ARC Review: Always Remember (Ravenswood #3) by Mary Balogh
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Author: Mary Balogh
Published January 16th 2024 by Berkley
Goodreads Synopsis
Lady Jennifer Arden and Ben Ellis know that a match between them is out of the question. Yet their hearts yearn for the impossible. Discover a new heartwarming story from New York Times bestselling author and beloved “queen of Regency romance” Mary Balogh.
Left unable to walk by a childhood illness, Lady Jennifer, sister of the Duke of Wilby, has grown up to make a happy place for herself in society. Outgoing and cheerful, she has many friends and enjoys the pleasures of high society—even if she cannot dance at balls or stroll in Hyde Park. She is blessed with a large, loving, and protective family. But she secretly dreams of marriage and children, and of walking—and dancing.
When Ben Ellis comes across Lady Jennifer as she struggles to walk with the aid of primitive crutches, he instantly understands her yearning. He is a fixer. It is often said of him that he never saw a practical problem he did not have to solve. He wants to help her discover independence and motion—driving a carriage, swimming, even walking a different way. But he must be careful. He is the bastard son of the late Earl of Stratton. Though he was raised with the earl’s family, he knows he does not really belong in the world of the ton.
Jennifer is shocked—and intrigued—by Ben’s ideas, and both families are alarmed by the growing friendship and perhaps more that they sense developing between the two. A duke’s sister certainly cannot marry the bastard son of an earl. Except sometimes, love can find a way.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After their siblings marry, Lady Jennifer Arden and Ben Ellis are always thrown into company at Ravenswood, and form a strong friendship. The disparity in their stations makes it clear that they can never be together, but even though in their heads they understand this, their hearts want something very different. As Ben helps Jennifer practice walking and driving in secret, the time they spend together shows them just how alike they are, and how suited they would be to marriage. But the widowed bastard son of an earl can't marry a duke's sister, right?
I feel like I read this book with a permanent grin on my face. Both Jennifer and Ben have been important characters in the previous books, and it was fantastic to see how they could get their happy ending, and together nonetheless. Ben was the eldest child of the late Earl of Stratton, and though he was raised with his siblings, he was illegitimate and that stain would always be on his character. Following his brother to war, he found solace in a wife, but who later died leaving him a single parent to their daughter, Joy. Returned from war, Ben struggles to find his place in his family, and is an outsider. So meeting Jennifer, also a fellow outsider, they were kindred spirits, and had found someone who understood them more than any family member could. Jennifer's childhood illness had left her unable to walk, and she struggled to be a part of society in the way that she wants. In her heart, she wants to run, dance, and love, and more than anything, marry and have children. Her brother, the Duke of Wilby, has always done everything he can for her, but he still sees her as an ill child, not a woman who dreams and needs. Ben does, and he helps her with her walking, and carriage driving. Seeing the pair and Joy get into a carriage, with Jennifer at the reins, as a family, was utter perfection, and finally the kick that the rest of their families needed to help them be together. This book was such a wonderful conclusion to the Ravenswood series, and the whole Ware clan were able to find happiness after so long!
Dates Read:
October 13-14, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
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