Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “First Comes Marriage (Huxtable Quintet #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

First Comes Marriage

(Huxtable Quintet #1)

Mary Balogh

3.80 · Rating details · 9,534 ratings · 679 reviews

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 E ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 416 pages

Published February 24th 2009 by Dell

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about First Comes Marriage, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Favorite Historical Romance Novels

3,183 books — 6,210 voters

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Best Romance Series

1,098 books — 1,872 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 3.80 ·

Rating details

· 9,534 ratings · 679 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of First Comes Marriage (Huxtable Quintet #1)

Apr 23, 2014 HTL rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-romance, 2014-book-challenge

CHRIST ON A CRACKER THIS BOOK PISSED ME OFF

1. I have no problem with a "plain" heroine (in fact, I'd like there to be more normal looking women in romance) but FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY 30% of this book is Vanessa disparaging her looks (but, you know, in a comedic way for it is the plight of the fugly sister to have a happy disposition) or Elliot remarking upon how not pretty she is, internally at least. CONSTANTLY I GET IT. SHE IS NOT BEAUTIFUL. SHE IS A REGULAR LOOKING PERSON LIKE 99% OF ALL OTHER ...more

flag 85 likes · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2008 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of historical romance

Recommended to Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) by: Carolyn F.

Shelves: part-of-a-series, marriage-of-convenience, hero-redeems-himself, historical-romance, heroine-i-liked, favorite-or-autobuy-author, plain-jane, owned-copy, stuffy-stick-in-the-mud-character, dhasg-pick-it-for-me-challenge

The title of this book is more than appropriate. There is no love between Vanessa and Elliot when they married. They didn't even seem to like each other. But, they had mutuals goals behind the marriage that Vanessa proposed. And it turned out to be the best thing possible for them both.

I loved Vanessa. She was such a sweet person. She overflows with enthusiasm and a joy for life, despite all the trials she's seen. I really admired her for how she approached her marriage with first husband, Hedle The title of this book is more than appropriate. There is no love between Vanessa and Elliot when they married. They didn't even seem to like each other. But, they had mutuals goals behind the marriage that Vanessa proposed. And it turned out to be the best thing possible for them both.

I loved Vanessa. She was such a sweet person. She overflows with enthusiasm and a joy for life, despite all the trials she's seen. I really admired her for how she approached her marriage with first husband, Hedley, who died young from consumption. Her love that she showed him really brought tears to my eyes. I normally don't really like romances where the H/h were married before and are mourning their lost spouses. It seems to take away from the present romance, which is clearly my focus. But, this was very well-done. It showed that the rooms in the heart never overflow or fill up. The heart has endless capacity for love, and there are many different kinds of love. It wasn't a conflict of interest for Vanessa to have loved her first husband so much, because it was clear how different her love was for Elliot. I think having Hedley in her life allowed her to heal and melt the ice around Elliot's heart. Vanessa is a very good example of the adage about inner beauty. She is the plainest person in her family, and no one lets her forget it. But, her good, good heart shines through and gives her the truest kind of beauty, from the inside out. She's one of those people that you can't help but love. And soon, Elliot falls for the genuine, loving person she is. I liked how he showed her in many ways how much she meant to him, although it took some initial shifting in his paradigms.

Elliot was a hard sell initially. He seemed like a full-on snob, and I have a very low tolerance for snobs. But I came to see that the recent trials in his life had hardened him, hiding a man with a broken heart, not from a woman who did him wrong, but from his father's betrayal of his family with his long-standing adultery and other family. And then, the betrayal of his best friend and cousin Con in taking advantage of his younger brother Jon, the heir to the earldom of Merton, who was mentally disabled--really shattered his ability to trust others. Elliot's plate was seemingly full to the brim, his shoulders heavily-burdened with the cares of taking care of his family. Luckily, Vanessa's light opens the rooms of his heart and brings the spring and sunshine back into his life, putting everything into perspective, and teaching him to enjoy the moments of happiness in every day.

