Dreaming of happier futures as man and wife, Lucas and Anna Kendrick find their new marriage threatened by forces that cause them to deny their mutual feelings, and each claims to have married for the sake of convenience only.
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By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This novel is a must read. I finished it in 2 days and could'nt put it down. I think that I'm in love with the hero and the heroine.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Lucas Kendrick, now the Duke, has no wish to be back in the country of his birth, much less have anything to do with the family which rejected him ten years before. He certainly has no wish to marry. And yet, within the space of a week he has done all this: returned to London, reacquainted himself with his mother and remaining siblings, and married Anna, god-daughter of his uncle's long-term lover. He makes no claim to be in love with her, nor does she with him; however, they have engaged in several highly enjoyable flirting sessions in public. He finds himself attracted to her, and if he must marry, why not Anna? And he knows he must marry, since his older brother's widow is dropping hints that she would not be averse to resuming their childhood romance.
Anna had also sworn never to marry; all we know is that there is a mysterious man in her past who seems to terrify her. She knows, for the man told her, that he will come back for her one day. He also told her that no man would want her as a wife, since she isn't untouched. And yet she agrees to marry Luke, while dreading her wedding night and the consequences should the terror from her past reappear.
On their wedding night, Anna discovers that lovemaking can be beautiful and very pleasurable; Luke discovers that she was not a virgin. His reaction to that discovery means that no secrets can be confided to each other; their marriage becomes, for a time, a shallow affair in which neither talks of their real feelings: duty during the day, pleasure at night.
And yet, even as they hide their secrets from each other, the man who believes himself incapable of love discovers, day by day, that his heart wasn't buried after all the day he was estranged from his family. Luke is far from being heartless. But, as well as resolving his relationship with Anna, he has a long way to go to regain the trust of his younger brother and sister, and to discover the truth about his older brother's betrayal, the act which had caused Luke to become estranged in the first place.
For a change - Balogh usually tends not to write in simple black and white and her villains are rarely one-dimensional - in Heartless we have two pure evil villains: one Anna's tormentor, and a female accomplice. This is unusual for Balogh, and even more so in that she never really gives her villain a clear motive - except, perhaps, insanity. This aspect of the story is less important than Anna and Luke's relationship: as another reviewer noted, Balogh has done an excellent job of showing how Luke was falling in love with Anna without even realising it. When Luke finally tells Anna of his feelings, it was no surprise to me, and in a way I was surprised that Anna hadn't already realised.
This is a wonderful book, and I'm looking forward to re-reading it. I'm also very much looking forward to reading the sequel, Silent Melody; Heartless has some very likeable secondary characters, and I'm keen to meet Emily and Ashley again.
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is one of my favorite romances, for a subtle reason. The plot is not unique (how often do we read of heroes rather childishly withholding love due to a slight from the past?). The conceit of a Georgian hero who is all-man despite some quasi-effeminate mannerisms is a bit different, but again, not totally unique. What I enjoy is the way Balogh follows the "show, not tell" rule of storytelling. She has Luke constantly insist to himself that he is "heartless" but she shows us that he simply can't help himself responding to Anna in a deeply loving and compassionate way. Even when he believes she is deceiving him, his impulse is to protect her. No matter how often he considers their sexual encounters mere "pleasure", they are in fact deeply romantic and "making love", much more so than the generic sex scenes in most romances. Just lovely.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wickedly delicious
I tend to enjoy all of Mary Baloch books because of the mix of sensuality and emotional intensity that they carry. This, however, is her best. Read more
Published on April 21 2000 by Thorn
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read
This book is not Victorian as stated in the synopsis. It is an excellent Georgian romance/ mystery. I don't like all of Mary Balogh but this one is a keeper!
Published on Feb 7 2000 by Myra Anne Ponville
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartless--Balogh's characters are anything but!
Balogh is known for her intelligent, strong characters--especially for the bad boys and rakes whose painful childhood shapes a life with which they are unsatisfied and a reputation... Read more
Published on April 14 1998
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