Lady Camille is a young woman who was raised as an earl’s daughter; a young lady preparing to do her duty in life. She was not concerned about controlling her life nor seeking happiness. She was only concerned with being a perfect lady, to always do what was expected of her position; to marry a man suitable to her station and to fulfill her duties as the lady of the house. Her life is turned upside down when her father dies leaving his wealth to a daughter born before he married Camille’s mother. It would be one thing if that woman was illegitimate but instead it is discovered that the earl was previously married and the marriage to her mother was bigamous, making Camille, her brother, Harry, and sister, Abigail, the illegitimate children.

Their elder half-sister, Anna, offers to share the fortune she has inherited but Camille and her full siblings refuse. The money will not change their fallen place in society, nor the fact that Camille’s fiancé spurns her with utter disdain and disgust. Their mother retreats to her brother’s home while Camille and her sister move to Bath to live as mere Misses with their Grandmother.

Camille, feeling compelled to redefine herself, takes a job as a teacher at the very orphanage where Anna grew up. Camille has no real idea what she is doing but she also has no idea who she is anymore.

Joel is an artist who was raised at the orphanage and now comes twice a week to teach art to some of the students. Camille isn’t familiar with the ‘common’ man but she is drawn to this rustic man who presents a rough version of a gentleman.

Joel resents Camille’s attitude toward his childhood crush, Anna. Yet his respect for Camille grows as he watches her creative handling of the children while struggling to sort her own self-identity. Slowly Joel and Camille develop a friendship seeking comfort in the form of ‘someone to hold’.

This story started out a bit slowly with Camille as a character who was not so easy to like. Fortunately, her character grows as the story progresses. I loved her experiences learning to feel emotions – pain and love – and the possibility of finding happiness. I also enjoyed the twists that occur in Joel’s circumstances that add a good element of irony.

Ms. Balogh succeeds in making this a delightful read with her strong, natural characters in a new, different, situation. I enjoyed this second book in the series even though I had not read the first book, Someone to Love, which is Anna’s turnabout of fortunes. I am always comfortable recommending Mary Balogh books especially to those who enjoy historical romance with strong characters without graphic sex.

I received this title through NetGalley. My rating 4.5.

Another wonderful, sensitive story by Mary Balogh. Great characters!

Mary Balogh continues her Westcott series with the regency romance Someone to Hold. Camille Westcott whose parents marriage was declared bigamous is trying to find her place in Bath. She takes the teaching position at the orphanage where her half sister had taught and develops a romantic relationship with her sister's friend Joel, a painter and teacher at the same orphanage. As Camille improves relations with her half sister, Joel finds his lost roots. Compelling storytelling in an interesting historical setting

In the first book of this series, Camille Westcott discovered that, while she was pampered and haughty lady of the ton, all that could be taken away, and it was, when it was discovered that her father was a bigamist and Camille is a bastard. Of course, at this time, that meant that she immediately became an Untouchable. Okay, not that bad. But she's pushed out of the ton and the lord who had been circling her for marriage very publicly repudiates her. Camille soon learns she's stronger than she thinks and regroups, going to work in the very same orphanage that her newly-discovered half-sister grew up in. Of course, that means that she is in close contact with her sister's friend, Joel Cunningham.
Joel isn't impressed by Camille. Not at first. But as he gets to know her, through their teaching together and through her grandmother paying for him to paint both Camille and her sister. And he learns that this new Camille might be someone he could love.
I feel bad because Mary Balogh can usually hit me pretty hard in the feels. And this happened again... but... Balogh's books are usually romances. And this isn't different except that this book concentrates so much on the (amazing and heartfelt) evolution of Camille, that the romance is somewhat put in the shade. It was hard to see really why Joel's feelings changed to love. And, oh dear god, if there can ever be too much "happy" in an HEA, this book is a prime example.

Three stars
This book came out February 7
Follows Someone to Love

I've said this before: Mary Balogh is one of my all-time favorite historical romance authors. I'm really loving her new Westcott series, which began with Someone to Love, featuring former orphan Anna Snow, who is in reality Lady Anastasia Westcott, only legitimate child of the Earl of Riverdale, and the heir to his fortune.

