4.5 Stars!!

Mary Balogh is the Mona Lisa compared to a Picasso. She's dignified and lovely, serene and quietly mysterious. There's nothing about her books that screams "READ ME!" and yet, I always do. I sink into her stories and roll around in another time, another place, another way of thinking.

This was the fourth story in the Survivor's Club series, of which I've only read two. I'll certainly go back and read the others and continue the series though. One thing that struck me about this book was how Flavian (what a name!) is just not my normal kind of hero. He's the smirking type, the kind that you expect to swindle you or something. But our heroine, Agnes, sees through all that to the insecure, hurting man beneath. Just as he sees more than the somewhat dowdy, quiet woman with a bit of a crush.

This is where Balogh excels. She writes characters that are insightful and intuitive, and then she makes the reader see what they see. And makes me fall in love with them all. In this genre, loud and flowery seems to be the norm, but Balogh's characters are all so normal and peaceful. And yet they still have fantastic love stories to tell.

This was...if you couldn't tell...a wonderful book about a man who's seen too much and lived through some awful experiences. Flavian has a bit of a stutter, the only thing left over from his horrific injuries in the war. His fiancee left him to marry his best friend when he was deemed a madman. Now, he's back, he's normal, but a little bitter. He's doing some soul searching, I think, and Agnes comes along at just the right time and place. Agnes is the yin to his yang, and their romance was hold-your-breath beautiful!

Advance copy provided by the publisher for review 4-star-read arc-for-review arc-net-galley ...more75 s ?Rachel?1,989 879

4.5 Stars

Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby is one six friends that call themselves “The Survivors Club” after recovering together from grave injuries suffered during the Napoleonic War. It took Flavian some time to recover from being shot in the head, and still he suffers the effects of his injury. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when he finally became lucid he found out his betrothed, Velma, ended their engagement so she could marry his best friend, Len, after thinking Flavian would never fully recover. Now years later, Len dies leaving Velma a widow and the way open for them to be together. Both of their family’s pressure to put these two together again, but Flavian wants nothing to do that.

In the present, meeting the young widow Agnes Keeping and pursuing her is a pull Flavian can’t resist.
It’s not that Agnes is stunningly beautiful, but there’s something about her that becomes more enchanting every time they meet. It’s as if his unconscious mind knows exactly what he needs.

He wanted to claim her body for his own.
And he would be safe.
Strange thought—and it was not the first time that it had popped into his head an alien thing.
Safe.
Safe from whom?
And from what?

Agnes has avoided passion and falling in love since it brought hurt and ruin to her family. When she married Mr. Keeping it was for companionship and because he was a logical match, but she was hardly overcome with desire. Five short years later she was widowed at the age of twenty-three. Now Agnes lives with her beloved sister, contented in life even if she is a little lonely at times. When Viscount Ponsonby comes to Agnes’ little town to visit with his Survivors Club friends, her attempts at avoiding passion and love go out the window. After a whirlwind of stolen meetings and steamy encounters, Flavian proposes and Agnes, in spite of her hesitancy, can’t help herself and so they marry.

To outward appearances Flavian’s intention when he chose to marry Agnes was an avoidance tactic at best, and at worst a means of revenge on Velma for leaving him after his injuries all those years ago. At first this is what it seems to poor Agnes when she discovers the history, and it was a knife to her heart! I ached for her and wanted to smack Flavian for a bit! But things are not as they seem, and there is much more at play here that Flavian doesn’t immediately clue into because of holes in his memory. But all along his subconscious registered what his conscious mind didn’t recall. AND it becomes obvious that Flavian really cares for Agnes and he wanted to marry her just as she wanted to marry him.

I loved that even when the situation felt so very hurtful to Agnes she didn’t throw everything away by running, but rather she thought things through. She was a truly sensible, understanding and kind woman, perfect for an injured soul Flavian. He more than redeems himself as the story plays out and my heart swelled with happiness for these two. They had an immediate attraction that was at first fueled by passion and longing, but then grew into a beautiful bond of love.

I don’t read many historical romances but I loved this story so much! I felt I was transported into a time something what’s portrayed in Sense and Sensibility, one of my all-time favorite period movies! Ms. Balogh’s compelling writing had me high on emotions ranging from despair and anger for Agnes and Flavian to joy and happiness over how it all turned out!

I definitely want to check out the rest of this series, and I hope there will be a romance written for Dora, Agnes’ sister. There were hints of one stirring.

A copy was kindly provided by Signet in exchange for an honest review.

This review is also posted on The Readers Den.favorites historical romance46 s Kristina 870 467

Still five stars on the reread. This was a bit of a slow starter, but the ending was worth it. 5-stars-highly-recommend canadian-author favourite-author ...more49 s19 comments Lady Wesley963 345

Only Enchanting is only excellent -- one of Mary Balogh's best ever.

This is the fourth installment in Mary Balogh’s Survivor’s Club series, and while all of them have been good, this one is first-rate. It delivers what we’ve come to expect from Balogh – engaging, fully-developed characters, impeccable plotting, and a happily ever after that is not easily earned. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next, the result being that I read it in less than one day

As the book opens, it’s time for the members of the Survivors Club to gather for their annual reunion, but instead of going to Penderris Castle in Cornwall, they journey to Middlebury Park, the Gloucester estate of Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh. This change in venue came about because Vincent’s wife, Sophia, had recently given birth, and he would not leave her.

Living near Middlebury Park is Sophia’s closest friend, Agnes Keeping, a widow who resides with her older sister Dora, a music teacher.

At the age of twenty-six, Agnes Keeping had never been in love or ever expected to be -- or even wished to be. She rather chose to be in control of her own emotions and her own life, such as it was.
Agnes was married at age 18 to an older man, “a neighboring gentleman of sober address,” and while there was no love between them, there was affection, and Agnes was content. She leads a prosaic life in the village of Inglebrook and is satisfied with painting, tending house, and visiting with neighbors. She is wary of romantic passion, which was, as we learn later, her mother’s downfall.

Agnes and Dora attend a Harvest Ball at Middlebury Park and into her life strolls Flavian Arnott, Viscount Ponsonby. Flavian is handsome, witty, charming, and aloof, but his affable exterior masks enduring scars. He inherited his title only upon the death of his beloved brother, David. Shortly thereafter, Flavian suffered grievous head injuries in the Peninsular Wars. He was brought home unable to speak or even think coherently. When his fiancée, Velma, jilts him to marry his best friend, all he can do is fly into a fit of sputtering rage. Fortunately, he was taken in by the Duke of Stanbrook and spent three years recuperating with the other members of the Survivor’s Club, but he still speaks with a stammer and suffers from memory loss, headaches, and occasional outbursts of temper.

At the Harvest Ball, Flavian dances with Agnes, twice, and almost against her will Agnes falls ridiculously, hopelessly in love. The next day, Flavian leaves, and Agnes expects never to see him again. Six months later, though, he returns for the Survivor’s Club gathering, and although he can’t quite remember Agnes’s name, he is pleased to see her again. He does recall dancing with her though and later tells her, “I expected you to be s-sensible, but your were enchanting instead.”

Flavian and Agnes spend time together, exchanging the stories of their lives along with a few kisses. When Flavian suddenly proposes marriage, it is hard to know who is more surprised, but eventually Agnes accepts, and they are married by special license the next day. But there are surprises in store when they arrive at Arnott House in London, for awaiting them there are Flavian’s family along with the now-widowed Velma and her parents. All of them are expecting Flavian and Velma to reunite and marry, and they are unhappily surprised to learn that Flavian has married a nobody from nowhere. Moreover, Agnes is unhappily surprised to learn that Flavian has married her in order to be free from his family’s manipulations.

Flavian and Agnes are faced with a choice, and Agnes’s first inclination is to flee – back to her lonely but safe life in Inglebrook. But it turns out that Agnes is made of sterner stuff, and Flavian is desperate to keep her in his life. They are young, but mature beyond their years, and they address their problems directly and candidly.

Agnes is a wonderful heroine. It was great fun to watch her stand up to Flavian’s mother, to Velma, and even to the dragon ladies of the ton, who have their claws out after the truth about Agnes’s mother comes out. As Agnes comes into her own, Flavian begins to remember more about David’s death and about his own troubled relationship with Velma. Agnes and Flavian talk to one another about their problems mature adults, which happens all too seldom in romance.

With her trademark faultless execution and insight, Mary Balogh shows how these two emotionally scarred people work together to address their problems and find the true meaning of love. They make a beautiful couple, and I highly recommend this book.

My thanks to Signet and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.2014-faves amz-rev arc ...more30 s Alba Turunen718 235

4 Estrellitas. Otra buena novela de éste Club de los Supervivientes. Aunque el primer libro de la serie fue algo flojillo, me alegro de que los siguientes hayan tenido una tónica similar, y la novela es tan encantadora como todas las de Mary Balogh.

