Simply Love (Simply, #2) (Simply Quartet, #2)

by Mary Balogh

New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh returns to the elegance and sensuality of Regency England as she continues the enthralling story of four remarkable women–friends and teachers at Miss Martin’s School for Girls. At the center of this spellbinding novel is Anne Jewell, a teacher haunted by a scandalous past…until she meets a man who teaches her the most important lesson of all: nothing is simple when it comes to love.…

She spies him in the deepening dusk of a Wales evening–a lone figure of breathtaking strength and masculinity, his handsome face branded by a secret pain. For single mother and teacher Anne Jewell, newly arrived with her son at a sprawling estate in Wales on the invitation of an influential friend, Sydnam Butler is a man whose sorrows–and passions–run deeper than she could have ever imagined.

As steward of a remote seaside manor, Sydnam lives a reclusive existence far from the pity and disdain of others. Yet almost from the moment Anne first appears on the cliffs, he senses in this lovely stranger a kindred soul, and between these two wary hearts, desire stirs. Unable to resist the passion that has rescued them both from loneliness, Anne and Sydnam share an afternoon of exquisite lovemaking. Now the unwed single mother and war-scarred veteran must make a decision that could forever alter their lives. For Sydnam, it is a chance to heal the pain of the past. For Anne, it is the glorious promise of a future with the man who will dare her to reveal her deepest secrets…before she can give him all her heart.

• ISBN10: 0440241979
• ISBN13: 9780440241973
• Publish Date: 27 February 2007 (first published 1 January 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780440241973

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

Good, but I kept falling asleep, and also not caring if I picked the book up again, so I think I needed a little more story.

[Stephanie]

What I Loved: If you love yourself a tortured hero look no further than Syndam Butler! Anne and Syndam have had bad luck handed to them several times over. Syndam is a war survivor. He was tortured for secrets pertaining to his brother. Secrets he refused to give up and now carries the scars for. Anne is an unwed mother in a society that goes beyond looking down on women and scandal. (Of course a man can never be blamed!) Both characters have quite a lot to get through emotionally. Watching them get through it and come out the other side is something like magic.

What I Could Have Lived Without: Really? Everything in this book was great! I didn’t have much to complain about. Simply Love flowed smoothly, the characters were great, and the romance was fiery and sweet.

Recommended For: Lovers of historical romance or tortured heroes.

Avoid If: Don’t!

[wyvernfriend]

The two main characters in this story are quite broken. Anne Jewell is a teacher with a child out of wedlock. The father of her child was not her love and died before they could marry. Syndam Butler is a man of contrasts, on one side he's very handsome but on the other he's a mass of scars and damage and the damage is mental too. When the two of them come together a friendship builds and they are very attracted, however can either or both of them overcome the issues and problems.

While this wasn't a bad example of the genre, and was a good take on the Beauty and the Beast theme, there was nothing surprising here, it even had moments where I wondered if I had read it all before.