Alexander is astute enough to realize that more than a birthmark caused Wren to withdraw from society. Part of the beauty of this novel is the slow unraveling of Wren’s past. He was compelled by her though, because she was human and he had been blessed or cursed with a compassion for human suffering.

He was horrified because he did not want to get drawn into it and because he suspected the pain could engulf her if her poise ever slipped. But it screamed at him from the very depths of her, and he was both horrified and fascinated. It was encased in a coolly poised manner. It was veiled more heavily than her face was, in fact.

What repelled him, paradoxically, was the very thing that had brought him back here. Wren shows him her face and he doesn’t run away screaming into the night like she expects him to. When he’s invited to Wren’s house for tea, he expects it’s just a polite social call, but instead he’s met by a veiled lady who offers him the funds he needs in exchange for marriage.Īlexander is initially mortified and angry, but chills out long enough to realize this might not be all bad. He now has a large, crumbling estate and no money to properly care for it or his tenants. Luckily, she is also wealthy, and she has a neighbor in need of a fortune.Īlexander Wescott has recently, and unexpectedly, become the Earl of Riverdale. When said aunt and uncle pass away, Wren realizes how terribly lonely she is.

Wren was born with a large purple birthmark covering one-half of her face, and she hid at her aunt and uncle’s country estate, content for them to be the only people in her life. Up until the point when the novel opens, she had been living as a recluse, hiding from society. Like a number of Balogh’s books, it’s a romance about healing – especially creating the space in which to heal – and that’s a plotline that works so well for me.Īt the age of twenty-nine, Wren Heyden is firmly on the shelf. Someone to Wed somehow manages to both be a feel-good read and full of emotional catharsis. Theme: Marriage of Convenience, Slow Burn Genre: Historical: European, Regency, Romance

Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh