First Comes Marriage [Mass Market Paperback]

'First Comes Marriage' is the first in a new series by Mary Balogh following the fortunes and loves of three sisters and one brother. At the start of this book we meet the Huxtable family, eldest sister Margaret, youngest sister Katherine, young brother Stephen and the middle sister, Vanessa Dew. Vanessa is a widow, having married a neighbour who died a year and a half ago. Although Vanessa still lives with her in-laws, her three siblings live in a small cottage and make do with minimal money.

When a viscount comes to stay in the local inn the village is intrigued, especially when he attends the assembly dance. However the Huxtable family are astounded the next day when they discover that their lot is going to change significantly. As they find themselves moving to a new area and preparing to be introduced to polite society, it seems that Viscount Lyngate is planning to ask the eldest sister, Margaret, to marry him. But Vanessa knows Margaret still carries a torch for her young love, serving overseas in the army, and so she persuades Lyngate to marry her instead.

As Vanessa and Elliott settle down to married life, she has to come to terms with his rather sober and unsmiling demeanour and he with her feelings for her dead husband. Some of his past actions may come back to haunt him, along with a former good friend who may well be a rogue, and Vanessa has to cope with her own poor self-image. Can they find happiness and love in a marriage of convenience?

Mary Balogh is, in my opinion, one of the finest writers of Regency romances today. 'First Comes Marriage' has all her trademark skills, including deep characterisation, flawed and yet appealing characters and historical accuracy. She falls unexpectedly into a trap laid by Georgette Heyer who coined in her own books the term 'Cheltenham Tragedy' (which appears twice in this book) and which Heyer used for a plagiarism lawsuit against another author who used the phrase. There were also times in this book where it did feel very much like the start of a series; there was a great deal of scene setting at the beginning and we followed some of the other characters (to be featured in further books) more closely than one might normally expect for a standalone novel. I also felt that the falling-in-love aspect of the book was perhaps a little more rushed than it might have been. Despite these minor comments I found this to be another excellent read which had emotion, action and character in abundance.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

Although I'm not a fan of 'series' and prefer one-off stories I'll read anything by Mary Balogh and there is something comforting about going into a new world peopled with characters you know are going to be around for a while. And she does it so well. The Huxtable family are a charming lot and this book sets the scene for the ones to come so that by the end of this story featuring the widowed sister, Vanessa, and Elliott, Lord Lyngate, you really want to know what happens to them ALL.

That said the main thread, the story of Vanessa and Elliott is typical Balogh. He is divinely handsome but apparently morose, stern and driven by duty, she is not at all obviously 'his type'. In fact she is described as being the plainest amongst her beautiful siblings but she has the gift of joy and happiness. She challenges him at every turn and the conflict and passion between the two of them as they grow into their marriage of convenience is lovely to see and as always, very well done by Balogh. It wasn't fireworks for me but it was a great read. Recommend it highly and glad that the next two or three in the series will be out in relatively quick succession. Most looking forward to the story of Con who is going to be last cos I suspect that will be the darkest and most anguished tale and I love some good angst in a love story before the happy-ever-after!

I am so glad that MB is still writing and is able to bring so much pleasure to those that absolutely love her writing. I don't believe you'll be disappointed with this one. In fact, I have read as many of her books as I was able to get my hands on and while I was waiting for the new Huxtable series to come out, I read books by other authors who just don't measure up as well. It was great to get back to a new book by MB and I can't wait for the next book to come out!