This truly was a lovely story. Mary Balogh has proven herself to be a wonderful writer. She has a way with words in her books, giving the reader a resplendent romance, but also a rich story that shows the spectrum of human emotions and interactions. I must admit, I wasn't terribly eager to read this series, although I intended to do so at some point. Thanks to my Goodreads friend who picked this off my shelf for me to read, I ended up with a reading experience that I truly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in this series. ...more

flag 40 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2009 Shawna rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of historical/regency romance with marriage of convenience plots

Shelves: historical-romance, author-mary-balogh, hh-widow-or-widower, rt-book-reviews-top-pick, heroine-i-adore, historical-romance-regency, heroine-plain-jane-uglyducklingswan, hero-undeserving-of-heroine, married-couples-married-convenience, made-me-cry

4 stars – Historical/Regency Romance

I’d lowered my expectations for this after hearing from several friends that the Huxtable series isn’t among Balogh’s best work, and I mainly read First Comes Marriage in order to have the background for Then Comes Seduction that I checked out from the library, since I so love a good rake story.

I’m happy to report that after a somewhat slow beginning in which I almost abandoned it as a DNF, I ended up really liking this book, especially the cheerful, find joy ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Jun 22, 2015 Daniella rated it liked it

First Comes Marriage was more of a philosophical exploration of love and life than a romance novel. It was devastatingly poignant and ruthlessly human in its portrayal of the characters. It really hurt to read this.

Elliot was arrogant and selfish at first. He was cruelly honest with his opinions about Vanessa, remarking that she was plain, that no one would ever find her attractive etc etc. Vanessa was a strong woman battling with her insecurities. She was determined to be happy despite of the p ...more

flag 16 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2009 Beth rated it it was ok

Shelves: bodice-rippers, historical-romance, romance, drinking-game, read-in-2009

This book is PERFECT if you are doing a romance novel drinking game. Every time a character mentioned how un-pretty Vanessa was, I wanted to take a swig of something. It seemed that it was mentioned every few pages. Okay, I get it: She's not the most attractive thing to ever walk the earth, but come on, must you keep reminding me?! It got very tedious and distracted from what little of the story there was. Also, it felt like the author got trunky in the end as mostly everything was nicely wound ...more

flag 15 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2008 Julie (jjmachshev) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2009-reads

A lovely story that will play with your emotions yet keep you smiling. "First Comes Marriage" is the premiere novel in Mary Balogh's new series about three sisters and their younger brother who are lifted from obscurity when he is elevated to the title of Earl of Merton. The first to find love is the middle widowed sister, Vanessa.

Vanessa is the 'plain Jane' of the Huxtable family. She's heard it all her life and can see in the mirror for herself as well. But she's also the happiest and most joy A lovely story that will play with your emotions yet keep you smiling. "First Comes Marriage" is the premiere novel in Mary Balogh's new series about three sisters and their younger brother who are lifted from obscurity when he is elevated to the title of Earl of Merton. The first to find love is the middle widowed sister, Vanessa.

Vanessa is the 'plain Jane' of the Huxtable family. She's heard it all her life and can see in the mirror for herself as well. But she's also the happiest and most joyful, finding pleasure in each day. When the terribly correct and arrogant Viscount Lyngate comes to inform the family of her younger brother's surprising inheritance, Vanessa is just as excited and fearful as the rest of her small family. But when it appears this same Viscount will propose a dutiful marriage to her older sister, Vanessa knows that just won't do. Her older sister deserves to have a chance at love so Vanessa proposes to the Viscount herself!

Elliott isn't sure which part of his duty is most onerous. Having to locate and guide the new Earl of Merton or having to sacrifice himself on the altar of marriage for his own title. It doesn't take him long to realize that what's really most irritating is the widowed sister of the new Earl. She doesn't stand in awe of him, she talks back to him, and now for some reason he seems to be attracted to her. But he must marry and heaven knows one chit is really as good as another so he might as well lighten his burden by marrying the oldest Huxtable daughter. Well...he would...if that irritating woman hadn't just proposed to him!

I found laughter and tears in this story; I also couldn't seem to stop reading once I started. Both of those are signs of an irresistible book for me. From the first page, Balogh sets up the premise of this entire new series and draws the reader in with a bit of mystery. While you are reading the story of Elliott and Vanessa, you also get bits of pieces of the mystery tossed in. The relationship between the main characters is complex and engrossing while the deepening of their feelings proceeds at a reasonable and smooth pace. I find myself anxious for the next book "Then Comes Seduction" which is the story of the youngest daughter. It should hit the shelves April and I'll look forward to reading more about the Huxtable family, the Earl of Merton, and the mystery of Constantine. ...more

flag 14 likes · Like · see review

Sep 12, 2017 Vintage added it

Shelves: dnf

Completely lost the plot for me after the prologue (view spoiler)

It was almost as if the prologue belonged to another book. ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Feb 22, 2009 Juliana Philippa rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009-reads, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, 0-reviewed, 3-half-stars, series, romance, romance-historical, 0-own, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form-mass-market, 2009-feb-reads

A good start to Balogh's new series - not as strong as the Bedwyn kick-off, but enjoyable (3.5 stars)

I am an almost-always faithful Balogh fan and I was not disappointed in Book 1 of the Huxtable Quintet, First Comes Marriage. Though I had some complaints which I have detailed below, on the whole I found the book very enjoyable and worth a quick rush to the bookstore (forgive me, Amazon.com) and the postponing of my schoolwork.

HUXTABLE FAMILY:
The Huxtable family is made up of four siblings; both ...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2018 Starr (AKA Starrfish) Rivers rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-romance

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. I don't know why I'd talked myself into thinking that this would be "average" MB (which doesn't mean average in the usual sense), but it was definitely above average MB.

Let me explain.

Lately, I've been reading backwards MB's books, from her most recent series to her earlier tried and trues. The Huxtable series I liked a lot, and this is not my first re-read of them. But I realize now that I like them even better than I did before, precisely becau ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Sep 17, 2009 Summer rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish, romance, historical-romance

The rating here could be partially due to the fact that I was in a stressful mood when I gave this book a shot. But mostly I just kept thinking the writing here felt stuffy. I was 20 pages in and everything felt superficial and couldn't hold my interest. Poor stuffy rich gentlemen has to marry on his 30th birthday. Boo hoo. Oh poor happy but financially burdened family and it's poor young and kind sister who has to marry the rich stuffy gentlemen.
Bleeeeh.
In my opinion when everything is too idy ...more

flag 11 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2020 WhiskeyintheJar rated it liked it

Shelves: regency, series, historical

2.5 stars

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2021 Luana ☆ rated it really liked it

Okay, this is my second book from Mary Balogh in a row and I discovered something that makes her books not quite reaching the 5 stars in my opinion.
Each book there was something that she focused with an intensity that makes you bored. In this case was the too much focus on how the heroine was not a beautiful woman, even though she was incredibly beautiful on the inside, with a kind soul, someone who is not afraid to solve her problems and speak her mind. But all that seemed to not matter becaus ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2015 Kat Desi rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-romance

Historical Romance (The Book Club) August 2015 Group Read (Regency)

I'll chuck this one up to 2.5 out of 5 stars. This was my first ever Mary Balogh read and since I've heard so many good things about her I looked forward to reading this... I can say that I adore this author's writing style! I liked the story line too. Except certain things have ruined the book for me.

Elliot is a character that's definitely going to stay in my mind for a long time... I usually like stoic Heroes in my HRs but he t ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2018 Wollstonecrafthomegirl rated it really liked it

I read this for the first time way back pre-GRs in 2014 and it’s been lingering on my re-read and review for GRs list since I set up my account. For reasons I couldn’t quite articulate, the first book in the wildly inconsistent and generally disappointing Huxtables series, had stuck with me.

That’s probably because, in my opinion (not shared by all), it’s the best in the series (I think At Last Comes Love takes the Crown for most readers).

What can I say? I am an absolute sucker for Balogh’s star I read this for the first time way back pre-GRs in 2014 and it’s been lingering on my re-read and review for GRs list since I set up my account. For reasons I couldn’t quite articulate, the first book in the wildly inconsistent and generally disappointing Huxtables series, had stuck with me.

That’s probably because, in my opinion (not shared by all), it’s the best in the series (I think At Last Comes Love takes the Crown for most readers).

What can I say? I am an absolute sucker for Balogh’s starchy, moody, dutiful, unromantic heroes. And in Elliott, we have an absolute humdinger. He refuses to do anything in this novel without complaint, even when those things are good for him, even when he enjoys them. He thinks he’s always right and is a very poor listener. He hates feelings. He’s an ass, a completely endearing ass. As he falls for Vanessa Huxtable those characteristics begin to unravel. He thinks about how other people are feeling. He laughs. He listens and explains himself. He was always a fundamentally good person, of course, but the love of a good woman makes him show it.

