Mary Balogh - First Comes Marriage

Against the scandal and seduction of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh introduces an extraordinary family—the fiery, sensual Huxtables. Vanessa is the second daughter, proud and daring, a young widow who has her own reason for pursuing the most eligible bachelor in London. One that has nothing to do with love. Or does it? The arrival of Elliott Wallace, the irresistibly eligible Viscount Lyngate, has thrown the country village of Throckbridge into a tizzy. Desperate to rescue her eldest sister from a loveless union, Vanessa Huxtable Dew offers herself instead. In need of a wife, Elliott takes the audacious widow up on her unconventional proposal while he pursues an urgent mission of his own. But a strange thing happens on the way to the wedding night. Two strangers with absolutely nothing in common can’t keep their hands off each other. Now, as intrigue swirls around a past secret—one with a stunning connection to the Huxtables—Elliott and Vanessa are uncovering the glorious pleasures of the marriage bed…and discovering that when it comes to wedded bliss, love can’t be far behind.

Comment: I now consider myself to be a fan of Mary Balogh. I've read two series by her and two older loose titles if I'm not mistaken and I can say I've enjoyed the "voice" this author has to tell her stories. I especially have enjoyed her more recent work thus, I decided to start a new one for this year and chronologically speaking, the Huxtables were next and this is the first book.

In this first installment of a new series, the Huxtable family discovers law has made 17 year old Stephen the heir os an earldom. Stephen and his older sisters Meg, Vanessa and Kate have always been humble but a close family and the news their family isn't a poor one anymore is a good one but none of them starts creating delusions of grandeur.

The bearer of the news is Eliott, Viscount Lyndgate, a cousin of the late earl and someone who has become rather cynic. He still recognizes the family is a close one and that Stephen is a good boy who, if well educated, can become a very good and responsible earl. He wasn't counting on the three sisters going to London too, to the family house, but he accepts they also might benefit from their new station. If only he could ignore or avoid Vanessa, the only married - and widowed - of the sisters...

I liked the premise of this new series. I was interested in seeing how a family who had been brought up under the humble expectations of a small community and in which the family members all found some sort of meaning to their lives, suddenly had a whole new life in front of them and new situations to face.

I was also interested in seeing how the romance would develop as soon as it got evident that the main couple would be the viscount who delivered the news and the middle sister who everyone considered to be energetic and bubbly but not the pretty one.

I think, again, the author has managed to create a fascinating group of characters. The family is a close one and I'm glad they have each other's support through this new adventure. I can know from the start that they will be a good support system to each other as the stories go by.

The secondary characters also provide good plot mysteries and help, like Constantine, the illegitimate cousin of the Huxtables who has many secrets or viscount Lyndgate's mother who was very friendly and quiet in this story but offered what was necessary to make things go smoothly for the sisters, especially, in the first days.

As expected, the main couple is the attraction of the story. Their relationship starts off as being very surprising in how it develops but I was eager to see how their feelings for one another would develop.

Vanessa has emotional baggage due to her previous marriage and her doubts about her looks provide intense but not too dramatic conversations and situations, even with her new husband. I liked the little intricacies of why they are suited to one another and I liked we have a good enough explanation for why they considered the idea of becoming a couple. One could say there was some method to that but the emotions and feelings soon come too.

Eliott has changed - we learn - from being carefree and trustful to a cynical and laughing man. We understand why this happened and why it affected not only his behavior towards others but also his personality. In the end, though, finding a confident in Vanessa helped him process some things and realize there's more to life than disappointments.

After finishing this book, I was left happy that Vanessa and Elliott found common groud for their relatinship and that they wer able to process and put aside previous entanglements in a very mature way, as mature as the conversations they shared. This author writes things in a very polished, polite way but the feelings come across and I'm already eager to read the next story. The story isn't perfect, some scenes/plot moves aren't as interesting to read but overall, it was a good one.

Grade: 8/10