Someone to Hold is the second book in the series. It tells the story of Anna's half-sister, Camille, the eldest of the Earl's acknowledged children, who discovered only after his death that they were illegitimate, due to his secret first marriage. Understandably, Camille responded to the news with anger and then despair and self-pity -- particularly because her fiance ended their betrothal rather than marry a bastard.

As Someone to Hold begins, though, Camille is beginning to move past her despair enough to try to build a new life on her own terms. She applies to teach at the orphanage school where Anna was raised. This brings her into contact with the up-and-coming artist Joel Cunningham, Anna's best friend and one-time suitor, who is not quite over his love for Anna. Raised in the orphanage, Joel now donates his time to teach art there twice a week.

Camille and Joel are initially somewhat antagonistic toward each other, but Camille is aware of, and puzzled by, an attraction she refuses to acknowledge, even to herself. For his part, Joel is reluctantly impressed by Camille's determination, her innovative ideas for teaching the children, and the fact that despite her somewhat formidable demeanor, the children really like her.

As their friendship/relationship develops, both Joel and Camille act at times in ways that seem... not necessarily out of character (though I do think one of Camille's actions is definitely that), but certainly beyond the bounds of propriety. Unusually so, in fact. Balogh's characters do sometimes step outside the bounds of what Regency society considered proper, but when they do, their motivation is usually clear, and fits with both their character and their situation. I didn't always feel that was always true in this book; there were a few times when I thought, "Camille simply wouldn't do that." It's the only thing that kept me from giving the book 5 stars.

Other than those few moments or decisions, though, I loved both the main characters and the book. Both Camille and Joel are complex characters, with all the depth and layers and sometimes contradictory feelings and thoughts that real people have. Both are dealing with questions of identity and with difficult or nonexistent relationships with their parents. Both are lonely, and each had previously held hopes for a relationship and were turned down -- Camille rather cruelly by her former fiance, Joel more gently when Anastasia married the Duke of Netherby. I loved seeing them find friendship, understanding, and finally love in each other. And I loved Camille's determination to make a new life for herself, even when she's not sure how or what.

There's a strong theme of family running through the book, or rather, the whole series so far: the families we're born into, and the families we make. Given how strongly I feel about family, that, too, is one of the things I love about this series. And there are some wonderful scenes and moments that flow from and strengthen that theme, scenes which made me smile or sometimes even get a little teary-eyed.

If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you won't be disappointed in Someone to Hold. But if you haven't yet read Someone to Love yet, I do recommend reading it first. Someone to Hold could stand on its own, but it will be richer if you've read the first book.

Someone to Hold is the “flip side” of the marvelous Someone to Love. The story in the first Westcott book was the story of Anna Snow, a teacher at the orphanage where she herself grew up. In Love, Anna discovers that she is the only legitimate child of the late and less-lamented-every-day Earl of Riverdale. She is suddenly and unexpectedly the sole heir to his fortune, while the title goes to a cousin.

But Anna’s unexpected rise encompasses the equally unexpected fall of the family that for 20-plus years has believed that they were the legitimate ones. The woman who has always believed herself to be the Countess of Riverdale discovers that she was never married at all. Her husband was a bigamist. And that makes her son and her two daughters all bastards, in the legal sense if not the behavioral sense.

That particular bit of opprobrium is saved for others.

So Anna is up, and Viola, Camille, Abigail and Henry are down. And out. Out of society and out of money and seemingly out of friends.

Someone to Hold is Camille’s story. Her response to her sudden change in fortune does not at first make her a likable protagonist. She was a high-stickler when she thought she was a lady, settling for nothing less than perfection in all things. Now she herself is considered imperfect, and the perfect life she expect is now far beyond her reach.

During the first book she was particularly waspish and ill-tempered. Her family does love her, but no one seems to like her much, and it is easy for the reader to see why.

By the time that this book opens, she has gotten past some of the early stages of grief. Her life has irrevocably changed, and she comes to the realization that she can’t remain hidden in her grandmother’s house and under her grandmother’s protection, cozy and comfortable as it is.

She has to strike out on her own, and make something of the life she must now live. But what she does is what makes this story so good. Instead of wallowing, or instead of marrying the first man who promises to protect her, Camille determines to find out who she is now, and what she can make of herself.

She does it by marching up to the orphanage where Anna taught and asking for a position as a teacher, just as Anna was. It’s the surprise of Camille’s life when she gets the job. And even though she feels herself gasping and floundering every single day, it turns out to be a job that she is good at, even if in completely unconventional ways.

