REMEMBER LOVE is the first book in Mary Balogh’s “Ravenswood” historical romance series. The first half of this book is reminiscent of a fairy tale. Mary Balogh gives readers all the necessary background information on the seemingly idyllic setting and the main characters. There is enough foreshadowing to set readers up for the eventual upsetting of the proverbial apple cart. Apart from the evolving love story, this is a story about family dynamics and the importance of substance versus artifice. Pleasing lies versus complicated truths. Mary Balogh superbly weaves together a compelling story with all these elements.

This is a good story for readers who enjoy the “second chance at love” trope. Gwyneth Rhys grows up having Nicholas Ware as her partner in crime and BFF. Everybody assumes that the pair will eventually be a couple in a romantic sense. The truth is that Gwen pines for Nick’s brother Devlin. Unbeknownst to Gwen, Devlin secretly yearns for her as well. When Devlin’s family unexpectedly explodes, a wrench is thrown into a potentially epic romance. Just as Mary Balogh invites readers to question the definition of happiness in her stories, in REMEMBER LOVE, she has characters who venter into morally gray areas. So many relationships in REMEMBER LOVE have been broken – whether by circumstance or neglect – and the challenge for many of the characters is figuring out how to rebuild while living their truth. This is one of the reasons I love Mary Balogh’s books. Her characters are so multidimensional and work hard to find their version of happiness and sense of self. Like many first books in a series, a good portion of this story involves establishing the main characters and the world they live in. There is an epic quality to this love story, but it isn’t told more intimately until much later in the novel. This is different than many romances that focus on the couple for much of the tale. Although I usually prefer stories focusing almost exclusively on the main romantic relationship and its evolution, I appreciate REMEMBER LOVE because of the terrific storytelling.

REMEMBER LOVE is a story that starts as a fairy tale and evolves into a more complex character-driven tale. I like how Mary Balogh touches on the many ways in which the lives of several characters were forever altered by the same events, but how it took them each in a different direction. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Book Summary