Genre Fiction
![Mary Balogh - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_mary_balogh.jpg)
Remember Love: Devlin's Story (A Ravenswood Novel)
"One of the best." – Julia Quinn
The beloved queen of Regency romance is back with a brand-new story perfect for fans of Bridgerton.
The handsome and charismatic Earl of Stratton, Caleb Ware, has been exposed to the ton for his clandestine affairs-by his own son.
As a child, Devlin Ware thought his family stood for all that was right and good in the world. They were kind, gracious, and shared the beauty of Ravenwood, their grand country estate, by hosting lavish parties for the entire countryside. But at twenty-two, he discovered his whole world was an elaborate illusion, and when Devlin publicly called his family to account for it, he was exiled as a traitor.
So be it. He enlisted in the fight against Napoleon and didn't look back for six years. But now his father is dead, the Ware family is broken, and as the heir he is being called home. It's only when Gwyneth Rhys-the woman he loved and then lost after his family banished him-holds out her hand to help him that he is able make the difficult journey and try to piece together his fractured family.
It is Gwyneth's loyalty, patience, and love that he needs. But is Devlin's war-hardened heart even capable of offering her love in return?
The beloved queen of Regency romance is back with a brand-new story perfect for fans of Bridgerton.
The handsome and charismatic Earl of Stratton, Caleb Ware, has been exposed to the ton for his clandestine affairs-by his own son.
As a child, Devlin Ware thought his family stood for all that was right and good in the world. They were kind, gracious, and shared the beauty of Ravenwood, their grand country estate, by hosting lavish parties for the entire countryside. But at twenty-two, he discovered his whole world was an elaborate illusion, and when Devlin publicly called his family to account for it, he was exiled as a traitor.
So be it. He enlisted in the fight against Napoleon and didn't look back for six years. But now his father is dead, the Ware family is broken, and as the heir he is being called home. It's only when Gwyneth Rhys-the woman he loved and then lost after his family banished him-holds out her hand to help him that he is able make the difficult journey and try to piece together his fractured family.
It is Gwyneth's loyalty, patience, and love that he needs. But is Devlin's war-hardened heart even capable of offering her love in return?
Readers Top Reviews
Carrie ThomasFran
This was beautifully written as are all Balogh’s romances. The plot was a bit plodding because the foundation of a series is being set up. But the story is very intriguing and the setting and emotion was so well defined that the reader feels the tragedy as intensely as the characters. Gwyneth’s character was definitely the light hearted, free spirit, and humorously calming heroine the hero needed. I look forward to the rest of the series real soon and hope that Balogh is especially kind to Stephanie’s future story. If I have one complaint it is the love scene. It seemed to me tragic within itself. But after reading it again after finishing the book, I realize that the hero’s coping mechanism of holding his emotions in check was threatened. I guess I would have liked to have read at least one bed scene in which he could give over emotionally.
KathyTXCarrie Tho
This story deals with the love between Devlin and Gwenyth, which they didn't know was returned for years. Just as they discover their feelings at a ball at Ravenswood, Devlin's home, he finds that his father, the Earl of Stratton, has been flaunting his mistress at the same ball. He denounces him before all the guests and Devlin, the heir, is banished. He is mystified and hurt at his family's response, and joins the military. It's a good story, but very slow paced. Mary Balogh's writing is exquisite, however, so it's worth the wait.
CassandraKathyTXC
Mary Balogh is an author that can exasperate you with her detailed descriptions of every person in a village and every competition at a summer event and then smack you with emotion and from that point you cannot put down the book, even to sleep. Such is the case with Remember Love, a poignant coming of age book that asks the question: is it better to live with a lie because it's comfortable, or tell the truth because it is the right thing to do? Devlin, eldest son and heir to an earl, witnesses a shocking event and tells all in a public setting. He is sent away and returns eight years later because his father has died and he is the new earl. From that point he begins to sort through the chaos he left behind, including the woman who had, on the very night of his shocking revelations, agreed to be his wife. This is an absorbing, sometimes tear-jerking, story about how our actions impact others, even when we're right, and how lies sometimes have hidden consequences. Highly recommend and look forward to book two.
