What do you think?
Rate this book
Bedwyn Saga
Momentos inolvidables
Kit es un soltero empedernido e insobornable. Lauren ha sido abandonada en el altar, de modo que el matrimonio ya no le interesa. Los dos se unen para burlar a sus mayores, fingir un noviazgo serio y, finalmente, dejarlo todo para volver a la vida en libertad. El problema surge cuando Kit descubre que se ha enamorado de Lauren...
Kit Butler es divertido y peligroso, uno de los solteros más infames de Londres. El matrimonio es lo último en lo que piensa. Pero la familia de Kit tiene otros planes. Desesperado por frustrar las maquinaciones de su padre, Kit necesita una novia... y rápido. Y aquí es donde aparece Miss Lauren Edgeworth...
Tras ser abandonada ante el altar, Miss Lauren Edgeworth ha decidido que el matrimonio no es para ella. Y cuando conoce a Kit, que en este sentido parece su alma gemela, ambos traman un plan: Lauren se hará pasar por la prometida de Kit si él se aviene a proporcionarle un apasionado e inolvidable verano. Mas cuando este termine, ella romperá el compromiso y ambos recuperarán la libertad. Todo va a la perfección hasta que Kit hace lo impensable: se enamora. Un verano inolvidable no es suficiente. Pero ¿cómo convencer a Lauren de que sea su... en lo bueno y en lo malo, todos los días de su vida?
Kit Butler es divertido y peligroso, uno de los solteros más infames de Londres. El matrimonio es lo último en lo que piensa. Pero la familia de Kit tiene otros planes. Desesperado por frustrar las maquinaciones de su padre, Kit necesita una novia... y rápido. Y aquí es donde aparece Miss Lauren Edgeworth...
Tras ser abandonada ante el altar, Miss Lauren Edgeworth ha decidido que el matrimonio no es para ella. Y cuando conoce a Kit, que en este sentido parece su alma gemela, ambos traman un plan: Lauren se hará pasar por la prometida de Kit si él se aviene a proporcionarle un apasionado e inolvidable verano. Mas cuando este termine, ella romperá el compromiso y ambos recuperarán la libertad. Todo va a la perfección hasta que Kit hace lo impensable: se enamora. Un verano inolvidable no es suficiente. Pero ¿cómo convencer a Lauren de que sea su... en lo bueno y en lo malo, todos los días de su vida?
265 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2006
505 people are currently reading
5446 people want to read
About the author
Mary Balogh
196 books6,380 followersMary 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 curling.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling 'Slightly' sextet and 'Simply' quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 780 reviews
August 21, 2011
I absolutely loved this book! Right from the start, Ms. Balogh's writing enchanted (there isn't another word for it) me and, before I knew it, I was in love with both Kit and Lauren. :)
This was not a story full of action, escapades and mysteries to be solved. It didn't take me into an emotional rollercoaster that ended up leaving me happily drained at the end. It was, pure and simple, a love story about two people who, at first, seemed ill-suited but couldn't have been more right to each other. The characters, the setting, the romance, the pace, everything was just perfect and I truly enjoyed it.
Note: This book introduces the Bedwyn siblings, who are the "stars" of Ms. Balogh's bestselling Slightly series. I must confess I was less than charmed by the Bedwyins - especially Freyja, who was utterly hateful in every single appearance she made in this book - and I really don't see them as hero/heroine material. But I'm curious, so I guess I'll have to find that out how Ms. Balogh has managed to turn a bunch of rude and ill-manered characters into worthy heroes/heroines...
This was not a story full of action, escapades and mysteries to be solved. It didn't take me into an emotional rollercoaster that ended up leaving me happily drained at the end. It was, pure and simple, a love story about two people who, at first, seemed ill-suited but couldn't have been more right to each other. The characters, the setting, the romance, the pace, everything was just perfect and I truly enjoyed it.
Note: This book introduces the Bedwyn siblings, who are the "stars" of Ms. Balogh's bestselling Slightly series. I must confess I was less than charmed by the Bedwyins - especially Freyja, who was utterly hateful in every single appearance she made in this book - and I really don't see them as hero/heroine material. But I'm curious, so I guess I'll have to find that out how Ms. Balogh has managed to turn a bunch of rude and ill-manered characters into worthy heroes/heroines...
December 29, 2021
Bumped down on reread
5+ shining stars!
Enchanting, colorful, sparkling, romantic, well-crafted, endearing, heartwarming, wondrous and beautiful.
It had my favorite troupe: the fake engagement in an historical setting. But it was so much more than that. The whole story flowed wonderfully and every character was so well written. Mary Balogh didn’t tell me about them, she showed it though the writing. I could feel the sun on my cheeks and the cold water, the merriment, the sadness, the life of the characters and the love between Lauren and Kit.
Lauren and Kit are the most wonderful couple ever. They complement each other. Kit gives Lauren the sparkle of life that she needs, and Lauren brings the love and compassion that Kit needs.
I loved everything about this book. I could not wait to see what the next page would bring. It had all that I love and no stupid misunderstandings, conflicts or unnecessary drama. I am beyond happy to have found a forgotten classic. It sure was a summer to remember.
Mary Balogh is going straight to my favorite historical authors alongside with Lisa Kleypas, Courtney Milan and Sarah McLean. Thank you, Lisa Kay and the lovely ladies in the RLftCI group for recommending it to me ages ago. I should have read it sooner!
5+ shining stars!
Enchanting, colorful, sparkling, romantic, well-crafted, endearing, heartwarming, wondrous and beautiful.
"I think that spending a summer in you company, masquerading as your betrothed, would be rather...adventurous."Sometimes ít's more difficult to write a review for a book you really loved. Nothing you say can really convey how fantastic the book was! And you don't want to spoil anything, beacuse the discovery was such a treat. This book was just that. I am so excited to have found Mary Balogh and I've already downloaded the next one to my kindle. So what was so fantastic? Except for the fact that this book wooed me at a time where I've DNF a lot of books?
It had my favorite troupe: the fake engagement in an historical setting. But it was so much more than that. The whole story flowed wonderfully and every character was so well written. Mary Balogh didn’t tell me about them, she showed it though the writing. I could feel the sun on my cheeks and the cold water, the merriment, the sadness, the life of the characters and the love between Lauren and Kit.
Lauren and Kit are the most wonderful couple ever. They complement each other. Kit gives Lauren the sparkle of life that she needs, and Lauren brings the love and compassion that Kit needs.
"...We are as different as night and day."Best heroine – check. Best hero – check. Best couple – check. I love a heroine who can stand her ground. And Lauren did that. She was strong and she held her ground as a lady with subtleness. I am in awe. Kit with his eyes dancing with laughter was charming and merry despite his past. He had depth and he made it straight to my book boyfriend harem.
"And yet night and day meet fleetingly a twilight and dawn," he said, lowering his voice and narrowing his eyes and moving his head a quarter of an inch closer to hers. "And their merging sometimes afforts the beholder the most enchanted moments of all the twenty four hours. A sunrise or a sunset can be ablaze with a brilliance and arouse all the passion, all the yearning, in the soul of the beholder."
I loved everything about this book. I could not wait to see what the next page would bring. It had all that I love and no stupid misunderstandings, conflicts or unnecessary drama. I am beyond happy to have found a forgotten classic. It sure was a summer to remember.
Mary Balogh is going straight to my favorite historical authors alongside with Lisa Kleypas, Courtney Milan and Sarah McLean. Thank you, Lisa Kay and the lovely ladies in the RLftCI group for recommending it to me ages ago. I should have read it sooner!
October 27, 2023
ALL THE FEELS!!!!!
A hero who gets into a fight to defend a milkmaid’s honor? Kidding me? Marry me now!
This was a fake engagement, reverse grumpy-sunshine romance with a sweet heroine and a hero to die for. I loved how their relationship developed, how Lauren helped Kit to reconcile with his family and how Kit taught Lauren how to be happy (and a little wild 😏). They were truly a perfect match. And the chemistry! All the hand holding and stolen kisses 🥰🥰🥰
My only complaint, like with other Mary Balogh’s books, is the spice. I knew it going in though, her heroines are always sore 🙄 (no, I won’t shut up about it).
——-
Okay Balogh, I will forget about the pain and the soreness for a moment because everything else was absolutely perfect 😭
RTC
A hero who gets into a fight to defend a milkmaid’s honor? Kidding me? Marry me now!
This was a fake engagement, reverse grumpy-sunshine romance with a sweet heroine and a hero to die for. I loved how their relationship developed, how Lauren helped Kit to reconcile with his family and how Kit taught Lauren how to be happy (and a little wild 😏). They were truly a perfect match. And the chemistry! All the hand holding and stolen kisses 🥰🥰🥰
My only complaint, like with other Mary Balogh’s books, is the spice. I knew it going in though, her heroines are always sore 🙄 (no, I won’t shut up about it).
——-
Okay Balogh, I will forget about the pain and the soreness for a moment because everything else was absolutely perfect 😭
RTC
December 6, 2019
I am re-reading all my 5 star rated romance novels. There are 62 on my shelf (and counting). This is book 40.
(Tropes: Unstarched (heroine), Opposites Attract, Fake Relationship, Engagement of Convenience)
This is how my 40th re-read held up.
Honestly, it was not the 5 star I remember, but came close. I very often feel that MB’s books take a little while to get going, but when it finally does it delivers. As a lot of MB’s books, they are about wounded characters who help each other mend - and find love.
Always a bit wordy (a lot of unnecessary narration) and less dialogue than I prefer, but there are some incredibly charming and tender scenes.
Downgraded from 5 to 4 stars
*****
“What I would get out of this bargain,” she continued, “would be your promise, Lord Ravensberg, to give me a summer I would not forget for the rest of my life. Adventure and . . . well, adventure. It is what I want in exchange for extricating you from an unwanted marriage.”
*****
- He was the sort of man whose acquaintance she should avoid at all costs, Lauren thought in the few seconds that elapsed after Lady Mannering’s introduction, while Lord Ravensberg bowed and she curtsied.
- She could not avoid feeling his intense physical presence. She could feel the warm strength of both his hands. She could smell the subtle musk of his cologne. She drew a slow breath and looked into his eyes. They smiled warmly, knowingly back into her own—as if he felt her discomfort and was amused by it. A dangerous man indeed, she thought.
- “You make a joke of everything,” she said. “I wonder if anything is serious to you.”
- If Vauxhall had not happened, he might have been repelled by her. So coldly dignified. So perfectly ladylike. So lacking in spirit and humor. So absolutely joyless. Though even then, perhaps, he would not be able to resist goading her. But Vauxhall had happened. And he knew that somewhere beneath layers and layers of cool decorum, behind mask upon mask of gentility, lay a woman desperate to come out into the light but not knowing the way.
- “You wanted an adventure, Lauren,” he said. “You wanted a summer quite different from any other you have ever known. You wanted to know what it feels like to live as other people live—people who do not have to earn the respect and love of those who nurture them. You wanted to know exuberance and happiness and freedom from restraint. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot expect these things to drop into your lap if you do not reach out to embrace them. I cannot keep my side of our bargain if you will not allow me to.”
- He had taught Lauren to be a little more outgoing. He had taught her to bathe in the lake and to climb trees. He had coaxed her into unbending enough to smile and even laugh. But it was not just the changes in her that were precious to him. It was the insight she had allowed him into the person behind the cool façade. The person who did not demand much for herself but worked quietly and tirelessly for everyone else’s comfort.
- He was a man who needed to be listened to, she thought. He was not the uncomplicated, carefree man she had judged him to be on first acquaintance.
- Her stomach fluttered with awareness when she remembered that she had spent the night with him, pressed against his warmth, listening to his deep, even breathing the few times she surfaced to near-consciousness. She had slept with him. How much more scandalous could her behavior become this summer? And how much more enjoyable, added a little inner voice that she was beginning to recognize as her emerging rebellious self.
