "You will realize your own fascination," he said, "after I have painted you."

"Then your painting will be worthless," she told him. "I thought you refused to flatter your subjects. Why would you make an exception of me?"
The chemistry between them is fabulous, as is the playfulness and sweetness that surprisingly emerges. Every time Cam laughs or lets herself break a rule she normally wouldn't think twice about, there's this joy that is just delightful to watch—both because of her, and because of Joel's reaction to it. He's so sweet, but also strong and reliable; this presence of warmth and strength that she so needs at this point in her life. It's not only one-sided though, which I also appreciated: he goes through difficult things that make him need her support, and I always like when an author does that. We're able to see both characters' vulnerabilities and strengths, and seeing the mutual support they provide one another is what makes the developing relationship so believable.

Random Note / Annoyance. (view spoiler)

Another Quote.
It was chilly and blustery, but at least it was not raining. Camille set the direction and strode off toward the river, Mr. Cunningham—Joel—at her side. He was not talking, and she felt no inclination to carry on a conversation. She could not explain to herself why she had wanted him with her, but she was pleased with herself about one thing. She had never before suggested to a man that he take a walk with her. She had never called any man outside her family by his first name either. Not that she had called Mr. Cunningham by his yet.

"Joel," she said, and was surprised to realize she had spoken out loud.

"Camille," he answered.

And no man outside her family had ever called her by her first name—not even Viscount Uxbury after they were betrothed. But instead of feeling uncomfortable, she felt—freed. She was no longer bound by the old rules. She could set her own. She had wanted company, and she had got it by her own efforts.

This review is of an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Some changes and/or edits may be made to the final published version.

Mary Balogh is one of my favorite romance authors, and her Westcott series is a winner. Camille Westcott has gone from being the daughter of earl and the toast of society to an illegitimate child scorned by her former friends and fiancee. Balogh brings such depth to her characters, and Camille struggles through an array of emotions as she works through the startling revelations of her past and builds a new future.

Ms. Balogh has pulled off a miracle--not only did she have me feeling empathy for Camille, but by the book's end I actually liked her! (She was pretty prickly, to put it nicely, in book 1--Someone to Love and even in the early parts of this one I had a hard time not rolling my eyes at her...)

What helped early on was seeing her take over her half-sister's (her emphasis) job as teacher at the orphanage and trying so hard and being so sure that she was failing at it. (She wasn't; she was brilliant, but boy can I sympathize with that "I don't have a clue what I'm doing; what if I scar these kids for life?" feeling that she had.) At the beginning I was in total sympathy with Joel, who saw Camille as an unfeeling drill sergeant who was trying to usurp her half-sister's former position--watching her with her pupils, though, that began to change for both of us. I loved watching both of them come to respect and like each other as the story progressed; their transition from two people who wanted nothing to do with each other to friends to lovers was nicely paced and believable.

And that ending...it tugged on my heartstrings big time! I cannot wait for the rest of the Westcotts to get their stories!

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Someone to Hold is a step in a new direction compared to the many stories of ladies who find appropriate mates. Mary Balogh seems to question the emotional toll Regency restrictions had on young people. Most of the characters Balogh has presented in the novels I've read are spunky and turn up their noses at the restrictions society imposed on them. In this story, the main characters struggle under the burden imposed by other people's wrong doing and carelessness. It is quite a fine story, well worth reading.

Reviewed on February 8, 2017: http://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-b-reviews/b-minus-reviews/joint-review-someone-to-hold-by-mary-balogh/

[book:Someone to Hold|30658514] is the second book in the Westcott series by Mary Balogh. I strongly recommend reading the first book, [book:Someone to Love|28953499] before reading Someone to Hold.

After introducing Anna Snow in [book:Someone to Love|28953499], learning about her history and the startling events which led her to marry Avery, the second book in the series (and nobody does Regency series quite like the great Mary Balogh) transforms Camille Westcott into a fully realized person. I was so happy to see this, as I thought Camille's introduction in the first book was as a one-dimensional, spiteful, hoary character, serving only to make Anna seem more sympathetic or even a bit pitiable.

Camille, strides bravely down to the orphanage in an effort to, erm, well she is not so very sure why she does so, only that she feels compelled. After losing her identity, and all that she believed that she was, she naturally feels lost. And because she is prideful, she does not want to appear pitiful, or weak. At any rate, she now works (and lives) at the orphanage where Anna grew up.

There she meets Joel, recently successful portrait painter, and longtime friend of Anna. Joel still volunteers at the orphanage, teaching art and hanging around his childhood home. Joel has hankered after Anna for ages, but seems to cherish no ill will toward her, and realizes that he must be happy for her, because she is happy. Joel is surprisingly well-grounded for being so artistic, often reminding himself that life is life, his past is his past, and there is no reason to dwell on what he cannot change. I liked Joel, and actually found him pretty near perfect. Camille I also liked, <spoiler> especially how strong she was to be able to finally accept the love of Anna </spoiler>.

Per usual Balogh, the angsty angst is present, although I found it very appropriate to the circumstances that each character was facing. The misunderstandings are also present, but seem to be resolved extremely quickly, and allow for their relationship to grow in a natural way. I also liked that the setting was Bath, which was described very beautifully.

This is one of my favorite books of Mary Balogh's. Highly recommended.

As a whole, I enjoyed this second installment of Mary Balogh’s Wescott series better than I did its predecessor, though it was a decidedly slow build. My chief problem with Someone to Love was that I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters and the interchangeable use of their names and titles. Here, that wasn’t as much as an issue because the supporting cast was brought in more slowly, after the primary leads were well established. Add to that my familiarity with the players from book one, plus a (somewhat complicated) family tree drawn out at the beginning, and I think most people will be able to follow along.

This book features the unlikely pairing of Camille Wescott and Joel Cunningham. The author had her work set out for her to make Camille a sympathetic heroine. She grew up a lady of rank and privilege, who lost everything in the last book when it was revealed that her father’s marriage to her mother was invalid. At face value, it would be easy to empathize with that, but she was such a horrible, snobbish brat to her new sister, it was hard to wish anything for her except a raging case of diarrhea. As the story begins, she is still pretty much a snobby shrew. She refuses to socialize with the people of Bath. She still won’t talk to her sister, Anna. But for some reason, she’s decided to start teaching at the orphanage where Anna was raised.

Enter Joel. He was Anna’s childhood friend. He’s an artist and he teaches twice a week at the same school. He wasn’t disposed to like Camille because she’d been so horrible to Anna, but he has a grudging respect for how she connects with the children. And once Camille’s grandmother commissions him to paint Camille’s portrait, he becomes determined to know her better so he can capture her in his painting.

So like I said, it was slow at the beginning. And it was hard to root for Camille, even though Joel was another story. He was a good man. He cared about the kids. He was even kind to Camille and gave her credit for her work at the school, despite the way she behaved. She was so prickly.

But once these two started to connect, the book got so much better. For two people who are so different, they ended up with so much in common. I really enjoyed watching her realize her feelings and embracing her humanity. I loved watching her fall for a man she would have never chosen in her old life –and I loved watching her grow to care for the children she was teaching. There was even a scene in the Epilogue that made me tear up. By the time it was all said and done, I was 100% for Camille and Joel. (It just took me a little while to get there.)

If you give it a try, it’s worth sticking with it.

