Only Enchanting
Authors: Mary Balogh
PRAISE FOR AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR MARY BALOGH
“Once you start a Mary Balogh book, you won’t be able to stop reading.”
—New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips
“Mary Balogh has the gift of making a relationship seem utterly real and utterly compelling.”
—Mary Jo Putney
“Winning, witty, and engaging . . . fulfilled all of my romantic fantasies.”
—New York Times bestselling author Teresa Medeiros
“Mary Balogh just keeps getting better and better . . . interesting characters and great stories to tell . . . well worth your time.”
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Mary Balogh is a superb author whose narrative voice comments on the characters and events of her novel in an ironic tone reminiscent of Jane Austen.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Mary Balogh reaches deep and touches the heart.”
—New York Times bestselling author Joan Johnston
“This is Mary Balogh at her riveting best.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber
“[Mary Balogh] writes with wit and wisdom. . . .
The Proposal
is both moving and entertaining and the beginning of what promises to be an outstanding series.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“This sexy, touching book revisits the marriage-of-convenience plot, joining two heroic, conflicted characters who are navigating their own versions of darkness and delivering them to the redemptive power of love. Regency bestseller Balogh once again takes a standard romance trope and imbues it with heart, emotional intelligence, and flawless authenticity.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“This touching, totally enthralling story overflows with subtle humor, brilliant dialog, breathtaking sensuality, and supporting characters you want to know better.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“Balogh can always be depended on to deliver a beautifully written Regency romance with appealing, unusual characters, and the second in her new Survivors’ Club series is no exception. . . . Future series installments promise more compellingly tormented heroes.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[A] poignant and thoughtful romance.”
—Booklist
“A compassionate love story with a unique hero and heroine. . . . The dialogue is snappy, and the climax . . . is exciting and helps bring about the blissful ending. . . .
The Arrangement
[is] a must read.”
—Fresh Fiction
PRAISE FOR
UNDER THE MISTLETOE
“Satisfyingly rich . . . Mary Balogh’s Christmas stories are superb. . . . If you haven’t had the seasonal pleasure of Mary Balogh’s Christmas stories in past years,
Under the Mistletoe
will be a real treat for you. For those of us who have loved her stories for a long time, this anthology is a must buy.”
—The Romance Reader
“Reading a Mary Balogh book, whether a novel or a collection of novellas, is always a great delight! . . . This collection of Christmas-themed novellas is definitely a keeper, and I can’t recommend it highly enough! Each story is a beautifully faceted gem, one not to be missed, but instead savored. . . . As I prepare to enter a new year, I do so with the warmth of these beautiful tales stored in my memory.”
—A Night’s Dream of Books
“Ms. Balogh has put together an enchanting book of lovely Christmas stories that will truly mesmerize readers. Each of the stories will touch the heart of every reader and this reviewer definitely recommends having a box of tissues handy for the truly loving emotional tales.”
—The Romance Readers Connection
“Charming. . . . I enjoyed this fun holiday collection.”
—Historical Romance Novel News
“These five Christmas tales are delightful historical romantic gifts.”
—The Best Reviews
“[A] lovely early Christmas gift . . . five exquisitely crafted novellas.”
—Booklist
ALSO BY MARY BALOGH
THE SURVIVORS’ CLUB SERIES
The Proposal
The Arrangement
The Escape
THE HUXTABLE SERIES
First Comes Marriage
Then Comes Seduction
At Last Comes Love
Seducing an Angel
A Secret Affair
THE SIMPLY SERIES
Simply Unforgettable
Simply Love
Simply Magic
Simply Perfect
THE BEDWYN SERIES
Slightly Married
Slightly Wicked
Slightly Scandalous
Slightly Tempted
Slightly Sinful
Slightly Dangerous
BEDWYN PREQUELS
One Night for Love
A Summer to Remember
THE MISTRESS SERIES
More Than a Mistress
No Man’s Mistress
The Secret Mistress
THE WEB SERIES
The Gilded Web
Web of Love
The Devil’s Web
CLASSICS
The Ideal Wife
The Secret Pearl
A Precious Jewel
A Christmas Promise
Dark Angel/
Lord Carew’s Bride
The Famous Heroine/
The Plumed Bonnet
A Christmas Bride/
Christmas Beau
The Temporary Wife/
A Promise of Spring
A Counterfeit Betrothal/
The Notorious Rake
Irresistible
Under the Mistletoe
SIGNET
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014
USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China
A Penguin Random House Company
First published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Copyright © Mary Balogh, 2014
Excerpt from
Beyond the Sunrise
copyright © Mary Balogh, 1992
Excerpt from
Longing
copyright © Mary Balogh, 1994
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
ISBN 978-0-698-15608-1
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
Contents
Excerpt from
BEYOND THE SUNRISE
1
A
t the age of twenty-six, Agnes Keeping had never been in love or ever expected to be—or even wished to be. She rather chose to be in control of her own emotions and her own life, such as it was.
At the age of eighteen she had chosen to marry William Keeping, a neighboring gentleman of sober address and steady habits and modest means, after he had very properly called upon her father to make his offer and had then made
her
a very civil marriage proposal in the presence of her father’s second wife. Agnes had been fond of her husband and comfortable with him for almost five years before he died of one of his frequent winter chills. She had mourned him with an empty sort of desolation for longer than the requisite year of wearing her black widow’s weeds and still sadly missed him.
She had not been in love with him, however, or he with her. The very idea seemed absurd, suggestive as it was of a wild, unbridled sort of passion.
She smiled at her image in the glass as she tried to imagine poor William in an unbridled passion, romantic or otherwise. But then her eyes focused upon herself, and it occurred to her that she had better admire her splendor now while she had the chance, for once she
arrived at the ball, it would be instantly apparent that in reality she did not look very magnificent at all.