SOMEONE TO HONOR

Two wronged souls
join their lives in a marriage of convenience in Regency England.

Balogh (Someone To
Trust, 2018, etc.) pairs the youngest daughter of the Westcott family with Lt.
Col. Gilbert Bennington, a stoic war hero whose traumas are more personal than
combat-related thanks to the trifecta of illegitimacy, childhood poverty, and a
ruined attempt to establish a family. While he initially finds Abigail Westcott
to be no different from others who have treated him with condescension, he
slowly comes to trust her. Following her brother’s prompting, the two decide to
marry to help Gil win a custody battle—his late wife’s parents have laid claim
to his child—but also because they want each other. That the two are sexually
compatible despite different upbringings and class status is to be expected in
a Balogh novel, as is the support of her extended clan. The assortment of babies
and adopted and biological children that come with this group, as well as Gil’s
Disney-ish dog, lends some charm to the otherwise anxiety-ridden plot, though
their inclusion feels calculatedly mawkish. Most adult characters get a similar
positive treatment, with one glaring absence: Gil’s dead wife, who is a
throwback to the misogynistic representations of women rivals once common in
romance. Not only is she spoken of as a thoughtless privileged girl who fled
motherhood, she is described in kink-phobic terms, striking an odd note in the
increasingly sex-positive climate of the genre. A comic court scene toward the
climax provides a nice break from the dramatic events and adds some vinegar to
the pat sweet ending.

A familiarly
comforting addition to the Westcott series that will hold no surprises for Balogh
fans.