Someone to Hold: Camille's Story (Westcott, #2)

by Mary Balogh

A reversal of fortune befalls a young woman in this charming Westcott novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Someone to Wed.
 
Humphrey Wescott, Earl of Riverdale, has died, leaving behind a fortune and a scandalous secret that will forever alter the lives of his family—sending one daughter on a journey of self-discovery...
 
With her parents’ marriage declared bigamous, Camille Westcott is now illegitimate and without a title. Looking to eschew the trappings of her old life, she leaves London to teach at the Bath orphanage where her newly discovered half-sister lived. But even as she settles in, she must sit for a portrait commissioned by her grandmother and endure an artist who riles her every nerve.
 
An art teacher at the orphanage that was once his home, Joel Cunningham has been hired to paint the portrait of the haughty new teacher. But as Camille poses for Joel, their mutual contempt soon turns to desire. And it is only the bond between them that will allow them to weather the rough storm that lies ahead...

• ISBN10: 0451477804
• ISBN13: 9780451477804
• Publish Date: 7 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451477804

Reviews

[stacey_is_sassy]

It was better than I expected...

****4.5 Stars****

I've met Camille and Joel previously, and, to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with them. I started Someone to Hold a little hesitantly. Would my grudge against Camille's immature reaction to Anna influence my enjoyment of this story? Am I going to be faced with Joel's unrequited love for Anna the whole way through? Well, I'm happy to say that these two really grow and mature and by the end, I was completely satisfied with their love story.

I'm becoming a fast fan of Mary Balogh's style of writing. She writes historical romance characters that live up to my high expectations. There's a touch of being true to the time mixed with artistic liberty to help me avoid disappointment. Her scenes are easily visible in my mind and her descriptions of looks, styles and settings are very appealing to me. There is plenty of romance with sigh-worthy moments but the intimate scenes are not OTT or too modern. Someone to Hold was never bogged down or slow-moving.

Again, Rosalyn Landor does an amazing job narrating and I've started imagining her getting into character by wearing period-costumes while recording. Ms Landor is a true artist and I could easily listen to her narrate historical romances for the rest of my day.

I'm glad Someone to Hold exceeded my expectations. Camille's character growth and maturity shined through and I loved that we got to see her in a better light. Joel's character was a little harder to warm up to but that was mostly because... he was still in a sexual relationship with a widower for at least half the story. His intimate scenes are not "seen" and it is a purely sexual relationship. I hated that he was starting to develop feelings for Camille while meeting with her. This is that "true to the time" I mentioned above, so I couldn't really fault him for it. Only a slight hesitation in falling for Joel and he does come good by the end.

I will definitely be going on in the Westcott series.