But I put away my doubts and placed my faith in Balogh’s talent for writing touching, unforgettable books. I confess I was reluctant to purchase the book as it was in hard cover and seemed so pricey for a novel that was under 200 pages. So begins an intoxicating tale rife with dark secrets, deception, and the trials of love-a story in which very little is as it seems.Ī romance novel with its own website? And not a full length romance either? It must be worth the effort! Though Bernard wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not to marry her, preferring instead to live as the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Bernard serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering.

Bernard Mason, with the Regency society that upholds station love all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her. Reginald Masson is wealthy refined and by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by birth, a factor that pains him and his father.

A matter of class by mary balogh