Loved it. One of this author's best! The hero was exceedingly human in his absolute utter frustration with the heroine throughout the book. Frequently made me laugh out loud - the genuine-ness of his exasperation. A lot of fun to read!
Helpful Score: 5
Loved this book. This is the first of the Simply Quartet series revolving around the teachers of Miss Martin's School for Girls. The remaining three books, in order, are: "Simply Love", "Simply Magic" and "Simply Perfect".
Helpful Score: 5
First book in the "simply" series and it is simply wonderful! I have been sidetracked with paranormal books and some of the historial books have not given me the escape I like to experience when I read. THIS book did. It could have been the typical "opposite attract" story but instead it pulls you in and you want the happy ending more than the characters do. Plus it has the added fantasy of being pursued, and pursued and pursued until you have to give in...ahhhh, gotta love that!
Helpful Score: 5
Good book, although I prefered Balogh's Slightly serious better. The main female character in this book is whiney and bossy. I wasnt really endearing....
Helpful Score: 3
~ Pardon the pun, but this book was "simply forgettable" for me (2.5 stars) ~
The first in Mary Balogh's Simply Quartet, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE was unfortunately not so for me. I am a huge Mary Balogh fan, but this is my least favorite book of hers and I actually had to stop myself from skimming parts at the end (which is just unheard of for me). Meanwhile, I have continued on to the second book of the Quartet, SIMPLY LOVE, and found that book highly enjoyable - I recommend just skipping to that one.
The middle section of this book was actually quite enjoyable; it was in the beginning (read my comments below) and in the end (which is supposed to be the best part!) that things fell apart for me. The section that takes place in Bath is fun to read and the interactions between Frances and Lucius are enjoyable, but once things move forward after that ... the book lost me and by the end, I was so sick of the back and forth that like I said above, I had to stop myself from just skipping to the end and finishing it already.
PROBLEM WITH THE PREMISE:
This is a matter of personal preference, but I don't usually like the "one night of passion with a stranger" premises in historical romances. I don't read many contemporary romances, but I don't mind them in that genre. However, when you're dealing with a historical romance, it just doesn't really fit with the times unless the woman is "loose," which of course the heroine never is. When the author writes a heroine who is supposedly prim and proper (Frances is such a heroine), it's very hard to have that type of character engage in one night of passion with some mystery man and maintain a sense of continuity or cohesiveness with how she's supposed to be the rest of the time. (I had this same problem with Mary Balogh's second Bedwyn book, SLIGHTLY WICKED).
SIMILAR BOOKS:
If you like books where the hero and heroine have one night of passion as strangers and later fall in love, check out the following:
~ SLIGHTLY WICKED (Bedwyn Family, Book 2) by Mary Balogh
~ THE SECRET PEARL by Mary Balogh - a spin on the "one night of passion"
~ WHEN WE MEET AGAIN (Effington Family, Book 10) by Victoria Alexander
~ HER HIGHNESS, MY WIFE (Effington Family, Book 5) by Victoria Alexander - premise isn't exactly the same, but similar enough
~ LET IT BE LOVE (Effington Family, Book 11) by Victoria Alexander
~ IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, anthology - I haven't read it, but I think it is similar
BOTTOM LINE:
Balogh is a wonderful author, but from this book you wouldn't perhaps know it. Skip it and read one of her other books: you can skip to SIMPLY LOVE, which is second in the Simply Quartet; read THE SECRET PEARL, a great stand-alone; or settle in to enjoy the wonderful Bedwyn series, starting with A SUMMER TO REMEMBER (Bedwyn prequel) and SLIGHTLY MARRIED (Bedwyn Book 1).
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com)
The first in Mary Balogh's Simply Quartet, SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE was unfortunately not so for me. I am a huge Mary Balogh fan, but this is my least favorite book of hers and I actually had to stop myself from skimming parts at the end (which is just unheard of for me). Meanwhile, I have continued on to the second book of the Quartet, SIMPLY LOVE, and found that book highly enjoyable - I recommend just skipping to that one.
The middle section of this book was actually quite enjoyable; it was in the beginning (read my comments below) and in the end (which is supposed to be the best part!) that things fell apart for me. The section that takes place in Bath is fun to read and the interactions between Frances and Lucius are enjoyable, but once things move forward after that ... the book lost me and by the end, I was so sick of the back and forth that like I said above, I had to stop myself from just skipping to the end and finishing it already.
PROBLEM WITH THE PREMISE:
This is a matter of personal preference, but I don't usually like the "one night of passion with a stranger" premises in historical romances. I don't read many contemporary romances, but I don't mind them in that genre. However, when you're dealing with a historical romance, it just doesn't really fit with the times unless the woman is "loose," which of course the heroine never is. When the author writes a heroine who is supposedly prim and proper (Frances is such a heroine), it's very hard to have that type of character engage in one night of passion with some mystery man and maintain a sense of continuity or cohesiveness with how she's supposed to be the rest of the time. (I had this same problem with Mary Balogh's second Bedwyn book, SLIGHTLY WICKED).