And Vanessa is a good woman. She’s happy and joyful and unfailingly positive, but, harbouring a deep insecurity about her looks. There are contradictions in Vanessa, who I thought was fairly one-dimensional when I first read this book, but Balogh subtly articulates her insecurities throughout this story such that, when they become a major plot point, it’s not jarring. In fact, it makes for a neat conflict without too much drama.

Perhaps more could have been done here, Vanessa is launched into life as a Viscountess (indeed, Duchess in waiting) and handles it all with aplomb (frankly, it’s somewhat skirted over - couple of balls, discussion of being presented to the Queen and ~fin, as if the Ton was so very easy and kind to country bumpkin newbies).

This isn’t spectacular enough for five stars and it lacks some fireworks, but, for me, it’s a lovely book. 3.5 stars, rounded up for The Feels. ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2018 Zoe (Attic Salt Reviews) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, bodice-ripper, best-of-historical-fiction

If you love historical fiction but haven’t read Mary Balogh, you are going to want to change that.
A strong willed yet sweet heroine, a serious, arrogant gentleman with a soft side and a hate to love storyline. We all know that there is nothing that could stop me from loving this book and I have been so exited to start reviewing this series.

When Vannessa's younger brother inherits a surprising title, the arrogant and morose Viscount Lyngate comes to lift the family from their obscure situation an If you love historical fiction but haven’t read Mary Balogh, you are going to want to change that.
A strong willed yet sweet heroine, a serious, arrogant gentleman with a soft side and a hate to love storyline. We all know that there is nothing that could stop me from loving this book and I have been so exited to start reviewing this series.

When Vannessa's younger brother inherits a surprising title, the arrogant and morose Viscount Lyngate comes to lift the family from their obscure situation and into the bustle of the ton, dutifully picking up the mantel as their guide through this new life. But when Vanessa suspects Viscount Lyngate's plans to propose marriage to her older sister she knows she can’t let her siblings marry for anything but love. To stop the Viscount from asking a question that would never be refused, Vanessa asks him to marry her for their mutual convenience.

Ellitott was dreading having to train the new Earl of Merton and the mounting pressure to find a wife was starting to get on his nerves. Elliot hadn’t anticipated Stephen’s three elder sisters coming along for the ride. Elliot did his best to remain the perfect gentleman, but there was no helping him when Stephen’s widowed sister opens her mouth. Set on marriage, Elliot makes plans to propose to the eldest sibling and endure the sister in law. But who should propose to him first but the very widow he wishes he could throw out a window.

There is honestly nothing I didn't love about this book - we all know I'm a sucker for cheesy hate to love romance. I absolutely loved the plot and the writing style was amazing. Sure, it was a little predictable, but I still found myself dying from not knowing what was going to happen or from knowing what everyone was thinking as they lied to each other - that is some good writing.

I also loved that our leading lady didn’t need to be extraordinarily handsome, well mannered, or witty to be considered a heroine. That’s not so say that she wasn’t any of those things. She is a loving and lovable character who never lets people tell her how to live her life of how to act, who takes pride in her opinions and will always fight for those she loves. And yet, despite her firm opinions and blunt nature, there is nothing unfeminine, brash or improper in her manner because of it. She is still a sweet woman with a caring nature, charming eyes and the ability to make anyone around her both fall in love and feel endless joy.

“My happiness has to come from within myself or it is too fragile a thing to be of any use to me and too much of a burden to benefit any of my loved ones.”

As for our leading man, Elliot was proud and a bit of a stiff but such a sweetheart. Like all great overserious male leads, Elliot didn’t have the best childhood and grew up constantly concerned for his mother’s happiness. He worked to hard to not be like the rest of the men in his family. He wanted to be loyal to his wife, to make her happy, and to have his children grow up loved. He didn’t want his wife to have the life that his mother, and even his grandmother, had to endure. He only wanted to do well by everyone, he just didn’t know how to do it, the poor thing. If that doesn’t tell you anything about his character, I don’t know what will.

