Secrets Of The Heart [Paperback]

Unfortunately, SECRETS OF THE HEART did not quite work for me. It might be that I felt that the heroine was not completely honest with the hero from the outset, explaining her circumstances. It might be that I did not believe Sarah's helplessness in that I felt that she had other choices at the time, and that she elected to choose what she did. [It is not that I make any moral judgments about this, or about her failure to seek help, but in a romance, I would like a heroine who is more perfect that I am!]. Be that as it may, Sarah makes one fateful decision which will haunt her through her brief marriage - and subsequent divorce - from a Duke, no less.

The story actually picks up when the Duke encounters Sarah after many years. She is now in company with his younger sister, much to his dismay and appears to be encouraging a bounder to court the young heiress. As to why Sarah acts the way she does, you will have to read the book. This is one story about which it is difficult to write without giving away the whole story, ending included.

I think why I responded to Sarah less favorably than to Priscilla (A PRECIOUS JEWEL) was over her honesty. Priscilla, a high-class prostitute, is open about her profession and how it will be viewed by society. She is scarcely older than Sarah, when she has to make a difficult choice, and she makes that with courage, with understanding of her future, and in the face of the fact that she has no family, no friends, and no money. Sarah has all three, and yet, she chooses a very different way, closing her eyes to her past actions and how society (or a future husband) might view them. What lodges in my throat is not what happened to her (entirely believable and very tragic) but the fact that she does not confront these sad events until it is almost too late.

If you like a flawed hero and heroine who are really unable to communicate with each other and, where the hero believes the worst of the heroine (and the heroine then lies to him), this book may appeal to you. If on the other hand, you want a Balogh story where the hero and heroine are flawed but at least one of them has a backbone earlier in the narrative, you might want to try one of the other Balogh titles I have mentioned - HEARTLESS (which is a stronger rendering of SECRETS OF THE HEART in my opinion), THE SECRET PEARL (which begins with a married man picking up a prostitute for the night), or A PRECIOUS JEWEL (where a shy and not-very-brave hero goes to a society brothel).

Good but not Balogh at her best is my summary.

Unfortunately, SECRETS OF THE HEART did not quite work for me. It might be that I felt that the heroine was not completely honest with the hero from the outset, explaining her circumstances. It might be that I did not believe Sarah's helplessness in that I felt that she had other choices at the time, and that she elected to choose what she did. [It is not that I make any moral judgments about this, or about her failure to seek help, but in a romance, I would like a heroine who is more perfect that I am!]. Be that as it may, Sarah makes one fateful decision which will haunt her through her brief marriage - and subsequent divorce - from a Duke, no less.

The story actually picks up when the Duke encounters Sarah after many years. She is now in company with his younger sister, much to his dismay and appears to be encouraging a bounder to court the young heiress. As to why Sarah acts the way she does, you will have to read the book. This is one story about which it is difficult to write without giving away the whole story, ending included.

I think why I responded to Sarah less favorably than to Priscilla (A PRECIOUS JEWEL) was over her honesty. Priscilla, a high-class prostitute, is open about her profession and how it will be viewed by society. She is scarcely older than Sarah, when she has to make a difficult choice, and she makes that with courage, with understanding of her future, and in the face of the fact that she has no family, no friends, and no money. Sarah has all three, and yet, she chooses a very different way, closing her eyes to her past actions and how society (or a future husband) might view them. What lodges in my throat is not what happened to her (entirely believable and very tragic) but the fact that she does not confront these sad events until it is almost too late.

If you like a flawed hero and heroine who are really unable to communicate with each other and, where the hero believes the worst of the heroine (and the heroine then lies to him), this book may appeal to you. If on the other hand, you want a Balogh story where the hero and heroine are flawed but at least one of them has a backbone earlier in the narrative, you might want to try one of the other Balogh titles I have mentioned - HEARTLESS (which is a stronger rendering of SECRETS OF THE HEART in my opinion), THE SECRET PEARL (which begins with a married man picking up a prostitute for the night), or A PRECIOUS JEWEL (where a shy and not-very-brave hero goes to a society brothel).

Good but not Balogh at her best is my summary.