The Temporary Wife
- Mary Balogh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a typical MoC tale, full of common tropes of the genre, and yet I enjoyed it. The heroine is one of the stock characters of the genre - impoverished gentlewoman burdened with the care of her siblings, loving and generous. She not only more than overcomes the bias her husband's family has against her, but also mends his own relationship with each of them. Such a perfect heroine usually annoys me, but not here. The hero is also a typical character - a serious man with a troubled history, bearing the burden of suppressed feelings for a very long time. In a way, his emotional growth is the primary theme of the book.
I found the story heart-warming and even somewhat amusing. It is a story about emotions, family, perceptions and misunderstandings that can damage lives and relationships. And also about warmth and redemption. I liked it for some interesting complexities of human relationships it explores.
I understand that this short a book does not have the luxury to dwell too much on one particular aspect, but the issues between the hero and each one of his family members were resolved very quickly - essentially, years of resentment was addressed by just thrown them together once to talk. One thing that annoys me about these stories is the extremely foolish way the supposedly intelligent heroines behave towards the end - why else, after all is said and done, would the heroine just leave without speaking to the hero. It is, as if the authors are compelled to throw in a little misunderstanding, however unnecessary, to make it worthwhile for the readers to see them united at the end. It's my view that instead of that lost-and-found scene at the end, the page count would have been better used to repair the feelings between the family (which was somewhat rushed).
Lord Carew's Bride
- Mary Balogh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
It started off well, with the heroine mistaking the identity of the hero, and liking him for himself. There is a wonderful warmth in the gradual development of their relationship, each of them finding an enjoyable companionship with the other. I liked the heroine's family and friends, and the relationship they have.
What I really didn't like was the portrayal of the villain of the piece. This is the second of Mary Balogh's novels with this same theme - where an utterly detestable man rejects the heroine, and years later, when she is in a happy relationship, starts stalking her. The heroine, on her part, becomes ambiguous about her feelings about this man, who she knows to be evil. Apart from the repetition, what troubles me is this "hate masks love" thread.
I am not fond of the "big misunderstanding" trope, but the way the lead pair allow the villain to mess up their lives is stupid to the core. They both know that he is mean and evil, yet they believe his lies, particularly the hero, forgetting that he is completely untrustworthy. A most troublesome aspect of this genre is the typical portrayal of masculine strength - here, the hero, who was shown as a kind and understanding man, suddenly turns rigidly authoritative and asserts his power to hurt his wife. He eventually realizes his mistakes and avenges her, but IMHO, he does not make a sufficient apology to her. Instead, she is the one who apologizes and makes the first approach towards reconciliation.
Mary Balogh's writing style involves long inner monologues of the MC, but I tend to find them boring after a point. Further, in this book (or I didn't notice it earlier), the author has inclined to too much repetition - by projecting the same events through two perspectives, or adding several phrases with repeating words for emphasis. There is also an excess of interjected qualifying phrases. More than the story, her style has put me off and I would not read more of her works any time soon.
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