I seriously recommend you pick up this book, you won’t ever want to put it down. There are several steamy scenes so younger readers and those not comfortable with sex scenes be warned…

FULL REVIEW | MY BLOG ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2012 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-romance-historical, character-duke-or-maybe-1-in-story, m-library-sj-audio-oda, holiday-valentines-day-perfect, theme-beauty-in-the-eye, re-read-for-comfort, authors-m, married-couple-all-or-most-of-book, all-time-favorites, auto-buy-author

Vanessa Huxtable Dew in her green Regency dress, who is decidedly prettier when she smiles.
Artist: Gilbert Stuart, circa 1802-1804*

[image error]

★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Again, Anne Flosnik does a nice job of narrating in this, the first of the Huxtable Quintet. She doesn’t sound as stilted as she sometimes did in The Prize, by Julia Garwood. Nevertheless, she isn’t great at differentiating the voices, but more than acceptable in her inflection, pacing, cadence, and enunciation ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

May 16, 2014 Bookish rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hr

Vannessa

Elliott

This book is one of my favorite HR ever!!!!though sometimes i wanted to smack Elliot for how unappreciative and ignorant he was toward Vanessa's feelings! ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 08, 2017 BJ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: loved-it

Loved the arrogant H, who dismisses the h and her family from the first meeting. She's very sweet, and so much more than she seems. She's a widow, and she shocks him by her actions. The book is a take on beauty and the beast, and the h is the 'ugly' beast. Of course she's saving him from loneliness, and hidden hurts. I loved that this is not a 'sweet' story, they hurt each other before they fell into trust, and love. ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Mar 20, 2018 Sonya Heaney added it

Shelves: historical-romance, regency-era

Originally posted HERE .

I liked the opening of this book – both the emotional prologue and the opening chapters. It sets up the whole series, where a family living modestly in the country suddenly discovers they have inherited a title.

It occurred to me while I was reading First Comes Marriage is that one thing Mary Balogh does better than almost any historical romance author is come up with a *concept* for each of her series. She throws her characters into extraordinary, but historically accu Originally posted HERE .

I liked the opening of this book – both the emotional prologue and the opening chapters. It sets up the whole series, where a family living modestly in the country suddenly discovers they have inherited a title.

It occurred to me while I was reading First Comes Marriage is that one thing Mary Balogh does better than almost any historical romance author is come up with a *concept* for each of her series. She throws her characters into extraordinary, but historically accurate situations and the series evolves from there. No spy clubs or marriage societies.

Another thing Balogh does wonderfully is make all of her characters distinctive, and shows how different people see each other in different ways. You would never mistake one of her heroes or heroines for another. She is especially good at writing poor first impressions. She has characters who grow to appreciate each other, rather than have it that way from the outset. This is a hero who has no particular reason to admire the heroine at the beginning – and he doesn’t. Of course, his opinion changes over time.

I liked that the heroine was plain, but had been married before, to a dying man who loved her. The historical romance genre tends to feature dozens of extraordinary aristocratic beauties in Regency England, but I seriously doubt there were that many! A plainer heroine shouldn’t mean a heroine incapable of attracting a man.

The relationship develops at a believable pace. The marriage takes everyone completely by surprise, but that’s only the beginning of the story. The hero’s issues come out much more slowly, but when they do his distance and coldness suddenly make sense.

The spurned ex-mistress is a character who turns up in a lot of books. I’m not sure how I felt about the one here – it’s not a trope that can ever treat women well, and so I always tense up when a character like that comes onto the page. If I was looking for a flaw, that might be it.

Additionally, I do wish editors wouldn’t change the spelling of proper nouns into American English. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane was – and still is – a real place, and the name can only be spelt one way.

I was late to discover what a good author Mary Balogh is, and so I’ve been working my way through her backlist. She really is one of the best historical romance writers around. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2013 Nefise rated it really liked it

Shelves: marriage-of-convenience, mary-balogh, historical-romance

I love to read Ms Balogh's books. It usually a winner for me. Sometimes I love them, sometimes I just like. Eventually I always enjoy her stories.

This one is not bad but not a five stars either. I like hero, Elliott a lot. Vanessa is a different heroine. She's joyful and nice but athe same time annoying a little bit. IMO, Ms Balogh tried to tell something from heroine's POV. Actually she told very important thing about living the moment, try to enjoy life no matter what. A nice example of conver I love to read Ms Balogh's books. It usually a winner for me. Sometimes I love them, sometimes I just like. Eventually I always enjoy her stories.

This one is not bad but not a five stars either. I like hero, Elliott a lot. Vanessa is a different heroine. She's joyful and nice but athe same time annoying a little bit. IMO, Ms Balogh tried to tell something from heroine's POV. Actually she told very important thing about living the moment, try to enjoy life no matter what. A nice example of conversation between hero and heroine.