SIMILAR BOOKS:
If you like books where the hero and heroine have one night of passion as strangers and later fall in love, check out the following:
~ SLIGHTLY WICKED (Bedwyn Family, Book 2) by Mary Balogh
~ THE SECRET PEARL by Mary Balogh - a spin on the "one night of passion"
~ WHEN WE MEET AGAIN (Effington Family, Book 10) by Victoria Alexander
~ HER HIGHNESS, MY WIFE (Effington Family, Book 5) by Victoria Alexander - premise isn't exactly the same, but similar enough
~ LET IT BE LOVE (Effington Family, Book 11) by Victoria Alexander
~ IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, anthology - I haven't read it, but I think it is similar
BOTTOM LINE:
Balogh is a wonderful author, but from this book you wouldn't perhaps know it. Skip it and read one of her other books: you can skip to SIMPLY LOVE, which is second in the Simply Quartet; read THE SECRET PEARL, a great stand-alone; or settle in to enjoy the wonderful Bedwyn series, starting with A SUMMER TO REMEMBER (Bedwyn prequel) and SLIGHTLY MARRIED (Bedwyn Book 1).
(http://historical-romance-heaven.blogspot.com)
Helpful Score: 3
I thought the hero was too good for the heroine, but I loved the book overall. Balogh never misses!
Helpful Score: 1
I felt this book was much better than the average romance novel. While you knew that the couple would get together, it truly was a great question of how. God detail was paid to the historical issues surrounding the time period, and while certainly not as notbale as Jane Austen, the book carried an Austen like feel and sensibility.
Helpful Score: 1
I love this author and I absolutly adored this series! I highly recommend it.
Helpful Score: 1
Great story and characters.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book....the characters were very appealing.
Helpful Score: 1
FANTASTIC!
This book was so disappointing. It's full of cliches and ridiculous behavior. You have the virgin schoolmarm who is beautiful but doesn't know it and the high society rake who must marry a high born lady to pacify his grandaddy. These two conveniently get stranded together (without chaperone) during a snowstorm and within what seems like hours decide to have sex because, well, you can only make so many snowmen in a day, eh? Did I mention that she was a virgin? But the worst sin of this book is the fact that the writing is so freaking boring. This author usually excels at characterization and character motivation but this time it feels like she wrote it while on auto-pilot and it makes me so very sad.
simply forgettable
weak characters, bad plot
weak characters, bad plot
wonderful
well done, plucky heroine
Good, believable characters; holds interest
Mary Balogh is one author I can rely on to provide a charming story. This isn't one of them. This story is fairly turgid and overblown. At least one hundred pages could have easily been cut with no loss. The characters were fairly uninteresting. So many unlikely things happened in this story that I had trouble finishing the book.
Viscount Lucis Marshall and Frances Allard, a teacher in Bath, meet during a terrible snowstorm. When they take rooms in a fairly shady country inn, they share a night of passion. I thought that was so unlikely as to be ridiculous. Of course, they part the next day because of their responsibilities. Lucis has made a promise to his grandfather to marry soon and Frances is a dedicated teacher in a boarding school. Naturally, they meet again. Eventually, Lucis offers for Frances and she turns him down, again and again. But Frances has a secret. By the time the secret is revealed, I couldn't have cared less.
I just found out that this series is about the teachers of Miss Martin's School for Girls. Obviously, this one is about the music teacher, Frances Allard. I've already read the last book of this series and wasn't impressed with it either.
SimplyQuartet
** 1. Simply Unforgettable (2005)
2. Simply Love (2006)
3. Simply Magic (2007)
4. Simply Perfect (2008)
Viscount Lucis Marshall and Frances Allard, a teacher in Bath, meet during a terrible snowstorm. When they take rooms in a fairly shady country inn, they share a night of passion. I thought that was so unlikely as to be ridiculous. Of course, they part the next day because of their responsibilities. Lucis has made a promise to his grandfather to marry soon and Frances is a dedicated teacher in a boarding school. Naturally, they meet again. Eventually, Lucis offers for Frances and she turns him down, again and again. But Frances has a secret. By the time the secret is revealed, I couldn't have cared less.
I just found out that this series is about the teachers of Miss Martin's School for Girls. Obviously, this one is about the music teacher, Frances Allard. I've already read the last book of this series and wasn't impressed with it either.
SimplyQuartet
** 1. Simply Unforgettable (2005)
2. Simply Love (2006)
3. Simply Magic (2007)
4. Simply Perfect (2008)
Loved it!
Mary does it again. Cant wait for the next one of the series.
great read!
The simply books are great and such a catcher to read,make sure you read them all.
...A truly marvelous heroine, music teacher Frances Allard, and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget....
As always with Mary Balogh's writing, this book is great reading.
As always with Mary Balogh's writing, this book is great reading.
Samantha Y. (samanthachels) - reviewed Simply Unforgettable (Simply, Bk 1) on + 137 more book reviews
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneousâ¦and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her placeâ"and it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary nightâ"and the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon.
