I really loved this book even though Avery and I - well, we won't get any fuzzy and cuddly and such, no. He is definitely a bit too ...much, you could say. His mannerisms are not easy to stomach even though you understand why he uses them and even though I found myself smiling at the mental images of him and his quizzing glass, all ringed fingers and such nonsense inclusive. Oh, Avery as in Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby or our hero.


If you are waiting for sparks to fly between our hero and our heroine, Anna Snow or rather Lady Anastasia Westcott, you may wait a bit longer. You get the feeling that both are ....intrigued. Cautious, uncertain and altogether not sure at all what to make of those feelings but sparks? No.
Both of them, when they look at the other, see someone potentially irritating who does not fit their image of a spouse at all but somehow the other one might just be the right one despite that.

It is amazing how much of the characters omes to life just by their interactions, their lack of sparks and obvious chemistry, their hesitant acceptation of something undefinable. With their whole family imploding due to the carelessness of the late Earl of Rivendale, Anna's father, it is not easy to navigate the expectations, shattered dreams and hopesof their new lives but with his trustful quizzing glass at hand and some cool moves, Avery is more than capable to protect his future duchess and his family's honor.


If you like your heroes very flowery and full of hearts and rainbows, you might have a problem with these two but if you like to read about two people, starting to trust each other and realizing slowly what the other one means to them - just go ahead, you will love it!


I loved that Avery was such a strange hero, not one of those manly men but one who at first and maybe even at second glance, seems to be rather effiminate with an angelic beauty (at least that is my impression) but at his core is a strength and a fierce need to protect those around him. Anna, well, Anna is a delight - and not your regular heroine either. Strong and confident of herself and her own worth, she doesn't bow to the demands on her to change. She might bend but never bow.

All in all, a delightful book that I really enjoyed.

As usual another great novel Mary Balogh. Her romances are always so elegant and have so much feeling that I always just sink right into them and in what feels like a blink of an eye I've devoured them.

4 helms

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Ok I need to read more Mary Balogh! Wowie she pens such good historical romance! And I mean ACTUAL historical romance- like you know stuff like Austen! I never knew! Where have I been all this time?!?! Living under a bookshelf instead of in it, that's where! As you can probably tell this is my first Balogh! Probably not the best one to start off with I know, but, I'm still in awe of her writing style- her mastery of the Regency period really shines through in her style of writing and she's just such a pleasure to read!

The Westcott family are steeped in scandal as the real truth behind the late Earl of Riverdale's legal will comes out- he has had a secret wife and child in the past, making his current children illegitimate and the marriage bigamous! Miss Anna Snow, an orphan, and a teacher at the orphanage where she grew up, finds out all her dreams have come true when she finds herself the sole legitimate heir to the title and fortune of Riverdale! And suddenly she has a family! Not just a few relatives but a whole squadron of them! Avery Archer is the guardian to Anna's illegitimate half brother and not closely related to the Westcott family at all and stays out of tedious family affairs. But as he watches Anna transition from a quite dignified orphan to a lady of the Ton, he can't help but be intrigued by her stoic strength, confidence and air of dignity she wears around herself.

Lots to talk about in this book in terms of likes and dislikes...I'll start off with the smaller bits and expand into the characters as they were my main interests. First off, this "Chinese Gentleman" scandal. I found the mention of this character very very random- no explanation at all at what the heck he was doing in Regency England practicing martial arts in the middle of a park. Nothing else other than he teaches Avery a style of martial arts. I didn't find this racist at all (I'm coloured myself), as mentioned in some book reviews, just really random without any further explanation. Secondly, the introduction to the Westcott family was so TEDIOUS! Omg there were just too many names and too many introductions and I got such a headache, I had to find my smelling salts...This happened especially heavily when Anna was introduced to the Westcott family at the beginning and it was just such a bore to get through. I do appreciate that this is the first book in a series but I just felt like it was something that could have been condensed slightly as not to loose some readers. Hence why I stop-started this book and forced myself to continue, but I'm glad I stuck it through, though, because obviously as you became better acquainted with the characters it got easier to remember who was who. Again on the topic of tedious, some of later letters to Joel also came close to blah mainly because it felt repeated to what we read 3 pages ago. Lastly some major nitpicking here- so please forgive me! I found the word "legalese" mentioned which annoyed me. There! I got that out of my system! Now I feel better haha. These were the smaller things that niggled at me throughout the book and now onto the characters.

Overall, I did come really close to disliking "Someone to Love". I think it was mainly due to the characters being so different and unique, particularly our hero. Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby is short, small statured, blond and pretty- almost girlish and practices martial arts? Say what? Aren't Dukes meant to be tall, handsome, roguish, dangerous, scandalous and all that other broody stuff? And since when did martial arts make an appearance with The Quality? Avery is a tough nut to crack. Even as a reader, we are not privy to much and are only allowed a proper glance into the depths of his soul within the last chapter of the book, when he opens up to Anna. I also didn't like the whole perpetually bored, overly flamboyant persona of Avery. Anna our heroine, does not have a big personality. She is a quiet study indeed and a thoroughly composed and confident character. Again, very different to the louder, rebellious, sassy and sensual heroines you read about. I liked Anna. She had strength and continues to have strength throughout the book, which serves her very nicely. I didn't have much trouble liking her but it was Avery I really didn't take to initially.

Sooooooo, I didn't really like Avery throughout most of the book, Anna is great but really not what I'm used to as a heroine....but what's this I'm feeling? An emotional connection to these two? Shedding a few tears because they are fell in love? Where the heck did these emotions come from? How did Mary Balogh manage to wrest those emotions out of me, despite all the other bits going on that I didn't like? After some thought, I think it's because she really got to the essence of a romance. She demonstrated to us a slow, simple and sweet love between two very different characters. She portrays Avery as an illusion of someone unlikeable and gives us the real Avery later-someone we actually really did like deep down. Avery really is a sweet hero despite everything else and he is truly wonderful to Anna.

Towards the end of the novel, Mary Balogh gave me what I wanted despite my misgivings and my preconceived notions and that's why I loved "Someone To Love" much more than I expected to. Despite all the odds against it, this book really is well written and I daresay will provide more enjoyment on a second re-read! Fans of Mary Balogh don't be afraid to pick this up as I'm sure your favourite author will deliver!

*Thank-you Mary Balogh, Netgalley & Piatkus for the ARC.

3 stars

The good: I really liked Anna she was a great character. She was strong, lovely and kind. Sometimes extremely kind but she tries to be herself and doesn't let her new family change her into someone she's not. Avery was a fascinating character, he dresses in a unique fashion and uses a quizzing glass to intimidate people. They find themselves falling for each other as they get to now each other better.

The bad: I didn't enjoy the pacing of the book either.
The whole martial arts thing with Avery and the Chinese gentleman could have been done better. I felt the way their marriage comes about was just ?? It didn't really organic to me. Also I really disliked Anna's half sisters and Avery's sister. They were so horrid. They didn't even know Anna and yet kept insulting her. I also didn't like how fast near the end of the book Camille, the one who was the most awful to Anna gets away with it by saying not even a sorry. What was that about? It frustrated me so much.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did but it is what it is.