It’s never too late to fall in love in this enchanting new story, a novella in the Westcott series from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.Matilda Westcott has spent her life tending to the needs of her mother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, never questioning the web of solitude she has spun herself. To Matilda, who considers herself an aging spinster daughter, marriage is … daughter, marriage is laughable—love is a game for the young, after all. But her quiet, ordered life unravels when a dashing gentleman from her past reappears, threatening to charm his way into her heart yet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, does not expect to face Matilda Westcott thirty-six years after their failed romance. Moreover, he does not expect decades-old feelings to emerge at the very sight of her. When encountering Matilda at a dinner hosted by the Earl of Riverdale, he finds himself as fascinated by her as he was the first day they met, and wonders whether, after all these years, they have a chance at happiness together. Charles is determined to crack the hard exterior Matilda has built up for more than three decades, or he will risk losing her once again….
Includes bonus excerpts from the Westcott novels
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It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of Mary Balogh, both for her stories and for her craft. One of the things I love about her work is how she’ll take a stock character like “fussy, aging spinster aunt” and subtly bring her forward until you realize that’s a person, someone with dreams and hopes of her own.
Enter Matilda Westcott. She was introduced to us in the earlier Westcott stories as, yes, the fussy, aging, spinster aunt, but we had glimpses of her personhood all along. Then in Someone to Honor she emerged as not only a person, but a key character, and I loved it.
Now we have her own “second chance at love” story, and it’s adorable and sweet and yummy. There’s no high drama, no pirates, but the question of “Can a woman approaching 60 find love?” is answered in the best way possible. We’re reminded that while we see the package–the no longer svelte debutante, the rake of her youth who’s now a little thicker through the waist–what’s inside are the 20 year olds who were passionately, hopelessly in love decades ago, but who are not seasoned adults–the same, yet more so.
If you’ve never read the Westcott books (And why haven’t you? They’re wonderful Regency romances?) you can read this one as a stand-alone, but there will be spoilers for the previous six novels. I recommend instead starting with the first book and sighing your way through the family dramas all the way up to this one. Best news is, there’s still a Westcott or two in the wings waiting for his or her own tale.
As reviewed at Roses Are Blue: https://wp.me/p3QRh4-126
Thirty six years ago, Lady Matilda Westcott and Charles Sawyer were a pair of twenty-year-olds, passionately in love and eager to be married. When Matilda’s parents flatly refused Charles’s suit, Matilda accepted their decision with no thought of disobeying them. In order to ensure Charles was gone from her life, she declared that she never really loved him. A heartbroken Charles returned to his former rakish ways, soon fathering an illegitimate son, and having countless affairs, even after he eventually married. Matilda never found another man she wanted to wed, and so devoted herself to caring for her crotchety mother.
Fate has decided to throw Matilda and Charles, now Viscount Dirkson, back into each other’s lives, as Matilda’s niece has married Charles’s illegitimate son. Though both are wary of meeting again after all this time, they are far from being indifferent to each other. Matilda’s life took a decidedly different path than Charles’ did. Without a family of her own, her desire to feel needed was revealed in her intense, almost overbearing, care of her mother, who seems to find Matilda’s attentions annoying at times. Charles is now a widower, and has toned down his wild lifestyle, even dismissing his last mistress.
As the Westcott and Sawyer families begin to socialize, Charles continually seeks out Matilda, and the former youthful sweethearts slowly begin to fall in love again. Perhaps their love never really went away. They eventually come to tell each other the truth of their feelings back thirty plus years ago, and why they took the actions they did. They come to the conclusion that regrets are pointless, but they can still have a future together. Charles proposes, and Matilda accepts.
Mary Balogh is a genius at pulling on my heartstrings, and slowly developing her characters and their romance. I loved watching poor old Aunt Matilda blossom, and regain her sense of fun, then face her fears head on. I felt the love between this long estranged couple and felt that their future together would be a joyful one. Though they share some lovely kisses, I was a bit disappointed that their intimacy wasn’t explored a little further, only because of their unique circumstances. Mary Balogh doesn’t write explicit sex scenes, but she doesn’t usually shy away from sharing private bedroom moments. Because Matilda was still an innocent, I would have truly enjoyed reading about her (hopefully) satisfying experience, perhaps even in retrospect, just her reliving it the morning after. Having said that, few other authors can create such warmth and closeness. SOMEONE TO REMEMBER is brilliantly written. It’s an emotional novella, with plenty of family affection, tears, reconciliation, and one of my very favorite things, a second chance at love.
Thirty-six years ago when she was twenty, Matilda Westcott was in love with a young man known as a rake and a scoundrel. Thirty-six years ago when he was twenty, Charles Swayer, Viscount Dirkson was in love with Matilda. When her parents told her to break it off, she did. In order to forget, Charles proved the gossips true with different women, marrying and keeping mistresses. Now they both have a second chance.
A heartwarming love story that could only have been written by Mary Balogh.
‘m loving this new trend to write for romance for women of all ages. Us women continue to hope, dream, love and long for adventure at any age and it’s about dang time that women of all ages are celebrated in the written word.
Matilda Westcott has always fascinated me and I was so excited to see her story told and Throw in a good second chance romance and I knew it would be magical. To watch both Matilda and Charles fall back in love was just adorable to watch. To see Matlida break free from her constraints and start to enjoy life was so much fun to read. You always knew she had a little something extra and I loved seeing Charles bring that side of her out.
I also loved the honest and mature way that both of these characters dealt with the past. It wasn’t an easy road but it wasn’t tedious either. They both made mistakes in their lives that had caused themselves pain but in the end, it was these decisions that allowed them to appreciate what they have now.
A whimsical and magical story of forgiving the past and finding love again!
******Received a review copy from Netgalley*******
Someone to Remember is the 7th installment to Mary Balogh’s Wescott series. I would call it book #6.5 since it is the length of a novella, but that’s just me. It shines light on an older member of the Wescott family, Matilda, who has been cast until now as the spinster aunt who is a bit of a romantic.
After finishing Someone to Honor, I was intrigued by Matilda’s past with Viscount Dirkson. I was so pleased to see that she was getting her own Happily Ever After! It is smaller than the rest of the books in the Wescott series, but the novella length was ideal for this story. Back during the days of Matilda’s debut, Charles Sawyer was her beau for a time and even asked to marry her. Matilda ended up turning him down, and since then never remarried. Now it’s about thirty years later, and Charles has become Viscount Dirkson. His “natural” son (conceived before marrying) has recently married into the Wescott family. So Matilda is seeing quite a bit more of him.
Charles was heartbroken when he was rejected by Matilda in his youth. It set him off on some very bad behaviors and gave him a bad reputation. However, he did end up marrying and is now a widow. Matilda being back in his life is restirring all of his old feelings and some adorable protective ones against anyone who doesn’t pay her attention. He starts to wonder if there is still a chance for them.
I loved Charles and Matilda both. Their trips down memory lane are so sweet! It was amazing to see Matilda shine, and Charles was the perfect hero to help her do so. This book was short and sweet, and it had snippets from the other books in the series at the end if you are interested in picking one of them up. Can’t wait to see who Mary Balogh has fall in love next!