I’ll keep Mary Balogh in mind when I’m looking for Regency Romance. Avery and Anna belong together and it makes for pleasant reading as they glide into marriage and the post-honeymoon period. They work together to meet the challenges facing them.

They are comfortable with who they are and they should be. The relationship develops in a calm, pleasant way, with mature, well-behaved protagonists. Although at first she doesn’t know what to make of him, Anna comes to appreciate the real man behind the falsely indifferent, impenetrable front. She impresses the un-impressible Duke of Netherby. His legitimate daughter is Anna Snow.Īnna’s strength, independence, and dignity carry her through the terrifying experience of meeting a family who are appalled by her existence and ashamed of her lowly upbringing. The children by his second wife, Harry and his sisters, are illegitimate and so disinherited. The earl had a daughter by his first wife, a secret marriage, and remarried before his first wife died. Everything is going smoothly, until the old earl’s solicitor discovers the existence of a prior claim. His son and heir, Harry, is not quite of age and so is under the guardianship of Avery Archer. The story begins with the death of the Earl of Riverdale. His body is now a lethal weapon, something only he needs to know for his confidence to shine through. Bullied as a child, he serendipitously discovered martial arts. Nevertheless, despite his affectation of constant boredom (an affectation demanded by the ton), he exudes power and danger. Unlike the usual large alpha male, Avery is short and lithe. Anna is unaware of her true identity and has no family connections.Īvery Archer, Duke of Netherby, is an atypical hero. She’s made a life for herself filled with purpose and good friends, yet something is missing. At twenty-five, she is now a teacher in the orphanage’s school. In this sweet romance, the heroine, Anna Snow, has been raised in an orphanage in Bath.

Someone to Love by Mary Balogh