“And life goes by very fast,” she said. “Just yesterday, it seems, I was a girl, yet now already I am approaching my middle twenties. You are almost thirty.”
“We are practically in our dotage,” he said.
“We will be before we know it,” she said. “If we are fortunate enough to grow old, that is. Life should be lived and enjoyed every moment.”

Just sometimes while Vanessa was talking about her opinion about life, it seems giving advise, she judged hero, though she didn't know much why he's that way and it annoyed my sometimes.

Actually I like the characterization of hero very much. I wanted to read and learn more about him. He's the kind of hero I like to read. Albeit I liked to read the book very much, romance part didn't work for me that much. Their dialogs and interactions were nice to read but I couldn't see them as a lovely couple. Opposite attraction is one my favorite trope, but I couldn't put them there. I don't mean it was bad, just not memorable for me.

Overall, it is a well written and nicely developed story and inclued a lot of thoughts about living the moment, making decisions maybe in the future they looked like a mistake but eventually they made us who we're now etc. And I must say, Ms Balogh writing style is very strong and I like to read her descriptions and depictions very much.

Lastly, I want to share a dialog which I loved very much!

“If I were still unmarried,” he said, “and had to make a choice among you and your sisters based upon looks alone, I would choose you.”
Her eyes filled with laughter again, and her lips curved into a smile.
“You are my gallant knight,” she said. “Thank you, sir.”
“I am not a simple mix of coldness and irritability, then?” he asked her.
The laughter held.
“Like all humans,” she said, “you are a dizzying mix of things and you ought to take no notice of me when I say you are all one thing or even all of two or three things. I daresay you are thousands of things and I will discover hundreds of them during our marriage. But not all. We can never know another person completely.”
“Can we know even ourselves?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “We can always take even ourselves by surprise. But would life not be dull if we were all unfailingly predictable? How would we ever continue to learn and grow and adapt to new conditions of our life?”
“Are we talking philosophy again?” he asked her.
“If you ask questions,” she said, “you must expect me to answer them.”
“You know how to change me for the better,” he said.
“Do I?” She looked uncomprehendingly at him.
...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 19, 2010 Suzanne (Under the Covers Book blog) rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-historical-romance

I really wanted to like this book, and I did kind of. However it didn’t seem to capture my imagination and romantic fancy as many other historical romances do.

Although I liked the main characters of Mrs Vanessa Dew nee Huxtable, I found her unrelenting happiness despite the callous way she was often treated by the hero, Elliott Wallace Viscount Lyngate, to be supremely irritating, which, no doubt makes me seem slightly grumpy! As for Elliott, I sympathized with him as he had a lot of bad things ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 11, 2009 Erin rated it did not like it

Shelves: romance-book-rating, read-on-my-kindle

I'm sorry, but was there a plot in there? And how about some character development? Seriously sucked. The main conflict seemed to be the heroine didn't feel she was pretty enough for her husband. I heard about it a lot. Get over it already!

Will not be reading the subsequent four books.

This one might have cured my romance book reading for awhile. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2017 Pamela rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, victorian-era-romance

I liked this book, but for the fact that Vanessa could not stop saying how plain she was. I understand that she was less stunning than either of her sisters, but her parents should not have called her their plane Jane, all her life. Elliott at first thought the same, but with help with a better quality of clothes, a new way to wear her hair, and her beautiful eyes, sparkling smile, and personality, he was quite won over. What started as a marriage of convenience, soon developed into more. I love ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2017 herdys rated it it was ok

Shelves: historial-romance

It felt like I was reading two books. The first one had an asshole of a hero and a heroine who was PLAIN. I use capital letters cause it was the only thing everyone said about her, including herself. Then they were suddenly all lovey dovey and actually falling in love and I was getting whiplash..

I seriously didn't think Balogh could write such an awful book but it happened and I'm so glad the book is over! I will not be checking the rest of series, since it seems it will have more of the same t ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2020 Janine Ballard rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009-releases, 2000s-decade-releases

3.75 stars

After a short prologue setting up the hero of book five (because why?), we are introduced to Elliott Wallace, Viscount Lyngate. Elliott arrives at the village of Throckbridge to inform the countrified Huxtables, distant cousins of his, that Stephen Huxtable has inherited a venerated title, Earl of Merton. Before introducing himself to Stephen and his three sisters, Elliott attends an assembly and reluctantly dances with the plain Vanessa Huxtable. In true romance fashion, she nettles h 3.75 stars

After a short prologue setting up the hero of book five (because why?), we are introduced to Elliott Wallace, Viscount Lyngate. Elliott arrives at the village of Throckbridge to inform the countrified Huxtables, distant cousins of his, that Stephen Huxtable has inherited a venerated title, Earl of Merton. Before introducing himself to Stephen and his three sisters, Elliott attends an assembly and reluctantly dances with the plain Vanessa Huxtable. In true romance fashion, she nettles him.

