Someone to Trust

It always takes me about 25% of the book to really get into a Mary Balogh novel. She has a beautiful writing style that makes you feel like you’re living in a Charles Dickens novel, but it’s definitely a different pace than most historical authors publishing today. The family Christmas scenes at the beginning of the book put me in the holiday spirit as nothing else can; it’s all so idyllic.

Someone To Trust is about two kindred spirits separated in age by nine years. Unfortunately for our kindred spirits, Elizabeth and Colin, Elizabeth is older than Colin by nine years which was taboo at that time. It was so frowned upon that Elizabeth and Colin don’t even consider each other as true romantic partners for most of the book.

Mary Balogh writes some of the most beautiful prose out there. I found myself highlighting passages just so I could revel in her use of language later. While this is a gentle friends to lovers novel, I could genuinely feel the angst as Elizabeth and Colin tried to reconcile their feelings, familial expectations, and societal pressures. If you’re expecting the characters to break the rules, cause a scene, or in any way act out of character for someone in their time period, this is not the book for you. But somehow that makes the more dramatic scenes have an even bigger impact.

This is the first book I have read in this series, and while Someone To Trust does standalone, I think my experience would have been richer if the secondary characters had less page time. Every time I started to get into Colin and Elizabeth’s chemistry, I feel like they were interrupted by 20 uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, who clearly all had previous books updating them on their lives. While people who have read the other books in this series might enjoy the updates, it read as filler to me, which I didn’t enjoy.

Overall, the excess of characters and slow pace didn’t detract much from my enjoyment. This book was addictive once the story really started at about 25% in and I recommend it to anyone looking for a change of pace and unique plot line.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

“No one escapes, even those who may appear to others to live charmed lives. But we all have the choice of whether to be defined by the negatives in our lives or to make of our present and future and our very selves what we want them to be.”
-Elizabeth

Mary Balogh continues the captivating Wescott family saga in this fifth novel set at Christmas time in the English countryside. After a Christmas holiday that begins with an unexpected wedding, the entire Westcott family, plus a few additions, are assembled at Brambledean Court to celebrate. Alexander Westcott, Earl of Riverdale, and his new wife, Wren, are doing their best to promote solid, loving familial relations among their mixed clan during this holiday.

The story centers around Colin Handrich, Baron Hodges, a pleasant, good looking young man of twenty-six with a title and a nice fortune, and Elizabeth Westcott Overfield, the widowed Lady Overfield, a slender, fair haired beauty in her mid-thirties. As these two young people move through their holiday slightly at a distance from the others due to their own particular circumstances, they find themselves frequently in each other’s company. A blithe promise is set between the two to dance the first waltz of every ball of the coming Season.

Thus begins a Season filled with adventure and turmoil for Colin and Elizabeth. Read the story of this older woman and younger man to see if they can find a way through the very difficult maze of society and familial chaos that ensues. Rich with romantic detail and filled with the love of family, this book is a delightful read to get you in the Christmas spirit.

This ARC copy was received from Netgalley.com and Berkley. The above thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.

I’m a big fan of Mary Balogh, and I really enjoyed these characters, but the plot felt haphazard so much so that I didn’t realize the book was over when it ended! It’s a nice little escape.

Family Christmas festivities are taking place at
Brambledean Court after the wedding of Viola
and Marcel. The author mixes the past and present
effortlessly so any reader new the series will be
able to catch up with all the characters and happenings.
Colin Handrich, Lord Hodges is a twenty-six year old,
very eligible bachelor. He is attending since his sister,
Wren is holding the festivities.
Elizabeth Overfield, Alexander’s Sister and Wren’s
sister-in-Law is a widowed woman who is thirty-five
years old.
Colin and Elizabeth develop an undeniable chemistry
between them. But the ton frowns upon a relationship
between an older woman and younger man.
This is a very lovely story of what it means to truly love
plus the sacrifices we make for those we love. It shows
how a true love can transcend the gossip of lathers.
Written beautifully and packed with a lot of emotion.
I volunteered to read Someone to Trust. Thanks to
Penguin’s First-to-Read Program for the opportunity.
My opinion is my own.

I have read everything Mary Balogh has written. She is one of my favorite authors. I own a lot of her books and eagerly await her next one. She makes a real effort to portray the historical period in which she sets her book accurately and realistically.

I’ve devoured every single thing Mary Balogh has written.