Along with the job, Joel Cunningham comes into her life. Joel is also a graduate of the orphanage, and is also a teacher. Specifically, he’s the art teacher. He was also Anna’s best friend and fancied himself in love with her.

He is not best pleased with Camille taking over Anna’s classroom. Or Anna’s students. Or even Anna’s room. But as they get to know each other, they come to realize that the way that they upset each other’s apple-carts is the best thing that ever happened to either of them.

If they can just manage to get out of their own way.

Escape Rating A-: Those who have read Someone to Love will be unable to resist Someone to Hold. And anyone who loves historical romance and has not read Someone to Love needs to get thee hence to a library or bookstore and read it!

But there’s a reason why Anna’s story was someone to love and not Camille’s. Camille was not at all lovable in Someone to Love, and she begins her own story still not being all that lovable. Or even, at the beginning, all that likable. It makes her difficult to warm up to as a protagonist.

(I started this book three times before I got past that point. Once I did, it was terrific. But definitely a hard start.)

Camille’s world has crumbled. The society that she had been trained to be perfectly suited for has rejected her, and for an issue where she is completely blameless. Nevertheless, she understands why this is so. But her plans have turned to dust and her prospects are non-existent. She is too proud to claw her way onto the lowest rung of society’s ladder and be content with that, and she doesn’t know what to do instead.

One of Camille’s issues is that Anna Snow is so very likable. Camille wants to hate her and maintain a distance from her, and Anna makes that very, very difficult. It also feels to Camille as if her close family are attempting to pretend that nothing material has changed, when everything has.

She is not who she thought she was, and the world is no longer her oyster.

Taking Anna’s old position and Anna’s old rooms makes an interesting twist, both for Camille’s story and her life. Camille makes it seem logical in her own head, but it is far from logical to anyone else. However, her determination to make a new life for herself is admirable. And fascinating to watch.

Although the relationship that develops between Joel and Camille has a bit more heat to it than the one between Anna and Avery, it is still a relationship that develops first into friendship before becoming love. Falling in love with your best friend IS still a good foundation for a marriage.

Even if in this case it does seem a bit like Camille begins by trying to take over or erase Anna’s life, what happens in the end is that Camille stands in Anna’s shoes and finds her own life. And it’s a lovely story.

Since I did not read the first book in this series, I feel like I spent a lot of time trying to figure out and keep track of who was who. I expect I would have liked the book better if I had read the first one. I also felt like the pacing of this book was extremely slow. The characters spent a lot of time frowning, speaking through tight lips, etc. Not much actually happens in this book. It seemed that the author was trying to show genuine growth of the main character in this book, but I had trouble buying it. I also found myself very skeptical about whether a woman raised like this character would behave like this. ("Come to bed with me." "Well, okay". Say what?) I have read other books by this author and, in comparison, I felt this was not her best. And yet, saying all that, I did enjoy it overall. Maybe I just expected more from Ms. Balogh.

Camille Westcott was not a nice character in the first Westcott novel. In Someone to Hold Balogh wrote a story that allowed Camille to become a much more likable person. It did not happen overnight but did happen in a fairly short period of time and with the help of Joel Cunningham another character from the first book. I loved the pace of this story and how both Camille and Joel had to release the past and embrace the future. A very good addition to the Westcott series. All of the characters from the first book are back and help move the story along making the story even more enjoyable.

Someone to Hold is the second installment of Mary Balogh's new Westcott series, featuring a family up-heaved by a father's deceit and cowardice. I recommend that this series be read in order as (so far) the books take place consecutively and have a somewhat continuing storyline. This review may contain slight spoilers for the first book in the series, Someone to Love.

Lady Camille Wescott's life was turned upside down in Someone to Love when she learned that her father's marriage to her mother was bigamous, and that she had a previously unknown half-sister whose very life has disinherited Camille and her siblings. Camille was a horrible person in Someone to Love, she treated Anna cruelly, when Anna really only wanted to know her family. So I knew going into this book that it was going to be an uphill battle to redeem Camille... and it wasn't easy. Camille is not the warmest person, I would even go as far to say that she appears stiff and cold. However, I had to admire her for taking control of her life and really doing the soul searching to find out who she was. Her time at the orphanage helped to humanize Camille and made me open up to her character. I loved her interactions with Winifred and Baby Sara, and her unconventional teaching methods.

