The Escape by Mary Balogh (English) Paperback Book

Description: The Escape by Mary Balogh NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERIn this poignant novel of longing and salvation, a hopeful widow and a resilient war hero discover the promise of loves magic and new beginnings. After surviving the Napoleonic Wars, Sir Benedict Harper is struggling to move on, his body and spirit in need of a healing touch. Never does Ben imagine that hope will come in the form of a beautiful woman who has seen her own share of suffering. After the lingering death of her husband, Samantha McKay is at the mercy of her oppressive in-laws—until she plots an escape to distant Wales to claim a house she has inherited. Being a gentleman, Ben insists that he escort her on the fateful journey. Ben wants Samantha as much as she wants him, but he is cautious. What can a wounded soul offer any woman? Samantha is ready to go where fate takes her, to leave behind polite society and even propriety in her desire for this handsome, honorable soldier. But dare she offer her bruised heart as well as her body? The answers to both their questions may be found in an unlikely place: in each others arms.Includes Mary Baloghs charming short story, "The Suitor."Praise for The Escape "Bestseller [Mary] Balogh delivers an outstanding third installment of her Survivors Club series. . . . This exquisitely written Regency will appeal to Baloghs legions of fans."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A heroine who has never felt valued and a hero in search of a new purpose learn to take life as it comes and live each moment to the fullest. This tender, deeply insightful, and beautifully plotted romance shimmers with hope, possibility, and love."—Library Journal (starred review) "Regency romance star Balogh continues her poignant Survivors Club series with a quietly intense love story that speaks to open-heartedness, courage and faith in new beginnings."—Kirkus Reviews "A beautifully rendered love story of two wounded and lost souls who find each other and together discover strength and love. Tender, touching and mature, Baloghs story slowly unfolds, reaching deep into the characters emotions demonstrating how love empowers, heals and redeems. Everything about this story is lovely and near perfect."—RT Book Reviews (4-1/2 stars, Top Pick) "The Escape is such an apt title—two people escape from unhappy pasts, finding love in their mutual journey. Their capacity for happiness astonishes and delights them and the reader, as they both so deserve their hard-won happily-ever-after."—Heroes and Heartbreakers "The Escape is full of excitement, adventure, and enchanting romance. The main characters are so well-developed, and Mary Balogh does such a wonderful job giving the reader a window into their thoughts, that by the end of the book you feel as though you know them intimately."—Fresh Fiction FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Mary Balogh is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including The Proposal and The Arrangement, the acclaimed Slightly and Simply novels, the Mistress trilogy, and the five titles in her Huxtable series: First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Seduction, At Last Comes Love, Seducing an Angel, and A Secret Affair. A former teacher, she grew up in Wales and now lives in Canada. Review "Bestseller [Mary] Balogh delivers an outstanding third installment of her Survivors Club series. . . . This exquisitely written Regency will appeal to Baloghs legions of fans."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A heroine who has never felt valued and a hero in search of a new purpose learn to take life as it comes and live each moment to the fullest. This tender, deeply insightful, and beautifully plotted romance shimmers with hope, possibility, and love."—Library Journal (starred review) "Regency romance star Balogh continues her poignant Survivors Club series with a quietly intense love story that speaks to open-heartedness, courage and faith in new beginnings."—Kirkus Reviews "A beautifully rendered love story of two wounded and lost souls who find each other and together discover strength and love. Tender, touching and mature, Baloghs story slowly unfolds, reaching deep into the characters emotions demonstrating how love empowers, heals and redeems. Everything about this story is lovely and near perfect."—RT Book Reviews (4-1/2 stars, Top Pick) "The Escape is such an apt title—two people escape from unhappy pasts, finding love in their mutual journey. Their capacity for happiness astonishes and delights them and the reader, as they both so deserve their hard-won happily-ever-after."—Heroes and Heartbreakers "The Escape is full of excitement, adventure, and enchanting romance. The main characters are so well-developed, and Mary Balogh does such a wonderful job giving the reader a window into their thoughts, that by the end of the book you feel as though you know them intimately."