- After a while, when she sensed somehow that the time was right, she got to her feet without speaking and closed the distance between them. She set her arms about his waist from behind and rested her cheek against his shoulder, intent upon giving him all the comfort of her physical presence, for what it was worth. She felt him inhale slowly and deeply. She both felt and heard the breath shudder out of him.
- She cupped a hand with infinite gentleness over the back of his head and set a cheek against his soft fair hair.
He moved his head to set his forehead against her shoulder.
“Stop me,” he said, his voice both rough and husky. “For God’s sake, Lauren, stop me.”
“No.” She lifted his head with both hands and looked into his face, her fingers gently stroking through his hair. “This is what I choose, Kit. What I freely choose. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
***
- It was rather humbling to realize that even if he employed all his very best skills to charm her, even if he should come to the point of really wishing to wed her, even if he should fall in love with her, she might truly prefer a solitary spinster existence to marriage with him. Freedom, as she called it. Well, it was hardly surprising, perhaps. Women had precious little freedom. And he was not such a prize.
(Tropes: Unstarched (heroine), Opposites Attract, Fake Relationship, Engagement of Convenience)
This is how my 40th re-read held up.
Honestly, it was not the 5 star I remember, but came close. I very often feel that MB’s books take a little while to get going, but when it finally does it delivers. As a lot of MB’s books, they are about wounded characters who help each other mend - and find love.
Always a bit wordy (a lot of unnecessary narration) and less dialogue than I prefer, but there are some incredibly charming and tender scenes.
Downgraded from 5 to 4 stars
*****
“What I would get out of this bargain,” she continued, “would be your promise, Lord Ravensberg, to give me a summer I would not forget for the rest of my life. Adventure and . . . well, adventure. It is what I want in exchange for extricating you from an unwanted marriage.”
*****
- He was the sort of man whose acquaintance she should avoid at all costs, Lauren thought in the few seconds that elapsed after Lady Mannering’s introduction, while Lord Ravensberg bowed and she curtsied.
- She could not avoid feeling his intense physical presence. She could feel the warm strength of both his hands. She could smell the subtle musk of his cologne. She drew a slow breath and looked into his eyes. They smiled warmly, knowingly back into her own—as if he felt her discomfort and was amused by it. A dangerous man indeed, she thought.
- “You make a joke of everything,” she said. “I wonder if anything is serious to you.”
- If Vauxhall had not happened, he might have been repelled by her. So coldly dignified. So perfectly ladylike. So lacking in spirit and humor. So absolutely joyless. Though even then, perhaps, he would not be able to resist goading her. But Vauxhall had happened. And he knew that somewhere beneath layers and layers of cool decorum, behind mask upon mask of gentility, lay a woman desperate to come out into the light but not knowing the way.
- “You wanted an adventure, Lauren,” he said. “You wanted a summer quite different from any other you have ever known. You wanted to know what it feels like to live as other people live—people who do not have to earn the respect and love of those who nurture them. You wanted to know exuberance and happiness and freedom from restraint. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot expect these things to drop into your lap if you do not reach out to embrace them. I cannot keep my side of our bargain if you will not allow me to.”
- He had taught Lauren to be a little more outgoing. He had taught her to bathe in the lake and to climb trees. He had coaxed her into unbending enough to smile and even laugh. But it was not just the changes in her that were precious to him. It was the insight she had allowed him into the person behind the cool façade. The person who did not demand much for herself but worked quietly and tirelessly for everyone else’s comfort.
- He was a man who needed to be listened to, she thought. He was not the uncomplicated, carefree man she had judged him to be on first acquaintance.
- Her stomach fluttered with awareness when she remembered that she had spent the night with him, pressed against his warmth, listening to his deep, even breathing the few times she surfaced to near-consciousness. She had slept with him. How much more scandalous could her behavior become this summer? And how much more enjoyable, added a little inner voice that she was beginning to recognize as her emerging rebellious self.
- After a while, when she sensed somehow that the time was right, she got to her feet without speaking and closed the distance between them. She set her arms about his waist from behind and rested her cheek against his shoulder, intent upon giving him all the comfort of her physical presence, for what it was worth. She felt him inhale slowly and deeply. She both felt and heard the breath shudder out of him.
- She cupped a hand with infinite gentleness over the back of his head and set a cheek against his soft fair hair.
He moved his head to set his forehead against her shoulder.
“Stop me,” he said, his voice both rough and husky. “For God’s sake, Lauren, stop me.”
“No.” She lifted his head with both hands and looked into his face, her fingers gently stroking through his hair. “This is what I choose, Kit. What I freely choose. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
***
- It was rather humbling to realize that even if he employed all his very best skills to charm her, even if he should come to the point of really wishing to wed her, even if he should fall in love with her, she might truly prefer a solitary spinster existence to marriage with him. Freedom, as she called it. Well, it was hardly surprising, perhaps. Women had precious little freedom. And he was not such a prize.
June 25, 2024
Lt. Colonel Kit Butler (now retired from the army) has been through some terrible experiences at war, and also with his family. One brother has died and the other, (Sydnam, who gets his own story in Simply Love), is bitter after surviving horrible injuries at war.
Lauren has also had her own challenges in life, which have led her to hide her real, natural self deep inside, while on the surface seeming like a 'perfect lady'. Lauren is the one who got dumped at the altar when Neville's supposedly dead wife reappeared in One Night for Love, which is really a prequel to this book. (But this book doesn't need knowledge of 'One Night For Love' and can easily stand alone).
This is a very readable and enjoyable book. The classic opposites-attract, yet they find they are perfectly suited to each other, even though it started as a fauxmance. As Kit and Lauren gradually fall in love, Kit is able to heal his mental scars and settle in to a meaningful future. Lauren is able to unwrap her facade of ladylike perfection, to reveal her inner, more real and passionate womanhood. As a reader, you believe in their future together. A lovely read.
Although it works well as a standalone, this book is also a prequel to the Bedwyn series. It sets things up well for some of the Bedwyn books, especially for Freyja's story. We see the other side of Freyja's failed romance with Kit Butler, and it gives more of an insight into Freyja's background. We also see a bit of Wulf and Ralf. Nice! Well worth reading before the other Bedwyn books (although not necessary) for enjoyment of that series.
Lauren has also had her own challenges in life, which have led her to hide her real, natural self deep inside, while on the surface seeming like a 'perfect lady'. Lauren is the one who got dumped at the altar when Neville's supposedly dead wife reappeared in One Night for Love, which is really a prequel to this book. (But this book doesn't need knowledge of 'One Night For Love' and can easily stand alone).
This is a very readable and enjoyable book. The classic opposites-attract, yet they find they are perfectly suited to each other, even though it started as a fauxmance. As Kit and Lauren gradually fall in love, Kit is able to heal his mental scars and settle in to a meaningful future. Lauren is able to unwrap her facade of ladylike perfection, to reveal her inner, more real and passionate womanhood. As a reader, you believe in their future together. A lovely read.
Although it works well as a standalone, this book is also a prequel to the Bedwyn series. It sets things up well for some of the Bedwyn books, especially for Freyja's story. We see the other side of Freyja's failed romance with Kit Butler, and it gives more of an insight into Freyja's background. We also see a bit of Wulf and Ralf. Nice! Well worth reading before the other Bedwyn books (although not necessary) for enjoyment of that series.
September 2, 2017
This book nearly had it all. My love and hate. I very nearly did not finish, and I am so glad I did. It was touching and lovely.
Lauren was a lovely heroine. I felt so much for her. She had recently been jilted- at the altar. How humiliating for her especially when she prided herself in following the rules and doing the right thing, especially when her bridegroom was as close to her as a brother as they grew up in the same house. Her friends and family were his friends and family, equally wanting to share in her former bridegroom's happiness and not distress Lauren. Wanting to find a happy ending for Lauren and going about it in the wrong way. And here comes Kit.
Kit is a rascal, a rogue. He is so much in disgrace with the ton that even as a Viscount and heir to an Earldom, most daughters of the ton are warned away. Kit and Lauren's first contact occurs when he is fighting in broad daylight, shirtless in Hyde Park. Lauren is warned away, but she learns defiance and finds herself drawn to the danger, to Kit. Lauren needed a Kit to help her live, but she needed a Kit without despicable ulterior motives. Here was my biggest problem. Kit, not having seen his family in 3 years, is told he is to be married to his neighbor and former flame. The mess surrounding the former flame bit is a big part of why Kit is estranged from his family. So, he devises a plan, which turns into a wager with friends, to make Lauren his fiancé and use her as revenge on his family and former flame. I thought him so unworthy of her at this point, and I was on the path of hating this book. Lauren, of course, calls him on this, after he nearly convinces her that she is special to him, and they move forward with a fake betrothal. This is when I set the book down. For two months. I have very rarely cried in a touching or sad scene of a book, but I believe that angry tears were a first for me in this book. I told myself that the fact that I was moved to angry tears meant it was a good book because it was making me feel, but it didn't make me want to pick it up again. Alas, library renewals are not endless, and I decided to give it one more go with about as much pessimism possible.
And then, amazingly it started to work. Kit made Lauren have fun and live. Lauren helped Kit mend fences. They both grew as people and grew to love each other. There were words and phrasing that at times felt off to me (read my updates if you're curious), but they didn't bother me overly much. I thought the Love scenes overall better in this one than the other Baloghs I have tried, not great because but better. I do think reading (as I did here) is the way to rather than listening (as I have done with all the others) despite the excellent narrator. I do wish the plot had been slightly different (without the wager/fake engagement), but I am happy and satisfied with their HEA.
Lauren was a lovely heroine. I felt so much for her. She had recently been jilted- at the altar. How humiliating for her especially when she prided herself in following the rules and doing the right thing, especially when her bridegroom was as close to her as a brother as they grew up in the same house. Her friends and family were his friends and family, equally wanting to share in her former bridegroom's happiness and not distress Lauren. Wanting to find a happy ending for Lauren and going about it in the wrong way. And here comes Kit.
Kit is a rascal, a rogue. He is so much in disgrace with the ton that even as a Viscount and heir to an Earldom, most daughters of the ton are warned away. Kit and Lauren's first contact occurs when he is fighting in broad daylight, shirtless in Hyde Park. Lauren is warned away, but she learns defiance and finds herself drawn to the danger, to Kit. Lauren needed a Kit to help her live, but she needed a Kit without despicable ulterior motives. Here was my biggest problem. Kit, not having seen his family in 3 years, is told he is to be married to his neighbor and former flame. The mess surrounding the former flame bit is a big part of why Kit is estranged from his family. So, he devises a plan, which turns into a wager with friends, to make Lauren his fiancé and use her as revenge on his family and former flame. I thought him so unworthy of her at this point, and I was on the path of hating this book. Lauren, of course, calls him on this, after he nearly convinces her that she is special to him, and they move forward with a fake betrothal. This is when I set the book down. For two months. I have very rarely cried in a touching or sad scene of a book, but I believe that angry tears were a first for me in this book. I told myself that the fact that I was moved to angry tears meant it was a good book because it was making me feel, but it didn't make me want to pick it up again. Alas, library renewals are not endless, and I decided to give it one more go with about as much pessimism possible.
And then, amazingly it started to work. Kit made Lauren have fun and live. Lauren helped Kit mend fences. They both grew as people and grew to love each other. There were words and phrasing that at times felt off to me (read my updates if you're curious), but they didn't bother me overly much. I thought the Love scenes overall better in this one than the other Baloghs I have tried, not great because but better. I do think reading (as I did here) is the way to rather than listening (as I have done with all the others) despite the excellent narrator. I do wish the plot had been slightly different (without the wager/fake engagement), but I am happy and satisfied with their HEA.