You will remember from the prior book that Joel Cunningham grew up with Anna Snow at the orphanage. He has earned some renown as an artist - and is earning more portrait commissions by the day. However he still makes time for his orphanage family, teaching art classes there twice per week. On his first few encounters with Camille - he is not sure what to make of her. He is confused as to what the children see in her when she maintains such a severe look and stiff bearing. But Joel is a genuinely good person and you cannot help but to like his character. I loved the details about his paintings and how he worked to paint a person from the inside out. Joel is not without his baggage, as which is not surprising as he grew up in the orphanage never really knowing who he was or where he came from. I liked that all the kids (current and past) seemed to see each other as family and gave back to the institution as adults.

The relationship between Joel and Camille was tenuous at first. Neither wanted to like the other... Camille resented Joel for his friendship and love for Anna, the sister she was determined to hate. And Joel resented Camille from barging in and trying to take Anna's place. But they developed a friendship and rapport, one that seemed natural and uplifting. So I would deem this another feel good love story - not just because of the romance, but also because of the interactions with the orphans which tugged on the old heart strings.

Favorite characters from the prior book had their own part in this installment... and I was happy to spend some time with the Duke and Duchess of Netherby. I am interested to see who our hero or heroine of the next book will be, however I think I am most intrigued by Alexander, Earl of Riverdale. Though Harry has been off fighting in the war for a while, so I am sure that his story will be fascinating as well. There were a few times where the story felt bogged down by too many details, or the pacing started to drag, but overall this was a solid HEA.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Berkley.

Camille Westcott’s life as she knew it changed in one afternoon. The Earl of Riverdale, her father didn’t legally marry her mother, couldn’t have because he was already married to another woman, making Camille and her siblings bastards in the process. In one afternoon, Camille is stripped of her title, house and fortune. As if that were not bad enough her fiancé, Viscount Uxbury, broke things off once he found out. Yet, we soon find out that all this may have been the best tragedy to befall Camille. Not that she realizes it right away.

For Camille, a girl striving for her father’s approval and love meant being the perfect lady. Things like passion and romantic love never factored in that future. When the truth of her life becomes apparent Camille struggles with her identity. Who is she without her title and the future she clung to? Camille moves to Bath with her Grandmother and sister, and attempts to figure that out, all the while coping with the blow of her father’s treachery and fiancé’s rejection. She applies for a teaching job at the orphanage, Anna, her half sister and the true heir to her father’s fortune was raised and taught at. There is where she meets Joel, the somewhat shabby, disheveled and very male art teacher. Joel stirs up feelings she never considered before!

Camille was a stiff, entitled snob in the last book, spurning Anna’s attempts to make things right and fair for all of the Earl of Riverdale’s children, even though she had no obligation to do so. Anna was the one who grew up in an orphanage even though she was truly a lady. The late Earl injured all his children by his deception, but Camille was too proud to take Anna’s kindness. Seeing her character growth from the effect the children of the orphanage had on her, to the pride that comes from making your own way, and then feeling and falling in love was very moving! Camille took to heart the lessons life forced her to learn. Her previously controlled and well-ordered life went out the window and her heart began to thaw.

Joel and Camille’s relationship started out antagonistic, but some of my favorite romances start out that way. I loved the push and pull, and then their fumbling about as they’re drawn together!

Someone to Hold was so very enchanting! Mary Balogh’s writing was insightful, and beautiful! She really got to the heart of her characters, so many layers and feelings! I felt their emotions and was a little overwhelmed to the point of tears, both happy and sad, several times. I can’t wait for the next story in Westcott series! Alexander’s story is next.

Someone to hold by Mary Balough. I must have been mightily impressed by the first book I read by this author, because I persist in reading new books year after year, despit the fact that the majority of the books leave me extremely underwhelmed. Although, looking at that first review, I didn't think it superb even then. The second and third books I read I seem to have enjoyed, but every book since then has been a let down and no mistake, and this title is no different.

There is nothing unique about this book. There is no reason to purchase or read this and it contributes nothing to the genre. The characters are slightly more likeable than the first book in this series, and are a bit more in focus, as the series has already been set up. Events central to the plot strain credulity-- and manage to be repetitive simultaneously. The erotic content is poorly balanced: too blatant to offer people who prefer such events to take place off-screen, and too vague and bland for readers who do want it. You can't please everyone, and with romance novels, you really shouldn't try.