Bobbie JoCassandr
Kicking off a brand new Mary Balogh series, this heartrending and unexpectedly thought-provoking historical romance is the most gentle and soft I have read this year, even though I didn't expect it to turn out that way. I was left with that sweet feeling of contentment that can only come with the sigh you breathe with the perfect happy ending. And wow, what a set up for a series this book is. Have patience in the first act, because it is essential to understand each member of the Ware family (of Ravenswood Hall) and their relationships with one another for the climax that comes not at the end but in the second act. And what a climax. It serves as the context for the rest of this novel, and the foundation for those to follow. Mary Balogh can write a male main character like no other, and she returns to one of her (and my!) favorite male archetypes -- a returning soldier from the Napoleonic Wars. Woven throughout this mutual pining, second chance romance (yes please!) are a number of poignant and timely themes including truth, honesty, integrity, loyalty, acceptance, forgiveness, hope, and, of course, the power of love in the shaping and changing of people's lives. I can't wait for the next one, but I've got my fingers crossed for Ben or Stephanie!
Bobbie JoCassa
Mary Balogh is always a five star writer compared to the competition. But her themes have become stupidly and dully repetitive … as others have explained much more eloquently than I… And by the way, I take my hat off to the early excellently written reviews of this book : some of you should seriously try your hand at becoming authors yourselves! Back to ‘Remember Love’…Sorry Mary but can you not find even one story without the angle of unfairly disgraced hero (or heroine) being slowly redeemed by ‘love’…? The inner talk of the H and h… unutterably uninteresting… much ado about nothing. Or is this just …reality…? I am two thirds through this anticipated new book … and nothing but stilted conversations … suppressed grief … misguided duty… serious unreality … O for the privilege to be a superlatively titled and rich gentleman … that is so utterly weighed down by nobility and burning seriousness… that he breaks apart his whole family’s illusions in one furious moment, and then cannot bear even thinking of his siblings or parents for six whole years … acting the paragon of mindless soldierly integrity … All this, when his life instead, could have been extravagant enjoyment of his privileges… if only he would deign to be human … Is such a man believeable? Certainly impressive in his stubborn adherence to unflinching action over feeling… but identifiable as a real person … no. I am reminded of the Shakespearian line on Romeo: “Why such a man is he, he is a man of wax..!” And the heroine is otherworldly in her perfection - when such weighty subjects are addressed, such a paragon of virtue is… convenient? Perhaps Mary’s brilliance as writer, in spite of the low entertainment value of this book, is that she convincingly shows us that outliers such as this man exist, and can be … redeemed by love …? Will read on and hope it gets sunnier😊
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter One
Ravenswood Hall in Hampshire, home and principal seat for a number of generations of Barons and Earls of Stratton, was the center of the universe to most of the people who lived within five miles or so of its imposing splendor.
The current earl, the sixth, was Caleb Ware, a handsome, vigorous, genial man in his late forties who was well liked by all who knew him, and even loved by many. He had done his duty to family, title, and community early in life by marrying the lovely and charming Clarissa Greenfield, daughter of a neighboring landowner of some substance, when both were very young. They had produced a family of three sons and two daughters before he reached the age of forty. The fact that his lordship had also fathered a son prior to his marriage, shocking though it was when it was first disclosed, was not ultimately held against him, for he had had the decency to acknowledge the child and bring him into his own home when the mother died three years after giving birth to him. The earl and his countess had raised the boy in almost every way as one of their own, and he enjoyed the affection of both.
Ben Ellis, the earl's natural son, now twenty-five years old, was the steward of his father's vast estates, having chosen to stay home and learn all the intricacies of the profession from his elderly predecessor when he might have gone off to study at Cambridge and pursue some other career. The position had been his when the older man retired. His father had even insisted upon paying him the same handsome salary and upon increasing it a year later.
Devlin Ware, Viscount Mountford, the earl's eldest legitimate child, was twenty-two. He had completed his studies at Oxford the year before and returned home to assume his responsibilities as his father's heir. Fortunately, he and his older half brother, who had arrived in their home a scant three weeks after Devlin's birth, had always been close friends and worked well together.
Nicholas Ware, aged nineteen, a handsome, fair-haired, sunny-natured young man who closely resembled his father in both looks and disposition, was about to begin the career as an officer in a cavalry regiment that had been intended for him from birth. He was looking forward to it immensely, especially since he was likely to see plenty of action, with hostilities heating up between Britain and France under the ambitious leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Lady Philippa Ware-Pippa to her family and close friends-was fifteen and rapidly turning from a pretty girl into a lovely young woman, to her mother's great regret. She was slender and dainty and blond haired and lively, and she was yearning for beaux and balls and a come-out Season in London in three years' time, as soon as she turned eighteen. An eternity away, in her opinion. Just around the very next corner, in her mother's.
Owen Ware was twelve. His mother sometimes described him as one-quarter pure sweetness and three-quarters undiluted mischief. He was intended for the church when he grew up, but both his parents agreed that the church might very well heave a collective sigh of relief if he eventually insisted upon another career-as a pirate upon the high seas, for example, or as the inventor of some mechanical horror, such as a hot-air balloon that would carry him off all the way to America and turn his mother's hair white long before he got there.
