Snow Angels by Mary Balogh
| Date: 22 May 2011, 18:18
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I really loved this book! Mary Balogh is a *master* of the short Regency romance and "Snow Angel" is a wonderful example of just how *good* such a story can be. Both the hero and heroine were imperfect but *vastly* likeable, the secondary characters were well-developed (one of them almost steals the book!), the story was well-written and wonderfully angsty (my favorite type!) and the sexual tension perfectly done.
Rosamund Hunter is a young widow, recently out of mourning for her much older husband. Traveling with her overbearing elder brother Dennis, Rosamund gets into an argument with him about a new suitor who he is promoting and walks away from his carriage in a huff just before a major snowstorm hits the area. When Dennis is delayed by an accident, Rosamund finds herself walking alone in a blizzard. Justin Halliday, the Earl of Wetherby, is traveling by in his carriage and sees her struggling in the cold; he offers her a ride and shelter from the storm. Rosamund accepts before she realizes that she will be *alone* with the very handsome Justin at his friend's hunting box for the duration of the storm.
Rosamund and Justin, wildly attracted to each other and thrown together in an isolated place for three days, eventually agree to have a brief affair. Rosamund's husband was a much older man and she is curious about passion with a younger man. Justin makes it clear from the onset that he is planning to get engaged in one more month (an arranged marriage) and he intends to be faithful to his betrothed--so their affair has no future. They share three magical days and then separate as the snow begins to melt to go on with their former lives.
Despite their best efforts, Justin and Rosamund find that they are unable to forget each other. They meet again by chance under the most awkward of circumstances (the houseparty to celebrate Justin's upcoming engagement) and try to deny their mutual attraction and avoid each other. But fate keeps throwing them together and they are unable to resist each other's company.
I loved the characters of both the hero and heroine--wonderful, but flawed people who give in to an irresistible impulse to become lovers and later find themselves struggling to act honorably and deny their seemingly impossible love. The secondary characters are also marvelously three-dimensional--especially Joshua and Annabelle, but even Rosamund's prosy suitor is given a heart. (In fact, Joshua is *such* a great character that he almost steals the book from Justin.)
My only complaint with this book is the same one that I had with Mary Balogh's "Tempting Harriet" (also a wonderful book!)--the hero throughout the book doggedly continues his courtship of the very eligible and unenthusiatic girl of his *mother's* dreams, while secretly eating his heart out over the heroine. His courtship goes past the point where he can honorably back out--so the happy ending depends on the bold action of others. I find this passive road to a happy end a little less than satisfying, but this is a minor quibble since the rest of the book is so good.
In summary, this is an excellent short Regency by Mary Balogh with a lively, attractive heroine and hero.
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