October 19, 2021
“I just want to know what—what it feels like to throw off some of the shackles that bind me. Just fleetingly. I am not a person made for wild, passionate emotions. Or for vivid happiness. I just want a summer to remember. Can you give it to me? If so, I will come to Alvesley with you.” Kit Butler once had a passionate "love" for Lady Freyja Bedwyn which left him disappointed when her betrothal to his elder brother was announced. Now the heir to an earldom after his brother's death, his parents decided to betroth him to Lady Freyja but Kit has no plans to participate. Enter Miss Lauren Edgeworth, a very proper Lady who lives by society's rules. She was trained all her life to be a Lady and soon countess but was left heartbroken when she was jilted at the altar. She has sworn off love and marriage ever since. Kit, Lord Ravensberg, tried to woo Miss Edgeworth because of a wager with his friends but was soon full of guilt. He then admitted the truth which led to a bargain proposed by her. Lauren would agree to pose as his fiancee and he would give her a summer to remember. Suddenly one summer seems just enough to get the know the girl behind the cold facade...and fall in love. But marriage is not possible when Lauren is so insistent on growing old alone rather than get her heart shattered again.
A summer to remember is a prequel to the Bedwyn Saga. This book is about Kit Butler and Lauren Edgeworth. I had a love-hate relationship with this one. For the first 30%, I was not exactly uninterested but I was not very interested either. It was rather dull and the heroine was starting to annoy me. Mary Balogh seems to have a penchant for writing unlikeable main characters. When characters are annoying, it is a pain to read through a book. Thankfully, Balogh's writing makes up for it. It took me a long time to warm up to Kit and Lauren. But mostly to Lauren.
Meet The Honourable Lauren Edgeworth, orphaned but loved by the relations she has. She has this cool and distant facade. She's the perfect proper Lady. It was what she was raised to be. She was a complex character. I find that I was irritated with her for the first half of the book. But soon enough, I started to appreciate her little efforts and I loved how she was all grace even when dealing with the Bedwyns who mocked her for being too proper, too dull, and someone who Kit would be bored with in the long run. I guess it is true that she was dull, especially at first, I did not see what Kit saw in her. But as her character slowly unfolded, Balogh made her likeable enough for me to root for her. But then I hated how she made things harder for herself. She was devastated at the end by the memory of her summer with Kit but she was the one who was so insistent on being independent and live her spinster dream, which was not her dream but it was safe, and Lauren liked safe. She liked being in control. I honestly had a love-hate relationship with her. I wanted to go inside the story and slap some sense into her.
Now for the hero of the book, we have Kit Butler. He is an ex-military officer with an estranged relationship with his family. The second son of an earl, he had always been meant for a military career and he was okay with that. But then his father's heir died and he was now Viscount Ravensberg, heir to an earldom. In London, he had made an image for himself and it is not a particularly good reputation. He is scandalous and always gives the ton something to talk about in their drawing rooms. He was a very immature man at the start but as the story progressed, the readers got to know him more. He blames himself for his younger brother's condition. And he was deeply devastated over his now ruined relationship with his family. What seems to be a foolish man has his truths hidden. And I loved him. I was not sure at the start but I loved him as I've read on.
Kit had a stupid wager with his friends and as someone who likes a good challenge, he was set on the task to woo Lauren Edgeworth. If she allowed herself to be wooed, it would not be so bad. He thinks that she would make a perfect viscountess, and soon countess. But Lauren has other plans. She wants to live in Bath and spend her days alone for the rest of her life. She is also not someone easily tricked by gentlemen's words, especially by Kit Butler's words who she deemed not gentlemanly at all. As kit got to know her, though not well enough, he decided to tell her the truth but also because Lauren suspects he has ulterior motives. And so with the information that he was betrothed to someone he did not like anymore after being made a fool of three years ago, he was eager to marry someone else, but that someone has to be a proper lady and fit as a countess so his family won't have any complaints. And Lauren is the perfect bride.
Lauren was jilted at the altar by the man she'd always thought she was going to marry. Left bitter by the experience, she was ashamed to be seen by the ton. But after a year, she has to start living life again. At the first ball she attended after being jilted, she met Kit Butler, who insisted that he was introduced to her by Lady Mannering. But of course, at the time he had hidden motives so his compliments to Lauren seemed silly. After a few encounters and getting to know each other a little better, they settled on a bargain. A foolish bargain. That is when events started to get interesting.
When they arrived at Alvesley, the readers got to meet Kit Butler's family and the things that unfolded were delicious. We get a clear insight into Kit's estrangement with his family and I must admit that I shed many tears while reading the reason behind Kit and Sydnam's now distant relationship. And I shed even more tears when they made up. It seems I have a soft spot when it comes to familial relationships, I get so emotional. While they were at Alvesley, I appreciated Lauren more. I started to like her character. I loved how she helped mend Kit's relationship with his family and in doing so, he started to let go of the heavy burden that he had been carrying for years.
All was well. Kit helped Lauren loosen up a little bit, teaching her how to swim and daring her to try things she never would have done in her lifetime were it not for the adventurous summer she craved. They started to know each other more, peeled layers of each other's character and grew quite fond of each other. Though Kit's love is slightly more believable. I do think that Lauren loves Kit but I was displeased with her because she still decided to keep the bargain and end her pretend engagement with Kit even when he proposed real marriage to her. And her reason? Because they made a bargain and it would be dishonorable not to keep their words. There were some changes and character development for Lauren but I hated how at the end it seemed that there would be no happy ending because she was so insistent on her wrong idea of independence and because she was so scared of being hurt again. You can be independent and still love someone. I am glad she realized that in the end.
By the end of the book, I do adore the heroine, but she was so infuriating. A man who was fond of her whom she was equally fond of proposed marriage and she was still so set on leaving because they are very different from each other. While he had a devil-may-care personality, she was prim and proper. She thinks marriage to him would be unreasonable which I must admit made me quite sad. She tells the hero this in one scene, "Kit, I do not want to be having this conversation. I cannot ever love you, that is all. And you certainly could never love me. Without love, what we have been doing is wrong. Even perhaps a little sordid, though it did not feel that way."
The hero is the main pursuer of the relationship. Until the end of the book, the heroine was constantly pushing him away even when it was obvious they loved each other. I guess the hero loved her enough for the both of them to keep on fighting for their relationship. I find that when it comes to Balogh's books, the heroes are more likeable than the heroines. When I read a book, I equally love both the hero and heroine but I think that's not the case for Mary Balogh's books.
When I read a romance book, I want the main characters to be devoted to each other. I like a pure and romantic love. I want it believable. When there were only two chapters left, I was not even sure if the heroine loved the hero because she has never stated it directly. I do think excessive "I love you's" are cringy but I need it at least once to confirm that they love each other. Though she does say she loved him but only when he confessed so.
Oh and how I loved the beach scene. I was in tears. It was so emotional. I loved how Kit was so ready to let Lauren go but he just had to let her know that he loved her. “I want to marry you,” he said. “I want it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life. For many reasons. But only one of them really matters to me. It is the one I did not tell you of because it seemed somehow dishonorable after you had carried out your side of the bargain so sweetly and so well. I love you. That is it, you see, the part I omitted. Just that. I love you. I do not believe it can really hurt you to know. It lays no obligation on you. I just needed to say it. I’ll leave now if you wish.” oh there were tears in my eyes... because I was not sure that Lauren would reciprocate and neither was Kit but he just had to let her know... How romantic! I would cry if someone told me they loved me, not in a possessive way, but rather a love that nurtures someone. That's exactly Kit's love for Lauren. It was tender and sweet. He was not possessive, he knew that Lauren is independent and does not need him but that does not mean he could not offer his love to her. He nurtures Lauren and sees her for who she is behind her facade. It was a love that allowed them to let go of past hurts and grow with each other and I just think it's romantic. They saved each other in the process of falling in love. And while they are two very different people, they bring out the best in each other. They are good for each other. It is believable that their love for each other would be the kind of love that's going to stay for a very, very long time.
This is so long I think it's quite obvious that I had a love-hate relationship with the book! But the love outweighed the elements of the book that annoyed me. Overall, I love Mary Balogh's writing and I would probably read more of her works but only when I am feeling particularly patient as she has a way of making her characters extremely unlikeable that it's a pain to read through their annoying phase. But the reward of the character development is delicious and worth it. I was not expecting much for this book but it was surprisingly enjoyable though it had dull parts.
"Because I love you. Because I cannot bear the thought of life lived without you."
“I am free, you see,” she said, “to love or to withhold love. Love and dependence need no longer be the same thing to me. I am free to love. That is why I love you, and it is the way I love you."
“Oh, my dear,” she said, and for the first time it seemed to him that her voice faltered and emotion crept in. “Good-bye. Have a good life. I will always remember you with—with deep affection.”
A summer to remember is a prequel to the Bedwyn Saga. This book is about Kit Butler and Lauren Edgeworth. I had a love-hate relationship with this one. For the first 30%, I was not exactly uninterested but I was not very interested either. It was rather dull and the heroine was starting to annoy me. Mary Balogh seems to have a penchant for writing unlikeable main characters. When characters are annoying, it is a pain to read through a book. Thankfully, Balogh's writing makes up for it. It took me a long time to warm up to Kit and Lauren. But mostly to Lauren.
Meet The Honourable Lauren Edgeworth, orphaned but loved by the relations she has. She has this cool and distant facade. She's the perfect proper Lady. It was what she was raised to be. She was a complex character. I find that I was irritated with her for the first half of the book. But soon enough, I started to appreciate her little efforts and I loved how she was all grace even when dealing with the Bedwyns who mocked her for being too proper, too dull, and someone who Kit would be bored with in the long run. I guess it is true that she was dull, especially at first, I did not see what Kit saw in her. But as her character slowly unfolded, Balogh made her likeable enough for me to root for her. But then I hated how she made things harder for herself. She was devastated at the end by the memory of her summer with Kit but she was the one who was so insistent on being independent and live her spinster dream, which was not her dream but it was safe, and Lauren liked safe. She liked being in control. I honestly had a love-hate relationship with her. I wanted to go inside the story and slap some sense into her.
Now for the hero of the book, we have Kit Butler. He is an ex-military officer with an estranged relationship with his family. The second son of an earl, he had always been meant for a military career and he was okay with that. But then his father's heir died and he was now Viscount Ravensberg, heir to an earldom. In London, he had made an image for himself and it is not a particularly good reputation. He is scandalous and always gives the ton something to talk about in their drawing rooms. He was a very immature man at the start but as the story progressed, the readers got to know him more. He blames himself for his younger brother's condition. And he was deeply devastated over his now ruined relationship with his family. What seems to be a foolish man has his truths hidden. And I loved him. I was not sure at the start but I loved him as I've read on.
Kit had a stupid wager with his friends and as someone who likes a good challenge, he was set on the task to woo Lauren Edgeworth. If she allowed herself to be wooed, it would not be so bad. He thinks that she would make a perfect viscountess, and soon countess. But Lauren has other plans. She wants to live in Bath and spend her days alone for the rest of her life. She is also not someone easily tricked by gentlemen's words, especially by Kit Butler's words who she deemed not gentlemanly at all. As kit got to know her, though not well enough, he decided to tell her the truth but also because Lauren suspects he has ulterior motives. And so with the information that he was betrothed to someone he did not like anymore after being made a fool of three years ago, he was eager to marry someone else, but that someone has to be a proper lady and fit as a countess so his family won't have any complaints. And Lauren is the perfect bride.
Lauren was jilted at the altar by the man she'd always thought she was going to marry. Left bitter by the experience, she was ashamed to be seen by the ton. But after a year, she has to start living life again. At the first ball she attended after being jilted, she met Kit Butler, who insisted that he was introduced to her by Lady Mannering. But of course, at the time he had hidden motives so his compliments to Lauren seemed silly. After a few encounters and getting to know each other a little better, they settled on a bargain. A foolish bargain. That is when events started to get interesting.
