I feel guilty about giving this a low grade (for me), but there it is. I wish this book had been a novella instead of a novel. I rarely feel that way, but this is one of those cases. This is book 7 (the final book) of the Survivors’ Club series. I appreciate it when authors write each book in a series so that you could pick up any one of them and not be lost, but I also think it is perfectly acceptable for an author to say “Hey, I’ve done some world building over the course of this series, and I think you will get way more out of your reading experience if you start at the beginning (or with an earlier novel).” I think Balogh tried to write for anyone picking this book up, and the repetition of who the Survivors are and their histories just annoyed and bored me. I did a LOT of skimming.
Now for something wonderful: George is 48 and Dora is 39. Older heroes and heroines are too few and far between, and I really liked both these characters. George appeared in all prior six books and Dora appeared in I think two, once as the sister of the heroine. George is not the older, jaded rake that so many older heroes are. He is a widower of 12+ years who was married for 20 years before that and has decided he is very lonely and wants a companion. Dora had some past family scandal that led to her raising her younger sister and giving up her own chance at marriage. She made a good, independent life for herself as a music teacher. They met in the past books a couple of times, and George appears on Dora’s doorstep out of the blue to propose to her. It was not a hard decision for her to say ‘yes’.
These characters are very well matched. From their first encounter in Only Enchanting(?) you could tell that they respected each other and saw something special there. When they have conflicts they work them out like adults. They support each other through everything and they really do try their best to make each other happy. Those parts were a joy to read. If the book had been kept to that with quick revisits to all the past characters it would have been an excellent novella and I would have happily have given it an A grade.
George’s backstory is that his only son died in the Napoleonic wars and his wife then committed suicide while suffering from grief. Does this story break your heart? Because it did for me. And, having had it told to me in the past six books I just really wanted George to get his happily ever after. But, Balogh apparently felt this was not tragic enough. Oh no! Suddenly in this book we find out all sorts of crazy things from George’s past and the story is WAY more bonkers. I didn’t need or want any of the increased drama. I fact, I hated it. Why could he not be a legitimately brokenhearted man finding second love in life?! This is a plotting decision that I will never understand. Why is the *traumatic* backstory so necessary in these books? Take it down a notch authors!!!
The epilogue was a step too far too. It reads like a biblical listing of all of the Survivors’ children. I could not keep the names straight, and didn’t care to try very hard. Yes, they all end up with a million kids. I suppose this is realistic in an age before reliable birth control, but it was ridiculous the way she wrote about them. And, the one couple that had believed themselves unable to have children (and were satisfied with that) also ended up having kids. I know there are people out there wishing for more happy childless couples in romance, and you’re not going to find them here.
I always like Mary Balogh’s books well enough. She is a solid author that I do not hesitate recommending to people, and a pretty safe start to romance reading for anyone. But, I never find myself raving to people that they have to read her books now(!). And, please, don’t start with this particular book.