Stevie‘s review of Someone to Trust (Westcott Novels, Book 5) by Mary Balogh
Historical Romance published by Berkley 27 Nov 18
I’m enjoying following the reactions of the various members of the Westcott family to their differing changes in status and fortune, and while the heroine of this novel is someone who is the least directly affected by the former Earl of Riverdale’s bigamy, she’s been shown throughout the series to have issues of her own to contend with. In spite of that, she’s always been on hand to help others with their problems, and so it’s about time she got some happiness of her own in return.
Elizabeth, Lady Overfield, sister to the current Earl, had a disastrous first marriage, marred most especially by her husband’s drinking and cruelty. Since being widowed, Elizabeth has enjoyed her freedom and used her time to help younger friends and relatives enter into society and then into marriage. Now almost all her family have found love, she is beginning to wonder whether one of her potential suitors of recent Seasons might provide her with more security – and perhaps the affection that was missing from her first marriage – than did her first husband.
At a large family Christmas house party, Elizabeth strikes up a friendship with Colin, the younger brother of her sister-in-law. Wealthy and titled, though also some nine year’s Elizabeth’s junior, Colin feels that he now needs to find someone to marry, although none of the eligible younger women at the party particularly appeals to him. In fact, he much prefers talking to Elizabeth and joining her in outdoor pursuits following a particularly heavy snowfall to wooing anyone at the party.
Once Christmas is over, and the various family members return to London, Elizabeth and Colin try to find suitable partners of appropriate ages, neither having much success in spite of the efforts of Colin’s controlling mother on the one part and various determined older bachelors and widowers on the other. The two keep meeting at different Society events and dance together each time, while trying to maintain that the affection between them is merely that of two people connected by their relatives’ marriage. Their closeness, however, causes jealousy to erupt in the most likely of Elizabeth’s suitors and provokes the ire of Colin’s mother, who begins scheming to force him into marrying the debutante of her choosing – one whose beauty will complement her own fading looks and who will be as biddable as the daughter and son-in-law she has remained close to, her other surviving daughters having escaped into marriages over which she has no control.
We’ve met Colin’s mother before, but once again she’s met her match with Elizabeth and her family. We do see a slightly more sympathetic side to her and her followers this time round, but she is still destined to meet her comeuppance, courtesy of the Westcotts.
I enjoyed this story a lot, although it’s not my favourite of the series. Elizabeth is a very deserving heroine, and Colin is sweet, even if he still needs to grow up a little more than he manages through the course of the book. It was good to catch up with the rest of the family, and I hope we see more of them soon.
Grade: B
Summary:
During a rare white Christmas at Brambledean Court, the widow Elizabeth, Lady Overfield, defies convention by falling in love with a younger man in the latest novel in the Westcott series.
After her husband’s passing, Elizabeth Overfield decides that she must enter into another suitable marriage. That, however, is the last thing on her mind when she meets Colin Handrich, Lord Hodges, at the Westcott Christmas house party. She simply enjoys his company as they listen to carolers on Christmas Eve, walk home from church together on Christmas morning, and engage in a spirited snowball fight in the afternoon. Both are surprised when their sled topples them into a snowbank and they end up sharing an unexpected kiss. They know there is no question of any relationship between them, for she is nine years older than he.
They return to London the following Season, both committed to finding other, more suitable matches. Still they agree to share one waltz at each ball they attend. This innocuous agreement proves to be one that will topple their worlds, as each dance steadily ensnares them in a romance that forces the two to question what they are willing to sacrifice for love….
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
