More Than A Mistress

- Mary Balogh -

The most awesome thing about getting into historical romances relatively late is that I have SO many new authors to read, most of whom have huge backlists, and Mary Balogh is another one.

What I really enjoyed about this one if having a heroine who is unafraid to speak her mind, even when it is inappropriate for her situation in life, and having a hero who, while baffled by the audacity of a servant who dares to speak back, quickly comes to appreciate and welcome it.

The hero, Tresham, and heroine, Sara, were both characters of their time, but I loved reading how the social demands and expectations of that time had forced them to give up parts of themselves - Tresham, as the heir to a dukedom, was forced to abandon the music and art that he loved as they were deemed too weak, and Sara, left at the mercy of an unfeeling and greedy guardian, to abandon her life and identity to escape the unwelcome advances and accidental wounding of a cousin.

Together they were able to find themselves again and truly know themselves and each other, and it was such a nice way of depicting the social expectation and restrictions of the Regency period.