Review: Only a Promise (The Survivors' Club #5) by Mary Balogh
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Series: The Survivors' Club #5
Author: Mary Balogh
Published June 9th 2015 by Piatkus
Goodreads Synopsis
Ralph Stockwood prides himself on being a leader, but when he convinced his friends to fight in the Napoleonic Wars, he never envisioned being the sole survivor. Racked with guilt over their deaths, Ralph must move on . . . and find a wife to secure an heir to his family's title and fortune.
Since her Seasons in London ended in disaster, Chloe Muirhead is resigned to spinsterhood. Driven by the need to escape her family, she takes refuge at the home of her mother's godmother, where she meets Ralph. He needs a wife. She wants a husband. So Chloe makes the outrageous suggestion to strike a bargain and get married. One condition: Ralph has to promise that he will never take her back to London. But circumstances change. And to Ralph, it was only a promise.
Goodreads
Review
Ralph Stockwood is the sole direct descendent of the elderly Duke of Worthingham, and knows that he needs to marry and provide the requisite heir, and quickly. However, his experiences during the Peninsula War have changed him, and he doesn't feel like he has much to give his future wife, except his title. His guilt over convincing his three best friends to enlist with him after school, and then all three dying, haunt him, and he would just burden a wife. But, when he visits his grandparents, and meets his grandmother's goddaughter, Chloe Muirhead, there's a little part of a spark. And when Chloe proposes an arrangement between them, with the promise she never has to go back to London and face the gossip she fled, he agrees. But, becoming Duke sooner than expected means he has to break his promise, and it seems as if his vow to never fall for his wife is in jeopardy too.
I will admit that I can't really remember Ralph much from any of the other books - and this seems to be a recurring point in other reviews I've read. Also, this was my least favourite of the series so far. I don't know what it was, but I never really warmed to either of the main characters. I liked them well enough, but didn't really care much about them, or their somewhat lacking love story. I mean, it was a marriage of convenience story, but seeing how well Balogh did it with Vincent and Sophie's tale, I was missing it here. The truth about Chloe's heritage, and discovering it all, was the only real redeeming part of the book. I will be carrying on with the series, but I'm disappointed.
Dates Read:
May 10-13, 2021
Rating
3 Stars
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