Simply Love by Mary Balogh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Beautiful Story of Two Survivors
SIMPLY LOVE is the second book in the Simply Quartet. It is the story of Anne Jewel. Readers of Balogh will know Anne from SLIGHTLY SCANDALOUS. Anne was raped while a governess and bore an illegitimate son as a result. She teaches at the all girls school that features in the series. While vacationing with the Bedwyns in Wales, she meets Sydnam Butler. Sydnam was introduced in A SUMMER TO REMEMBER. He is the younger brother of Kit,the hero in that book. Syd was tortured and disfigured in the war. He lost an arm and an eye, but has learned to adapt to almost everything although h has lost his ability to paint. The two meet and these wounded souls find refuge in one another.
Loved, loved this book. These two souls slowly learn to find beauty and happiness with one another. They have to deal with their pasts, but for each, the past is something that will never go away. I really like how Balogh shows the strength of these two souls. They have both healed enough from their past enough to have created lives for themselves. However, together they move to a higher level of happiness. This is a theme in many of Balogh’s books, the difference between contentment and joy.
This book was especially satisfying because there were special appearances by the Bedwyns. I recommend this book. While it may be read alone, it is certainly better to read at least the books mentioned above first.