When they arrived at Alvesley, the readers got to meet Kit Butler's family and the things that unfolded were delicious. We get a clear insight into Kit's estrangement with his family and I must admit that I shed many tears while reading the reason behind Kit and Sydnam's now distant relationship. And I shed even more tears when they made up. It seems I have a soft spot when it comes to familial relationships, I get so emotional. While they were at Alvesley, I appreciated Lauren more. I started to like her character. I loved how she helped mend Kit's relationship with his family and in doing so, he started to let go of the heavy burden that he had been carrying for years.
All was well. Kit helped Lauren loosen up a little bit, teaching her how to swim and daring her to try things she never would have done in her lifetime were it not for the adventurous summer she craved. They started to know each other more, peeled layers of each other's character and grew quite fond of each other. Though Kit's love is slightly more believable. I do think that Lauren loves Kit but I was displeased with her because she still decided to keep the bargain and end her pretend engagement with Kit even when he proposed real marriage to her. And her reason? Because they made a bargain and it would be dishonorable not to keep their words. There were some changes and character development for Lauren but I hated how at the end it seemed that there would be no happy ending because she was so insistent on her wrong idea of independence and because she was so scared of being hurt again. You can be independent and still love someone. I am glad she realized that in the end.
By the end of the book, I do adore the heroine, but she was so infuriating. A man who was fond of her whom she was equally fond of proposed marriage and she was still so set on leaving because they are very different from each other. While he had a devil-may-care personality, she was prim and proper. She thinks marriage to him would be unreasonable which I must admit made me quite sad. She tells the hero this in one scene, "Kit, I do not want to be having this conversation. I cannot ever love you, that is all. And you certainly could never love me. Without love, what we have been doing is wrong. Even perhaps a little sordid, though it did not feel that way."
The hero is the main pursuer of the relationship. Until the end of the book, the heroine was constantly pushing him away even when it was obvious they loved each other. I guess the hero loved her enough for the both of them to keep on fighting for their relationship. I find that when it comes to Balogh's books, the heroes are more likeable than the heroines. When I read a book, I equally love both the hero and heroine but I think that's not the case for Mary Balogh's books.
When I read a romance book, I want the main characters to be devoted to each other. I like a pure and romantic love. I want it believable. When there were only two chapters left, I was not even sure if the heroine loved the hero because she has never stated it directly. I do think excessive "I love you's" are cringy but I need it at least once to confirm that they love each other. Though she does say she loved him but only when he confessed so.
Oh and how I loved the beach scene. I was in tears. It was so emotional. I loved how Kit was so ready to let Lauren go but he just had to let her know that he loved her. “I want to marry you,” he said. “I want it more than I have ever wanted anything else in my life. For many reasons. But only one of them really matters to me. It is the one I did not tell you of because it seemed somehow dishonorable after you had carried out your side of the bargain so sweetly and so well. I love you. That is it, you see, the part I omitted. Just that. I love you. I do not believe it can really hurt you to know. It lays no obligation on you. I just needed to say it. I’ll leave now if you wish.” oh there were tears in my eyes... because I was not sure that Lauren would reciprocate and neither was Kit but he just had to let her know... How romantic! I would cry if someone told me they loved me, not in a possessive way, but rather a love that nurtures someone. That's exactly Kit's love for Lauren. It was tender and sweet. He was not possessive, he knew that Lauren is independent and does not need him but that does not mean he could not offer his love to her. He nurtures Lauren and sees her for who she is behind her facade. It was a love that allowed them to let go of past hurts and grow with each other and I just think it's romantic. They saved each other in the process of falling in love. And while they are two very different people, they bring out the best in each other. They are good for each other. It is believable that their love for each other would be the kind of love that's going to stay for a very, very long time.
This is so long I think it's quite obvious that I had a love-hate relationship with the book! But the love outweighed the elements of the book that annoyed me. Overall, I love Mary Balogh's writing and I would probably read more of her works but only when I am feeling particularly patient as she has a way of making her characters extremely unlikeable that it's a pain to read through their annoying phase. But the reward of the character development is delicious and worth it. I was not expecting much for this book but it was surprisingly enjoyable though it had dull parts.
"Because I love you. Because I cannot bear the thought of life lived without you."
“I am free, you see,” she said, “to love or to withhold love. Love and dependence need no longer be the same thing to me. I am free to love. That is why I love you, and it is the way I love you."
“Oh, my dear,” she said, and for the first time it seemed to him that her voice faltered and emotion crept in. “Good-bye. Have a good life. I will always remember you with—with deep affection.”
July 29, 2021
The second prequel to the beloved Bedwyn Saga—A Summer To Remember—was an absolute joy to read!
Kit and Lauren are great main characters—both have amazing arcs, individually and as a couple. Both internalize and suppress issues of guilt and abandonment under very different outward facing masks. Kit hides behind a happy-go-lucky rakehell persona, while Lauren willingly assumes the title of London’s most prim and proper ice queen.
How impossible it was, he thought just as if he were making a startling new discovery, to know people from their outer demeanor. How myriad were the masks people wore.
What initially starts off as immature wager amongst Kit and his friends, turns into a mutually beneficial fake engagement with Lauren over one summer at Alvesley. Needless to say, they become invaluable to each other and fall truly in love over time.
As with many of Ms Balogh’s books, I just love the simplicity of the story between Kit and Lauren. The gentle push/pull of their relationship, the vulnerabilities they lay bare, the challenges they undertake and the heartfelt respect and love they find themselves incapable of holding back. This is a ROMANCE. If you’re a reader who loves complex character-driven romantic journeys, you’re in the right place. If you prefer intrigue, a side of attempted murder and fast-paced adventures, best look elsewhere.
Some of my favourite scenes include Lauren’s cool verbal take-downs. What an amazing heroine! She is so controlled—always within the lines of propriety and gentility, but devastating when pushed. Especially in the face of the formidable Bedwyns, who were less than pleased about her presence and the broken engagement between Freyja and Kit as a result.
Lauren to Rannulf Bedwyn:
“Your apology is accepted, my lord,” she said. “It is always shocking, is it not, to be overheard being spiteful by the very person concerned? Especially when one reflects upon the fact that one does not know that person at all—has not even met her, in fact. But there are none of us who cannot benefit from lessons in discretion and kindness.”
Lauren to Freyja Bedwyn:
“What do you do, Miss Edgeworth?” Lady Freyja asked, open contempt in both her voice and her eyes, having succeeded in making Lauren seem as dull and helpless as it was possible for a fellow human to be.
“I have a number of the accomplishments expected of a lady of good ton,” Lauren said, looking Lady Freyja directly in the eye, “though I do not boast of genius in any one of them. I am adept at various kinds of needlework, I keep household accounts, I speak French and Italian as well as English, I sketch, play the pianoforte, sing, write letters that my family and acquaintances find legible and interesting and prompt, read books to improve my mind and conversation. Ah, and I have learned the difficult art of courtesy under all circumstances. In particular I always consider it my duty when at home to set my guests at their ease and to lead the conversation into topics that will neither embarrass them nor expose their ignorance.”
Ooooo sick BURN... Take that haughty Bedwyns! 🔥
I enjoyed all the Bedwyns—especially my favourite icy duke Wulfric 🧐—but they really aren’t the most likeable, welcoming family at first glance. Mary Balogh completely and irrevocably redeems them all in the subsequent books; she could teach a masterclass in character development. Despite being set in regency England (200 years ago?), they are always completely believable—real people with real feelings and real problems.
Kit and Lauren are great main characters—both have amazing arcs, individually and as a couple. Both internalize and suppress issues of guilt and abandonment under very different outward facing masks. Kit hides behind a happy-go-lucky rakehell persona, while Lauren willingly assumes the title of London’s most prim and proper ice queen.
How impossible it was, he thought just as if he were making a startling new discovery, to know people from their outer demeanor. How myriad were the masks people wore.
What initially starts off as immature wager amongst Kit and his friends, turns into a mutually beneficial fake engagement with Lauren over one summer at Alvesley. Needless to say, they become invaluable to each other and fall truly in love over time.
As with many of Ms Balogh’s books, I just love the simplicity of the story between Kit and Lauren. The gentle push/pull of their relationship, the vulnerabilities they lay bare, the challenges they undertake and the heartfelt respect and love they find themselves incapable of holding back. This is a ROMANCE. If you’re a reader who loves complex character-driven romantic journeys, you’re in the right place. If you prefer intrigue, a side of attempted murder and fast-paced adventures, best look elsewhere.
Some of my favourite scenes include Lauren’s cool verbal take-downs. What an amazing heroine! She is so controlled—always within the lines of propriety and gentility, but devastating when pushed. Especially in the face of the formidable Bedwyns, who were less than pleased about her presence and the broken engagement between Freyja and Kit as a result.
Lauren to Rannulf Bedwyn:
“Your apology is accepted, my lord,” she said. “It is always shocking, is it not, to be overheard being spiteful by the very person concerned? Especially when one reflects upon the fact that one does not know that person at all—has not even met her, in fact. But there are none of us who cannot benefit from lessons in discretion and kindness.”
Lauren to Freyja Bedwyn:
“What do you do, Miss Edgeworth?” Lady Freyja asked, open contempt in both her voice and her eyes, having succeeded in making Lauren seem as dull and helpless as it was possible for a fellow human to be.
“I have a number of the accomplishments expected of a lady of good ton,” Lauren said, looking Lady Freyja directly in the eye, “though I do not boast of genius in any one of them. I am adept at various kinds of needlework, I keep household accounts, I speak French and Italian as well as English, I sketch, play the pianoforte, sing, write letters that my family and acquaintances find legible and interesting and prompt, read books to improve my mind and conversation. Ah, and I have learned the difficult art of courtesy under all circumstances. In particular I always consider it my duty when at home to set my guests at their ease and to lead the conversation into topics that will neither embarrass them nor expose their ignorance.”
Ooooo sick BURN... Take that haughty Bedwyns! 🔥
I enjoyed all the Bedwyns—especially my favourite icy duke Wulfric 🧐—but they really aren’t the most likeable, welcoming family at first glance. Mary Balogh completely and irrevocably redeems them all in the subsequent books; she could teach a masterclass in character development. Despite being set in regency England (200 years ago?), they are always completely believable—real people with real feelings and real problems.
July 10, 2020
4.5/5. BOTM reread and another one to retain the original rating from 2014. Kit came across initially as a shallow and immature rake, but grew into an anguished, thoughtful person as we and Lauren slowly get to know his back story and his character more. Lauren was sensationally jilted at the altar by her groom and lifelong childhood friend a year ago. She returns back to society, even more cautious and sombre than before. They are polar opposites but a careless wager leads Kit to deliberately pursue Lauren actively as a bride, simultaneously hoping to win the challenge his friends have thrown at him as well as putting a spanner in his father's attempt to force him into an unwanted marriage. Lauren, in an uncharacteristically defiant act against her well-meaning but interfering relatives, agrees to an arrangement with Kit - a fake betrothal to unite him with his estranged family whilst allowing her to escape the oppression of her own. The arrangement is only for the summer, but it is a summer where he regains self-love and self-respect and and the love and respect of his family and where she learns to finally live - and love. Gently moving, slow-burn story. No crazy plot tropes. Just great characters, great writing.
Read
February 13, 2020DNF for now, but I will come back to it at some point because I like Mary Balogh. Although I have noticed that despite her major wins when she fails she fails in a big way.
For now, I just want the heroine to loosen her corset, but it's page 84 and she's still a proper Regency stick. You would think after you were spectacularly dumped you would take the chance to spread your wings a little and say, "Fie!" to society.
And let's just say, not too eager to read Freyja's story. That's going to take some serious redemption cause she's one hell of a bee-yotch!.
