Always Remember is not up to Mary Baloug’s usual standards. After reading the first two Ravenswood series books, I was excited for Always Remember. Ben is a great character, and I look forward to hearing his story. Instead, I got a roll call, so much name-dropping and the thinnest plot.
Book Information
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Imprint: Berkley
First Published: Jan 15 2024
Format: e-book
Source: Library
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Ravenswood #3
The house party attendees are introduced to the reader in the first few chapters. It’s a large house party, so of course, there are many people to cover and ensure the reader is familiar with. The problem is it’s more than just the first few chapters. In most scenes, every character is listed with an attribute or small aside, so you get paragraphs and pages before the plot actually moves forward. It will be a discussion of the Lady’s lace today or how so and so was unhappy with how his hair flopped. Details that are superfluous to the plot and don’t add anything to the ambiance. I don’t recall this type of thing occurring in prior Mary Baloug books (I’ve read 74 of her other books), and I feel seriously let down.
Always Remember had disability representation, but it missed the mark. I don’t know if it was attempting to be historically accurate or make another point, but I’d never recommend it as an example of inclusivity. Historical Romances usually have a hero who saves the Lady from her circumstances, but this variant didn’t sit well with me. It wasn’t handled well and could have been kept historically accurate without falling into cliches and dated stereotypes.
If it’s not apparent, I didn’t love Always Remember. It was fine. I was exasperated at points and didn’t get drawn into the story. I’ve read a ton of historical romance, and a lot of it is not historically accurate, absolutely implausible, has characters with modern traits that would not fly, etc. Some have made me snort-laugh because they are so ridiculous. My guide for determining if a book worked for me is pretty simple:
Did I get immersed? Was I able to become absorbed into the world and the story?
I don’t have to love the characters or even like the story once I’m in. If I struggled to get in throughout the book, it didn’t work for me, and I didn’t enjoy it. Some books are more challenging to get into than others, but I usually find if I push through, I’ll get there in the end (Hello Moby Dick!). I can look past an awful lot if I’m immersed. I didn’t get into Always Remember. I don’t usually have this problem with Mary Baloug, but I’d never have read 74 of her books if I had struggled.
I’ll still pick up Mary Baloug’s next book. One miss doesn’t disqualify her as an excellent historical romance author. This wasn’t the end I wanted for the Ravenswood series, but at least it’s checked off my TBR now.