Only Enchanting (Survivors' Club)

by Mary Balogh

[Cocktails and Books]

2.5 Cocktails

Agnes Keeping was formerly married to a “worthy” older man. She lost her mother when her mother chose to leave the family for a lover. The sadness that set in when her mother chose to leave her never left. Five year old Agnes decided that love and passion were to be avoided. She decided the best route was to make sensible decisions based on facts and compatibility. She and her spinster sister, Dora, live together in a small village where Dora teaches music. Agnes spends her time drawing and engaging in social activities. After Agnes is widowed she lives a safe, orderly existence until love comes calling in the form of Flavian Arnott, Viscount Ponsby.

Flavian has a stutter and memory loss as a result of the trauma he suffered during the Napoleonic wars. He is handsome and in addition to the trauma of the war his fiancé broke their betrothal to marry a former school mate. When Flavian and Agnes share an “enchanting” dance the stage is set for their romance. They encounter each other again when Agnes is sprawled in the yard of her friend Viscountess Darleigh. Flavian realizes that Agnes ignites his curiosity as few women ever have. He asks her to marry him many times and finally Agnes agrees.

I really had an opportunity to see Agnes personality come out after she agreed to marry Flavian and met his family. She was independent and feisty. She didn’t let Flavian’s snooty family or his former fiancé, Velma, get the best of her. She was passionate and uninhibited with Flavian in a variety of settings. The author did an excellent job of describing the couplings without being too graphic. I finally felt like Flavian and Agnes had great chemistry that could make their marriage work. A sexy hero with a memory loss and a stutter finally clicked for me. I wish the author would have emphasized more of their character throughout the novel instead of lengthening the novel by putting the relatable elements at the end. It just seemed like the entire first half could have been eliminated or considerably condensed with absolutely no impact on the story.

I almost missed out on what turned out to be a good book because it began in such a boring way. The book begins incredibly slowly with almost no character development. I was over 100 pages into the book before it captured my attention. However, I found that the more I read the more interesting the characters and storyline became. I’m honestly on the fence about whether I would actually decide to put myself out to read another one of her novels.



Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books