Had me rooting for the characters.

Normally I don’t like stories when a married couple’s siblings then get together, but I love Elizabeth, so it was fine. And the drama with Colin’s narcissist mother kept the constant detailing of the Westcott family tree to a minimum, for which I was grateful.

I simply adore the Westcott series! I’ve read each book in the series, minus Someone to Hold because I don’t think that I would really enjoy learning more about Camille. The great thing about the series is that they don’t necessarily need to be read in order and you get updates about characters from the previous books as you go along. I’ve always liked Elizabeth’s character from what I had read about her in the previous book in the series, she has a great and caring personality and it was nice to be able to read a book in which she gets to experience some of her own happiness and go after what she wants. Colin is also a great character, he is honest and loyal. And in this book, we get to learn more about him than what we knew of him from Someone to Wed as Wren’s long lost younger brother.
I think they will be happy together and I hope that they are able to create a family togther like Elizabeth has always wanted.

The Westcotts and extended family all together for the holidays, a surprise wedding that carries over from the last book, and a new budding romance that is built on friendship and takes everyone including the romance pair unawares. Gently-paced, sweet, and all the holiday feels wrapped up in one engaging story.

Someone to Trust is the fifth book in the Westcott series. While it might seem all right to pick it up as a standalone or out of order because it is an all new pair with no earlier threads together, this series is one that really works best in order. There is a strong connection of family and situation as each book builds on the last. Many scenes involving the larger family and references to the past might not grab a new reader to the series.

Someone to Trust actually overlaps a little in the beginning with the previous book, Someone to Care, so it is a spoiler if someone was planning to read the fourth book. This is Elizabeth, Lady Overfield’s book. Elizabeth has been the sweet, tenderhearted support for everyone and hides her secret pain and loneliness behind a twinkling smile. Christmas is a joyous time particularly this year as the whole extended family assembles at Brambledean, her brother’s home, and she is enjoying it, but can’t help watching all the happy new couples and young families with envy. That is a dream she feels that she cannot have; but she is determined to participate in the upcoming London she will settle for a nice man to give her her own family and home. However, her eye and mind keep straying to Colin Handrich, Lord Hodge, her sister in law’s younger brother. He’s too young for her to even consider, but she wishes it were not so because she enjoys the laughter and fun and companionship they have. He even is the keeper of some of her saddest and darkest memories that no one else knows.

Colin, for his part, has never know this sort of feeling. He is nearly overwhelmed by the love, support, and laughter of this huge, generous family who pull him into their group because he is Wren’s brother. Elizabeth Overfield, most of all. He knows that he needs to get about the business of doing his duty as head of his family by marrying and settling down on the family estate while taking his mother’s extravagance and wildness in hand. He looks about and has some of the most beautiful eligible girls paraded before him, but they can’t compare to the one woman who refuses to consider him because he is her junior and she claims he can do better than her. He has to watch sadly as she prepares to accept a boring, ‘safe’ match. But, will he take his chance when he gets it and convince Elizabeth she can trust him to be what she needs?

This one was heartwarming and slow-burn. It starts off slow with holiday and family and the early moments of Colin and Elizabeth’s friendship. There are a few brief moments of flirtation and glimpses that they share an attraction, but then they try to be sensible save for a whimsy that they will dance the first waltz together at every London ball they both attend. I didn’t mind the slow build and it made sense since Elizabeth is an abuse survivor and Colin has his own tangled past with his family.

And, that brings me to the family element. Colin came from a cold, lonely background with a distracted father and a narcissistic mother. He knows his sister was treated awful and sent away and he sees the way his mother twists and warps people to suit only her needs. It is all in stark contrast to Elizabeth’s warm and giving family. Incidentally, for fans of Georgette Heyer, I’m pretty sure there is homage being paid to the book, Venetia, in the form of another narcissistic mother.

The romance requires a lot of patience because it truly does take its time. It’s not absent in the beginning and middle of the story, but it is in a unnoticed or denied form by the players and even when they come together there is still more needing to happen to bring about the true swoony happily ever after. But, it does get there and was worth it.

All in all, I was in a mood to match with the tone, pace, world, characters, and friends to lovers in this holiday historical romance. I love the series and the whole family of Westcotts. There are a handful of stories that I really want and I’m not sure who is getting theirs next, but I’ll take any of them. I can definitely recommend this one and the whole series.