Mary Balogh - Only a Promise

Ralph Stockwood prides himself on being a leader, but when he convinced his friends to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, he never envisioned being the sole survivor. Racked with guilt over their deaths, Ralph must move on...and find a wife so as to secure an heir to his family’s title and fortune.
Since her Seasons in London ended in disaster, Chloe Muirhead is resigned to spinsterhood. Driven by the need to escape her family, she takes refuge at the home of her mother’s godmother, where she meets Ralph. He needs a wife. She wants a husband. So Chloe makes an outrageous suggestion: Strike a bargain and get married. One condition: Ralph has to promise that he will never take her back to London. But circumstances change. And to Ralph, it was only a promise

Comment: This is installment #5 in the Survivor's Club series by Mary Balogh. This series follows the lives and recovery of 7 friends who suffered with the war against Napoleon and how they find happiness with the perfect partners for each one.

In this story we have protagonist Ralph, a man who only suffered mild physical damage but whose mind  is ridden with guilt and the "survivor's syndrome" so to speak, since his best friends followed him to war and none survived.

He knows he has a duty to his family, he is his grandfather's heir but he had a very depressed phase right after the war ended and if not for the help of his friend the Duke of Stanbrooke (another Survivor's member), he might have something irreparable.

Now he feels he must get on with the task of seeking a wife but he wasn't prepared to find her at his grandmother's parlor and even less that she would propose to him.

Chloe took a chance in proposing a deal with Ralph after she learned he wasn't keen on marrying someone with romantic expectations on marriage, for she has her own past to put aside and just live a quiet but respectable life. Of course neither counted on getting to know more about each other and falling in love...

It would be to expect this story would focused on the relationship between the main couple, as it's the style of stories this author writes. I have read several books by her so I knew what to hope for and I was not disappointed with the way this story progressed.

The author's style is now a little predictable for me but I don't really care for I know the romance will be balanced and the characters will act as grown ups and in sync with the behavior of the time.

This means the biggest point of interest is in how each character behaves, how they react to what happens to them and why would they be a good match. Regency stories by this author often have the marriage of convenience or the slow seduction until marriage types of tropes which means the main story line sets very heavily on the character's past stories and how much they will get along once they reach a mutual bargain or find themselves in need to be married.

I'm a sucker for stories where two people, like Ralph and Chloe here, are aiming to have a specific type of situation by marrying but of course they become important to one another and feel like supporting the other person in something they need to deal with.

This is precisely what happens here in relation to their goals by marrying one another: Chloe has had bad experiences with her public appearances and she wants seclusion but still the security of an honest marriage and Ralph wants a wife who could give him a heir but who will not make demands on his affections and feelings for he thinks he has none.

The fun part and why I felt like reading (alas not as quickly as my usual pace) was this, to see how they had to interact with one another among all the expectations both brought to a marriage, the behavior others would want to observe of them and the social formalities they had to meet. It was more than obvious they would fall in love at the same time they would help one other overcome some of the issues they were bringing from their past but it's always fun to see it develop.

I think there is a slight lack of empathy in how Ralph and Chloe act with one another sometimes, though. Not all their interactions were very emotional when necessary and this made me think they were a little too indifferent at times. I can accept that by their personality and issues but along with the more formal approach the author has to writing, some scenes might come across as too cold or impersonal. It doesn't bother me from enjoying the book (all of them in general as this is a common detail throughout the author's books) but it's noticeable.

Still, I had a good time following Ralph and Chloe in their marriage, in how they helped one another while still making it look it was courtesy and sharing of responsibilities but in truth it was the shaping up of a good partnership. It was very good to see other characters as well, namely the ones we've come to root for as the series advance. I'm eager to read the last two installments...

Grade: 8/10