"Dark Angel" and "Lord Carew's Bride" by Mary Balogh

I really enjoy Mary Balogh's writing.  It's gentle yet intriguing and feels like it was written during the times her historical romances take place.  So I was happy to find this reissue of two of her earlier books at the big MRRL book sale a few months ago, because I had not heard of either one.  They were both published in 1994 and contain many of the same characters, including the awful villain.

In "Dark Angel," cousins Jennifer and Samantha travel from their country home to London to make their debuts in society.  Jennifer is 20 and has been betrothed to Viscount Kersey, a man she hardly knows but deeply loves, for five years.  After having to put off her debut for several years in order to wait for him to be in London at the same time, she and Samantha, who is 18, finally arrive.  Unfortunately, Gabriel, the Earl of Thornhill, is out for revenge against Kersey, and has set his sights on winning Jennifer away from him to do it.  Scandal, heartbreak, hidden secrets, and redemption make this another winner from Balogh.

"Lord Carew's Bride" is Samantha's story and takes place six years after the end of "Dark Angel."  During a visit to her cousin, Jennifer, she meets Hartley Wade while trespassing on the Marquess of Carew's vast estate.  They become fast friends, but only friends, and meet several more times before she has to return to London.  Samantha has put herself "on the shelf" in order to avoid a repeat of the tremendous pain of heartbreak that she suffered years ago, but Hartley has other ideas about their future.  Like other Balogh stories, this one features a hero with physical handicaps and average looks.  How he deals with them and the villain are quite unusual.

I enjoyed both stories and could see how Balogh's writing has improved over the years to make her one of the best historical romance authors working today.  593 pages.