Note to self: no more Mary Balogh.

SOMEONE TO HOLD by Mary Balogh once again showcases her talent for creating difficult characters who earn the reader’s love and respect. Complex, emotionally stirring and very different from the norm – quite the story!

I was very happy to be back in this world, catching up on what happened to Camille and Abigail after they found out about their father’s lies in SOMEONE TO LOVE, book one of the WESTCOTT series. Camille and Abigail, as well as their mother and brother, have found themselves on the outskirts of society, where they always belonged before the unspeakable happened to their family. To make things worse, Camille and Abigail have been sent to live with their grandmother in Bath, where they know no one, let alone having any expectations for acceptance by those who know their current disgrace.

Although this book includes some of Abigail’s story as well as Camille’s, it’s mostly about Camille’s transformation. And quite an amazing transformation it is because Camille was very unlikable and pretty much acted like a spoiled brat in the first book. When we meet Camille again in this book, she has been hiding out in her grandmother’s house, refusing to join her grandmother and sister on any social engagements.

Camille decides she’s done with her old life as well as society’s expectations and ramifications. She proves it by applying for the teacher’s position at the local orphanage. They agree to a trial period to see how she works out, and it’s there that she meets Joel, an artist and her half-sister’s best friend. Joel is almost as unimpressed with Camille as she is with him. Complete opposites in social background, they find themselves on equal footing with much to learn from each other. How that will work out when they don’t even like one another is part of the fun.

Camille is a mess after her fiancé dumps her, so it’s especially poignant to watch her pick up the pieces. She becomes likeable in her no-nonsense approach to her situation. She isn’t without faults and is sometimes extremely difficult, so she’s not easy to love, but her journey is especially touching. I cried twice before I reached the halfway point of the novel, so Camille made rare progress that touched my heart.

Because she’s so rough around the edges and becomes this person that even she doesn’t recognize, I consider her one of the most unusual heroines I’ve read. I couldn’t help but feel regret for her situation. She had everything, and yet, she really had nothing. When she figures that out, it’s gut-wrenching.

We do get an update on the rest of the characters in book one and I was especially happy to be entertained once again by Avery. He had me laughing like crazy, and Camille had a surprising subtle humor with him. I enjoyed their moments together a lot. As for Joel – I did not see that one coming. Whew – what fun!

I wasn’t overly impressed with Joel and his non-consideration for the woman he had been seeing when he meets Camille. I get it that it was common for the times, but I expected more from him. He did win me over with his compassion for Camille, but she outshone him in her transformation.

The end of the story is especially wonderful. It left me with a big, goofy grin on my face. It’s perfect and one of my favorite final chapters of all time, which is why I’m tagging this novel as a recommended read.

I highly recommend reading book one, SOMEONE TO LOVE, first, so that you get the gist of Camille’s and Joel’s previous situation. You can understand book two without reading book one, but you’ll miss the paired effect that’s quite delightful.

I can’t say enough about Mary Balogh’s talent. She makes me cry, and I’m happy to do so because her characters deserve an outpouring of emotion. Ms. Balogh’s ability to set a scene is equally superb, as I see her stories like a movie playing in my head for weeks afterward. It’s rare that I’ll read every book an author writes, but Ms. Balogh is fast becoming one of those few. Can’t wait to read what happens next!

A RECOMMENDED READ.

Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies.

Someone to Hold" is the follow up Westcostt novel to "Someone to Love" by Mary Balogh. This installment in the Westcott saga follows the adventures of Camille Westcott the now illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Riverdale. Mary Balogh brings her trademark writing to this latest novel in the series and once again delivers the Balogh touch. Her characters are well drawn and engaging, and though I didn't much care for Camille in "Someone to Love" she really grew on me in this story. Her struggle to find her own self worth and legitimacy was poignant and seemingly real. In addition we have the story of Joel Cunningham, from "Someone to Love", and his own struggle to find an independent path forward for himself. This was a fun, enjoyable read and worth a re-read.
Camille Westcott has lost many things, her legitimacy, the fortune she was to inherit, her fiancé, and sense of self. Now she finds herself in Bath struggling to find a way to move forward and support herself. When she decides to follow in her half-sister's footsteps and take a teaching job at the Bath Orphanage where her half-sister taught she takes her first steps toward discovering who she is and who she wants to become. Joel Cunningham is the art teacher at Bath Orphanage, and a very good friend of Camille's half-sister, so it's no wonder at first that he is contemptuous of Camille. However, Joel is hired to paint Camille's portrait and though they are at loggerheads at first the more time they spend together to more they realize that there is a mutual attraction between them. But fortune is about to change again and the two of them will need to find a way to trust each other to become who they are meant to be together.