For now, I just want the heroine to loosen her corset, but it's page 84 and she's still a proper Regency stick. You would think after you were spectacularly dumped you would take the chance to spread your wings a little and say, "Fie!" to society.
And let's just say, not too eager to read Freyja's story. That's going to take some serious redemption cause she's one hell of a bee-yotch!.
October 25, 2025
4.25 stars
So emotional ❤! MB wove a very sensible romance between Lauren and Kit, with deep emotional echoes. My heart went out to both these characters, how broken they were even while they upheld their masks and how their serendipitous meeting helped them healed each other. MB did a magnificent job when giving their characters dimensions - it felt sound, and it was also heartbreaking, painful but also so sweet and uplifting. Lauren and Kit were just perfect for each other.
Lauren's backstory especially resonated with me due to a similar event in the family lore. I empathised dearly with her on how she must have felt, the devastation when her world exploded in seconds this way. Yet, she had a backbone of steel, in her own quiet way; I applauded how she showed herself a regal queen the way she dealt with the Bedwyns 👸!
And I loved when a story was developped along logical and natural lines. MB did a brilliant job here because every action, every reaction, every reveal, made total sense. What I would have wanted more (because I am greedy 😅), is a little more pace (though the slow pace did create a very specific tone for the book), and a little more passionate drama (though the steamy scenes were sensual!).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2009
This was a very well-written book with layers. Kit seems like a carefree scapegrace who goes through life not caring for much, but he's very tortured inside. He cares very deeply, and blames himself for the death of his brother, who was originally the heir. His family blames him too. Lauren has had to pretend that she is not devastated about her broken engagement and the embarrassment it caused her when he fiance leaves her at the altar when his long lost wife returns (One Night For Love). Kit sees her suffering and convinces her to pretend that he is romancing her for the summer. It allows him to put off marrying Freyja Bedwyn, who has been chosen as his fiance. He actually stole her away from his brother because he thought he was in love with her. But when he returns, he realizes he didn't love her, he just wanted her because she was his brother's fiance. Their relationship unfolds to the mutual benefit of both of them. In some ways, this is the lightest book I've read by Balogh, but then there is the pain that Kit is experiencing, and how he's sort of looked down upon by his family because they don't think he's very serious and because of his brother. Lauren is misconceived by society as a boring girl with nothing to offer, but Kit seems to really see her and likes her. It does help her to feel much better about herself. He helps her to learn to have fun and to feel happy. And she helps Kit to feel special and worthwhile. There's not a major conflict in this book. It's really a relationship book at its heart. I think that's why I liked it so much.
June 10, 2012
Mirror, mirror, on the wall... "Who is the dullest, most prudish, most straitlaced, most respectable of them all?" (p.18)
Answer: Lauren Edgeworth.
When I imagine a romantic heroine, she's witty, insouciant, bold. She reflects my passionate and libidinous 'id'. Under the right circumstances, with the right hero, she can be brazenly wanton.
What I do not imagine is someone who would describe herself thus:
"I am not a person made for wild, passionate emotions or for vivid happiness." (p.79) Say what? Excuse me?
Or be described by the hero as: "She was cool in nature. Not frigid. No, not that. But probably incapable of hot physical passion." (p.135) Oooookaaaaay. And you want to marry this ice queen?
Or speak these words aloud: "My life has been quiet and decorous," she said. "I have only recently realized that it is also dull. Its dullness suits me. It is what I know, what I am comfortable with, what I will live with quite contentedly for the rest of my life... This all sounds very lame put into words." (p.78)
YES IT DOES. SO LAME.
This is escapist writing, right? Much as I enjoy the classic tale of 'Regency spinster entangles herself with hot rake', this "Poor deprived twenty-six-year-old virgin" (p.139) is not a character I can relate to.
Also, Lauren is not a proper name for a Regency female, since it was not in common use until after 1900. But I digress. Beyond disappointment with the heroine, I was distracted by issues with the writing.
The first chapter crams exposition and back story into dialogue in an awkward fashion. I know nobody cares about this but me, but page 22 was marred by the incorrect use of a collective noun: "He clearly understood something about the FLOCK of butterflies dancing frantically in her stomach." A group of butterflies is a flight or a rabble, not a flock. Whatever, it's aggravating.
On page 74 the hero, Kit, confirms he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer with this mangled tautology: "I beg your pardon," he said. "You have been the victim of my unpardonable lapse of honor." So... you want her pardon for your unpardonable act? That's a tall order, buddy.
Later, Kit hits us with this conversational gem: "All is well that ends well, to coin a phrase that someone else must have coined before me." (p.99) Seriously? Be still my heart! Speak more, cunning linguist!
After 140 pages of painful setup the author does a good job of finally heating things up. There are a few nice makeouts, but I wish to register a complaint about the use of "pulsing womb" as a sign of arousal on page 101. Ewww. Gross. Thinking Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens'. Nasty.
Otherwise, the sex is gentle and sweet and set in some good locales. Alas, I suspect the heroine may have fallen asleep once or twice during coitus thanks to her total passivity in bed. Zzz. Are you in yet? Zzz. (See: "incapable of hot physical passion")
Eventually, the hero asks himself an important question: "Was she in fact, despite all her control and dignity, the most insecure person he had ever known?" (p. 107)
Um, YES. Insecure, prissy, cowardly and kind of frigid (no matter what Kit says), which is a combo that fails to get my motor running.
Not going to judge Mary Balogh on this one book: I will try the Bedwyn series next, even though sassy Freyja was not made sympathetic in her role as bitchy/harpy/bully who plays two brothers against one another.
Answer: Lauren Edgeworth.
When I imagine a romantic heroine, she's witty, insouciant, bold. She reflects my passionate and libidinous 'id'. Under the right circumstances, with the right hero, she can be brazenly wanton.
What I do not imagine is someone who would describe herself thus:
"I am not a person made for wild, passionate emotions or for vivid happiness." (p.79) Say what? Excuse me?
Or be described by the hero as: "She was cool in nature. Not frigid. No, not that. But probably incapable of hot physical passion." (p.135) Oooookaaaaay. And you want to marry this ice queen?
Or speak these words aloud: "My life has been quiet and decorous," she said. "I have only recently realized that it is also dull. Its dullness suits me. It is what I know, what I am comfortable with, what I will live with quite contentedly for the rest of my life... This all sounds very lame put into words." (p.78)
YES IT DOES. SO LAME.
This is escapist writing, right? Much as I enjoy the classic tale of 'Regency spinster entangles herself with hot rake', this "Poor deprived twenty-six-year-old virgin" (p.139) is not a character I can relate to.
Also, Lauren is not a proper name for a Regency female, since it was not in common use until after 1900. But I digress. Beyond disappointment with the heroine, I was distracted by issues with the writing.
The first chapter crams exposition and back story into dialogue in an awkward fashion. I know nobody cares about this but me, but page 22 was marred by the incorrect use of a collective noun: "He clearly understood something about the FLOCK of butterflies dancing frantically in her stomach." A group of butterflies is a flight or a rabble, not a flock. Whatever, it's aggravating.
On page 74 the hero, Kit, confirms he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer with this mangled tautology: "I beg your pardon," he said. "You have been the victim of my unpardonable lapse of honor." So... you want her pardon for your unpardonable act? That's a tall order, buddy.
Later, Kit hits us with this conversational gem: "All is well that ends well, to coin a phrase that someone else must have coined before me." (p.99) Seriously? Be still my heart! Speak more, cunning linguist!
After 140 pages of painful setup the author does a good job of finally heating things up. There are a few nice makeouts, but I wish to register a complaint about the use of "pulsing womb" as a sign of arousal on page 101. Ewww. Gross. Thinking Sigourney Weaver in 'Aliens'. Nasty.
Otherwise, the sex is gentle and sweet and set in some good locales. Alas, I suspect the heroine may have fallen asleep once or twice during coitus thanks to her total passivity in bed. Zzz. Are you in yet? Zzz. (See: "incapable of hot physical passion")
Eventually, the hero asks himself an important question: "Was she in fact, despite all her control and dignity, the most insecure person he had ever known?" (p. 107)
Um, YES. Insecure, prissy, cowardly and kind of frigid (no matter what Kit says), which is a combo that fails to get my motor running.
Not going to judge Mary Balogh on this one book: I will try the Bedwyn series next, even though sassy Freyja was not made sympathetic in her role as bitchy/harpy/bully who plays two brothers against one another.
July 18, 2019
Another lost review (I'll avoid writing them using the app from now on).
I won't be reading the previous one because the heroine from this book is left at the altar by the hero from the previous. I am not interested in a love story that starts like that no matter the characters' reasons.
I loved this one, though. The best thing about it is that the worst things usually used to fuel the big misunderstanding is all in the open in the first quarter of the book. Both of them tell everything to each other.
I won't be reading the previous one because the heroine from this book is left at the altar by the hero from the previous. I am not interested in a love story that starts like that no matter the characters' reasons.
I loved this one, though. The best thing about it is that the worst things usually used to fuel the big misunderstanding is all in the open in the first quarter of the book. Both of them tell everything to each other.
September 20, 2016
A hero who uses a playful, careless demeanor to cover up his hurts and troubles, and a heroine who is desperate for someone to love her enough. I love the convincing that takes place, and even more than that, I love the moment of inevitable surrender. Beautiful story.
March 21, 2008
I don't have a strong opinion one way or another about this book. There wasn't anything I adored, but also nothing that made me want to throw the book across the room. It was pretty much just average. The book as a whole was one of those historicals where characters basically just flit about each other. There's nothing going on in the story aside from the characters various interactions and personal dramas. Those kind of historicals always seem to bore me a little bit. I like a meatier story.
The romance was average. A little too...platonic? if that makes any sense. I just didn't quite feel the love or the passion. That could be because I wasn't entirely enamored with the characters. Lauren was a bit dull, and I found Kit to be kind of...contradictory, I guess you could say. At times I just felt his personality didn't match the image the author was cultivating. I don't really know how to explain it. Something about his character as a whole just irked me.
An interesting aspect of the book was that it was the prequel to the Bedwyn family series - which is six books (I have them and will review as I read them). So in this book, the family is introduced for the first time. I found Balogh's use of them a bit odd. She doesn't make any of them particularly likable. Frejya Bedwyn is portrayed as a complete bitch, Wulfric a heartless bastard, Alleyne and Rannulf leacherous creeps...to me it was odd to introduce them that way. The way they were in the book didn't particularly make me all that interested in reading their own stories. In my personal opinion, the future series would have been better served if she'd written even just one scene to soften the image just a little, to make the reader care a bit more about them. I already have all the Bedwyn books, but if I'd read A Summer to Remember before I bought them, I probably wouldn't have cared enough about the characters to go out looking for the books.
Anyway, to sum it all up, the book was average. Nothing special, nothing all that awful. Probably not worth the $7 to buy it new, but fine to buy used.
The romance was average. A little too...platonic? if that makes any sense. I just didn't quite feel the love or the passion. That could be because I wasn't entirely enamored with the characters. Lauren was a bit dull, and I found Kit to be kind of...contradictory, I guess you could say. At times I just felt his personality didn't match the image the author was cultivating. I don't really know how to explain it. Something about his character as a whole just irked me.
An interesting aspect of the book was that it was the prequel to the Bedwyn family series - which is six books (I have them and will review as I read them). So in this book, the family is introduced for the first time. I found Balogh's use of them a bit odd. She doesn't make any of them particularly likable. Frejya Bedwyn is portrayed as a complete bitch, Wulfric a heartless bastard, Alleyne and Rannulf leacherous creeps...to me it was odd to introduce them that way. The way they were in the book didn't particularly make me all that interested in reading their own stories. In my personal opinion, the future series would have been better served if she'd written even just one scene to soften the image just a little, to make the reader care a bit more about them. I already have all the Bedwyn books, but if I'd read A Summer to Remember before I bought them, I probably wouldn't have cared enough about the characters to go out looking for the books.