The Huxtables move to the Merton estate, which neighbors Elliott’s own house. Jon, the developmentally disabled previous earl of Merton, who passed away in his teenage years, was Elliott’s cousin. Elliott’s other cousin is Jon’s older brother, Con (short for Constantine; he is book five’s hero), who would have inherited the earldom had he not been born two days before his parents married. Con and Elliott are on the outs for reasons that are eventually clarified.

There is no one to bring the Huxtable girls out in society; Elliott’s mother and aunt are both otherwise occupied. Elliott decides to marry one of the Huxtable sisters so that, as his wife, she can chaperone the others and oversee their society debuts.

Elliott chooses Meg, the oldest, but Meg has not quite gotten over Crispin Dew, an old beau. So, Vanessa pre-empts Elliott’s proposal by offering herself as his wife. After he recovers from his shock, Elliott agrees to marry her. Vanessa is plain but sunny-natured, and she offsets Elliott’s cool stiffness well. But when Elliott misinterprets something she says and believes she still carries a torch for her first husband, their road to happiness gets bumpy.

The first third of First Comes Marriage was a retread of Pride and Prejudice, with the wealthy hero arriving in the country and thinking he was better than everyone who had gathered at a local assembly and dancing with the heroine. Then we had Con, his attractive scoundrel of a cousin, making him look bad, just as Wickham did to Darcy. Vanessa even had “fine eyes.”

Balogh doesn’t channel Austen as well as Austen does Austen, and this section also had lot of telling and not much showing, so it was a bit boring and distancing. Things got more interesting once Vanessa proposed marriage to Elliott, though.

The conceit that Elliott needed to marry one of the Huxtable girls was nonsensical; surely a wife who was not established in society herself would not have known what bringing out her sisters entailed or how to handle it. But I liked the way Elliott reluctantly began to fall in love with his plain (albeit fine-eyed) wife. Everything outside their romance was pretty predictable. You could see where it was going.

Vanessa’s plainness was overemphasized. Her late father joked that she should have been named Jane so that he could call her “Plain Jane.” He was supposed to be a nice father, but I couldn’t imagine a loving father saying such a thing to his child.

This was not the strongest book in the series, but it did have some charm. Vanessa is down-to-earth and free of angst, and we can see how good she could be for Elliott. Their honeymoon scenes were lovely; the one I liked best involved gathering daffodils. On the strength of Vanessa’s warmth and laughter, and the way she thawed Elliott, I’m giving this one 3.75 stars. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2010 Nisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: marriage-of-convenience-or-arranged, super-large-family-series, historicalromance

I don't know what to think about this book. I mean, I can't say that it was stellar or that I fell in love with all the characters, but I did like reading the book and want to read the rest of the series.

The heroine, Vanessa is repeatedly considered the plain jane of her family. Yet, she is the only one who married the sickly second son of a baron. He dies, btw, so that she is actually a widow. Her appeal may not be her looks, or the fact that she was already married, but she is good at making I don't know what to think about this book. I mean, I can't say that it was stellar or that I fell in love with all the characters, but I did like reading the book and want to read the rest of the series.

The heroine, Vanessa is repeatedly considered the plain jane of her family. Yet, she is the only one who married the sickly second son of a baron. He dies, btw, so that she is actually a widow. Her appeal may not be her looks, or the fact that she was already married, but she is good at making people happy. And that is a task of its own when the serious Viscount Lyngate, aka Elliot, or our hero comes to town to take under his wing, the new Earl of Merton. And so, the Elliot meets the Huxtable family consisting of, Margaret, the eldest (as well as the voluptuous beauty), Vanessa, the plain jane with smiling eyes, Katherine, the elegant and also gorgeous younger sister, and the Stephen, the new Earl. They all get transplanted from their simple life to the ways of the ton, but Elliot runs in to a problem with marrying off the excess number of sisters. The only solution appears to be marrying the oldest sister, Margaret, who can help the rest facilitate into society. Instead, he ends up marrying Vanessa, the outspoken plain sister, who he has uncommonly strong sparks toward. And so the pair marry, with no illusions of love, but at least they try to make their state as successful as possible. Of course, they have great chemistry, but both of them have their own demons to pass until they can finally love each other.

