This is the sixth book in the Westcott series; there is to be one more (the paperback has an excerpt at the end).
I liked the characters of Gil, Abigail, her brother Harry and the dog Beauty, and on that level I found the book interesting. However, for my taste, the family connections and interconnections and walkons from previous books were boring. I don't care how many children the previous books' couples have had by now, because these laundry lists of their progress aren't relevant to the present story and detract from it. Nor did I find this book as emotionally immersive as her earliest books. Everybody in it is very nice and anything bad they said or did is just a misunderstanding, so whatever drama there is in the situation is not resolved so much as smoothed away.
That said, Mary Balogh is still readable for her smooth and polished writing style alone -- but I would instead recommend her earlier books such as Red Rose, Secrets of the Heart, The Secret Pearl, Lord Carew's Bride or A Precious Jewel; they have the intensity that first drew me to her work.
I liked the characters of Gil, Abigail, her brother Harry and the dog Beauty, and on that level I found the book interesting. However, for my taste, the family connections and interconnections and walkons from previous books were boring. I don't care how many children the previous books' couples have had by now, because these laundry lists of their progress aren't relevant to the present story and detract from it. Nor did I find this book as emotionally immersive as her earliest books. Everybody in it is very nice and anything bad they said or did is just a misunderstanding, so whatever drama there is in the situation is not resolved so much as smoothed away.
That said, Mary Balogh is still readable for her smooth and polished writing style alone -- but I would instead recommend her earlier books such as Red Rose, Secrets of the Heart, The Secret Pearl, Lord Carew's Bride or A Precious Jewel; they have the intensity that first drew me to her work.