Anyway, to sum it all up, the book was average. Nothing special, nothing all that awful. Probably not worth the $7 to buy it new, but fine to buy used.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 5, 2023
4.5 stars Lauren and Kit. I really enjoyed this one. Slow burn. Lots of layers. Loved the kindness in Lauren and Kit. The layers of family, friends, and side characters enhanced this story. As well as the growth of both Kit and Lauren.
Reread Jan 2022. I think I appreciated this one even more the second time. So many layers. Kit helps Lauren to come out of her shell and Lauren eases Kit back into his family and friends with her gentle ways. Kits ex--Freyja is something else in this one. Not likeable at all in the story. I found it interesting that the author had her punch someone since in her book she abuses the hero in that one all the time with fist punches.
Reread June 2023 5 stars. For me the rereads are even better than the first time I read this. Lauren is such a lovely person.
Reread Jan 2022. I think I appreciated this one even more the second time. So many layers. Kit helps Lauren to come out of her shell and Lauren eases Kit back into his family and friends with her gentle ways. Kits ex--Freyja is something else in this one. Not likeable at all in the story. I found it interesting that the author had her punch someone since in her book she abuses the hero in that one all the time with fist punches.
Reread June 2023 5 stars. For me the rereads are even better than the first time I read this. Lauren is such a lovely person.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2021
Kit and Lauren-this is a lovely story. I haven't read Mary Balogh much, I remember her books being a little dry but these first two in the Bedwyn saga have really worked for me. It was a warm, tender story about an extremely self-posessed heroine wanting to find herself and her 'freedom' and a rogue-ish hero who is tender and lovely.
Nothing here is earth shattering, but it was a lovely romance that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. It also includes some lovely nature-related love/romantic scenes and you know I can't resist these things. (3.5)
Nothing here is earth shattering, but it was a lovely romance that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend. It also includes some lovely nature-related love/romantic scenes and you know I can't resist these things. (3.5)
July 18, 2020
It was an enjoyable read. So many unconventional characters and situations that drew me in from the beginning.
When Lauren first glimpses our hero Kit, he is brawling on a street and soon after he starts persuading her and she doesn't understand what he is about. From this point onwards the story takes a fun adventurous turn.
I did feel like that story had a potential to be more sparkly and exciting yet it took turn towards more serious subjects.
When Lauren first glimpses our hero Kit, he is brawling on a street and soon after he starts persuading her and she doesn't understand what he is about. From this point onwards the story takes a fun adventurous turn.
I did feel like that story had a potential to be more sparkly and exciting yet it took turn towards more serious subjects.
July 21, 2021
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (Could be counted as 2 depending on your scene preference – notes found at the end with more details)
Humor: Yes, definitely a bit of silliness and banter between Kit and Lauren
This is one of 2 prequel novels to the Bedwyn Saga. I think this one is a good one to read before the Bedwyn’s especially Freyjas book, as it gives plenty of background on Kit and Freyja’s previous relationship. Lauren’s background and hurt at being left at the alter is also a point in the previous prequel book, One Night for Love. If you don’t mind those minor things, it will be okay to grab as a stand alone.
Kit has returned to his family and finds himself in the middle of broken relationships and hurt. Once engaged to Freyja Bedwyn, Kit is determined to find another bride. He wants to thumb up his nose at his father and searches for someone respectable that he won’t be able to find fault with, yet a bride that is the “dullest, most prudish, most straitlaced” of them all.
Enter Lauren, who finds herself being all those things at the surface. She would love a summer of fun, a summer to let go and find herself, experience things she hasn’t allowed herself to touch before. They embark on a fake betrothal.
Give this book a try if you want:
- Low to mid steam – there are 3 scenes, but it’s debatable if they should all be counted. I did find these a bit more detailed than the previous book (One Night for Love) and a bit longer. Still, these are written in a vague and more flowery prose than explicit.
- Regency time period
- Fake relationship trope
- A soldier hero – he has some PTSD and carries quite a bit of guilt from being a calvary officer for 10 years
- Prodigal hero returns – Kit has been away from his family for a number of years
- No villain or mystery to solve – this is pure relationship development and family/side character growth
- You want to meet wounded characters that come together and heal each other in the most prefect ways
- You prefer books with very clear consent - Kit doesn't push Lauren and in a number of scenes asks her to be sure/tell him no
I will admit I enjoyed Kit pretty much from the beginning when we meet him fighting 3 other men to defend a milkmaid’s honor while saying “It is a simple fact of language. Yes means yes, no means no.” He’s a bit raucous and energetic but is still a gentleman at heart. Though he thinks to use Lauren in the beginning, he quickly realizes she is a person with needs, worries and hurt of her own.
Lauren hasn’t experienced much of life. She lost her parents at a very young age and was always very much a rule follower. She never wanted anyone upset with her, her fear of abandonment partially driving her good behavior as she lived with extended family and friends.
I haven’t read Mary Balogh in years and never this novel. I enjoyed this one so much more than the previous (One Night for Love). I found myself being quite endeared by both Lauren and Kit. It was a bit slow in the beginning and I did have to tell myself to pick the book back up and finish a few times, but once I got towards the middle I was quite interested in what happened to them.
Below are a few specific thoughts and scenes from the book, so please avoid going further if you do not want spoilers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Content warnings:
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥 (Could be counted as 2 depending on your scene preference – notes found at the end with more details)
Humor: Yes, definitely a bit of silliness and banter between Kit and Lauren
This is one of 2 prequel novels to the Bedwyn Saga. I think this one is a good one to read before the Bedwyn’s especially Freyjas book, as it gives plenty of background on Kit and Freyja’s previous relationship. Lauren’s background and hurt at being left at the alter is also a point in the previous prequel book, One Night for Love. If you don’t mind those minor things, it will be okay to grab as a stand alone.
Kit has returned to his family and finds himself in the middle of broken relationships and hurt. Once engaged to Freyja Bedwyn, Kit is determined to find another bride. He wants to thumb up his nose at his father and searches for someone respectable that he won’t be able to find fault with, yet a bride that is the “dullest, most prudish, most straitlaced” of them all.
Enter Lauren, who finds herself being all those things at the surface. She would love a summer of fun, a summer to let go and find herself, experience things she hasn’t allowed herself to touch before. They embark on a fake betrothal.
Give this book a try if you want:
- Low to mid steam – there are 3 scenes, but it’s debatable if they should all be counted. I did find these a bit more detailed than the previous book (One Night for Love) and a bit longer. Still, these are written in a vague and more flowery prose than explicit.
- Regency time period
- Fake relationship trope
- A soldier hero – he has some PTSD and carries quite a bit of guilt from being a calvary officer for 10 years
- Prodigal hero returns – Kit has been away from his family for a number of years
- No villain or mystery to solve – this is pure relationship development and family/side character growth
- You want to meet wounded characters that come together and heal each other in the most prefect ways
- You prefer books with very clear consent - Kit doesn't push Lauren and in a number of scenes asks her to be sure/tell him no
I will admit I enjoyed Kit pretty much from the beginning when we meet him fighting 3 other men to defend a milkmaid’s honor while saying “It is a simple fact of language. Yes means yes, no means no.” He’s a bit raucous and energetic but is still a gentleman at heart. Though he thinks to use Lauren in the beginning, he quickly realizes she is a person with needs, worries and hurt of her own.
Lauren hasn’t experienced much of life. She lost her parents at a very young age and was always very much a rule follower. She never wanted anyone upset with her, her fear of abandonment partially driving her good behavior as she lived with extended family and friends.
I haven’t read Mary Balogh in years and never this novel. I enjoyed this one so much more than the previous (One Night for Love). I found myself being quite endeared by both Lauren and Kit. It was a bit slow in the beginning and I did have to tell myself to pick the book back up and finish a few times, but once I got towards the middle I was quite interested in what happened to them.
Below are a few specific thoughts and scenes from the book, so please avoid going further if you do not want spoilers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Content warnings:
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:
April 10, 2022
Kit and Lauren are a wonderful match - the laughing rogue and the prim stickler (4.5 stars)
I am rereading all of Balogh's Bedwyn series and since A Summer to Remember introduces the family and features Freyja Bedwyn so prominently, I thought it would be perfect to read it before rereading Slightly Scandalous (her story and Book 3 of the Bedwyn Series). I read it in one day and loved it as much as the first time I read it. Watching Kit be scandalous and tease Lauren in the first half of the novel in London is *extremely* entertaining and seeing them actually get to know each other and give each other happiness in the second half in the countryside is wonderful.
MAIN CHARACTERS, Lauren and Christopher ("Kit"):
Lauren Edgeworth (26) is seen as prim, proper, respectable, and utterly dull and likened to an ice queen; this is how much of society perceives her and this is what she fears she may actually be. Christopher "Kit" Butler, Viscount Ravensburg (almost 30) is an ex-military man, but is known in London as a rogue, a rakehell, and a constant scandal-causer. Although these reputations accurately portray a side of each of the characters, both Lauren and Kit wear a mask that efficiently hides their pain and suffering.
The hero and heroine were wonderfully complex characters and complement each other extremely well - Kit's devil-may-care attitude and his laughing eyes are a perfect contrast with Lauren, a stickler for propriety whose cool dignity seems impenetrable. They are able to help one another, opening the other's eyes to new sides of themselves and aspects of the world that they had not before discovered. They are both very thoughtful, kind, and intelligent people and watching their arrangement turn into genuine feelings is a real treat!
CRITICISMS:
The book really is near-perfect, though I would have liked to see Kit feel a little more passion for Lauren (in addition to his quiet desire). There is a great emotional connection, and although the chemistry is well-written and noticeable, it could have been emphasized a little more. I know that some other reviewers have said they didn't think Lauren was interesting or passionate enough - although I strongly disagree with the former, I do understand the source of the latter complaint, but found her a strong and engaging heroine nonetheless.
BOTTOM LINE:
A definite must-read and a great introduction to the Bedwyn family series (starts with Slightly Married), so read A Summer to Remember and then start on those! Also note: One Night for Love precedes this book and features the romance between Neville (Lauren's former betrothed) and Lily, the Earl and Countess of Kilbourne.
I am rereading all of Balogh's Bedwyn series and since A Summer to Remember introduces the family and features Freyja Bedwyn so prominently, I thought it would be perfect to read it before rereading Slightly Scandalous (her story and Book 3 of the Bedwyn Series). I read it in one day and loved it as much as the first time I read it. Watching Kit be scandalous and tease Lauren in the first half of the novel in London is *extremely* entertaining and seeing them actually get to know each other and give each other happiness in the second half in the countryside is wonderful.
MAIN CHARACTERS, Lauren and Christopher ("Kit"):
Lauren Edgeworth (26) is seen as prim, proper, respectable, and utterly dull and likened to an ice queen; this is how much of society perceives her and this is what she fears she may actually be. Christopher "Kit" Butler, Viscount Ravensburg (almost 30) is an ex-military man, but is known in London as a rogue, a rakehell, and a constant scandal-causer. Although these reputations accurately portray a side of each of the characters, both Lauren and Kit wear a mask that efficiently hides their pain and suffering.
The hero and heroine were wonderfully complex characters and complement each other extremely well - Kit's devil-may-care attitude and his laughing eyes are a perfect contrast with Lauren, a stickler for propriety whose cool dignity seems impenetrable. They are able to help one another, opening the other's eyes to new sides of themselves and aspects of the world that they had not before discovered. They are both very thoughtful, kind, and intelligent people and watching their arrangement turn into genuine feelings is a real treat!
