Review ‘Only Enchanting’ by Mary Balogh

The Survivors’ Club: Six men and one
woman, all wounded in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendship forged during their
recovery at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. Now, in the fourth novel of the
Survivors’ Club series, Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, has left this refuge to
find his own salvation—in the love of a most unsuspecting woman…

Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, was devastated by his fiancée’s desertion after his
return home. Now the woman who broke his heart is back—and everyone is eager to
revive their engagement. Except Flavian, who, in a panic, runs straight into
the arms of a most sensible yet enchanting young woman.

Agnes Keeping has never been in love—and never wishes to be. But then she meets
the charismatic Flavian, and suddenly Agnes falls so foolishly and so deeply
that she agrees to his impetuous proposal of marriage.

When Agnes discovers that the proposal is only to avenge his former love, she’s
determined to flee. But Flavian has no intention of letting his new bride go,
especially now that he too has fallen so passionately and so unexpectedly in
love.

Over the
years I’ve read two Mary Balogh novels and I just loved them. So I was really
looking forward to reading ‘Only Enchanting’, the fourth book in The Survivors
Club series. Although this book is part of a series, the books can be read
separately and as standalones. 

In ‘Only
Enchanting’ we meet Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby. Flavian was hurt in the war
several years ago. And next to a shaky memory, he has had some trouble with
dealing with his anger. Especially when he thinks of his past.

Agnes
Keeping has lived a safe life. Agnes married a nice, but slightly boring guy next
door and is now a widow. And Agnes has never been in love. Love isn’t necessary
she thinks. But when she meets the charming Flavian, she find herself feeling
things she never felt before.  

Just like
with the previous two books in this series I read, this book just grabbed my
attention from the very first page. And I simply didn’t want to stop reading.
Agnes and Flavian are two very different people, but their chemistry was really
flying of the pages. And their romance started at this beautiful dance and I
was simply hooked. 

The two
main characters Agnes and Flavian where really fun to get to know. Agnes was
this nice, but ordinary woman who missed her husband after he passed. But she
didn’t miss him cause she loved him so much, she just missed having a goal in
life. And now she is living with her sister and making time for her hobby:
painting. And Flavian definitely shook her out her ‘safe’ life.

Flavian is
charming, but has his troubles. And he finds Agnes more then interesting. There
is just something about her, and I loved the fact that he was so fascinated
with her.  

‘Only
Enchanting’ to me, was the perfect Historical Romance novel. I loved the
romance, the etiquette and the charming way Flavian and Agnes fell in love. The
writing was easy to follow, and there were so many characters I’d still like to
get to know.. I definitely need to read more books in this series.

Mary
Jenkins was born in 1944 in Swansea, Wales, UK. After graduating from
university, moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, to teach high school English, on a
two-year teaching contract in 1967. She married her Canadian husband, Robert
Balogh, and had three children, Jacqueline, Christopher and Sian. When she’s
not writing, she enjoys reading, music and knitting. She also enjoys watching
tennis and curling.

Mary Balogh started writing in the evenings as a hobby. Her first book, a
Regency love story, was published in 1985 as A Masked Deception under her
married name. In 1988, she retired from teaching after 20 years to pursue her
dream to write full-time. She has written more than seventy novels and almost
thirty novellas since then, including the New York Times bestselling ‘Slightly’
sextet and ‘Simply’ quartet. She has won numerous awards, including Bestselling
Historical of the Year from the Borders Group, and her novel Simply Magic was a
finalist in the Quill Awards. She has won seven Waldenbooks Awards and two B.
Dalton Awards for her bestselling novels, as well as a Romantic Times Lifetime
Achievement Award. 

For more
information about Mary please visit her website.
Or visit her on Facebook.

I received this book from the Little, Brown Book Group in exchange for my honest review.