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Searching... Dallas Public Library | Balogh, M. Simply | Searching... Unknown |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | Fic Balogh, M. 2005 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | R BALOGH Mary | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
New York Timesbestselling author Mary Balogh returns to the seductive world she knows so well--Regency England--in a new novel filled with her trademark wit, sensuality, and breathtaking storytelling. With this, the first in a dazzling new quartet of novels, Balogh invites us into a special world--a select academy for young ladies--a world of innocence and temptation. Drawing us into the lives of four women, teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls, Balogh introduces this novel's marvelous heroine: music teacher Frances Allard--and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget.… They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneous…and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place--and it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night--and the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon. But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue, one that defies propriety and shocks the straitlaced ton. For Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give up all her secrets--except one--to win the heart of the man she already loves. Once again this incomparable storyteller captures a time and a place like no other. And in Lucius and Frances, Mary Balogh gives us her most unlikely lovers yet--a nobleman in search of the perfect wife and an unconventional woman willing to risk everything for an unforgettable love.
Author Notes
Mary Balogh was born in Swansea, Wales on March 24, 1944. She received a B.A. with honors from the University of Wales in 1965. From 1967 to 1988, she taught high school English in Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming principal of the school in 1982.
Her first novel, A Masked Deception, was published in 1985 and she won the Romantic Times Award for best new Regency writer. Since then, she has written more than 60 novels and has received a lifetime achievement award for her work in the genre of historical romance. Her works include The Wood Nymph, Christmas Promise, The Plumed Bonnet, Famous Heroine, A Matter of Class, No Man's Mistress, More than a Mistress, One Night for Love, and Only a Kiss. Her title's Someone to Hold and Someone to Care made The New York Times Bestseller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
What happens when a haughty, rakish aristocrat and a prim, beautiful schoolteacher are stranded in a deserted country inn together during a snowstorm? They fall in love, of course. But as all this takes place in fewer than 100 pages-and as this is a fairly conventional Regency-era romance-the story doesn't end so quickly or easily. Instead, Frances Allard denies her feelings, pushes Lucius Marshall away by refusing his offer to join him in London and, when they're coincidentally thrown together again in Bath, attempts to ignore him-all of which makes Lucius try even harder to get her attention. A devastating secret from Frances's past keeps her from giving in, even when Lucius proposes marriage, but this secret turns out to be so unsurprising and so easily surmountable that Lucius's 200 pages of pursuit hardly seems worthwhile. Readers will feel some satisfaction when this well-matched duo eventually come together, and as usual Balogh peppers her tale with vibrant, amiable secondary characters, including a handful of Frances's colorful schoolteacher friends and Lucius's merry sisters. However, this romance, which launches a new series focusing on the young ladies' academy where Frances works, is far more forgettable than Balogh's popular Bedwyn family Regencies. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
When an author has created a series as beloved to readers as Balogh's Bedwyn saga, it is hard to believe that she can surpass the delights with the first installment in a new quartet. But Balogh has done just that with the erotic yet not lascivious tale of a prim schoolteacher and a rake. Thanks to an accident while returning to Miss Martin's School for Girls in Bath after a quiet Christmas with her elderly great-aunts, Frances Allard meets Lucius Marshall, the Viscount Sinclair, who is in a black mood over his promise to his beloved and ailing grandfather that he would marry soon. Spending two days together at an almost deserted inn, an interlude Balogh delectably details, they revel in each other's company. But once the road opens up, Frances continues her journey, although the reader knows that events will conspire to throw the schoolteacher and the viscount together again. --Diana Tixier Herald Copyright 2005 Booklist
Library Journal Review
With a story set in Regency England, this superbly narrated production takes the somewhat predictable formula for Regency romances, fills it with interesting characters, well-conceived suspense, and near perfect vocal characterizations, and makes it compelling and hard to put down. Returning to her job as a teacher at a girls' school in Bath, Frances Allard's carriage slides into a snow bank; when her rescuer (and the one who caused the mishap, Lucius Marshall, a viscount) appears, they both judge the other to be all that they abhor in the opposite sex. But being thrown together at an obscure inn in a snowstorm offers them the opportunity for a romantic interlude. Afterwards, Lucius is stunned to find himself the pursuer, with Frances resisting because of a secret in her past. Narrator Rosalyn Landor captures both the spirit and warmth of Frances, the frustration and strength of Lucius, and the personalities of the intriguing minor characters. Listeners will be captivated; essential for romance collections.--Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.