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ABOUT THE BOOK
Discover the beauty of second chances at love and life in this heartfelt new novel from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh. The Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware, née Greenfield, has just presented her younger daughter to the ton, and the rest of her life belongs only to herself. She returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there. But the summer has other plans for her. Born a gentleman, Matthew Taylor has chosen to spend his life as the village carpenter. Growing up, he and Clarissa were close—dangerously so, considering his family’s modest fortune. As a young man, he never would have been a suitable match for the daughter of the wealthy Greenfields. Clarissa married Caleb Ware, the Earl of Stratton, so Matthew married another, though he was widowed soon after. Now everything is different—Clarissa has already lived the life expected of her by society. And Matthew is as attractive and intriguing as he was when they were young. As their summer friendship deepens into romance, they stand together on the precipice of change—essentially the same man and woman they remember being back then but with renewed passion and the potential to take their lives in an entirely new direction.
Opening Lines: “It was a moment Matthew Taylor knew he would never forget. A fanciful thought, perhaps, when he was eighteen years old and all of life and life’s experiences stretched ahead of him.”
GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose: An empty-nester dowager countess returns to the quiet of the home estate after the last of her children is presented and on her way. With no obligations or duty to others, she is at a loss. Is a second chance with a youthful first love a possibility or has the time for that passed? Mary Balogh’s soft, reflective tone of writing was perfect for this second-chance, midlife romance.
Remember When, Book 4 in the "Ravenswood" series, has something of a fairytale touch, a governess-aristocratic employer and gender swap. A pair of childhood friends who have long gone their separate ways have come back together after living completely disparate lives in two distinct social classes. Their friendship picks up just where they left it when on the cusp of adulthood. But a dowager countess and a village carpenter who had been the wild second son of a gentleman with small estate is quite the social gap. I like fairytales so I went with it wondering just how much conflict from her grown children, their extended families, and friends would come of it.
Like others from this author, Remember When took its time. Though the story often lagged and repeated itself, Balogh developed amazingly authentic characters and a complex plot. I felt no strong pull to tear through the novel, rather a comfy, gentle read. A nostalgic romance builds as Matthew comes to terms with the long estrangement with his own family whilst Clarissa's family becomes accustomed to her new life.
Those who are looking for engaging characters in a well-drawn world should definitely give this old-school Regency romance series a try. Remember When reads best in order to follow all the family and friend connections present in each book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from university, I moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English on a two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher, and Sian. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, music, and knitting. She also enjoys watching tennis and curling. Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after twenty years to pursue her dream of writing full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling Slightly sextet and Simply quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B. Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award. You can find more about Mary on her website.
About Sophia Rose, Guest Reviewer
Sophia is a quiet, curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips, campouts, museums, monuments, restaurants, and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and a loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer.
Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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