A romance is in deep trouble when the only interesting chemistry is between the hero’s grandparents. Back in the day, when I opened a Mary Balogh novel, I could almost hear my own sigh of relief. Immediate immersion. Smooth, accessible style. Vivid storytelling. Heartfelt romance. Over the decades, Ms. Balogh honed her craft and wrote some of the most emotionally compelling books in the genre. Well, all good things must come to an end. An author of Ms. Balogh’s caliber, in the final phase of her career, usually picks a moment to bow out gracefully. The emphasis of her stories has shifted in recent years, making family a much stronger focus and changing the balance between physical attraction and emotional connection in the developing romance. This was reflected in the Westcott series and  the Ravenswood books continue in the same vein.  If she means these to be her swansong, I wish they were more impressive.

Remember Me continues the story of the Ware siblings whose family was upended by a messy scandal in Book 1 Remember Love. The story picks up one of the loose ends left hanging in that volume, that of ‘Pippa’ -Lady Philippa Ware – whose come-out in Society was placed on the back burner because of a scandal. Her brother Devlin had caught their womanizing father, the late Earl of Stratton, making out with his latest mistress, and although the affair was a shock to no one, 22-year-old Devlin spooked the ton by airing the family dirty laundry at the village fair in a melodramatic tantrum so implausible for any adult male of his era and social class, I had to force myself to keep reading.

As a set up for the series, Book 1 had serious issues – excruciatingly slow start taken up with a lengthy homage to the family seat, amateurish writing, pointless padding and info-dumps, poor character development and an over-abundance of characters who played no role in the plot. The core romance did not seem central – after much time spent on the friendship between Gwyneth and Nick, all of a sudden, Devlin, whom she has always crushed on, is in love with her but immediately chooses to blow up his family and head off to the Napoleonic Wars in a self-imposed exile lasting six years. The moral dilemma that drove most of the story felt contrived and made the unbending hero unlikeable, in my opinion.

This is the backdrop for Book 2. In the fallout over her brother Devlin’s actions, Pippa was mortified to hear herself described as spoiled goods by Lucas Arden, the Marquess of Roath. To shield herself from further slurs and snubs, she cancelled her eagerly anticipated first London Season and harbored a grudge against Luc thereafter. However, Luc’s grandfather, the Duke of Wilby, wants him to marry Pippa. Luc knows he blew it with her long ago and duly castigated himself.

When they come into each other’s orbit in London, Pippa is 22 – dauntingly close to spinsterhood by Regency standards. Luc is 26, somewhat younger than the typical marquess, handsome enough, and dutiful. They settle their differences, reveal something of themselves, and begin a romance some might generously describe as a slow burn. Their attraction felt routine and oddly bloodless to me. Luc’s commitment seems driven more by compliance than attraction – his grandfather is in failing health and an heir must be produced or the title could pass inauspiciously to a less deserving branch of the family.

The story meanders through sub-plots involving other family members, often at the expense the developing romance between the MCs. The digressions overtake the main plot until late in the story, when the romance lurches rapidly toward a happy conclusion. To avoid spoilers, I will just touch upon the ending phase of the book to observe that the focus on Luc’s grandparents was yet another poor call by Ms. Balogh. Although I was invested in them as characters and anticipated the inevitable, the way it played out was badly timed for the romance.

There were so many missteps in this story, it was hard to rate it above a 2.5, but some elements that did not sit well with me may not bother other readers, and Ms. Balogh on a bad day is still a better storyteller than most, so it’s a 3.5 from the Chronicle crew. Her writing is polished enough that turning pages is painless. Her lavish descriptions of country seats and surroundings are appealing, even when they dominate the narrative too much. She builds the social and familial world of her characters fully, even if the details are repeated too often.

I’m not going to stop reading her future books over the lackluster, over-priced Ravenswood series, but it’s a close thing.

Remember Me was a reviewer purchase.  Cover image courtesy of Berkley © 2023.  Review by Meredith Thompson © 2023 The Regency Chronicle.