First Comes Marriage

First Comes Marriage leads off a new series by Mary Balogh about three small-town sisters.  Unbeknownst to them, their younger brother, Stephen, has just inherited an earldom. Viscount Lyngate was named his guardian and arrived in their village to “retrieve” Stephen in order to prepare him to be the Earl of Merton.

Upon meeting the sisters, it is apparent that they will not be content letting Elliot take Stephen to London by himself; it must be all of them or none of them. The dilemma of how the sisters are to be launched into society when they are veritable unknowns is solved by Elliot’s mother, when she suggests that the viscount could just marry the elder, more attractive sister, Margaret, thereby saving himself the trouble. His wife could then present the other two sisters to find them husbands.

Vanessa, unimpressed with Elliot’s aloof demeanor, knows that if Elliot proposes, it would subject Margaret to a cold marriage borne out of duty. Vanessa has already had a chance at love; she was married before, but widowed when her young husband died of consumption. Elliot accepts her proposal, especially after they embrace in a sort of “sampler kiss” incident.

Vanessa wants to make the most of this marriage, not just to prove to him that she has what it takes, but also for a chance at happiness that eluded her when her first husband died. The surprising development that gives Elliot a ray of hope is the desire that wells up between them from that first kiss and beyond.

There is a complicated background story about Lyngate’s parental history, and the ramifications from that complicate the marriage. Vanessa has to overcome her own personal hangups about her lack of beauty and also the inherent guilt she still feels about the content of her first marriage. It’s a decent start to what will be a five-book series. Just okay.