Rating: B

Someone to Hold, the second book in Ms. Balogh’s Westcott series, tells the story of Miss – formerly Lady – Camille Westcott, the eldest daughter of the late Earl of Riverdale, who discovered after his death that she, along with her brother and sister, was illegitimate because their parents’ marriage was bigamous.
In the previous book, Someone to Love, which announced this discovery, Camille was cold, hard, disdainful and full of hatred for the newly discovered half-sister whom she regarded as the cause of her own loss of rank and position. Making Camille into a heroine listeners could like and root for was something of a tremendous ask, but Mary Balogh does it with aplomb, giving a clear, warts-and-all portrait of a young woman who suddenly finds out that the life she has known is a lie, and who is struggling to gain a sense of self and identity in a world which has drastically changed around her.
At the beginning of Someone to Hold, Camille and her sister Abigail are living with their maternal grandmother in Bath; their brother Harry has joined the army and their mother has gone to live with her brother. Camille is restless and impatient with the way that everyone around her seems almost to be trying to carry on as though nothing has happened; but she can’t ignore the fact that her life has changed forever. As the daughter of an earl, she faced a certain future, but now that’s gone and she isn’t sure what she’s supposed to do now.
Fortunately for Camille, some of the things that made her so easy to dislike in the previous book – her stubbornness and her … backbone, for want of a better word – are also the things that enable her to take a look at herself, realise she doesn’t like what she sees, and then decide to go out and find her own – different – future. She approaches the head of the orphanage at which her half-sister, Anna Snow (now the Duchess of Netherby) grew up and then taught, and offers her services as a teacher. Camille has no experience whatsoever, but the head teacher agrees to a trial period of two weeks to see how things work out.
On her introductory visit to the orphanage, Camille meets Joel Cunningham, a celebrated local artist whose unique style of portraiture has earned him a reputation for excellence and whose list of well-to-do clientele is quickly expanding. Joel was raised in the orphanage and returns there a couple of afternoons a week to teach art; he was also in love with Anna and while he accepts that she has married someone else, he is still a little heartbroken over her, and is resentful of Camille, about whom he has heard from Anna in her letters.
At first, Camille and Joel aren’t at all impressed with one another and their relationship is an antagonistic one, but over time, they begin to draw closer and discover that there’s an inexplicably strong current of attraction running between them.
While the romance in the book is quite charming, the way in which Ms. Balogh transforms Camille from the snobbish, unpleasant woman we met in the previous book into a woman that listeners can sympathise with is the real focus of the story, and it’s extremely well done. Even moreso when one considers that the author has effected the change without giving Camille a complete personality transplant. She’s the same woman as before, but her strength and determination are given a different focus here, enabling her to face and rise to the new challenges with which she is confronted.
Joel is a lovely romantic hero, a genuinely good, decent man who has worked hard to gain the recognition he has achieved. When he is unexpectedly confronted with life-changing information, he turns to Camille in order to anchor himself and make sense of what he has learned. I loved that they had reached a place where they could turn to each other for whatever support they needed, and that their relationship is so honest – even when that honesty is painful or hurtful.
The pacing is fairly slow, but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all; rather the opposite. The listener needs time to come to know who Camille really is, and Ms. Balogh reveals her personality by degrees, showing, through her interactions with her pupils, that she is a woman with untapped reserves of kindness and compassion. It’s all very subtle; Camille wants to do well and gives a lot of thought to activities that will engage the children as well as teach them something (you can tell Ms. Balogh used to be a teacher!) and even though she is not sure about what she’s doing, it’s clear she has a real aptitude for the job. Joel is reluctantly impressed when he sees the affection Camille inspires in her pupils, despite her tendency to be a bit stiff and unsmiling; but as he comes to know her better, he comes to understand and admire her for the way in which she’s rebuilding her life and striking out on her own. At one point he even wonders if perhaps what happened to Camille might have been the best thing to have happened to her… and while Camille is upset and angry that he could say such a thing, she gradually comes to understand what he meant by it – and then to agree.
The other important underlying theme deals with Camille’s having to learn to accept the love and affection of others. Even though she was previously engaged to be married, it was a match made for expediency rather than affection, and the idea that she could be loved unconditionally and for being herself had never really been part of her life. She strongly resists being brought “back into the fold” by her family, believing they want her to give up the life she is making for herself, but comes to see that isn’t the case at all; they want to support her in her choices and want her to know that she can turn to them if she needs to. Camille, who has always been so self-sufficient, finds this difficult to accept, but by the end of the book, is starting to realise that affection is a two way street, and that she needs to let people in from time to time.
I did have some quibbles with certain aspects of the plot which seemed a little too convenient (Joel’s storyline), but overall Someone to Hold is an extremely insightful and engaging book featuring complex, flawed characters who feel like real people facing real dilemmas. Mary Balogh has an incredible gift for exploring and relating the emotions and motivations of her protagonists and does it with great subtlety and sensitivity.

Someone to Hold is the second in Mary Balogh's Westcott series.

Camille Westcott has recently discovered she is illegitimate. It was brought to light in the first book that her father had already been married when he married her mother, making the union void. When this information is announced, Camille's life flips upside down. She finds herself living in Bath, where her older half sister, Anna, grew up in an orphanage. For some reason Camille cannot even identify herself, she is drawn to the orphanage and stepping into Anna's old life.

