Silent Melody by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Unique Deaf Mute Heroine Most Intriguing Aspect of Story
THE STORY: Lord Ashley Kendrick, the younger son of a duke, goes to join the East India Company to make his own life. Seven years later he returns a bitter and sad man having lost his wife and son to a fire. Lady Emily Marlowe has loved Ashley since she was fourteen years old. A deaf-mute, Emily wants to make a life for herself and go on beyond her love for Ashley. Just on the night that she becomes betrothed to another man, Ashley returns.
OPINION: I really like the character of Emily. The book looks realistically at this strong woman’s ability to live with her differences. The most beautiful part of the book is how Emily and Ashley learn to communicate with one another. Ashley is unique in Emily’s life in that he makes the effort to come into her world rather than having her make all the adaptations. I enjoyed the deeply emotional relationship between Emily and Ashley.
My complaint about the book is that dramatics of the story dealing with the secrets involving Ashley’s deceased wife at times feel contrived. The story plot seems too obviously designed to just keep Emily and Ashley apart. I found the external events keeping the two apart to be too much at times and I tired of them after a while.
WORTH MENTIONING: Fans of the first book of the series will be happy to meet up with Lucas and Anna from HEARTLESS.
FINAL DECISION: I liked the romance between Ashley and Emily, but I felt that the dramatics of the story was too often designed to keep the two apart rather than flowing naturally from the plot.
CONNECTED BOOKS: SILENT MELODY is the second book in the Georgian series. It can be read as a standalone.
STAR RATING: I give this book 3.75 stars.