This book was fairly easy to read. But right from the beginning as I was reading I felt like there was a lot of extra language or filler if you would call it. At times it felt like there were excessively detailed descriptions and periods of extensive repetition that were completely unnecessary and they took away from my ability to connect with the characters. Once I got past the filler I grew to love the characters and their story.

I appreciated how the author used the societal norms for the era to build depth to the characters and their struggles from royalty to poverty and visa versa. Without completely spoiling the entire book,I will say that as much as I loved the characters and I was glad that they found true love in each other the ending of the story was way too “happily ever after” for me.The main characters fell in love and chose one another as any good romance story couple should but there was no need to twist the story at the end as to make them have a perfect life.

I feel like it was a cop out to the internal struggles that the heroin was working so hard to overcome and it was in insult to the traits I found so endearing in the hero. Over all this in most likely not a book I would buy or read a second time due to it’s wordiness and it’s way too “happily ever after” ending.

I liked this second book in Balogh’s Westcott series more than the first.

In the previous book, supposed orphan Anna Snow learned that she was in fact an heiress who is the legitimate daughter of an earl. Anna’s half-siblings, products of a bigamous marriage, consequently lost their place in society, and half-sister Camille lost her fiancée.

Now Camille Westcott is trying to pick up the pieces of her life. No longer a noble lady, a role that had defined her existence, she is having trouble deciding just who this new Camille is. Rather than rely on her family to carve out some sort of lesser place in society for her, though, Camille decides to go her own way by completing the role reversal between herself and Anna—she takes Anna’s position as a teacher in the orphanage, even choosing to live in Anna’s old room. There she meets Anna’s best friend, Joel Cunningham, a painter who also grew up in the orphanage and now teaches art to the children.

Joel is initially prepared to dislike Camille because of her coolness toward Anna. However, he quickly realizes that Camille is a very complicated person and is drawn into a friendship with her almost in spite of himself. Then Joel receives some revelatory news about his own family background, and Joel and Camille grow even closer as they support each other in dealing with their complicated feelings about the changes in their lives.

What really made this book work for me was Camille. She’s not particularly likeable at first—she’s prickly and not always particularly nice, even to the people who love her. But she’s using that behavior to mask a well of pain. Hurt by the lack of love from her father, she’s trained herself not to feel, instead choosing to strive to be an absolutely perfect aristocratic lady in a misguided attempt to show her worth. Now all of the certainties in her life are gone, and she has to reevaluate everything about herself. All of that made her a really interesting character to me, and, like Joel, I found myself liking her more and more as the book went on.

I also liked the way the relationship between Joel and Camille developed as they went from being friends to being lovers. The final few chapters, with the sweet proposal scene and then the wedding, left me feeling really happy—the way a good romance should.

The only thing I wish the author had done a bit differently was the revelation of Joel’s family background. While the emotional aspects of it were handled well, I would have liked it more if there wasn’t wealth involved. Having the former Lady Camille marry a poor painter and make a go of it would have been a more interesting choice, I think.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed this book, and I think other fans of Mary Balogh’s novels will, too.

An eARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Camille Westcotts world, as she knew it, has crumbled. She was the daughter of an earl, engaged to a viscount, and raised in wealth and privilege - but it's all gone now. Shortly after her father's death, it was discovered that he was previously married, and though his first wife is deceased, he entered into his second marriage before she died. This makes him a bigamist, his second marriage invalid, and the three children of that marriage illegitimate. To make matters even worse, he never changed his first will, thus leaving all his fortune to the child of his first marriage, Anna. Camille and her family are shocked at their reversal of fortune, and haughtily refuse all of Anna's overtures of friendship. They even reject her offer to share the fortune with all of them. When Camille's fiance breaks their engagement, she and her sister retreat to Bath to live with their grandmother.

