Someone to Love (Mary Balogh)

Humphrey Westcott, Earl of Riverdale, has died, leaving behind a fortune that will forever alter the lives of everyone in his family—including the daughter no one knew he had...

Anna Snow grew up in an orphanage in Bath knowing nothing of the family she came from. Now she discovers that the late Earl of Riverdale was her father and that she has inherited his fortune. She is also overjoyed to learn she has siblings. However, they want nothing to do with her or her attempts to share her new wealth. But the new earl’s guardian is interested in Anna…

Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby, keeps others at a distance. Yet something prompts him to aid Anna in her transition from orphan to lady. As London society and her newfound relatives threaten to overwhelm Anna, Avery steps in to rescue her and finds himself vulnerable to feelings and desires he has hidden so well and for so long.

I received a review copy of this book from purchased, the publisher.

Review

A warm and perceptive historical romance, Someone to Love introduces a new series about the Westcott family, relatives and heirs of the late Humphrey, Earl of Riverdale. Upon Riverdale’s death, the family is thrown into confusion when it is revealed that orphan Anna Snow is, in fact, Riverdale’s daughter Lady Anastasia Westcott, heiress to a great fortune.

Anna is one of the quietly strong, dignified heroines that Balogh writes so well. Though frightened and bewildered by her sudden change in circumstance, she holds fast to her pride, her dignity, and her true self: kind, compassionate, egalitarian, and longing to love and be accepted by her newly-discovered siblings. Anna is also reluctantly drawn to the elegant, top-lofty Avery, Duke of Netherby, whose affectations (snuff, a quizzing glass, and a fashionable air of boredom and lazy affability) are belied by the insight and kindness beneath his glittering surface. He gives off an aura of danger quite out of proportion to his slight build, and Anna is both attracted and repelled.

Anna’s situation is similar to Lily’s in One Night for Love, one of Balogh’s earlier novels (and one of my favorites): A young woman, raised as a commoner, suddenly finds herself thrust into the cutthroat social world of the haut ton. Like Lily, Anna has a friend to help her, in this case, her newly-discovered second cousin Elizabeth (Lizzie.) But Anna isn’t Lily rewritten; she has her own personality, just as appealing but not at all a copy. Nor is Avery identical to any of Balogh’s former heroes, though he sometimes reminds me of the Duke of Bedwyn without the coldness (the Slightly series), and at other times of Kit Ravenscroft (A Summer to Remember.)

Someone to Love has everything I’ve come to expect from a Balogh novel: complex, layered emotions that always ring true; historical accuracy; a gently ironic narrative tone; and a romance that can sweep me away. It’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny, but there’s a quiet wit, a more subtle humor that flows seamlessly into deep emotion as called for. I loved every minute of it, and I’m looking forward to future books starring Anna’s three siblings and (I hope) her cousins Alex and Lizzie as well. I have my suspicions about who the next couple will be, and I can’t wait to read Someone to Hold!

Edited to add: I reread this book in November 2024, which counted toward the COYER Unwind (2024) Chapt. 4 reading challenge. Also, I received an ARC of this book from the publisher, but also bought a Kindle copy.

About Mary Balogh

Mary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales (UK.) After graduating from university, she moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high-school English 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.

Ms. 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, the Simply quartet, and the Huxtables series. She has won numerous awards, including a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award. 37 of her novels have been NYT bestsellers.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 4

Related Posts

• Related Posts
• By Mary Balogh
• Same Genre

Ten Reasons to Stay, by Sabrina Jeffries

Christmas Miracles (Mary Balogh)

Sapphires Are an Earl’s Best Frien

In the Dragon’s Eye: Sometimes a R

The Day of the Duchess by Sarah

Always Remember, by Mary Balogh

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh

Someone to Hold (Mary Balogh)

Early Review: The Arrangement, by Mary B

The Heart of Christmas (Balogh, Cornick,

The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy

Forbidden (Beverly Jenkins)

A Match for Marcus Cynster

A Conquest Impossible to Resist

The Heart of Christmas (Balogh, Cornick,