Reading about a widowed heroine was actually interesting this time, though her self-esteem issues totally got me down. I really wanted her to admit that she was beautiful, because calling her plain never makes any sense to me. I don't know what plain looks like. Ugly makes sense and would be insulting, but plain describes nothing in this case. MB constantly repeats how plain Vanessa looks and I just hated it. Elliot was supposedly a greek god, but I also could not find him that attractive. And he's actually my favorite hero type - serious, responsible, and arrogant (yet, possessing enough good looks knock Matron insensible). I did warm up to him by the end, but it wasn't enough.

What I am excited to read about is Con Huxtable. I really want to know the mystery about the man, but I will have to wait until the 5th book for any reasonable conclusion.

Anyway, its not a bad read. It didn't bore me, but I would really just like to skip onto Con's story. But knowing MB, I'm sure she has something tasty planned for the other Huxtables as well. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 06, 2019 Lorka rated it liked it

Actually.... First Comes a Prologue that is confusing. Without giving spoilers, I was really confused once I got to the first paragraph of the story because I no longer knew who the hero was supposed to be in this story. It took me awhile to get the characters straight, who was the villain, who was good/arrogant/a bore, who the heroine was to be. I actually liked the plot of the story and enjoyed it though. The heroine was very sunny, which always makes it enjoyable to read about. Her drawback w ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2010 Sbuchler rated it did not like it

Shelves: read-in-2010, romance

Genre: Regency Romance

I finally gave up on reading this book. I don’t particularly like either the heroine Vanessa Dew or the hero Elliot, Viscount Lyngate. Dark, brooding and undemonstrative heroes rarely work for me, anyhow – and in this case neither the hero nor the heroine really learn anything about each other OR take the time to be considerate of each other. Vanessa spends most of the book claiming she’ll make him happy and comfortable – but I never see her do anything to accomplish this g ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2009 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: romance

This was not one of my favorite Balogh books. It actually reminded me more of her style when she first started writing. I wonder if these were dug out of the back of the closet somewhere.

The first half of the book was very plodding and hard to get through. If I didn't like her so much, I would probably have put it down. The last half was much better and contained that spark that draws me into Balogh's writing.

Would not recommend for a first read of her. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 25, 2010 Ruth rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, regency-victorian, non-classical-beauty-heroine, series

This is a pleasant study of an arranged marriage which becomes something more. The book is at its best when it focuses on the hero and heroine and their emotions and relationship. The secondary characters dominate too much for my taste, and, although I understand the need to introduce them in a series, I find Stephen and Katherine too trite and Margaret too sour to be of any interest, and actually are more irritating than not. I enjoyed this sweet story for the hero and heroine.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Historical Romanc...: BOTM August 1 to 15 - First Comes Marriage (Regency)	24	34	Aug 09, 2015 05:58PM
What's the Name o...: Looking for a 4-book HR series that follows Margaret, Vanessa, Catherine and Stephen [s]	5	26	Nov 20, 2013 02:42PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Romance

673 users

Romance > Historical Romance

582 users

Historical

233 users

Historical > Regency

124 users

Historical > Historical Fiction

111 users

Fiction

66 users

Historical Romance > Regency Romance

47 users

Adult

27 users

Audiobook

22 users

European Literature > British Literature

17 users

See top shelves…

About Mary Balogh

Mary Balogh

4,739 followers

Mary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curl ...more

Other books in the series

Huxtable Quintet (5 books)

Books by Mary Balogh

A Summer to Remember (Bedwyn Prequels, #2)

More…

7 Great Books Hitting Shelves Today

Need another excuse to go to the bookstore this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. To create our...

Trivia About First Comes Marri...

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from First Comes Marriage

“The suffering of a loved one was in many ways worse than one's one suffering because it left one feeling so very helpless.” — 30 likes

“My happiness has to come from within myself or it is too fragile a thing to be of any use to me and too much of a burden to benefit any of my loved ones.” — 22 likes

More quotes…