Joel Cunningham is an orphan who grew up with Anna at the orphanage in Bath. He is a painter and he has gained some popularity among the Ton for his portraits. He also volunteers at the orphanage a couple times a week teaching art classes. Joel has learned of Camille through Anna's letters and initially has a negative opinion of her because of her treatment of Anna and her appearance.

The two learn to work together and learn more about each other. The romance didn't feel as fluid to me as most. It's almost like it happened completely by accident, and they both deny it even to themselves for quite some time. There were some very sweet parts though that gave me the warm fuzzies!

The main reason I like this book as much as I do, is because of Camille. She grows so much as a character. Mary Balogh really dug deep into her emotions and soul to help the reader understand and know Camille. I absolutely loved her "blossoming". Joel was just kind of there for me. Not bad but not exceptional. This came as a shock, because when reading Someone to Love, I was very interested in him as a side character.

This book was what I call typical Mary Balogh, and I enjoyed it. I am excited to continue the series.

Someone to Hold by Mary Balogh

Second book in the Westcott series

2.25 stars

“What I set as my primary goal in life was all a mirage in a vast, empty desert.”

Camille Westcott has lost everything. Her life has been turned upside down since finding out that her father’s marriage to his mother was a sham and her and her siblings are illegitimate. She finds herself in Bath at the orphanage where her half-sister lived and becomes a teacher to the orphans without any knowledge of children. Joel Cunningham is a renowned artist known for capturing self-portraits that bring out a person’s personality. Joel is no stranger the orphanage that Camille finds herself teaching at as he lived there as a child and teaches art to the orphans. Camille’s demeanor is stiff and cold and he finds nothing tasteful about her since her rejection of his dear friend (Camille’s half-sister), Anna, but when Camille’s grandmother commissions him to paint a portrait of her, he finds himself becoming attracted to her. This book is bland. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a HR novel that didn’t have me speed reading through (even my least favorite one I read quickly), but this one was so easy to put down. There are quite a few issues I have with this novel, but it also isn’t horrible because when it was fun to read I wasn’t bored and I found myself squealing at the cute moments.


Balogh’s writing style is impassion and cold. It’s hard to make a connection to her when her character match her writing style at the beginning of the novel. Another con to Balogh’s writing style is her tendency to have really long mental interjections before starting a conversation. It gets really easy to lose interest when I’m reading a conversation that last several pages because there are so much unnecessary anecdotes that lack in humor and are filled with existential drama. This story didn’t entrance me and in my opinion, that’s a bad sign in a HR. HR romance should make me want to never stop reading and I should gobble it the story up because it’s just so swoony and fun. This novel lacks just that.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 2

“Life has kick us in the teeth, Abby, and I am about to kick back. Hard.”

The main female character is Camille. Camille has the personality of a bag of bones, even then I’m sure skeletons are more fun than her.

She is a very refined character and her thoughts don’t feel real for a very long time. My interactions with Camille were not off to a good start at the beginning of the novel and I couldn’t find myself wanting to connect to her cold, whiny inner monologues. Camille is also incredibly selfish. Her mind is all woe-is-me my life is over and ruined. Waah waah waah!


The funny thing is that Camille does grow on the reader. I’m studying to teach high school English and I loved her interactions with teaching the children. It made my soul so happy. Camille’s interactions with baby Sarah are her saving grace. It’s those interactions that made her human and I could see that Camille wasn’t a cold-hearted aristocrat no longer in high society, but a woman who didn’t know love and wanted to give it to someone small.


Camille also made a complete 180 out of nowhere from being cold to shoving tongue happily into Joel’s mouth, which is great, but a little out of left field for her personality. Then she became cold and stiff again then she randomly jumps into bed him with. I was proud of Balogh for allowing Camille to have a true first sexual experience. She doesn’t have an orgasm and it’s refreshing and believable. Then Balogh ruins it with that annoying trope of fuck and run while calling herself a naïve idiot for putting her love in someone who may not love her.

