Now I'm not a huge fan of melodramatic endings, far from it, I love the way Mary Balogh never descends into melodrama but I wish she wouldn't build up to dramatic events that never happen.

So during Wren's final ball you wait for the climactic event - the public showdown - to happen but it doesn't and so the ending takes you by surprise. After Wren's visit it is clear that the villain of the piece means to discredit Wren, do we believe that the two goons her husband physically overpowered the only members of this person's circle? No of course not, the villain has been built up as a monster too much for us to expect her to stop there.

An example of this would be: (CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM HERE ON IN though I shall not name the villain to avoid people accidentally seeing spoilers) Wren's brother is insistent of how dangerous the villain is and how Wren should stay away from them. It would be better not to have the set ups for this when there is no pay off. I'm not saying I want the epic finale but it feels like you are being prepared for a dramatic confrontation between the main character and the villain of the piece that never happens, this means that the ending of the book always feels anticlimactic. She has a habit of dropping in dramatic hints to set up what you expect to be a finale of epic proportions but there is no pay off. Mary Balogh is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, though I do have a bone to pick with this specific series. stunning Regency romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Someone to Hold. Rosalyn Landor is my favourite narrator, she's warm, funny and carries the emotional scenes well. Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh, 9780349419190, available at Book.

Someone to wed by mary balogh