CRITICISMS:
The book really is near-perfect, though I would have liked to see Kit feel a little more passion for Lauren (in addition to his quiet desire). There is a great emotional connection, and although the chemistry is well-written and noticeable, it could have been emphasized a little more. I know that some other reviewers have said they didn't think Lauren was interesting or passionate enough - although I strongly disagree with the former, I do understand the source of the latter complaint, but found her a strong and engaging heroine nonetheless.
BOTTOM LINE:
A definite must-read and a great introduction to the Bedwyn family series (starts with Slightly Married), so read A Summer to Remember and then start on those! Also note: One Night for Love precedes this book and features the romance between Neville (Lauren's former betrothed) and Lily, the Earl and Countess of Kilbourne.
September 10, 2017
Siempre se ha dicho que segundas partes nunca fueron buenas. Pero hay momentos y series en los que sin esa segunda parte, el lector se puede quedar con una impresión que es la equivocada con respecto a un personaje que luego te acaba hasta sorprendiendo (aunque está también el fenómeno contrario, y no te acabas de creer para nada la redención).En mi caso, me lo he creído y hasta me he logrado poner en la perspectiva de Lauren.
En el primer libro, ella es la novia a la que dejan plantada por "culpa" vamos a decir de la aparición de Lily. Por lo que desde que es relegada a un segundo plano se vuelve un personaje todavía más callado, más retraído y por ende más sospechoso de cometer alguna locura, tipo meterse en medio de la pareja feliz y ser un incordio durante lo que resta la historia.
En este libro vemos el porqué se comportaba como lo hacía, cuáles eran sus miedos, cómo es que pensaba lo que pensaba y también vemos cómo gracias a Kit, a quien conoce en circunstancias nada predecibles, va cambiando poco a poco de carácter y de pensamientos.
Si tuviera que resumir este libro en pocas palabras, podría decir que se trata un libro de amor puro y segundas oportunidades.
Lauren y Kit tienen unos bagajes muy importantes que no saben cómo afrontar y gracias a una charada, lograrán no solo encontrarse y perdonarse a sí mismos, sino vivir como siempre han deseado junto a aquellos a los que aman.
No sé cómo será la serie Bedwyn, pero con estas dos precuelas, la autora ya me ha ganado para seguir leyendo.
Aunque como en todo, no todo el libro es color de rosa; la ex prometida de Kit y miembro de los Bedwyn, Freyja, ha sido un grano en el trasero desde que ha aparecido y espero por su bien que en su libro cambie, porque me preveo una serie muy larga con un personaje como ella.
En el primer libro, ella es la novia a la que dejan plantada por "culpa" vamos a decir de la aparición de Lily. Por lo que desde que es relegada a un segundo plano se vuelve un personaje todavía más callado, más retraído y por ende más sospechoso de cometer alguna locura, tipo meterse en medio de la pareja feliz y ser un incordio durante lo que resta la historia.
En este libro vemos el porqué se comportaba como lo hacía, cuáles eran sus miedos, cómo es que pensaba lo que pensaba y también vemos cómo gracias a Kit, a quien conoce en circunstancias nada predecibles, va cambiando poco a poco de carácter y de pensamientos.
Si tuviera que resumir este libro en pocas palabras, podría decir que se trata un libro de amor puro y segundas oportunidades.
Lauren y Kit tienen unos bagajes muy importantes que no saben cómo afrontar y gracias a una charada, lograrán no solo encontrarse y perdonarse a sí mismos, sino vivir como siempre han deseado junto a aquellos a los que aman.
No sé cómo será la serie Bedwyn, pero con estas dos precuelas, la autora ya me ha ganado para seguir leyendo.
Aunque como en todo, no todo el libro es color de rosa; la ex prometida de Kit y miembro de los Bedwyn, Freyja, ha sido un grano en el trasero desde que ha aparecido y espero por su bien que en su libro cambie, porque me preveo una serie muy larga con un personaje como ella.
January 8, 2016
Buddy read with Aly
I felt quite sorry for Lauren when I was reading One Night for Love, after all it wasn't her fault that the man she was about to marry already had a wife and being left at the altar would be rather humiliating for anyone! So, I was glad when I found out we were getting to read her story next and I think I ended up enjoying A Summer to Remember even more than the first book.
After having her heart broken Lauren has pretty much given up on the idea of love and marriage, instead she's decided she's going to remain a spinster and she's making plans to move forward with life on her own terms which I thought was incredibly brave of her. Before she moves to a little cottage of her own in the countryside somewhere she is facing one last season in London, blithely ignoring the gossips and playing the part of a perfect young lady because a friend is relying on her.
As the second son Kit never expected to inherit the family title and he's been happy with his carefree life able to do what he wants when he wants. Then the unthinkable happens and his brother dies and now Kit is faced with returning home to pick up the reigns as his father's heir and even worse be forced into an arranged marriage with the woman who rejected him so long ago. Kit may not have a choice about his duties but one thing he absolutely will not budge on is marrying Freyja, she chose his brother over him once and he's not going to let her come back to him now that she knows he'll inherit everything. So, Kit decides it's time to choose his own bride and on a dare from his friends he picks Lauren since she has a reputation as a bit of an ice maiden and he can never resist a challenge.
I have to admit I was fully prepared to dislike Kit from the moment he made the bet but thankfully he comes clean to Lauren about it very quickly. After discussing his situation like the adults they are Lauren offers him a deal, she'll accompany him home and pretend to be his fiance for the summer if he gives her a few weeks of adventure and passion before she settles down to a quiet life on her own. Kit is more than happy to agree but his plans soon change when he starts to fall for the fun loving woman who has been hiding behind her frosty facade.
I really loved both Kit and Lauren, their relationship builds slowly and was very believable and I enjoyed seeing Kit push Lauren out of her comfort zone. She had been through so much but she was tough as steel and I was really proud of her for the way she stood up for herself, particularly around Freyja. These two books have been a prequel for the Bedwyn Saga but I have to admit it they haven't really shown the Bedwyn siblings in a particularly great light. Freyja in particular is a nasty piece of work but her brothers haven't been much better and it's not really making me want to dive into the rest of the series. Friends keep telling me I'll be pleasantly surprised when I get to know them though so I'm going to give them a chance and if they end up being as good as the prequels then I'll have discovered a new favourite historical romance series.
I felt quite sorry for Lauren when I was reading One Night for Love, after all it wasn't her fault that the man she was about to marry already had a wife and being left at the altar would be rather humiliating for anyone! So, I was glad when I found out we were getting to read her story next and I think I ended up enjoying A Summer to Remember even more than the first book.
After having her heart broken Lauren has pretty much given up on the idea of love and marriage, instead she's decided she's going to remain a spinster and she's making plans to move forward with life on her own terms which I thought was incredibly brave of her. Before she moves to a little cottage of her own in the countryside somewhere she is facing one last season in London, blithely ignoring the gossips and playing the part of a perfect young lady because a friend is relying on her.
As the second son Kit never expected to inherit the family title and he's been happy with his carefree life able to do what he wants when he wants. Then the unthinkable happens and his brother dies and now Kit is faced with returning home to pick up the reigns as his father's heir and even worse be forced into an arranged marriage with the woman who rejected him so long ago. Kit may not have a choice about his duties but one thing he absolutely will not budge on is marrying Freyja, she chose his brother over him once and he's not going to let her come back to him now that she knows he'll inherit everything. So, Kit decides it's time to choose his own bride and on a dare from his friends he picks Lauren since she has a reputation as a bit of an ice maiden and he can never resist a challenge.
I have to admit I was fully prepared to dislike Kit from the moment he made the bet but thankfully he comes clean to Lauren about it very quickly. After discussing his situation like the adults they are Lauren offers him a deal, she'll accompany him home and pretend to be his fiance for the summer if he gives her a few weeks of adventure and passion before she settles down to a quiet life on her own. Kit is more than happy to agree but his plans soon change when he starts to fall for the fun loving woman who has been hiding behind her frosty facade.
I really loved both Kit and Lauren, their relationship builds slowly and was very believable and I enjoyed seeing Kit push Lauren out of her comfort zone. She had been through so much but she was tough as steel and I was really proud of her for the way she stood up for herself, particularly around Freyja. These two books have been a prequel for the Bedwyn Saga but I have to admit it they haven't really shown the Bedwyn siblings in a particularly great light. Freyja in particular is a nasty piece of work but her brothers haven't been much better and it's not really making me want to dive into the rest of the series. Friends keep telling me I'll be pleasantly surprised when I get to know them though so I'm going to give them a chance and if they end up being as good as the prequels then I'll have discovered a new favourite historical romance series.
July 27, 2019
More like Summer to Forget, for me at least. I just did not like the characters. It started off with a good theme, a wager to see if the hero could get the heroine to marry him. But the two main characters were both emotionally scarred people that covered up their pain in what I thought was annoying ways. The hero acted like a devil-may-care teenager and I often felt embarrassed for him. He would intentionally do indecent things in public and gloat about offending elderly ladies walking past. The heroine was a serious lady that had denied herself joy all of her life. She never smiled, never laughed, never did anything adventurous... an all-around dull ice princess. Even as the hero was showing her how to be adventurous and how to laugh, it was still blah and boring. At about page 200, I started to get antsy and was tempted to skim ahead to see if things would ever get interesting, but then I realized I didn't care. I did not really care to read about the hero and heroine finally kissing and falling in love. I was actually ok with the idea of the heroine disappearing off to Bath to live out her joyless remaining days as a spinster. :)
February 10, 2023
reread 02/2023 (4.x already?)
One of the few books that start with a wager that I like (love!).
Mary Balogh's writing style is beautiful. I love her ability to get me to love characters who initially don't seem that loveable.
Kit and Lauren were phantastic together.
5 stars.
------------------
04/2022
What a beautiful story. I loved both h and H, their dynamics, how their relationship developed and how good they were for each other. There was no angst and drama, but nevertheless I was captivated through the whole book. 4,5 stars.
One of the few books that start with a wager that I like (love!).
Mary Balogh's writing style is beautiful. I love her ability to get me to love characters who initially don't seem that loveable.
Kit and Lauren were phantastic together.
5 stars.
------------------
04/2022
What a beautiful story. I loved both h and H, their dynamics, how their relationship developed and how good they were for each other. There was no angst and drama, but nevertheless I was captivated through the whole book. 4,5 stars.
December 22, 2016
I like Lauren's story, is a sweet romance and less intense than Lily's story.
What can I say? It's a lovely and wonderful story, sigh...
And Kit? Oh I don't like playful hero very much but he certainly the perfect hero for 'boring' Lauren., hah!:)
Now, I want to read Gwen's story too, Neville's sister and Lauren's best friend.
She is a young widow, disabled and wasn't planning to remarry, hah let's see how that go!:)
What can I say? It's a lovely and wonderful story, sigh...
And Kit? Oh I don't like playful hero very much but he certainly the perfect hero for 'boring' Lauren., hah!:)
Now, I want to read Gwen's story too, Neville's sister and Lauren's best friend.
