New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh brilliantly captures the passionate conflict of a woman caught between two loves in this classic tale of friendship, devotion, intrigue—and a love that is the most seductive trap of all….

He’d served with her husband on the battlefield—and secretly desired her for years. Yet for Dominic, Lieutenant Lord Eden, Ellen Simpson has remained tantalizingly out of reach—until she is widowed by the war. Suddenly pursued by the dangerously handsome nobleman, Ellen is stunned by the depth of attraction he arouses in her. Soon their friendship flames into something deeper…and as scandal ignites, marriage seems the only solution. But Ellen has a secret—one she can share with no one—that prevents her from fully opening her heart to Dominic. Until he devises his own plan for the ultimate consummation of their passion—and the woman he is determined to possess at any cost…

Customer Rating:
Summary: Web of Love
Comment: As always Mary Balogh writes a very well written romance. She is one of my favorites. Enjoyed reading this novel. Mary seems to be getting better.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Historical, A Sad Woman, and Redemption
Comment: I have read all three books of this trilogy and I must say they were sometimes intense psychological pictures of characters you would think to meet in any romance novel. But there is just more to them, the author makes these character richer, deeper and left me thinking about them well after starting some other book.

Both these characters seem to be in some dream world of there own creating, mostly to deal with how they thing life SHOULD be. Dominic and carefree doing only one responsible thing in his life and that was to join the military. Our heroine, runs after her real father, following the drum, when she learns the father she thought she had wasn't. Her father dies in that war and she takes up with the first or only man kind to her at 15, proposing marriage and doing her best to make it the best marriage to a man 15 years her elder. (It is overdone how much they love each other that makes it all the sadder to know when her husband dies.)
Then in her ability to care for the wounded while denying her own needs and fears, is just another example of her ability to adjust her world so she can cope. This goes too far as bestfriend of her husband, family friend, and wounded officer as he gets better then becomes lover in 6 days out of 3 weeks recuperating. Then finally reality sets in and the pain and denial. But Ellen grows she returns to the Father she thought was her's and tells him her woes, he accepts her again as he always has. Their is healing and maturity and finally acceptance of the truth on her part. And a seriousness in Dominic as more responsibility is dumped on him and he demands to be able to be accountable for them.

Also, the desciption of Waterloo is so good I found myself looking up places and people that are mentioned in the book. The author does her research exceptionally well. I found the near site on maps of that time online. Well Done!

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but ok
Comment: This author is usually good at establishing reasonable reactions in her characters, but in this case, the basis for the romance (patient-nurse relationship) is somewhat unbelievably sudden. The characters and plot are still reasonably interesting, but it is not my favorite of her books.

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: Another excellent reissue of a Balogh story
Comment: Mary Balogh is one of the most consistent authors of historical romances writing today and "Web of Love," a re-issue of a title originally published in 1990, shows this. It is the second in the "Web" series following "The Gilded Web" (reissued last year) which follows the three Raine siblings, Edmund, Earl of Amberley ("The Gilded Web"), Dominic, Lord Eden ("Web of Love") and Madeleine Raine ("The Devil's Web", to be reissued in December 2007).

Mary Balogh's books often have similar themes and this is no different. The Battle of Waterloo and its aftermath plays a significant part in this story (rather like "Slightly Sinful") when Lord Eden is wounded and is tended by the widow of his friend, Charlie Simpson. Charlie's widow Ellen has been following the drum for ten years and in her matter-of-fact, comfortable nature is rather like Sophie in "Irresistible". There is also a disfigured and wounded character who begins to learn about his new limitations and yet new possibilities, particularly in art (like Sydnam Butler in "Simply Love"). And yet although there are some similarities of themes within her books, overall they always seem to work well as standalone novels with far more to them then just romance.

Ellen Simpson and her husband Charlie are deeply in love. And yet as the book starts, she begins to notice Dominic, Lord Eden, as slightly more than her husband's best friend. She ignores this, of course, and sees them both off into battle whilst looking after her stepdaughter, Jennifer. The build-up to the battle is well written as the characters in the story try not to think too much about the possible death and injury and live each day at a time. We also meet the hero and heroine from the first book in this series, the Earl and Countess of Amberley, three years after that story ends and with two children. Amberley's family take Jennifer back to England before the outbreak of the war but Ellen stays with her husband, as always, in Brussels - as does Madeleine, Lord Eden's twin, staying with a friend elsewhere. As reports of the fighting come in Ellen and Madeleine prepare to treat the wounded. Eventually Eden is returned to Ellen's house dangerously wounded and with the news that Charlie has been killed. Ellen nurses him with great care and Madeleine finds herself nursing Lieutenant Allan Penworth who has lost a leg and an eye in the battle. Yet Ellen's time with Dominic, Lord Eden, leads to rather more than they both initially expect before guilt causes Ellen to ask him to keep away from her.

On returning to England, however, Ellen finds herself occasionally in company with Lord Eden. And there's a rather important piece of information she needs to give him but she cannot bring herself to. She ends up staying at Amberley with Jennifer and the Earl and Countess, as well as Madeleine and Lieutenant Penworth and several other people, and learns that she cannot keep all her own secrets as other people are involved.

In some ways the romantic element is less important in this story than some of the others. The focus is a little more on the war and how it can affect families, changing them not only by deaths but also by injury. Dominic appeared as a rather shallow person in the first book in this series and in this novel he sometimes seems rather carefree, acknowledging to himself that he tumbles into love rather readily. Ellen is a very different character, one of steadiness and deep emotion, and yet it wasn't always easy to get into her mind. Neither person's character particularly changes or grows in this story, it is more a case of Dominic finally finding what he has been looking for and Ellen understanding that it is possible to love more than one man in a lifetime. This was, however, an excellent read and will no doubt be much enjoyed by Mary Balogh's fans.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

---

Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the stupidest books I have ever read.
Comment: This is one of the stupidest books I have ever read, I couldn't even finish it. The dialog is inane and bordering on the ridiculous at times. The characters are shallow and one dimensional. They often exhibit juvenile and selfish behavior that makes them extremely unlikeable.
The overall plot makes no sense. The author spends the first 100 pages describing the passionate (and borderline obsessive) love between the female lead and her first husband. Then her husband dies in battle, so she shrugs her shoulders and falls madly in love with her husband's best friend in a matter of weeks. I will admit that this is where I stopped reading, so if the story picks up dramatically after page 180, I apologize.

---