Delightful.

That’s the first word that springs to mind when I think about Mary Balogh’s The Secret Mistress.

Lovely.

Romantic.

Humorous.

Those are other words I think of.

The books that I enjoy the most, and the ones that I will go back and read over and over again, are usually those that are able to weave humor into the story.  The Secret Mistress is a prequel book to the Mistress duology that Ms. Balogh wrote ten years ago.   I read them at the time, but don’t recall humor as being prevalent in the books.  (Though I do remember that I enjoyed More than a Mistress much more than the second book in the series. )  So I certainly wasn’t expecting to find a lot of humor in this book.

There are few romance writers that write humor well; Mary Balogh is one of them (see The Famous Heroine and Lady with a Black Umbrella).  (Loretta Chase is another standout.)  If humor is used, it involves secondary characters but rarely are the hero or heroine humorous.  Yes, they usually have wit.  In many cases, it is a “biting” wit, but true humor is not common.   Maybe because it could make the lead characters seem foolish.  And in a lesser writers hand, it might.  Fortunately, there is Mary Balogh.

Our heroine, Angeline, is an exuberant, extremely wealthy debutante, and the sister of the Duke of Tresham (a notorious rake, of course), and a young woman prone to exaggeration and whose fashion choices are so unique and daringly colorful to belong to a classification all her own.  She’s also the most sought after heiress of the season.

Edward Aisley, Earl of Heyward, is the younger son, who unexpectedly inherited the title and responsibility.  He is not known for his daring, exuberance or extravagance.  He is noted for being sober and a bit dull.  He’s neither too plain or too handsome.  For all ton purposes, he’s ordinary. (As ordinary as an EARL can be.)

But for Angeline, Edward’s perfect.  From the first, she knew he was what she was looking for, that Edward was what she desired and needed in a husband. All of her life, from her father to her brothers to their friends, all the men she has known have been wild, reckless, exciting.  For the most part, she finds them silly.  Having lived with wildness, she desires stability.  She wants a gentleman.  A true, by the book, gentleman who follows the rules.  At their initial meeting, Edward followed the rules about interacting with her after she got herself into a bit of a situation.  Her father and her brothers would never have followed convention.  They took satisfaction in breaking any and all rules that they could. For her, it was love at first sight.  Angeline didn’t fight her feelings; she embraced them and prayed Edward would do the same.

For Edward though, his feelings for Angeline is something he struggles with.  He thinks her the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, and he fights his feelings and desires.  She’s flighty.  She draws attention to herself.  Angeline is not the woman that he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. She’s not comfortable.  His attraction for her causes him much turmoil.  Another strike against her – she’s the sister of the Duke of Tresham, the man he holds responsible for the death of Edward’s older brother.

There are many scenes throughout that I really enjoyed, but the following two are my favorites:

1. When Edward advises Angeline that it’s “better to be a leader of fashion rather than an habitual follower” even if no one follows her lead, it was clear that Edward was able to see beyond the superficial and understand the insecurities that drove Angeline to make the choices that she did.  She wears bold colors and elaborate headgear because it makes her feel confident, special, attention-worthy.
2. The other is when Edward and Angeline decide to keep the deep love they feel towards each other private, even after they marry.  I can’t think of another romance where the hero and heroine decide to keep their true love a secret from everyone.  To the world, to their family, they would present a conventional ton marriage. Only in private would the depth of their feelings for each other be revealed.  Only in private would Angeline address him as Edward.  In public, he was Heyward.  Hence the title, The Secret Mistress.

Humor is prevalent throughout the story, and I appreciate that, as characters, Angeline and Edward are not played for laughs, since a fashion-challenged woman and a conventional man, could easily been mocked. Another reason Mary Balogh is in a class of her own.  She’s skilled.

The Secret Mistress is one of the most romantic books that I’ve read in a long time, and definitely one I classify as a “keeper”.