She is a young widow, disabled and wasn't planning to remarry, hah let's see how that go!:)
March 20, 2022
Probably I’m getting sick. There can be no other explanation why I love this heartwarming, slow burn romance with incredibly sweet MCs! Lol
July 14, 2015
É o segundo livro que leio da Mary Balogh e, apesar de ter gostado bastante de ambos, sobretudo do facto de ambos os protagonistas do Uma Noite de Amor e o protagonista masculino deste último terem lutado na Guerra Peninsular, aqui no nosso Portugal. Por um lado fiquei deleitada com essa menção, por outro tive pena de não haver qualquer referência a uma batalha histórica, a um General, a um local em específico. A autora não aprofundou muito isso, nem sequer para introduzir um bocadinho que fosse da história do meu país ao mundo, já que o escolheu por duas vezes como cenário de eventos importantes. Por outro gosto do cuidado com o enredo que a autora demonstra, assim como a profundidade tridimensional das suas personagens. Também não recai em cliclés e estrutura muito bem os acontecimentos. Só lamentei o facto de a linha condutora do Um Verão Inesquecível ser tão semelhante ao do primeiro livro editado cá, que pertence à mesma série. Isto é, uma mulher é deixada por outra. Uma amizade de infância é ultrapassada por alguém que surge agora, e essa outra é uma desgraçada infeliz. No final do primeiro livro, a desgraçada é a Lauren. Neste a Lauren é a sortuda e a Freyja a infeliz – sim, haverá no futuro um livro sobre a Freyja. Também o Kit, à semelhança do Neville, combateu os franceses em Portugal. Os cenários são, por vezes, os mesmos, com os dois casais tendo vivido situações semelhantes na mesma cabana no rio de Newsburry Abbey (será assim que se escreve?) a propriedade do Neville Killbourne, o protagonista do primeiro livro.
No geral é romântico, bem estruturado, as personagens são inteligentes e voláteis – humanas – sólidas, bem-dispostas. As personagens secundárias são deliciosas! Vale a pena dedicar-lhe umas horinhas.
http://castelos-de-letras.blogspot.pt...
No geral é romântico, bem estruturado, as personagens são inteligentes e voláteis – humanas – sólidas, bem-dispostas. As personagens secundárias são deliciosas! Vale a pena dedicar-lhe umas horinhas.
http://castelos-de-letras.blogspot.pt...
April 13, 2016
Re-read in January 2016
5 Stars
One of my goals in 2016 is to re-visit some of my favorite books and review them for the blog. I know that I am a very different reader than I was when I originally read these books and I am intrigued to see whether they hold up. I am also going to use re-reads to help me get through a reading slump rather than just slogging through books that I am not interested in.
A Summer to Remember focuses on Lauren Edgeworth whose life was turned upside down when she was jilted at the altar during the events of One Night for Love. But, a chance meeting with the scandalous Kit Butler provides her with an opportunity she can't pass up. Kit has lived in exile from his family for years and is finally being summoned home. He decides that, in order to fully be embraced by his family again, he needs a fiancee, a perfectly respectable fiancee. So, Lauren and Kit hatch a scheme where she will pretend to be his betrothed for the summer in exchange for him providing her with one last adventure before she begins her new independent and proper existence.
The strength of this book is the character development and the overarching theme of freedom. Readers get to see both Lauren and Kit learn more about themselves and each other. Lauren has spent much of her life trying to be the perfect lady for reasons that stem from her mother's abandonment of her as a child and then being jilted at the altar. Her experience with Kit allows her break free and finally find happiness on her own terms.
Kit, on the outside, acts like the typical Regency rake, but, as expected, there is so much more to him. He feels major guilt over his younger brother's war injuries and the fact that he never got to say goodbye to his older brother. His facade hides deep pain, but Lauren is the perfect person to sooth those wounds and help heal the rift between Kit and his family.
Pretend relationships are always an entertaining plot point for me especially in historical romance. They allow for so much character growth and provide two strangers (usually) the opportunity to be forced into proximity enough to fall in love despite their best efforts to avoid such a scenario. This book works because of Lauren and Kit as characters and as a couple. They meet in London and immediately have a connection though it takes time for it to truly develop. I loved the way that Balogh depicted them growing as friends and then eventually moving into love all in a smooth, gentle manner.
This book is considered to be a prequel for Mary Balogh's famous Bedwyn Family saga. The Bedwyns are introduced in this book and make such an impression that it was obvious they would be getting their own stories. If Lauren and Kit weren't such strong characters, I think the Bedwyns could have easily stolen the entire book. There are also other interesting side characters who will later get their happy endings, in particular Kit's war-injured brother, Sydnam (Simply Love) and Lauren's widowed cousin, Gwen (The Proposal).
There is so much more I could say about why I love A Summer to Remember, but I think it really needs to be experienced for itself. Mary Balogh is an expert at gentle, character-driven romances that know how to make a reader feel the whole gamut of emotions. I am glad that I re-read this book and am happy that it is just as wonderful as I remembered it to be.
5 Stars
One of my goals in 2016 is to re-visit some of my favorite books and review them for the blog. I know that I am a very different reader than I was when I originally read these books and I am intrigued to see whether they hold up. I am also going to use re-reads to help me get through a reading slump rather than just slogging through books that I am not interested in.
A Summer to Remember focuses on Lauren Edgeworth whose life was turned upside down when she was jilted at the altar during the events of One Night for Love. But, a chance meeting with the scandalous Kit Butler provides her with an opportunity she can't pass up. Kit has lived in exile from his family for years and is finally being summoned home. He decides that, in order to fully be embraced by his family again, he needs a fiancee, a perfectly respectable fiancee. So, Lauren and Kit hatch a scheme where she will pretend to be his betrothed for the summer in exchange for him providing her with one last adventure before she begins her new independent and proper existence.
The strength of this book is the character development and the overarching theme of freedom. Readers get to see both Lauren and Kit learn more about themselves and each other. Lauren has spent much of her life trying to be the perfect lady for reasons that stem from her mother's abandonment of her as a child and then being jilted at the altar. Her experience with Kit allows her break free and finally find happiness on her own terms.
Kit, on the outside, acts like the typical Regency rake, but, as expected, there is so much more to him. He feels major guilt over his younger brother's war injuries and the fact that he never got to say goodbye to his older brother. His facade hides deep pain, but Lauren is the perfect person to sooth those wounds and help heal the rift between Kit and his family.
Pretend relationships are always an entertaining plot point for me especially in historical romance. They allow for so much character growth and provide two strangers (usually) the opportunity to be forced into proximity enough to fall in love despite their best efforts to avoid such a scenario. This book works because of Lauren and Kit as characters and as a couple. They meet in London and immediately have a connection though it takes time for it to truly develop. I loved the way that Balogh depicted them growing as friends and then eventually moving into love all in a smooth, gentle manner.
This book is considered to be a prequel for Mary Balogh's famous Bedwyn Family saga. The Bedwyns are introduced in this book and make such an impression that it was obvious they would be getting their own stories. If Lauren and Kit weren't such strong characters, I think the Bedwyns could have easily stolen the entire book. There are also other interesting side characters who will later get their happy endings, in particular Kit's war-injured brother, Sydnam (Simply Love) and Lauren's widowed cousin, Gwen (The Proposal).
There is so much more I could say about why I love A Summer to Remember, but I think it really needs to be experienced for itself. Mary Balogh is an expert at gentle, character-driven romances that know how to make a reader feel the whole gamut of emotions. I am glad that I re-read this book and am happy that it is just as wonderful as I remembered it to be.
January 9, 2019
I couldn't say specifically when I first picked up this author's books, but it was about ten years ago. Even so, I missed many fabulous backlist titles. I have chosen this year to focus specifically on the Bedwyn Saga series because I've always been a softy for a family group finding their chance at romance. The author's description of setting and background, fully developed characters, and romances that grow organically through the story had me in no doubt that this would be a fun project from start to finish.
Now then, A Summer to Remember is one of two Bedwyn Prequels that focus on non-Bedwyn characters, but still introduced this colorful and quirky family of siblings. This particular prequel is the follow-up to One Night of Love. The heroine in A Summer to Remember, Lauren, was the embarrassed woman who learned right during the start of her church wedding that her intended's long lost= 'thought to be dead' bride has turned up when she interrupts the wedding. Now, it is Lauren's turn to leave off hiding and hold her head high- take back some of her own.
Lauren is turned off of matrimony forever, but she doesn't appreciate being treated like a delicate flower either so when the rakish Kit, Viscount Ravensberg offers her a summer pretending to be his affianced to fool his family and give her one blazing summer to remember, she joins him in their mad scheme.
Kit has been exiled from his family for some time and is only important to the Earl now because his older brother died and he is the heir. Kit was hurt by the past and feels some responsibility toward some members of his family so, while he is pleased to rub his father's nose in it with his own choice of bride, he is still planning to do his duty. That duty got more palatable when he persuades the strait-laced Lauren Edgeworth to be his for the summer.
The pair are pretending and enjoying their mutual friendship and support, understanding and healing from separate past hurts until love sneaks in.
At first, one is introduced to a rake who cares little for reputation and a prim lady who is all about toeing the line, but, as with many of the author's characters, the layers start to appear and things are more than they seem so that the reader gets the why behind the behavior and the motive behind the conflict.
Even though I read this to meet the Bedwyns, and they are there and charmed me well, I found Kit and Lauren a fabulous couple. I cheered them on over the course of the summer even though certain things set in motion early on had me worried for when the truth came out. Let's just say making the 'winning a woman's hand' as a bet is never conducive to retaining your prize. But, that was not more than a blip for me compared to other elements that were the real story conflict. Family has a way of doing a number on people whether it is Kit who has gone wild to hide his pain or Lauren who desperately tries to measure up her whole life.
As to the prequel aspect that has this book introducing a series about the Bedwyns, it did a great job. Loved meeting them and also got a pleasant surprise when I realized that Lauren is actually the cousin to a heroine who got her story in the later The Survivor's Club series. I am greatly anticipating the stories of each Bedwyn finding their match. Meanwhile, I'm still basking in my satisfaction of seeing Lauren tame the wild Viscount and Kit helping Lauren start to really enjoy life. A classic style Regency romance that has depth and heart which I have no worries recommending to other historical romance fans.
Now then, A Summer to Remember is one of two Bedwyn Prequels that focus on non-Bedwyn characters, but still introduced this colorful and quirky family of siblings. This particular prequel is the follow-up to One Night of Love. The heroine in A Summer to Remember, Lauren, was the embarrassed woman who learned right during the start of her church wedding that her intended's long lost= 'thought to be dead' bride has turned up when she interrupts the wedding. Now, it is Lauren's turn to leave off hiding and hold her head high- take back some of her own.
Lauren is turned off of matrimony forever, but she doesn't appreciate being treated like a delicate flower either so when the rakish Kit, Viscount Ravensberg offers her a summer pretending to be his affianced to fool his family and give her one blazing summer to remember, she joins him in their mad scheme.
Kit has been exiled from his family for some time and is only important to the Earl now because his older brother died and he is the heir. Kit was hurt by the past and feels some responsibility toward some members of his family so, while he is pleased to rub his father's nose in it with his own choice of bride, he is still planning to do his duty. That duty got more palatable when he persuades the strait-laced Lauren Edgeworth to be his for the summer.
The pair are pretending and enjoying their mutual friendship and support, understanding and healing from separate past hurts until love sneaks in.
At first, one is introduced to a rake who cares little for reputation and a prim lady who is all about toeing the line, but, as with many of the author's characters, the layers start to appear and things are more than they seem so that the reader gets the why behind the behavior and the motive behind the conflict.
Even though I read this to meet the Bedwyns, and they are there and charmed me well, I found Kit and Lauren a fabulous couple. I cheered them on over the course of the summer even though certain things set in motion early on had me worried for when the truth came out. Let's just say making the 'winning a woman's hand' as a bet is never conducive to retaining your prize. But, that was not more than a blip for me compared to other elements that were the real story conflict. Family has a way of doing a number on people whether it is Kit who has gone wild to hide his pain or Lauren who desperately tries to measure up her whole life.
As to the prequel aspect that has this book introducing a series about the Bedwyns, it did a great job. Loved meeting them and also got a pleasant surprise when I realized that Lauren is actually the cousin to a heroine who got her story in the later The Survivor's Club series. I am greatly anticipating the stories of each Bedwyn finding their match. Meanwhile, I'm still basking in my satisfaction of seeing Lauren tame the wild Viscount and Kit helping Lauren start to really enjoy life. A classic style Regency romance that has depth and heart which I have no worries recommending to other historical romance fans.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 780 reviews