ONLY ENCHANTING by Mary Balogh is book four in the Survivors' Club series, a group of six men and one woman who have all been wounded by the Napoleonic War and recovered together at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. While all the characters from prior books are present here, this book can be read as a standalone. This is a gentle love story which is deeply enchanting, and a deep sigh of happiness rose from me when I closed the book on the last page. Balogh consistently delivers compelling period romances with heroes and heroines who will capture your heart, and this book continues to justify her auto-buy status to me.

Agnes is a respectable widow, living a quiet life with her spinster music teacher sister in a little village in Gloucestershire. Friends with Vicount Darleigh's wife Sophia (of Survivors' Club book 2, The Arrangement), she meets Flavian Arnott, Vicount Ponsonby, at a local ball. The two come together again when Ponsonby returns six months later to Vicount Darleigh's manor for the Club's annual reunion, where the survivors meet informally to renew their bonds of friendship and help one another with their continued postwar physical and mental traumas.

Early childhood events taught Agnes to fear passion, and so she is sensible and soothing. Balogh shows us repeatedly that Ponsonby finds Agnes "safe." I very much appreciated that Agnes is down to earth, without the silly dithering of so many historical heroines. I could relate very well to Agnes, and that drew me rapidly into the romance. I especially loved how well she stood up for herself as the story progressed.

Ponsonby had major head trauma during the war, having been shot in the head, fallen off his horse and landed on his head, and then run over by another horse. He lost his memory of the event, and much of his earlier memories as well. Ponsonby is left with a stutter and impulse control issues. I thought the presentation of the head injury was fairly accurate early in the book, and I appreciate Balogh's adroit handling of the medical facts. His memory recovery later in the book seems too fortuitous, but as it was an easy plot device, I let it go in my overall enjoyment of the book. He is a very sympathetic character, fairly noble and with that suffering mien that makes me want to cuddle him against my bosom! Of course, lucky Agnes gets to do that instead.

Velma, Ponsonby's fiancée, left him for his best friend when Ponsonby is left nearly insensible right after his injury. Now newly widowed, Velma is once again on the market, and Ponsonby's mother is trying to throw her son together with Velma. Ponsonby meets Agnes and pursues her quickly for marriage, and then the fur begins to fly! The unfolding mystery is solved by our hero's returning memories, showing things are not at all as they seemed.

ONLY ENCHANTING is a solid addition to Balogh's extensive work, and I look forward to reading about the next Survivor!

Book Summary

The Survivors' Club: Six men and one woman, all wounded in the Napoleonic Wars, their friendship forged during their recovery at Penderris Hall in Cornwall. Now, in the fourth novel of the Survivors' Club series, Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, has left this refuge to find his own salvation— in the love of a most unsuspecting woman.…

Flavian, Viscount Ponsonby, was devastated by his fiancée’s desertion after his return home. Now the woman who broke his heart is back—and everyone is eager to revive their engagement. Except Flavian, who, in a panic, runs straight into the arms of a most sensible yet enchanting young woman.

Agnes Keeping has never been in love—and never wishes to be. But then she meets the charismatic Flavian, and suddenly Agnes falls so foolishly and so deeply that she agrees to his impetuous proposal of marriage.

When Agnes discovers that the proposal is only to avenge his former love, she’s determined to flee. But Flavian has no intention of letting his new bride go, especially now that he too has fallen so passionately and so unexpectedly in love.