Like please, can we stop with this trope? Why can’t we have a heroine who has sex and doesn’t feel ashamed by her actions just because affections may not be returned.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 2.5

The main male character is Joel. Joel is so bland. He is boring and I couldn’t find myself falling for him. He is not the type of HR hero that makes me swoon and it made story pretty boring. An orphaned painter shouldn’t be such an uninteresting character, but Balogh somehow managed to make his character dull. He does grow into a more interesting and fleshed character as the story progresses, but by the last page I still found myself unimpressed by his comments and I just didn’t really care all that much for him.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 2

I haven’t read the first novel in this series, so I hadn’t met Anna prior to reading this novel. I can’t say I’m impressed with Balogh by her introduction to a beloved character because it left a sour taste in my mouth. I’m introduced to her in a POV after a tense interaction with Camille and it results in her and Camille’s cousin, Lizzie, making snide judgmental comments about Camille’s state of dress and her personality. I understand from reviews that people didn’t like Camille, but I honestly didn’t like Anna very much because of this at first. The first time I'm introduced to a character in a book, POV wise, shouldn't be them judging another woman while also saying "I so want to like her, but I don't know if I can because of how she treated me in the past" (paraphrased). Anna did grow on me as the story went on, but I still can’t get over my first introduction being a catty bitching session about a woman.


I did enjoy seeing a huge family like the Westcotts in a HR because most families are quite small, but this family was huge. I couldn’t keep track of all of them and it reminded me of how big my family dinners are because I come from a large family as well. I enjoyed Abigail, Camille’s sister, and Avery, Anna’s husband, but besides them no one really stuck out to me. The connection to Joel’s family is quite interesting and I really felt for him for his new knowledge and sudden loss. It’s too bad the character wasn’t around more because I found his dry humor hilarious.


Character Scale: 2.75

Overall, I don’t know if I would recommend this. It’s not my favorite HR and it’s definitely the best. There are much better ones out there and I would recommend Lisa Kleypas, Sarah MacLean, and many more before I would recommend picking this one up just because it’s not very fun and the characters are bland. The novel remains at a stagnant pace for a long time and I almost DNFed because of how bored I was. I’m glad I finished though because I found the ending to be sweet. SPOILER I wish that there were more adoption endings in HRs because I think it’s so beautiful to welcome unwanted children into the lives of those who are willing and able to provide for them.SPOILER If you do decide to pick this one up, I hope you enjoy it more than I did.


Plotastic Scale: 2.25

Cover Thoughts: I love the cover for this one. It’s stunning!

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 March 27.

Stevie‘s review of Someone to Hold (Westcott Novels, Book 2) by Mary Balogh
Historical Romance published by Berkley 07 Feb 17

I love the concept behind this latest series from Mary Balogh: the Earl of Riverdale died without, so far as his family knew, leaving a will. But then a will turned up, along with evidence of a previous marriage – rendering the three children of his acknowledged marriage illegitimate – and also a daughter of that first marriage: heir to all properties not automatically inherited by the new heir to the Earldom. In the first book, we followed the rags-to-riches story of that unexpected heir; now we follow the riches-to-not-quite-rags tale of the eldest daughter of the second, bigamous marriage between the Earl and his supposed, now discounted, Countess.

Camille Westcott is distraught at the loss of her title, her home, and – she assumes – her respectable society friends. Although her wider family have not, as might have been expected, cast her off once her illegitimacy is revealed, she cuts herself off from them and retreats to her grandmother’s house in Bath, while her mother retreats even further to stay with Camille’s uncle in rural Dorset. Only younger sister Abigail seems unaffected by their catastrophic change in circumstances. Camille is not one to stay down for long, however; rather than risk the humiliation of further alienation from Society, and too proud to accept an allowance from her now elevated half-sister, she sets out to make her own way in life.

Curious to learn about the place where her half-sister grew up, and having no other ideas about how someone in her situation might find employment, Camille enquires about becoming a teacher at the orphanage of which her grandmother is, coincidentally, a patron. By yet another coincidence, the most recent teacher is in the process of leaving under something of a cloud and so Camille is welcomed into her prospective new home and given a trial period in which to prove herself capable or not of the role’s requirements.

