Simply Perfect | Mary Balogh | A great conclusion to the series

Simply Perfect | Mary Balogh | Simply Outstanding!!

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Simply Perfect

	Simply Perfect Mary Balogh Delacorte Press, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Set against the seductive backdrop of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh?s latest novel sweeps us into the sensual, enthralling world of an elite academy for young ladies. Here, amid music lessons and garden parties, whispered confessions and secret yearnings, one of the school?s teachers?headmistress Claudia Martin?will find her well-ordered world jolted by love when she meets a man who would make the perfect husband?for somebody else.

Tall, dark, and exquisitely sensual, he is the epitome of male perfection. Not that Claudia Martin is looking for a lover. Or a husband. As owner and headmistress of Miss Martin?s School for Girls in Bath, she long ago resigned herself to a life without love. Until Joseph, Marquess of Attingsborough, arrives unannounced and tempts her to toss away a lifetime of propriety for an affair that can only lead to ruin.

Joseph has his own reasons for seeking Claudia out. Instantly, irresistibly attracted to the dedicated teacher, he embarks on a plan of seduction that leaves them both yearning for more. But as heir to a prestigious dukedom, Joseph is expected to carry on his family?s legacy. And Claudia knows she has no place in his world.

Now that world is about to be rocked by scandal. An arranged marriage, a secret that will shock the ton, and a man from Claudia?s past conspire to drive the lovers apart. But Joseph is determined to make Claudia his at any cost. Even if that means defying convention and breaking every rule for a love that is everything he has ever wanted?a love that is perfection itself?

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A great conclusion to the series

I thought this book was a great conclusion to the SIMPLY series. Since Claudia was a minor character in the stories of her fellow schoolteachers, I was glad that Mary Balogh added her story and provided closure for all.
Like other reviewers here, I would definitely not recommend reading this one until and unless you have read the previous ones in the series. Perhaps it's not necessary to read all of them - both the SIMPLY and SLIGHTLY (the Bedwyn books) - although I have and liked them all. However, a reader should at least read Wulf and Christine's story (Slightly Dangerous) to get a feel for their entire family. Reviewer Kay Kaiser also drew a parallel between Wulf and Claudia, which was a good insight, but I'd note that Balogh did NOT write the same story for each (as some writers do) and created very different matches for them. (Hurrah for Balogh!)
I read this book at one sitting and really enjoyed being immersed in the lives of this group of people, as well as the marvelous set pieces (like the picnic). One weakness is that the ending took far too many pages to spin out; it was almost as if Balogh felt she had to hit a certain number of pages to complete the book.

p.s. I liked the fact that Christine's sister Eleanor has changed her life and found something worthwhile to do. She was too good a character in SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS to be left on the shelf. Perhaps there will be a follow up on her......

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Simply Outstanding!!

If you enjoy romantic historicals, you can't go wrong here. Just happen to be looking for another historical and another author, I picked up several of Mary Balogh's. I will not synopsize any of the books, it's been done and done well. Ms. Balogh, your writing and story telling ability is simply wonderful! I also enjoyed reading about the lives of your people from other books. I always wondered when I'm done with a series of what happened to so and so. Rarely are you able to find out. You have another fan. I'll be looking forward (I hope) to hearing of the lives involved in this series, i.e., will Lizzie grow up as I hope and Davey be a great artist in his own right? I am hopeful you read these reviews and I will continue to search out your books. Thank you.

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Good, but with a few too many flashbacks...

I have not read all of the "Simply" series, and after reading Claudia's story, I found I don't have to. As a few other reviewers have mentioned, all the former teachers as well as the Bedwyns, not to mention Ravensburg and Lauren (the gang's all here!) make appearances in this novel, and as each makes their appearance, there is a recap of their background. Flying off on these tangents took away from the main storyline, and when the focus would be returned to Claudia, it was like shifting gears and someone holding up a little sign that said, "And now back to our story". I found Claudia's story entertaining enough, but entire portions of this novel could have been cut and not be missed at all (just how many scenes of Portia being snotty and condescending do we need? I was getting more than a little tired of Claudia's childhood friend/love as well ).

I enjoyed this book, but will deduct a star from the rating for all the filler. All the recaps (and there are a LOT of them) do not add to this story. From time to time it was like watching a TV show that was having a flashback episode. I would have "5 Star" enjoyed it if it had stuck to Claudia and Joseph's story.

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Let down to a fine series

If you have read all the other "Slightly" and "Simply" series, then you will want to read the lastest from Mary Balogh to discover what happens to Ms Claudia Martin, 35 year old spinster who is headmistress of Miss Martin's School for Girls in Bath.

Mary Balogh is masterful in her characterizations and I have been intrigued by Ms Martin since her first appearance and thus, for certain reasons (no spoilers) I was disappointed that Ms Martin's story wasn't as powerful as I had been anticipating. Perhaps as some other reviewers have mentioned before me, the roll call of previous characters was a distraction that sucked air out of what could have been some powerful moments. In any case, I was a little bored with Claudia and Joseph, the Marquess of Attingsborough, and my attention began to wander ...

I became fascinated by Miss Portia Hunt, Joseph's fiance, who was NOT fleshed out. A great beauty, she was universally dislikeable with no redeeming qualities and I became curious why Mary Balogh was treating her so badly, not once but twice (Portia was also the unlikable fiance in a previous story) then I began see the hooks for Ms Hunt's back story and gaps for a parallel plot.

Portia was acceptable to Joseph when he was told of his father's arrangement. He had befriended Portia previously and was sympathetic towards her. Can we imagine that she had liked Joseph too, because he was safe? That changed when the engagement was forced on her (just as it was on Joseph), and she then began to behave as obnoxiously as she dared 1st, to try and put him off from actually offering. Then 2nd, when he was such a dunderhead that he offered anyway, wasn't she deliberately provoking him in public on several occasions, perhaps hoping he would treat her with public rudeness, thus giving her an excuse to break it off with him? And she certainly didn't seem to mind Joseph being paired off with Claudia any time they were all in company together (Fauxhall, etc.) Wilma kept giving warnings to her brother that went unheeded.

So what happened all those times when Charles (Duke McLeigh) was paired off with Portia? What happened that afternoon that Portia and Charles spent together? And wasn't the final break with Joseph (no spoilers) absolutely strange? Didn't anyone wonder why Portia Hunt was acting so completely and totally out of character? What happened afterwards?

And what in the world was going on with Charles' strange courtship of Claudia? What was the point of that? Claudia concluded that he was morally weak. He certainly seemed so. I'm having a harder time filling in the back story for him. Could something really nasty and bad have happened that caused him to write so rudely and callously to Claudia all those years previously? He never did answer her question about extramarital children. Maybe he didn't have any. Claudia had already proven to us that her judgement of people (think Freyja) was not infalliable, so maybe Charlie wasn't such a shallow fellow.

As you see, I couldn't keep my attention on the main story concerning Claudia and Joseph; I was too busy writing Portia & Charlie's story in my imagination. I hope Mary Balogh has something in the works concerning them to tell me just what in the world was going on.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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