Remember Love by Mary Balogh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Gwen Rhys and Devlin Ware grew up as neighbors, each secretly infatuated with the other until they realize their mutual attraction the day of the annual summer fete and become engaged. But that same night, the pair discover Devlin's father with his mistress, and Devlin's strong sense of justice and love for his mother lead him to confront his father in public. Devlin is banished, joins the army to fight Napoleon, and doesn't return for six years, two years after he inherited his father's title.
I liked this story, but I didn’t love it. Mostly, I think, because we don’t witness Gwen & Devlin falling in love. They never really get to know each other, just go from childhood crushes they believe to be love to insta-love after being reunited 6 years later. They respect each other, which is a good start, but they don’t actually know enough about each other to be in love.
I also really hated that Devlin had sex with SOOOO many women during the war. Historically accurate? Probably. But really, what are the odds he didn’t come home with multiple sexually transmitted diseases, which he would then have passed on to Gwen?! Ruined all romance for the rest of the book, especially the one sex scene, which I just had to quickly skim because all I could think about was how he was almost certainly giving her syphilis. *shudder*
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