In the orphanage’s schoolroom Camille not only meets her new pupils, many of them thought to be the unacknowledged children of Society figures, but also the best friend of her half-sister: art teacher and up-and-coming artist, Joel Cunningham. After a rocky start, the two gradually become friends and then more to each other, while Camille begins to realise exactly how much she is capable of. Although her unconventional teaching methods at times leave her wondering whether she’s really cut out for the job, the pupils thrive under her tuition – even the slightly odd, though adorable, Winifred. Meanwhile Joel’s latest commission, for a sick old man, puts him at odds with Camille’s former fiancé, who abandoned Camille as soon as her true status became known.

Both Joel and Camille must reconcile themselves to further changes in their statuses and to finding ways to fit into the changed family structure that has resulted from their various reversals of fortune. In the end, each needs the strength provided by the other to cope with all the upheavals, and both manage to prove themselves more than capable of meeting each challenge life throws at them.

A thoroughly enjoyable book that continues the overall story arc most admirably. I’m now waiting with anticipation to discover what more secrets will be revealed as the saga continues.

Grade: B

When Humphrey Wescott, Earl of Riverdale died he left behind a huge fortune, along with a life changing secret that will forever change the lives of the family he left behind. It would also send his children on journey’s of self discovery.

Now that the secret of her father’s bigamous marriage to her mother the daughter , once proud Lady Camille Wescott, is simply an illegitimate Miss Camille Wescott without a title. Refusing a portion of the fortune her half-sister Anastasia generously wanted to gift all of her new-found half-sibling relatives, Camille stubbornly leaves London to teach at the Bath Orphanage that her new-found step-sister had grown up in and was employed as a teacher before the discovery that she was the only legitimate issue of the Earl of Riverdale.

To add insult to injury, Camille’s maternal grandmother had hired an artist to paint portraits of her and her sister. The artist being a young man who had grown up with her sister in the orphanage and whom Camille determined was still in love with Anastasia, even though Anastasia was now blissfully wed to Avery Archer, the duke of Netherby.

*** Once again, Mary Balogh has written a story that will capture your heart in a very strong and powerfully emotional way. SOMEONE TO HOLD has a plethora of unforgettable characters, some nice and some not so nice. Camille the heroine of this story was not easy to like but as she evolved into her new reality one sees the strength and determination that helped her to become a much nicer person, who actually seemed to grow a heart. Being so stubborn Camille was determined to prove herself capable as a teacher and she did this remarkably well where she gained as much from the exercise she taught her pupils to understand living within your means as well as learning economies she had never thought of.

The romance between Joel the Artist and Camille was slowly and thoughtfully developed into a beautifully sensual love story. Bottom Line: SOMEONE TO HOLD was a beautiful, sensual, and sensitive read which I can highly recommend!

Marilyn Rondeau

We met Camille in Someone to Love and I did not like her. She treated Anna like dirt and was so completely full of herself. When I started this book I was hopeful that I would end liking her and that is exactly what happened.

Camille Wescott has had her life turned upside down. Discovering that her parents’ marriage was bigamous, she is now the illegitimate daughter of an earl. Her engagement is immediately broken and she retreats to Bath to hide where she finds herself stepping into her half-sister’s shoes. Joel Cunningham is Anna Snow’s best friend. He’s also in love with her. But she married someone else and now there is a new teacher taking her place. It turns out that the new teacher is Anna’s prickly half-sister and she is not Anna.

Camille is a complex character and that is why I like her. She was the most obviously upset by the revelation of Anna's true lineage and the most bitter about the resulting change in circumstances. Such a strong reaction could have been milked for the emotional drama for quite a few books and I'm thrilled that instead it got to be addressed quickly.

At the beginning of the book Camille is sequestering herself in her grandmother’s house, but she feels restless. Her old life as a lady is not hers anymore and it has left her spinning. She refuses all attempts from her family to make her feel better. Camille's emotional landscape is in tatters. Camille's so wounded that there's a good deal of flailing about in her actions. She is someone who has come unmoored from all her expectations and is trying very hard to find herself again.

I particularly loved how Camille's decision to try teaching at the orphanage worked out. Camille is so prickly and dour that we really needed to see her interaction with the children and their love for her to illustrate how deeply kind she is at the heart of that prickly exterior. And I loved how her uncertainty of teaching, and being effective to the many different children actually challenged her, perhaps for the first time in her life.

