Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh (Survivors' Club #6)

Synopsis 

Since witnessing the death of her husband during the wars, Imogen, Lady Barclay, has secluded herself in the confines of Hardford Hall, their home in Cornwall. The new owner has failed to take up his inheritance, and Imogen desperately hopes he will never come to disturb her fragile peace.

Percival Hayes, Earl of Hardford, has no interest in the wilds of Cornwall, but when he impulsively decides to pay a visit to his estate there, he is shocked to discover that it is not the ruined heap he had expected. He is equally shocked to find the beautiful widow of his predecessor’s son living there.

Soon Imogen awakens in Percy a passion he has never thought himself capable of feeling. But can he save her from her misery and reawaken her soul? And what will it mean for him if he succeeds?

Review 

For five books, we’ve seen the reserved Imogen Hayes, part of the Survivors’ Club but holding herself apart, a woman who was captured with her husband by the French, heard him tortured and was with him at the end when he died. Imogen was unharmed but broken just the same. We’ve known that it was bad and that out of all of them, perhaps she was the one still most trapped in the wounds from the war. This book gives us her story, a story of a woman whose self-discipline keeps her from falling into a bottomless pit of depression and whose survivor’s guilt keeps her from feeling anything deeply at all. After 8 years, she’s finally shaken awake by a man who is charm itself, except when they interact.

Percy Hayes is bored. He shouldn’t be, but he is. He’s well-liked, well-loved, accomplished, rich, athletic, charismatic, successful with the ladies and smart. Even though he’s fabulously wealthy - good financial planning by his forbearers - he’s become more influential since inheriting of an Earldom 2 years ago. The world is, as they say, his oyster. Horribly drunk on his 30th birthday, he decides that visiting his Earldom’s seat might be a lark. He’s expecting a crumbling, cobwebbed abode, but instead finds it cared for and *inhabited* by 3 women. The older ones he can charm but the younger one, the widow of the man who should have been the Earl, he just keeps saying the wrong things. He finds himself continually being rude and saying whatever he’s thinking, things he shouldn’t say at all... at least not as a gentleman. But despite this, or maybe because of this, he and Imogen form a connection, one that could be the (un)making of them both.

Percy often thinks of Imogen as being made of marble and I think that’s an apt description for the woman that we’ve met previously. But now we finally get to meet the person behind the marble exterior that Imogen has needed to survive. Imogen is quite wonderful; before this book, I wouldn’t have said that. She’s wise and sweet and genuine in all she does. She knows her mind and doesn’t let anyone run her over.

Percy’s also got a wall he hides behind. It’s a wall he doesn’t even realize he has, one that focuses on the pleasant, but Imogen’s not fooled by his charm. Her tendency not to be charmed finds Percy looking despite himself. While Percy is wonderfully charming, it’s the uncensored man I find that I adore. Over and over, when he’s around Imogen, Percy speaks before his brain can censor himself and the man without the artifice is quite endearing.

I really like their relationship because it’s 2 people relating as equals, calling each other to be real. There’s the typical head butting, rationalizing of feelings, and suddenly discovering they’re in love with one another, but neither one puts the other on a pedestal nor is there a difference in their classes. She’s independent and doesn’t need to be rescued from her physical circumstances. This level standing made them one of my favorites.

Beyond their romance there’s a whole lot of stuff that happens! And wow, some of it is pretty stunning! We also get treated to Percy’s family and what a treat they are; healthy relationships and lots of laughter. This is definitely a book to check out. It took a little while for me to get into the book but I think that’s because it took a little while to work past Imogen’s marble wall and Percy’s wall of charm to get the yummy goodness in the center. 

5/5 stars.