Joel Cunningham is beginning to find some success as a portrait artist. He's an orphan, raised in the same orphanage in Bath as Camille's sister, Anna. In fact, they grew up together and are dear friends. When Joel's path begins to cross with Camille's on a regular basis, he is at first prepared to dislike her, knowing how she treated Anna. Camille is aloof, haughty, and not at all beautiful. So why does Joel always seem to seek out her company?

In an act that surprises everyone, including herself, Camille applies for the teaching job at the orphanage where Anna was raised and later worked. Though she displays an outward icy veneer, inside Camille is in turmoil. She doesn't know what to do with her life, or even who she is. Her whole previous existence was geared to being the perfect society lady and making the perfect marriage. In a desperate attempt to find some answers, Camille, in effect, decides to take a walk in Anna's shoes.

SOMEONE TO HOLD has all the trademark qualities of a Mary Balogh book. The romance between the unlikely couple of Joel and Camille develops slowly and is, by no means, smooth. The focus is on the characters and their development. Camille is not a very likable heroine until we start to see inside her hard outer shell. She is scared, uncertain, ashamed, and insecure, which she hides with her arrogant manner. It seems that the honorable and very likable Joel deserves another match, one more suited to his personality. Yet, this couple comes to understand and desire each other, and somehow they end up being perfect for each other. It was particularly touching to watch Camille fall in love with one of the orphaned children. I love Mary Balogh's writing, and the extent that she fleshes out her characters, making them very real, faults and all. SOMEONE TO HOLD is another warm and satisfying read which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend.

Mary Balogh does an excellent job at taking a character who was somewhat unlikable in the previous book in the series and turning her into a heroine to root for. This had a great amount of emotional depth -- it made me cry! -- and I was rooting for Joel and Camille every step of the way. Just lovely.

The second book in The Wescott Series takes us back to the Orphanage for another wonderful story. We met both of the main characters were a intricate part of the first book. Joel is the young man who grew up in the orphanage with Anna in the first book and Camille is Anna's half sister.

Joel is an artist and a orphan and has never thought that he would ever find out who he was and where he came from. One day he is summoned to a mansion by a man he has never heard of. He thought he was there to discuss a proposal to paint a portrait. What he finds out changes his whole world.

Camille was brought up a lady who never questioned anything that happened in her life. She listened to her parents and became everything that a nobleman would want in a wife. She never thought about herself or what she desired out of life.
Then her life is turned upside down and will never be the same again.

This is a story of two people from vastly different backgrounds that find common ground in each other as their worlds are coming apart.

The reason that I love Mary's books so much is that you don't have to ride the emotional roller coaster. Her characters have character. They talk to each other about what they are feeling. Mary gives you amazing insight into who they are with vivid and amazing detail. If you want to read beautiful love stories that will make you laugh and cry, Mary is the author for you.

Received a complimentary copy for an honest review.

Someone to Hold (A Westcott Novel) by Mary Balogh is a great Regency Romance. While, Book 2 in the "Westcott" series I'd suggest reading Book 1, "Someone to Hold", which would give the reader more insight into the heroine, Camille's story. But not necessary by any means. This story is told in an alternating narrative by both Camille and Joel. Which can be a bit confusing at first. It was a bit slow in the beginning, but picked up quickly.

An intensive but heart warming story of love, self discovery, abandonment issues, family and the misfortunes of a long buried secret for Camille.

Camille Westcott, the eldest daughter of Humphrey Wescott, Earl of Riverdale, learned of a sandalous secret. This devastating secret leads Camille on a journey of self discovery, having to find a job and has made her a bit haughty. Joel Cunningham, is an art teacher at the orphanage where Camille is a new teacher. Joel is now hired to paint Camille's portrait. At their first meeting they have an instant dislike for each other. But will dislike, turn to desire, and lead them to love and a HEA?

A well written story of growth, truimph, redemption, courage, challenges with abandonment issues, as well as, Camille finding her way and a undeniable love. She comes to terms of her situation. This story has a wide range of emotions, from tears to shaking head and feeling truimph for the characters.
Fans of Regency Romance, devastation of one's situation, and the power of love, or in fir a treat. A great story that is enjoyeable as well as a satisfying read.
I received a complimentary copy.


Rating: 4
Heat rating: Mild
Reviewed by: AprilR