I often read paranormal romance, but this weekend I thought I would try something a little different. I am most delighted to say that I throughly enjoyed Mary Balogh's masterpiece and intend on reading the rest of her books in this series. Nothing says love like a man, Lucious Marshall, saying that her love, Frances Allard, is Simply Unforgettable. And it will be a very long time before I forget what a wonderful love story was told. 5 stars. ( )

Three years ago, Frances Allard left her past behind to become a teacher at Miss Martin’s school for girls in Bath. One Christmas after visiting her elderly great-aunts, Frances’s carriage gets stuck in a snowstorm. Behind her is Lucius Marshall, Viscount Sinclair, a man who has just been admonished to settle down and take a wife. When his carriage knocks hers off the road, he is obliged to escort her to a mostly abandoned country inn. Two days is all it takes for them to cast a spell over each other, but Frances will not be his mistress and Lucius knows his grandfather has his ailing heart set on Lucius’s marriage with Portia Hunt. Three months later, Frances and Lucius meet again by chance, but he knows this time that he can’t let her slip away from him again.

This is the second book I’ve read by Mary Balogh and I found it just as enchanting as the first (Simply Perfect). We know from almost the beginning that Frances has “a past” which is preventing her from saying yes to marrying Lucius or even allowing him to court her, but that doesn’t stop his journey to win her over from making us fall in love with him. He’s a little too arrogant in his knowledge of what’s good for her, but the thing is, she does want to do everything he tries to get her to do, including marry him. She just has to break down the boundaries of her past first, and only by forcing her into society again will that happen, although Lucius doesn’t know it at the time. I did think Frances’s issues with her past a little exaggerated once we learn what they are, but this is not a romance which is heavy of external plot, nor does it matter.

Besides the characters, I also liked how this book portrays the struggle of contentment versus happiness. Contentment is generally relatively easy to attain. I’m content when I’m reading or thinking about history. I’m happy when I’m with Keith, and believe me, it was difficult and risky to get where we are today, and it’s going to be still more difficult to get where we want to be. It’s absolutely worth it. In this book, Frances is content as a schoolteacher and might even be content with her other beau. Lucius could be content with Portia and children. Together, they would be happy but it’s hard and risky to get there. I like that. It rings true to life and reminds us why taking risks to go after what we really want is so worth it. Doesn’t have to be a person of course, it’s true in all aspects of life.

Overall, I found this to be a moving and enjoyable novel. Definitely a worthy read for anyone who would like a little more romance in their lives. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

http://chikune.com/blog/?p=975 ( )

Quite a lot of fun this is a story of a teacher with a past and a vicount who are thrown together and find themselves very attracted but the problem is their status in life. He's not willing to give her up and she's not willing to be a mistress!

She's a teacher and a fine singer. There were some moments though where I had to wonder about the historical accuracy of some of the attitudes and that broke the reading spell for me.

Pretty predictable but I enjoyed the ride. Almost a 4* read for me but not quite. ( )

~ Pardon the pun, but this book was "simply forgettable" for me (2.5 stars) ~

The first in Mary Balogh's Simply Quartet, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE was unfortunately not so for me. I am a huge Mary Balogh fan, but this is my least favorite book of hers and I actually had to stop myself from skimming parts at the end (which is just unheard of for me). Meanwhile, I have continued on to the second book of the Quartet, SIMPLY LOVE, and found that book highly enjoyable - I recommend just skipping to that one.

The middle section of this book was actually quite enjoyable; it was in the beginning (read my comments below) and in the end (which is supposed to be the best part!) that things fell apart for me. The section that takes place in Bath is fun to read and the interactions between Frances and Lucius are enjoyable, but once things move forward after that ... the book lost me and by the end, I was so sick of the back and forth that like I said above, I had to stop myself from just skipping to the end and finishing it already.

PROBLEM WITH THE PREMISE:
This is a matter of personal preference, but I don't usually like the "one night of passion with a stranger" premises in historical romances. I don't read many contemporary romances, but I don't mind them in that genre. However, when you're dealing with a historical romance, it just doesn't really fit with the times unless the woman is "loose," which of course the heroine never is. When the author writes a heroine who is supposedly prim and proper (Frances is such a heroine), it's very hard to have that type of character engage in one night of passion with some mystery man and maintain a sense of continuity or cohesiveness with how she's supposed to be the rest of the time. (I had this same problem with Mary Balogh's second Bedwyn book, SLIGHTLY WICKED).

SIMILAR BOOKS:
If you like books where the hero and heroine have one night of passion as strangers and later fall in love, check out the following:
~ SLIGHTLY WICKED (Bedwyn Family, Book 2) by Mary Balogh
~ THE SECRET PEARL by Mary Balogh - a spin on the "one night of passion"
~ WHEN WE MEET AGAIN (Effington Family, Book 10) by Victoria Alexander
~ HER HIGHNESS, MY WIFE (Effington Family, Book 5) by Victoria Alexander - premise isn't exactly the same, but similar enough
~ LET IT BE LOVE (Effington Family, Book 11) by Victoria Alexander
~ IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, anthology - I haven't read it, but I think it is similar

BOTTOM LINE:
Balogh is a wonderful author, but from this book you wouldn't perhaps know it. Skip it and read one of her other books: you can skip to SIMPLY LOVE, which is second in the Simply Quartet; read THE SECRET PEARL, a great stand-alone; or settle in to enjoy the wonderful Bedwyn series, starting with A SUMMER TO REMEMBER (Bedwyn prequel) and SLIGHTLY MARRIED (Bedwyn Book 1).

(http://historical-romance-heaven.blog...) ( )

En route to Bath, England, to teach at Miss Martin's School for Girls, Frances Allard seeks refuge from a snowstorm at a nearby inn and finds unexpected passion with Lucius Marshall, unaware that Lucius is the heir to the Earl of Edgecombe.

This is the first installment in a series featuring teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls. Mary Balogh is one of the best authors in the Regency genre and this is a case in point. ( )