⋙ Libro Someone to Trust A Westcott Novel Book 5 edition by Mary Balogh Romance eBooks

Someone to Trust A Westcott Novel Book 5 edition by Mary Balogh Romance eBooks

Download As PDF : Someone to Trust A Westcott Novel Book 5 edition by Mary Balogh Romance eBooks

Someone to Trust A Westcott Novel Book 5 edition by Mary Balogh Romance eBooks

It pains me to write a less than stellar review of a Balogh novel. She is my favorite HR writer. Unfortunately, the Westcott series is far from her best or even her average and this book is the worst of them. Balogh has written the younger man/older woman plot before (A Promise of Spring) and done so very well.
This story is incredibly blah and I really hoped for better for Elizabeth. The relationship between Colin and Elizabeth does mostly seem like teasing/caring brother and sister. There is really no tension, no passion. Faced with the prospect that each will look to another person to marry, they both just seem to sigh and resign themselves to move on. Neither seems inclined to suffer much regret at the prospect of giving the other up.
The writing is primarily descriptive and goes on and on and on and...This book is at least 1/3 longer than it should be. It would probably work better as a short novella just cleaning up some loose ends from the previous books. As it is, it just plods along to the point of boring. From our experience with Elizabeth in earlier books she promised to be a wonderful heroine and deserved a great love story at last. That it all turned out to be mostly a facade to cover up a tragic past was disappointing. Colin it turns out is a nice young handsome man and a good dancer with a crazy mother. That's it.
If you would like to read a good younger man/older woman story I highly recommend Balogh's "A Promise of Spring." Much more interesting, complex and compelling.


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Someone to Trust A Westcott Novel Book 5 edition by Mary Balogh Romance eBooks Reviews

FINAL DECISION This is a gentle sweet romance that takes its time developing the characters relationship. This is grand passion restrained in true Mary Balogh fashion.

THE STORY At Christmas, Elizabeth, Lady Overfield decides that it is finally time to remarry after a disastrous first marriage. This time she wants stability and trust. Colin Handrich, Lord Hodges, also decides that he wants to marry to establish a family as close as the Westcotts after a childhood with a highly dysfunctional family. Elizabeth and Colin enjoy one another’s company but since Elizabeth is nine years older than Colin they know there can be nothing but friendship between them. They do agree, however, to dance a waltz together at every ball during the season.

OPINION This is a quiet slow developing story based completely on the relationship between Elizabeth and Colin. I really enjoyed how the two of them build a friendship. There is always an underlying attraction between the two, but the two fight against it believing that a relationship is impossible.

I very much enjoy these stories. By the time these two marry, I completely believe that the two of them can build a lasting relationship. Those looking for big passionate romances might not enjoy this book, but I appreciated that these two have a quiet romance but one built on laughter and friendship and yet still the passion of falling in love.

The sexual content was also dialed way back in this one which completely fit the characters. Respect, friendship, companionship and trust all come before the sex in this story which was a nice change.

My one complaint is that I wish I had gotten to see some glimpse of their future. I’m sure we will see more of them in future books in the series, but I missed some confirmation that their marriage will manage to work for both of them and they will achieve their mutual goals.

WORTH MENTIONING I loved seeing Avery who has a vital role at critical points in this story.

CONNECTED BOOKS SOMEONE TO TRUST is the fifth book in the Westcott series. The romance here is self-contained and thus it can be read as a standalone. However, new readers should be aware that the book is filled with characters from the prior books and knowledge about them is largely assumed so this book is probably better read as part of the series.

STAR RATING I give this book 4 stars.

NOTE I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley which was used to prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
I dislike giving a bad review for Ms. Balogh, but if this was written by someone else, I would have given 2 stars! After writing four excellent books in this series, this one is mainly a dud. I forced myself to read through the boring, boring first third in order to finish. The remainder was okay, the romantic couple acted more like brother and sister than would be lovers. Save your money until it goes on sale.
Great characters, both with an unusual background. I loved Elizabeth from the other Westcott novels and wanted her to find love, a gentler one. But it's Colin who really shines and is one of the top Balogh heroes, along with Stephen and the blind Survivors' Club lord, and he steals away the book in his powerful scenes at Whites and during times when both characters were tested. I believed in their love, but not so much in their struggle over the age difference, the weaker part of the book for me. There are so many characters in these books that the stories themselves suffer, though I understand the big family appeal, but the more elegant skill of concentrating on fewer would be welcome. The book was good, flawed in its imbalance of narrative but that is part of how Balogh chooses to write, and her stories are most often worth the slowness to get a what is a happy end. Always memorable people. Her characters are expertly crafted and seldom the same, and that's saying something about her talent over all these years. Looking forward to the next book.
For those of you keeping score, in this book, two members of Team Westcott get to deck the villain. The ungentlemanly types never seem to learn that you cannot bad-mouth Westcott women with impunity.

On the other hand, the hero's vile, actively malignant narcissist mother should be forgiven and kept within the fold, no matter how soul-crushing her presence may be. Makes no sense to me.

I've given you the only action in the story. The rest is devoted to Elizabeth and Colin, who dither about their 9-year age disparity and interest in marriage to other people throughout the book before deciding they enjoy each other's company, so they will marry. There is no passion. On their wedding night, the question they ponder is "Can friends make love?"

The story reminded me of a 52-course dinner. The guests have said as much as they can, no one can eat another bite and everyone is yawning and looking around to see if dessert is in sight.

Balogh writes well and is usually much more engaging.
It pains me to write a less than stellar review of a Balogh novel. She is my favorite HR writer. Unfortunately, the Westcott series is far from her best or even her average and this book is the worst of them. Balogh has written the younger man/older woman plot before (A Promise of Spring) and done so very well.
This story is incredibly blah and I really hoped for better for Elizabeth. The relationship between Colin and Elizabeth does mostly seem like teasing/caring brother and sister. There is really no tension, no passion. Faced with the prospect that each will look to another person to marry, they both just seem to sigh and resign themselves to move on. Neither seems inclined to suffer much regret at the prospect of giving the other up.
The writing is primarily descriptive and goes on and on and on and...This book is at least 1/3 longer than it should be. It would probably work better as a short novella just cleaning up some loose ends from the previous books. As it is, it just plods along to the point of boring. From our experience with Elizabeth in earlier books she promised to be a wonderful heroine and deserved a great love story at last. That it all turned out to be mostly a facade to cover up a tragic past was disappointing. Colin it turns out is a nice young handsome man and a good dancer with a crazy mother. That's it.
If you would like to read a good younger man/older woman story I highly recommend Balogh's "A Promise of Spring." Much more interesting, complex and compelling.