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Web of Love (Web, #2)
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Gaol/BOTM > BOTM 1 – January 2024 – Web of Love

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Sandra Moreira | 1120 comments Mod
Discussion thread for the first BOTM for January 2024. Please remember to use the spoiler tags when necessary! (Please see 'some HTML is ok' for instructions.)

Web of Love (Web, #2) by Mary Balogh
Web of Love by Mary Balogh

Join us in reading this HR that features the theme Friends/Sibling's Friend to Lovers!

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh brilliantly captures the passionate conflict of a woman caught between two loves in this classic tale of friendship, devotion, intrigue—and a love that is the most seductive trap of all….He’d served with her husband on the battlefield—and secretly desired her for years. Yet for Dominic, Lieutenant Lord Eden, Ellen Simpson has remained tantalizingly out of reach—until she is widowed by the war. Suddenly pursued by the dangerously handsome nobleman, Ellen is stunned by the depth of attraction he arouses in her. Soon their friendship flames into something deeper…and as scandal ignites, marriage seems the only solution. But Ellen has a secret—one she can share with no one—that prevents her from fully opening her heart to Dominic. Until he devises his own plan for the ultimate consummation of their passion—and the woman he is determined to possess at any cost…

Happy reading!


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments I will be reading this story in January.
At last one I can join in with.


Lauren | 1370 comments I'm guessing the story takes place in the Regency Era? My device keeps putting it in the Stewart era.


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments Duke of Wellington is mentioned on page 2. So I think you are right Lauren.


Lauren | 1370 comments Thanks Shaz!


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments At last a book I can join in with 👏😂😂


Debby *BabyDee* | 812 comments I will be reading 😊


Lauren | 1370 comments I just started, but I'm wondering if I should have read the 1st book.

I knew about the famous Duchess of Richmond's ball, but I'm still surprised how many people partied right before one of the biggest battles in European history. Imagine


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Tanya Burke | 29 comments Lauren wrote: "I just started, but I'm wondering if I should have read the 1st book.

I knew about the famous Duchess of Richmond's ball, but I'm still surprised how many people partied right before one of the b..."


I'm a little bit OCD when it comes to series; even if the author lists them as stand-alone. For that reason, I am reading the first book in the series and will move to Web of Love after.


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments I love a series. But sometimes I have read books not realising till after I have read it, that it was part of a series. Sometimes I have not been able to read all the series as I cannot find some of the other books. (Annoying)

So I will be reading this book, as a standalone. It has been in my book case for a few years. So this gives me the incentive to read it.


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments I have started to read this story. I am on page 27.
I like that Ellen is in love with her older husband Charlie, and adore her stepdaughter. Good start to the story so far.


message 12: by Susan (new)

Susan | 824 comments Mod
Such a shame that we cannot access this book here in Australia. In my opinion Balogh writes friends to lovers themed books extremely well. Maybe I'll have to read another of hers


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments Enjoyable story, got a bit bored with the war part. But it has got interesting again. Like both Ellen and Dominic, they have both been through a lot.


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Jan (jan130) | 2667 comments Susan wrote: "Such a shame that we cannot access this book here in Australia. In my opinion Balogh writes friends to lovers themed books extremely well. Maybe I'll have to read another of hers"

I agree, Susan. I have this on my want-to-read list but will have to keep my eyes open for a secondhand paperback copy.

I've recently read one of her newer books Remember Me and enjoyed it, and am looking forward to the next one in that series, Always Remember, which is out in a couple of weeks.

Hope everyone enjoys Web of Love.


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Jan (jan130) | 2667 comments 🐝 Shaz 🐝 wrote: "Enjoyable story, got a bit bored with the war part. But it has got interesting again. Like both Ellen and Dominic, they have both been through a lot."

Glad you're enjoying, Shaz. She's a lovely writer.


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments Tissues need for this story.


Mariana | 2692 comments I am starting this next.


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments Hope you enjoy reading this story.


Debby *BabyDee* | 812 comments 🐝 Shaz 🐝 wrote: "Tissues need for this story."

I agree


Debby *BabyDee* | 812 comments Started off good but got a bit boring and I was searching for more romance. Teary eyes and as Shaz mentioned...need tissues.


Lauren | 1370 comments Debby, I agree. This story focused more on grief than romance. Then the ending is so rushed. This is not a book I'd ever read again


Lauren | 1370 comments add: I'm glad I did try this book! Has anybody else read the other books in the series?


Mariana | 2692 comments I'm at 37%. This is really an unusual story. There are quite a few main characters. I understand why this is a web. I have not read any others in the series.

Like Shaz, I enjoyed the start to the story and how much Ellen loved her husband and cared for his daughter. She didn't even seem to notice that some thought them a beauty and the beast couple.

It was very strange to spend almost a third of the book showing the heroine's relationship with her first husband. (view spoiler)


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Jan (jan130) | 2667 comments Lauren wrote: "I'm glad I did try this book! Has anybody else read the other books in the series?"

Apparently I read #3, The Devil's Web, back in 2017, although I can't remember it that well. I must have had a paperback copy. According to my review, I gave 3.5 stars and found it a bit too angsty for my preferred style of read. Anyway, I must have liked it enough because I added Web of Love to my Want-to-Read shelf. I just can't get a copy of it easily. Perhaps one day.


Lauren | 1370 comments Mariana, I feel horrible, but I was starting to get frustrated. I was ready for Charlie to die so the romantic story could progress. I liked Charlie, though.

Next, I was waiting for the MC to meet again and discuss her secret. By the end, when I can finally cheer for the couple, the book ends :(

Some parts of the book weren't necessary either. What was the point of Charlie's estranged father? He makes up with his granddaughter, and then he's disappears from the story. Another unnecessary character was the h's father. I think he's only in the book for a minute. Are these characters going to be involved in other stories in the series?

I think the MB had too many ideas that she lost focus. Did anybody else feel that way?


Lauren | 1370 comments Jan, it's never a good sign when you forget you read the book. ;) Isn't the next book about the H's sister? I don't know if I can read more about her. She is an exhausting character


🐝 Shaz 🐝  | 1215 comments Good write up Lauren.
I will also agree with what you have said.


Mariana | 2692 comments I finished. For the first time in a while, I read all the BOTM even if it was in reverse order.

About my spoiler, if I would have waited just one more chapter, I would have found that Ellen also wondered at her own behavior. She reacted in the extreme.

The ending was way too abrupt. I didn't like that either.

I wondered if the many characters were why the series is called Web and all the books are like this. Maybe Balogh was trying to purposely have a bunch of characters and write about how their stories impact each other if only briefly.


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Books mentioned in this topic

The Devil's Web (other topics)
Web of Love (other topics)

Authors mentioned in this topic

Mary Balogh (other topics)