Indiscreet

Wow this was a harder read than I thought it was going to be, and I’m not sure if the hero redeemed himself for being pretty wretched to the heroine. It’s fascinating that Balogh wrote this over twenty years ago, yet it’s especially relevant today in the time of #metoo and rape culture. I loved Catherine though as well as her dog Toby (my dog is Toby too!), and I hope that Rex gives her the HEA she so deserves.

Catherine lives a simple life in a little cottage. Although she is poor she was clearly brought up a lady, and so when the lord and lady of the manor need an extra seat filled at dinner she gets an invitation. This is how she meets the lord's rakish younger twin brother Rex, who is immediately smitten. A few misunderstandings based on his resemblance to his twin ensue, and Rex thinks she's flirting. He forces her to let him walk her home after a ball, and then tries to sleep with her. She rigidly declines, and Rex leaves feeling hard done by. But alas, he was observed coming out of her cottage, and as the gossip spreads Catherine's life grows rapidly more and more miserable, until at last the vicar refuses to let her come to church and show more demands she leave the village forthwith. Rex is long gone, but his brother demands he come back and marry Catherine to repair the damage.

They have a cold wedding and an awkward marriage, but slowly come to like each other. Then one of Rex's friends recognizes Catherine, and her dark secret comes out. She confides that shortly after her coming out she was raped by a gentleman after her money. She refused to marry him, but she was pregnant and the scandal ruined her reputation. After the baby was born--and alas, died--her father arranged to give her an allowance so long as she stayed in the little village and never left. Rex is deeply upset, not least because it reminds him of how similarly he behaved toward her: how casually he treated her reputation and how little he listened to her actual words. Rex and Catherine discuss the future, and eventually decide that they have to brazen it out instead of hiding Catherine away. They go to London and enlist the help of all of Rex's friends and family, as well as Catherine's brother and father. They attend a grand ball, and the sheer number of people acknowledging Catherine gives her a little countenance--enough that she hopes she'll be able to have a few friendships and not have her children suspected as illegitimate. And then, Rex kills the gentleman who raped Catherine, seduced (there's an uncomfortable ambiguity about consent in this regard) his ex-fiance, and ruined many other women's reputations.

I was surprised at how much I liked this. Early on in the book, Rex was very pushy and kept assuming Catherine was flirting with him when she clearly wasn't. It made me dislike him a lot, and feel very uneasy about the romance. But luckily, the book and the other characters agreed with my viewpoint--numerous characters tell Rex to his face that he behaved badly, and he himself has a long, painful period where he's consumed with guilt.

The relationship between Rex's brother and his wife is a rare treat as well. It's rare to find side characters who are given so much characterization, or whose relationship troubles are so interesting. He has always been easy-going, perhaps to a fault, whereas her pride and controlling nature have grown with time. When matters come to a head, they each realize what the other person's true nature is like, and have a hard time staying in love.

The best part of this book, for me, was how it had no illusions about the sexism inherent in Regency society. There are serious consequences when someone bucks tradition and social mores, and Balogh doesn't let her characters off the hook. It's not self-flagellating, but it is at least partly a deconstruction of the popular romance tropes in which the hero won't take no for an answer, the lady secretly means yes, and the entire ton cheers on their illicit relationship. show less

This is one of Ms. Balogh's older series and one of her best in my opinion. Catherine Winters is living as a young widow in a small village when Viscount Rawleigh comes to visit. He's determined to seduce her, but she wants no part of it despite his persistence.
In the "Me Too" era, this story feels a little dated, but it still has some lessons for today. Rex respects a 'no' but also keeps asking which feels uncomfortable. Yet, the attraction between them is real. It's the gossipy neighbors who bring the situation to a head despite only a few kisses actually happening.
As always, Ms. Balogh writes beautifully with characters who come across as real people. I'm happy that her older books are now becoming available as the Horsemen Trilogy show more is one I've wanted to read for a while. show less

I generally enjoy Balogh's writing. This one relied extremely heavily on poor character communication though. At every turn the characters have an opportunity to hit it off and live HEA, but then one will say something that could be misconstrued to be insulting or something and the other one will choose to hide their feelings and say the opposite of what they really feel. On repeat.
Throughout the entire book. It makes me want to shake my fist in the air and scream 'could you not just have one conversation where you just lay your cards on the table? Or ask the other to clarify the thing they said before you take offense?' *Sigh* I'll read the next in the series and hopefully they'll have a better hurdle to overcome!

This is the first in Ms. Balogh’s Horseman Trilogy series in which we meet four friends who’ve survived and returned from Napoleonic Wars. And since I read and loved her Survivors Club series, I was pleasantly surprised that she’d decided to reprint this series.

What I love about Ms. Balogh’s novels is the way she paints her main characters. They are always complex and very realistic. Their backstories are rich and can move me to tears. The same can be said of her plots, even though the pace of her books is more on the slow side, I still found them poignant and entertaining.

The characters in this story are flawed but that’s what made them interesting and compelling. I genuinely cared for both of them and couldn’t wait for the show more satisfying solution to their problematic courtship.

If you are a fan of this author, you’ll love this story. If you’ve never read her wonderful tales, you may as well start with this one.

Melanie for b2b show less

Rex, Viscount Rawleigh, is bored visiting his twin brother in the country until he decides to pursue an intriguing widow, Catherine Winters. She rejects every advance, but he reads some enticement into her actions, until finally he compromises her, just before he leaves in frustration. Led by Rex's sister-in-law, the town rejects her as a slut, until she realizes she must leave. However, she had a mysterious arrangement that she would have an income as long as she remained in that home; if she leaves, she will be destitute.

Rex's brother, who likes Catherine, writes him a scathing letter notifying him of what has happened. He obtains a marriage license, albeit reluctantly, and returns to convince Catherine that she must marry him. show more Although neither is happy about it, they slowly get to know each other in their marriage. Catherine finally tells Rex that she is an earl's daughter, and she was raped by a fortune hunter and refused to marry the man even when she was pregnant. Her infant son died, and her father cast her out with support only as long as she would stay in that one town. Rex insists that they return to London to fight scandal for something that was not her fault. Then he learns that the fortune hunter was the same man who stole his own fiancée and ruined her. Rex kills the man in a duel, and through the friendship of a few people, Catherine is allowed back into society. show less

A very moving romance, a strong heroine I liked very much! But why this was ever called the "Horsemen" trilogy I've no idea! None of it has anything whatsoever to do with horses and barely mentions any man even riding a horse???