Amanda’s review ~ Remember When by Mary Balogh

Remember When by Mary Balogh
Published by Penguin on January 7, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
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Discover the beauty of second chances at love and life in this heartfelt new novel from New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.

The Dowager Countess of Stratton, Clarissa Ware, née Greenfield, has just presented her younger daughter to the ton, and the rest of her life belongs only to herself. She returns to Ravenswood, intending to spend the summer alone there. But the summer has other plans for her.

Born a gentleman, Matthew Taylor has chosen to spend his life as the village carpenter. Growing up, he and Clarissa were close—dangerously so, considering his family’s modest fortune. As a young man, he never would have been a suitable match for the daughter of the wealthy Greenfields. Clarissa married Caleb Ware, the Earl of Stratton, so Matthew married another, though he was widowed soon after.

Now everything is different—Clarissa has already lived the life expected of her by society. And Matthew is as attractive and intriguing as he was when they were young. As their summer friendship deepens into romance, they stand together on the precipice of change—essentially the same man and woman they remember being back then, but with renewed passion and the potential to take their lives in an entirely new direction.

Remember When is a second chance love story and of healing from your past hurts and an enjoyable read. ~ Amanda – Simply Love Books

 

Remember When is the fourth book in the Ravenswood series and it’s Clarissa’s story. Clarissa is the matriarch of the family who is about to turn 50, and she’s wondering what the next chapter in her life going to be after being a dutiful daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother. For the first time she is free from familial obligations and is going to spend the summer figuring out her next move. First, she would like to renew a friendship with a man from her youth who was a neighbor, a friend and her first love.

Matthew Taylor was a troubled child and couldn’t do much right in the eyes of his puritanical parents and older sibling. Growing up as childhood neighbors, he took solace in Clarissa’s friendship and the easy camaraderie they had together. She listened to him and he knew she was sympathetic to his situation. He fell in love hard but knew their love couldn’t be because she was meant for someone else, someone more than the second son. Years later he now lives comfortably as the village carpenter and is surprised when Clarissa initiates contact with him. He’s loved and lost a great deal and lives a very quiet, small compartmentalized life for his well-being. Now she wants to be friends again and he wonders what might be if he allows himself to hope.

I love it when authors explores love for older characters who want a second chance at love, or in some cases, for the first time. She explored this type of relationship in her previous story, Always Remember (Ben’s story), of forbidden pairings because of status, but it feels different with an older character. The characters buck the system because it feels right together and knows that this is different from their first marriages. There is very little conflict but more special moments they have together, of wishful thinking of a simpler life for one another. Clarissa and Matthew love bloomed like a new young love and it was very sweet to see them learn about the other and fall in love again. Remember When is a second chance love story and of healing from your past hurts and an enjoyable read.