Lady Stephanie Ware was nine years old and everyone's favorite, though she sometimes felt that it was a real nuisance to be the youngest in the family, and the youngest by a long way when one thought of Ben and Devlin and Nicholas. Even Pippa. But what irked her more than anything else was the constant assurance by everyone around her-mother, father, siblings, governess, and nurse, to name a few-that any day now she would lose her baby fat and grow into a tall and slender beauty. Was she still a baby at the age of nine? When exactly was this miracle going to occur? And did her family love her so dearly just because she was fat and ugly and they felt sorry for her? But she tried hard not to be a complainer or whiner, for none of the rest of her family were either of those things, even Ben, who was not quite their brother and did not have the courtesy title even though he was older than Devlin. Stephanie wanted to be a worthy member of her family. She loved them all dearly. Especially her papa. And especially-never mind logic-Devlin. Not especially Owen, who was ...
Ravenswood Hall in Hampshire, home and principal seat for a number of generations of Barons and Earls of Stratton, was the center of the universe to most of the people who lived within five miles or so of its imposing splendor.
The current earl, the sixth, was Caleb Ware, a handsome, vigorous, genial man in his late forties who was well liked by all who knew him, and even loved by many. He had done his duty to family, title, and community early in life by marrying the lovely and charming Clarissa Greenfield, daughter of a neighboring landowner of some substance, when both were very young. They had produced a family of three sons and two daughters before he reached the age of forty. The fact that his lordship had also fathered a son prior to his marriage, shocking though it was when it was first disclosed, was not ultimately held against him, for he had had the decency to acknowledge the child and bring him into his own home when the mother died three years after giving birth to him. The earl and his countess had raised the boy in almost every way as one of their own, and he enjoyed the affection of both.
Ben Ellis, the earl's natural son, now twenty-five years old, was the steward of his father's vast estates, having chosen to stay home and learn all the intricacies of the profession from his elderly predecessor when he might have gone off to study at Cambridge and pursue some other career. The position had been his when the older man retired. His father had even insisted upon paying him the same handsome salary and upon increasing it a year later.
Devlin Ware, Viscount Mountford, the earl's eldest legitimate child, was twenty-two. He had completed his studies at Oxford the year before and returned home to assume his responsibilities as his father's heir. Fortunately, he and his older half brother, who had arrived in their home a scant three weeks after Devlin's birth, had always been close friends and worked well together.
Nicholas Ware, aged nineteen, a handsome, fair-haired, sunny-natured young man who closely resembled his father in both looks and disposition, was about to begin the career as an officer in a cavalry regiment that had been intended for him from birth. He was looking forward to it immensely, especially since he was likely to see plenty of action, with hostilities heating up between Britain and France under the ambitious leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Lady Philippa Ware-Pippa to her family and close friends-was fifteen and rapidly turning from a pretty girl into a lovely young woman, to her mother's great regret. She was slender and dainty and blond haired and lively, and she was yearning for beaux and balls and a come-out Season in London in three years' time, as soon as she turned eighteen. An eternity away, in her opinion. Just around the very next corner, in her mother's.
Owen Ware was twelve. His mother sometimes described him as one-quarter pure sweetness and three-quarters undiluted mischief. He was intended for the church when he grew up, but both his parents agreed that the church might very well heave a collective sigh of relief if he eventually insisted upon another career-as a pirate upon the high seas, for example, or as the inventor of some mechanical horror, such as a hot-air balloon that would carry him off all the way to America and turn his mother's hair white long before he got there.
Lady Stephanie Ware was nine years old and everyone's favorite, though she sometimes felt that it was a real nuisance to be the youngest in the family, and the youngest by a long way when one thought of Ben and Devlin and Nicholas. Even Pippa. But what irked her more than anything else was the constant assurance by everyone around her-mother, father, siblings, governess, and nurse, to name a few-that any day now she would lose her baby fat and grow into a tall and slender beauty. Was she still a baby at the age of nine? When exactly was this miracle going to occur? And did her family love her so dearly just because she was fat and ugly and they felt sorry for her? But she tried hard not to be a complainer or whiner, for none of the rest of her family were either of those things, even Ben, who was not quite their brother and did not have the courtesy title even though he was older than Devlin. Stephanie wanted to be a worthy member of her family. She loved them all dearly. Especially her papa. And especially-never mind logic-Devlin. Not especially Owen, who was ...
