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The Secret Pearl A Novel Mary Balogh 9780440242970 Books

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The Secret Pearl A Novel Mary Balogh 9780440242970 Books

Surprisingly engaging.

I was actually quite baffled in the end how much I actually liked this one despite the topic I'm usually not a very big fan of. I usually stray from books where one of the characters is married and finds someone new while still married, but honestly, I was not the tiniest bit bothered by it this time round because Adam's marriage was a farce. Had always been and his new relationship with Fleur, while a teeny tiny bit fast for my usual tastes, simply worked for me as a reader.

I liked that the hero and the heroine came together on their own, they had mistakes that the other one was aware of. I adored the fact that they communicated and how they came together slowly, but surely. Yes, of course, the slow burn lover in me wouldn't have minded if it had taken them even longer, but Balogh managed to write their story quite beautifully in a way that did not make want to throw my Kindle against the wall. Also, I honestly quite forgot the fact that Adam was married for a while reading because it was obvious that he was attracted to Fleur and vice versa.

If you're looking for a romance novel with a lot of sex scenes, then this is not it. However, if you're looking for an old school romance novel with some real story, then this is it. Definitely made me want to read something else by Balogh sometime soon.


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The Secret Pearl A Novel Mary Balogh 9780440242970 Books Reviews

Some of Ms. Balogh's books I love, some I do not which is okay. There's no author that can be expected to write stories that please all people at all times. I'm not crazy about her Survivor Series overall, but I absolutely love the Duke of Bewcastle's character from the Bedwyn Series and I also really enoyed Dark Angel/Lord Carew's Bride and consider those last two books among my favorites. Last night I thought I would re-read The Secret Pearl since I couldn't remember the storyline at all.

***Spoilers***
From the beginning, there was a sex scene that couldn't be described as anything but harsh - almost like a rape scene. Not truly because the heroine, Fleur, was actually selling herself outside a London theatre. Problem was, she was on the run, had no food or money and, rather than starve, she decides sex with an unknown man beats dying of hunger. Along comes our hero in the form of Adam Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway. He has issues of his own. In fact, he's had no sex for six years. He has a wife, but she will not allow him in her bed. This is almost like a Rochester/Jane Eyre story except with a harsh sex scene in the beginning of the book.

After the harsh sex scene, one can't help but wonder how in the world Adam can redeem himself to Fleur and to the reader. This was a difficult story in many ways. Even after Adam struggles with the way the encounter with Fleur played out and has his man of business search in the neighborhood until he finally finds her and hires her to be a governess for his daughter, in no way does that redeem him in the eyes of this reader. Fleur, for her part, has no idea she's been hired by the man who ripped her maidenhead and treated her body in such a harsh manner. Imagine her shock when she ultimately meets her employer - a man she's had nightmares about since that night.

As the storyline progresses, although Balogh attempts to set forth the reasoning behind Adam's thinking when he had his initial encounter with Fleur, it simply won't wash. As time goes on, we see the semi-hell Adam has had to live in with his wife, we see the reasons Fleur was on the run, we also see the eventual burgeoning attraction between Adam and Fleur - which was a long time coming - especially on Fleur's part. The last few chapters of the book resolved the big issue of why Fleur ran away in a "too tidy" manner that just seemed way to easy, considering what that decision cost her. It seems she actually didn't need to run away at all. It was like she goes back home, everyone welcomes her back, and... everything is simply too easy.

All in all, this book is one that will not satisfy some readers due to the hero/heroine engaging in a romance while the hero was married to another woman. Yes, they tried very hard in the end to deny acting upon their feelings, but not until they gave themselves permission to take certain liberties. Of course, in this day and age, a divorce would have been really easy to obtain and even during the Regency period, Adam could have obtained an annulment since his marriage was never consummated. Problem was, he had a daughter, Pamela, who although not from his own seed, he loved and would not give her up. For that, I give him an A++.
When I read the first scene, I thought uh-oh, this is going to be awful. But I kept reading and this novel is now one of my all-time favorites. Really blew me away.

Her late father a baron, Fleur fled his licentious successor and guardian when accused by him of murder and theft. Terrified, she ran to London to lose herself. After her money was gone, unable to obtain even the meanest employment, starving, she resorted to selling all she had left, herself. Her first customer was a scarred aristocrat. Their sexual encounter was anything but pleasant but when he realized he had taken her virginity, he paid her triple her fee and fed her.

The scarred aristocrat was Adam Kent, Duke of Ridgeway. While others of his rank stayed home, Adam fought with Wellington, was grievously wounded at Waterloo, and lost his memory for a year. During that time, his brother inherited the dukedom and Adam's fiancee. Adam eventually returned, regained his title and married the fiancee who was mad about the brother and soon came to hate Adam. Despite this, Adam was never unfaithful until that night with Fleur. (I think he was instinctively drawn to her.)

Anyway, Adam quickly felt quite guilty about his treatment of her and set about helping her. He set his secretary to hiring her as a governess for a Mr. and Mrs. Kent in Dorsetshire. She was on top of the world until the father returned home and it was HIM, one of her nightmares. She was afraid of him, but he was everything kind, courteous and respectful to her.

Though it was slow-going, Fleur gradually lost her fear and they developed a rapport...a proper rapport. Interestingly, her fear never concentrated on his terribly scarred face except in her nightmares. It was his beautiful hands that gave her the willies, though he had never hurt her with them.

5-year-old Pamela was a delight. The duchess was her usual witchy self, the brother returned and guess who? Fleur's guardian showed up.

This was a slowly-developing love story but with lots of action going on in the story. And we're gifted with an extremely honorable hero and heroine.

After I got through the first part, I absolutely loved this story.

Enjoy your reading! )
Surprisingly engaging.

I was actually quite baffled in the end how much I actually liked this one despite the topic I'm usually not a very big fan of. I usually stray from books where one of the characters is married and finds someone new while still married, but honestly, I was not the tiniest bit bothered by it this time round because Adam's marriage was a farce. Had always been and his new relationship with Fleur, while a teeny tiny bit fast for my usual tastes, simply worked for me as a reader.

I liked that the hero and the heroine came together on their own, they had mistakes that the other one was aware of. I adored the fact that they communicated and how they came together slowly, but surely. Yes, of course, the slow burn lover in me wouldn't have minded if it had taken them even longer, but Balogh managed to write their story quite beautifully in a way that did not make want to throw my against the wall. Also, I honestly quite forgot the fact that Adam was married for a while reading because it was obvious that he was attracted to Fleur and vice versa.

If you're looking for a romance novel with a lot of sex scenes, then this is not it. However, if you're looking for an old school romance novel with some real story, then this is it. Definitely made me want to read something else by Balogh sometime soon.