From Publishers Weekly
What happens when a haughty, rakish aristocrat and a prim, beautiful schoolteacher are stranded in a deserted country inn together during a snowstorm? They fall in love, of course. But as all this takes place in fewer than 100 pagesand as this is a fairly conventional Regency-era romancethe story doesn't end so quickly or easily. Instead, Frances Allard denies her feelings, pushes Lucius Marshall away by refusing his offer to join him in London and, when they're coincidentally thrown together again in Bath, attempts to ignore himall of which makes Lucius try even harder to get her attention. A devastating secret from Frances's past keeps her from giving in, even when Lucius proposes marriage, but this secret turns out to be so unsurprising and so easily surmountable that Lucius's 200 pages of pursuit hardly seems worthwhile. Readers will feel some satisfaction when this well-matched duo eventually come together, and as usual Balogh peppers her tale with vibrant, amiable secondary characters, including a handful of Frances's colorful schoolteacher friends and Lucius's merry sisters.
What happens when a haughty, rakish aristocrat and a prim, beautiful schoolteacher are stranded in a deserted country inn together during a snowstorm? They fall in love, of course. But as all this takes place in fewer than 100 pagesand as this is a fairly conventional Regency-era romancethe story doesn't end so quickly or easily. Instead, Frances Allard denies her feelings, pushes Lucius Marshall away by refusing his offer to join him in London and, when they're coincidentally thrown together again in Bath, attempts to ignore himall of which makes Lucius try even harder to get her attention. A devastating secret from Frances's past keeps her from giving in, even when Lucius proposes marriage, but this secret turns out to be so unsurprising and so easily surmountable that Lucius's 200 pages of pursuit hardly seems worthwhile. Readers will feel some satisfaction when this well-matched duo eventually come together, and as usual Balogh peppers her tale with vibrant, amiable secondary characters, including a handful of Frances's colorful schoolteacher friends and Lucius's merry sisters.
Mary Balogh invites us into an intoxicating world -- a select academy for young ladies -- and introduces two unlikely lovers: a truly marvelous heroine, music teacher Frances Allard, and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget...
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a ssecret past. He is the black-caped stranger who comes to her rescue. Stranded together in a country inn, Lucius Marshall and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place. Due to begin her teching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night. But when fate once again throws them together, Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit will force Frances to give up all her secrets -- except one -- to win the heart of the man she already loves.
-- More brain candy. Too much gets you sick, but just enough makes you happy! --
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a ssecret past. He is the black-caped stranger who comes to her rescue. Stranded together in a country inn, Lucius Marshall and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place. Due to begin her teching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night. But when fate once again throws them together, Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit will force Frances to give up all her secrets -- except one -- to win the heart of the man she already loves.
-- More brain candy. Too much gets you sick, but just enough makes you happy! --
Historical Regency. They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher witha secret past. He is the black-caped stranger who comes to her rescue. Stranded together in a country inn, Lucius Marshall and FRances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's school in Bath, she must try to forget that one, extraordinary night. But will fate once again throw them together...?
New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh returns to the seductive world she knows so well-Regency England-in a new novel filled with her trademark wit, sensuality, and breathtaking storytelling. With this, the first in a dazzling new quartet of novels, Balogh invites us into a special world-a select academy for young ladies-a world of innocence and temptation. Drawing us into the lives of four women, teachers at Miss Martin's School for Girls, Balogh introduces this novel's marvelous heroine: music teacher Frances Allard-and the man who seduces her with a passion no woman could possibly forget. . . .
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneous. . . and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place-and it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night-and the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon.
But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue, one that defies propriety and shocks the straitlaced ton. For Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give upall her secrets-except one-to win the heart of the man she already loves.
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneous. . . and utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her place-and it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martin's School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary night-and the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon.
But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue, one that defies propriety and shocks the straitlaced ton. For Lucius's passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give upall her secrets-except one-to win the heart of the man she already loves.
They meet in a ferocious snowstorm. She is a young teacher with a secret past. He is the cool, black-caped stranger who unexpectedly comes to her rescue. Between these two unlikely strangers, desire is instantaneousand utterly impossible to resist. Stranded together in a rustic country inn, Lucius Marshall, who is the Viscount Sinclair, and Frances Allard share a night of glorious, unforgettable passion. But Frances knows her placeand it is far from the privileged world of the sensual aristocrat. Due to begin her teaching position at Miss Martins School in Bath, Frances must try to forget that one extraordinary nightand the man who touched her with such exquisite tenderness and abandon.
But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue, one that defies propriety and shocks the straitlaced ton. For Luciuss passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give up all her secretsexcept oneto win the heart of the man she already loves.
But Frances cannot hide forever. And when fate once again throws them together, Lucius refuses to take no for an answer. If Frances will not be his wife, he will make her his mistress. So begins an odyssey fraught with intrigue, one that defies propriety and shocks the straitlaced ton. For Luciuss passionate, single-minded pursuit is about to force Frances to give up all her secretsexcept oneto win the heart of the man she already loves.
I did not read this book. book is in great condition, never read.
