Helpful Score: 3
Mary Balogh shifted back to her "darker" side with this book, and I enjoyed it immensely! It reminded me of her older novels, like Secret Pearl, where the hero Elliott is so burdened with troubles and new responsibilities at home that he rarely allows himself to enjoy himself. But his feelings run very deep and are quite profound, no matter how little he allows himself to let them show. I found the heroine Vanessa to be wonderfully refreshing and enjoyable, and LOVED that she was rather plain, not a beauty at all. (I get so tired of every heroine being stunningly beautiful, with a gorgeous, perfect figure. Vanessa is more like us "normal folk," and I appreciate that!)
There's some great twists in this story, and it's also a nice set up for the upcoming novels featuring Vanessa's sisters and the villain in this book, Constantine. Dull? Not at all. Not even close! I found myself sneaking back upstairs when I should have been working so I could read another chapter or two. This story is back to Mary's best, with realistic characters facing very real problems, and handling them in quirky ways that added the twists I enjoyed so much in this book. Not quite as good as some of her best, like "More Than A Mistress," "Tempting Harriet," "A Christmas Promise," "Snow Angel" and "A Certain Magic,"--if you haven't read these, you're missing out on some of the best Romance ever written!--but First Comes Marriage is the first book of Mary's since Slightly Tempted that I've enjoyed as much as some of her older ones.
There's some great twists in this story, and it's also a nice set up for the upcoming novels featuring Vanessa's sisters and the villain in this book, Constantine. Dull? Not at all. Not even close! I found myself sneaking back upstairs when I should have been working so I could read another chapter or two. This story is back to Mary's best, with realistic characters facing very real problems, and handling them in quirky ways that added the twists I enjoyed so much in this book. Not quite as good as some of her best, like "More Than A Mistress," "Tempting Harriet," "A Christmas Promise," "Snow Angel" and "A Certain Magic,"--if you haven't read these, you're missing out on some of the best Romance ever written!--but First Comes Marriage is the first book of Mary's since Slightly Tempted that I've enjoyed as much as some of her older ones.
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