En éste caso tenemos el cuarto libro de la serie, y "Only Enchanting" es la novela de Flavian Arnott, el vizconde Ponsonby y Agnes Keeping.

Admito que sentía mucha curiosidad por Flavian, a parte de su inocente tartamudez, no sabía qué le había pasado para ser uno de los escacharraditos dignos de entrar en el Club, y por fin lo descubrimos.

En las guerras napoleónicas, Flavian fue soldado y además, herido en batalla, pero la peor parte se la llevó su cabeza. Durante un tiempo no respondía, sufriendo amnesia, fuertes dolores y perdió la capacidad de comunicación. En ése estado, la que era su prometida, rompió el compromiso para casarse con su mejor amigo. Lo que hizo que Flavian se encolerizara violentamente, y su familia llamó al duque de Stanbrooke, el gran sanador de éste particular grupo.

Si soy sincera, no recuerdo al personaje de Agnes Keeping, pero es muy posible que apareciera de pasada durante el libro de Vincent y Sophia, pues Agnes es la dama que hizo que se publicaran las novelas infantiles de ésta entrañable pareja.

Agnes Keeping es una dama viuda. Se casó con un caballero, un vecino suyo, sin intención de que fuese un buen matrimonio o muy pasional. Si algo sabe Agnes, es que la pasión puede destruir a las personas, pues su madre abandonó a su padre para fugarse con su amante. Tras cinco años de matrimonio y ahora viuda, Agnes no se siente satisfecha en su casa, que ha heredado un pariente de su marido, tampoco en la casa de su padre, ni en la de su hermano; así que lleva menos de un año viviendo con su hermana mayor, Dora, también soltera, y que es la profesora de música de Vincent y Sophia.

Como es de suponer, Flavian y Agnes se conocen en la fiesta de la cosecha, que están celebrando Vincent y Sophia en Middlebury Park, su mansión campestre. Una noche en un baile, Sophia le pide a Flavian que baile con su amiga Agnes, y en ése primer encuentro, algo empieza a nacer entre ellos.

Han pasado seis meses y se acerca Marzo, la época en que el Club de los Supervivientes se reunirá en Cornualles. Pero Vincent y Sophia acaban de ser padres, y convencen al resto del Club para que la reunión se celebre en su casa. Flavian y Agnes volverán a encontrarse, y ésta vez lo suyo irá a más.

A Agnes, Flavian le parece un pícaro descarado y encantador, podría parecer algo tímido por su tartamudez, pero es todo menos eso. Aunque Agnes no es una gran belleza, algo de ella atrae a Flavian y de ahí su intención de pasar más tiempo del debido en su compañía. Tanta será la atracción que siente Flavian por Agnes, que no descansará hasta que sea suya.

Pero Flavian tiene también otras intenciones. Su ex prometida, la que le abandonó, acaba de enviudar, y ha vuelto a casa de sus padres. Entrarán en escena la madre y hermana de Flavian para hacer de casamenteras, pero Flavian no se dejará manipular ésta vez, y está dispuesto a cometer cualquier locura.

Esto es lo que nos presenta "Only Enchanting". Una historia muy centrada en los personajes y con unos secundarios de oro, muy bien hilada. Me han gustado ambos protagonistas y tiene las suficientes dosis de tensión, amor, pasión, y sí, también sus discusiones, en éste caso justificadas. Pero, he sentido más debilidad por Agnes, me ha encantado ésta protagonista, que Flavian.

En general he acabado muy satisfecha con ésta lectura y la recomiendo si te gusta la autora y has leído los anteriores de la serie, no decepciona, está muy en la línea de todo los demás. Espero no tardar en leer los siguientes, que veo que como es común en Mary Balogh, va a dejar lo mejor para el final.2021 regencia-inglesa31 s Starr (AKA Starrfish) Rivers1,009 351

I this book best out of the whole Survivor's Club series, I think. I've always had a soft spot for Flavian Ponsonby, he of the gorgeous golden-ness and lover extraordinaire! He of the affected boredom and rakishness with a stutter and broiling passion and a heart of gold.

It def helped me fall more in love with him when I imagine Mr. Blondie Bun, my ongoing model obsession, as his fictional incarnation as far as looks go, down to the arching eyebrow!:



I really the heroine too - no-nonsense, made him work for it, level-headed, brave and stands up for herself. She took on the scheming female arch enemy and his scheming family all by herself. He needs someone with a backbone hers. It's prob why he feels "safe" with her - bc she stands up for both of them. She helps him fight his demons. And instinctively, he knows he loves her. His heart knew before his mind did. And his body certainly took the lead :P

I that he really, really worked for her. She gave him so many chances to change his mind, to be sure of what he wants, and he kept returning each and every time. He wanted her enuf to stuff his pride and keep coming after her. I felt bad for him every time she asked another "why" and turned him away. I wanted to shake her and scream at her! But he never gave up. I love that about him.