Joel is an equally strong character and I loved how great a match he was for the guarded Camille. He is firmly on Anna’s side at the beginning of the book, much like the reader. Joel’s feelings are my feelings toward Camille, contempt and deep dislike. Watching him realize that she is not the ogre he thought was wonderful. I loved his own steps in figuring out who he was and what he wanted to become. But my favorite thing about him was how his insistence on getting to know his patrons leads him to compassion and kindness in addition to his growing understanding of them and it reflects in the art.

I absolutely loved seeing these two get to know each other and come to rely on the companionship and understanding they find together. Joel and Camille complement and uplift one another. It was interesting to see how the events affected the characters and how they chose to adjust and grow from them.

My favorite thing about this book is that it features the greatest hug in romantic literature. The title for this book is so apt. I love that so much emotional depth could fit in something so simple.

As always, Mary Balogh is a true gem in the Regency field. Her works are not very explicit or "sexy" so may not be what everyone is looking for, but you get a true sense of the main characters' feelings, motivations and passions. This is a sequel but isn't necessary to be read in order as you get an idea of what happened in the first book, while also giving you the reconciliation you wanted from that first book here.

I declared last fall that the first book, Someone to Love, was one of my best reads for the year and my top historical romance. Now, with Someone to Hold, I wanted to see how it held up against all that love I had for the first book. I gladly report that this one stood strong to the test and kept me riveted to see a proud, staunch young woman overcome much to find her place, to find love, but most of all, to find herself.

Someone to Hold is book two in The Westcotts series and works best read in order. In fact, the reader would miss a great deal if this one is picked up before the first book as all that comes in this book is based on what went on before.

The story opens with Camille Westcott making a decision. Up until now, she has hidden away licking her wounds after discovering that instead of being the eldest daughter of an earl and anticipating a high society marriage that she is in fact the illegitimate child of a bigamous marriage and a social pariah. She has been holding on by a hair and all she has left is her pride which made her hatefully blame her older half-sister, cut-off contact with her extended Westcott family, and hide away in her maternal grandmother’s home in Bath.

But now, she is ready to take her own life back and try to figure out who and what this new Miss Camille Westcott is like. First, she hires on as a teacher at the orphanage where her half-sister, Anastasia grew up. Camille hates her, unreasonably she knows- it was not Anna’s fault that she is legitimate and their father lied about so much. But Camille is curious about Anna’s life before being discovered and restored to her place in the family. Camille also wants to stand independently and this teaching position gives her that even as she feels woefully inadequate especially with Anna’s best friend looking on with his smiles and merriment.

Joel wants to hate and resent the stiff and prunish, Camille Westcott when she takes over Anna’s classroom and hurt his friend by not accepting her sisterly affections. He wants to despise her for her self-pity when at least she has a loving family and grew up knowing them and her place when he has been an orphan and made his own way left to wonder about his roots. He teaches his art classes and continues to make a name for himself as a portrait artist, but all the while, he slowly gains in respect and admiration, but also understanding for Camille. Surprising twists in his life and hers have them both aware that they might share more in common than they thought.

Alright, this was a stunning and deeply engaging story. This was quite the story of growth and triumph, of friendship and love, and even of restoration. The author returned to the historical elements of family, illegitimacy, abandonment, friendship, and unlikely love this time set in Bath and at the orphanage. Joel’s art and Camille’s teaching become added new elements.

I enjoyed the feeling that though the main pair are new that this is an ongoing story of a whole cast of characters- The Westcott family. The whole lot of them return for Camille and Joel’s story and are part of it as family is an issue for both Camille and Joel.

The story is told in alternating narrative voices of Camille and Joel. At first, I thought that the focus was to be on Camille rising up from her bitter ashes and triumphing, but then I saw that Joel was to have his own crisis moment of truth and need to face it and a new future. They are an interesting pair. They are so antagonistic at first and then so burdened that I thought a romance between was iffy. In fact, Camille was not a likeable person in the past book or the beginning of this one. She is not meant to be, but it is part of her recovery and the revelation that she is really someone quite different than even she knew when faced with these new circumstances.

In the end, I’m left once again clutching the book and swearing undying love for this series. This is historical romance with such depth and heart that I gladly push it at those who love this genre.

My thanks to Penguin Group for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.