This is part of the Miss Martin's School for Girls subset of the Bedwyn family novels. Susanna is the third teacher from the school to have an impossible romance and get married to someone she's completely inappropriate for.

Balogh's specialty is quiet despair. She does it well, but in this book I feel like she's stretching. The plot depends a little too much on bad timing, particularly the series of events that landed Susanna in pariah status to begin with. The best book in this series so far is definitely Simply Love, which creates the same mood much more convincingly, I think.

But this is still a fun read, and I absolutely can't wait for Claudia Martin's story, Simply Perfect. Claudia is a different type than the other three teachers, much more assertive and proactive. It'll be interesting to see what Balogh does with her.