And he never gave up on their marriage and begged her to stay and try just he persisted in marrying her. He's not the type to give up. It just shows how loyal and true he really is.

I really, really love Flavian. (Especially when he looks Mr. Blondie Bun!!)

favorite-books historical-romance28 s Vintage2,513 530

Re-read:

A little mood music for the review… Harry Nelson’s Jump into the Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8X6m...


Somehow I’ve hooked back into the “Survivor’s Club” series by Mary Balogh. For those who don’t care for some of MB’s more depressing romances, this is a wonderful change.

All the characters of the “Survivor’s Club” are woven together and have huge presences in each book. I hate reading a book with a wonderful character only to find in that the next the series that they have been marginalized. Not so here. What a band of brothers. MB truly throws the concept that nice guys (and girls) are boring. I want the “Survivor’s Club” crew as my friends although not only are they fictional, they are dead.

Back to this fun couple, Agnes (yes her name is Agnes and her poor older sister is…DORA. Bad parents just for their names alone) is a sweet, honorable widow. Flavius is the hero, and he’s a blonde one which is so unfortunate, but he overcomes it with his seductive ways. Un many heroes he limits his abilities to seduce solely to the heroine, and even that is limited as he respects her as much as he wants her. He is, however, a charming, wannabe cad that just can’t push through to true rogue/cad status. In one moment he admits he lusts after the heroine with no words of love then the next moment he is carrying his blind friend’s baby boy home mentoring him on the ways of men. Okay, umm, too cute!

Sweet and eventful romance between a rakish but honorable hero who knows a good thing when he sees it, and the h that is willing to jump into the fire with him.

Toss in the aforementioned best friends, a presumptuous and truly evil OW that doesn’t get what she wants, and, hey, a great romance!!!

Jump into the fire lyrics
You can climb a mountain, you can swim the sea
You can jump into the fire but you'll never be free
You can shake me up or I can break you down
Oh, oh
We can make each other happy
Oh, we can make each other happy
We can make each other happy
Oh, we can make each other happy

Old review:
This has one of my favorite tropes or plot points, when the evil other woman gets her comeuppance. Or the very least, the H doesn't take anything lying down.

There is obviously much more to this story, but this is one of my hot buttons.

Both the MC's are wonderful and nice people. Flavian's slight stutter is frankly adorable and quite appealing. Both my father and I stutter a little so I have a fondness for this weakness/idiosyncracy whatever you want to call it.

The Survivor series is overall well-done Regency, but this is one of the better ones.bad-best-friend bad-ex best-hero-ever ...more23 s Caz2,867 1,085

This is the fourth instalment in Mary Balogh's Survivor's Club series, and while I have enjoyed each of the other books, Only Enchanting is the best to date. It's a beautifully wrought and gently moving story of two emotionally wounded people trying to navigate their way through the issues that have shaped them in order to forge a lasting and loving relationship and I adored every minute of it.

Flavian Arnott, Viscount Ponsonby, returned from the Peninsula unable to speak or understand much of what was said to him as the result of a severe head injury. His terrible frustration at both his inability to express himself and at the large gaps in his memory manifested itself in frequent bouts of savage violence and his family were planning on having him confined to an institution. Fortunately for him, George, Duke of Stanbrook, heard of his situation and arrived to bear him off to his Cornish estate, Penderris, where Flavian lived for three years while he recovered, thanks to the patience and understanding of his host and the other members of the “club”.

Mrs. Agnes Keeping is a widow of twenty-six who married an older man when she was just eighteen. She was not unhappy in her marriage (although she would have d children); her husband was a decent, kind man and she cared for him. She never wanted to fall in love, believing love and especially passion to be destructive forces, and far preferring the safety of unromantic companionship.

Agnes and her sister Dora, who is the local music teacher, live close to Middlebury Park, which is the home of Viscount Darleigh (hero of Book Two, The Arrangementand his new wife Sophia. Agnes and Sophia have become good friends, and the new bride invites the sisters to attend the ball they - the Darleighs - are giving in order to celebrate their recent marriage, which will also be attended by some of Vincent’s fellow Survivor’s Club members.

After two dances with Flavian, Agnes is stunned and annoyed to discover herself in the grip of an unexpected and unwanted emotion – love. But the charming viscount is leaving the next day, and she is confident that as she is unly to ever see him again, those feelings will soon fade.

A few months later, Flavian is returning to Middlebury which has temporarily replaced Penderris as the venue for the Survivors’ annual gathering due to the fact that Vincent is reluctant to leave his very pregnant wife. Approaching the house, Flavian passes a young woman he recognises – but can’t for the life of him remember her name. The one thing he can recall is that, for some reason, he’d called her "enchanting".

Agnes and Flavian spend some time together during his visit, exchanging stories and kisses, and when Flavian suddenly proposes marriage, it’s as much a surprise to him as it is to her! She tells herself she would be a fool to accept, that her feelings for Flavian pose a real danger to a peace of mind – yet Agnes just can’t bring herself to turn him down. For his part, Flavian tries to convince himself that what he really wants is someone to take to bed on a regular basis, although it’s clear to the reader that he’s been smitten with Agnes from the very start.

After the wedding, the couple travels to Arnott House in London where an unpleasant surprise is awaiting them. Flavian’s mother, sister, and brother-in-law have all descended on the house in expectation of his arrival, but their precipitate departure from the country means they have not received the letter advising them of his marriage. To turn things from bad to worse, also present is Velma, Lady Hazeltine, the beautiful young woman to whom Flavian had been betrothed before going to war, and who had jilted him for his best friend when it seemed as though he was never going to recover.

Flavian is well aware that his mother had hoped they would finally marry, which leads to some unpleasant realisations for Agnes. At first, her inclination is to flee back home to safety and her old life, but then it’s as though a switch flips and she realises she has something worth fighting for. And fight she does, making it clear to Flavian’s mother and to Velma that she’s here to stay. Together, she and Flavian talk to each other and work through their problems – quite a refreshing change in a romantic novel! – and with her support, he is able to regain some of the missing pieces of his memory.

I admit that at the start of the book, I wasn’t sure I was going to warm to the rather dour, overly practical Agnes. But I needn’t have worried, because the author has created a multi-layered, very human character, who quickly begins to emerge from her shell and shows herself to be a passionate, clever and determined woman with a backbone of steel.

Flavian is a man whose wounds are not visible, but which nonetheless go very deep; and not all of them are attributable to his wartime experiences. He’s beautiful to look at, witty and kind, but his laconic, affable exterior masks a man who is still prone to anger and frustration, for all that he has learned to control them more effectively. He speaks with a slight stammer, which worsens when he is upset or angry, and is still haunted by his older brother’s death, the fact that he wasn’t with him when he died, and because he can’t remember why.

One of the things that works really well in the book is the way the author explores what happens after the marriage (and not just in terms of the sex, which is not explicitly written, but pretty hot nonetheless). While Flavian and Agnes do share a deep connection, they don’t know each other all that well, and there are moments when each of them displays emotions towards the other which might not be particularly appealing, but which feel very real given their situation. There’s a moment, for example, when Flavian resents Agnes for the feelings she’s stirring up in him – “nothing this ever happened at Penderris”, and one later in the book when Agnes believes he married her simply to thwart his mother’s matchmaking scheme and she hurls at him: “There was nobody worth knowing inside that beautiful body after all, was there?” In both cases, they are able to see past those feelings of resentment and anger and to move on in a way that “real people” have to do, which adds notes of depth and maturity to the story.

Another strength of the novel is the way Ms. Balogh writes the relationships between the survivors. The unconditional love and mutual understanding they feel for one another is palpable; here are people who know when someone needs pushing and when to leave them alone, and the way they support each other is lovely to see.

Only Enchanting is beautifully written, the characters are fully-rounded and the romance is emotionally satisfying. Flavian and Agnes are engaging characters who make a well-matched couple and their HEA feels all the more deserved because of the difficulty of the journey they have undergone in order to achieve it. I really can’t recommend it highly enough.aar arc romance-1800-185020 s Dab267 171

I’ve enjoyed all of these books but this one was my favorite so far.

The romance was sweet and passionate but without overly descriptive scenes (yes, keep it up, Mary!) and I adored Flavian! He was the most fun of all the Survivors but he was also a troubled soul and I just wanted to hug him. Agnes was maybe a little less amazing but she was the rock he needed and it worked very well.

It was again a very comforting read with lots of easily digestible life wisdom. Both Flavian and Agnes needed to heal before they could build a future together and their journey was not always easy. There was no third act breakup though, because they decided that they would make it work despite their issues.
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