—Fresh Fiction Review Quote "Bestseller [Mary] Balogh delivers an outstanding third installment of her Survivors Club series. . . . This exquisitely written Regency will appeal to Baloghs legions of fans." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Excerpt from Book 9780345536068 excerpt Balogh / THE ESCAPE 1 The hour was approaching midnight, but no one was making any move to retire to bed. "You are going to find it mighty peaceful around here after we have all left, George," Ralph Stockwood, Earl of Berwick, remarked. "It will be quiet, certainly." The Duke of Stanbrook looked about the circle of six guests gathered in the drawing room at Penderris Hall, his country home in Cornwall, and his eyes paused fondly on each of them in turn before moving on. "Yes, and peaceful too, Ralph. But I am going to miss you all damnably." "You will be c-counting your blessings, George," said Flavian Arnott, Viscount Ponsonby, "as soon as you realize you will not have to listen to Vince scraping away on his v-violin for another whole year." "Or the cats howling in ecstasy along with the music it creates," Vincent Hunt, Viscount Darleigh, added. "You might as well mention that too, Flave. There is no need to consider my sensibilities." "You play with a great deal more competence than you did last year, Vincent," Imogen Hayes, Lady Barclay, assured him. "By next year I do not doubt you will have improved even further. You are a marvel and an inspiration to us all." "I may even dance to one of your tunes one of these days, provided it is not too sprightly, Vince." Sir Benedict Harper looked ruefully at the two canes propped against the arm of his chair. "You are not by any chance harboring a hope that we will all decide to stay a year or two longer in- stead of leaving tomorrow, George?" Hugo Emes, Lord Trentham, asked, sounding almost wistful. "I have never known three weeks to pass by so quickly. We arrived here, we blinked, and now it is time to go our separate ways again." "George is far too p-polite to say a bald no, Hugo," Flavian told him. "But life calls us hence, alas." They were feeling somewhat maudlin, the seven of them, the members of the self-styled Survivors Club. Once, they had all spent several years here at Penderris, recuperating from wounds sustained during the Napoleonic Wars. Although each had had to fight a lone battle toward recovery, they had also aided and supported one another and grown as close as any brothers--and sister. When the time had come for them to leave, to make new lives for themselves or to retrieve the old, they had gone with mingled eagerness and trepidation. Life was for living, they had all agreed, yet the cocoon in which they had been wrapped for so long had kept them safe and even happy. They had decided that they would return to Cornwall for a few weeks each year to keep alive their friendship, to share their experiences of life beyond the familiar confines of Penderris, and to help with any difficulty that may have arisen for one or more of them. This had been the third such gathering. But now it was over for another year, or would be on the morrow. Hugo got to his feet and stretched, expanding his already impressive girth, none of which owed anything to fat. He was the tallest and broadest of them, and the most fierce-looking, with his close-cropped hair and frequent frown. "The devil of it is that I do not want to put an end to any of this," he said. "But if I am to make an early start in the morning, then I had better get to bed." It was the signal for them all to rise. Most had lengthy journeys to make and hoped for an early departure. Sir Benedict was the slowest to get to his feet. He had to gather his canes to his sides, slip his arms through the straps he had contrived, and haul himself painstakingly upward. Any of the others would have been glad to offer a helping hand, of course, but they knew better than to do so. They were all fiercely independent despite their various disabilities. Vincent, for example, would leave the room and climb the stairs to his own chamber unassisted despite the fact that he was blind. On the other hand, they would all wait for their slower friend and match their steps to his as they climbed the stairs. "P-pretty soon, Ben," Flavian said, "you are going to be able to do that in under a minute." "Better than two, as it was last year," Ralph said. "That really was a bit of a yawn, Ben." They would not resist the urge to jab at him and tease him--except, perhaps, Imogen. "Even two is remarkable for someone who was once told he must have both legs amputated if his life was to be saved," she said. "You are depressed, Ben." Hugo paused midstretch to make the observation. Benedict shot him a glance. "Just tired. It is late, and we are at the wrong end of our three-week stay. I always hate goodbyes." "No," Imogen said, "it is more than that, Ben. Hugo is not the only one to have noticed. We all have, but it has never come up during our nightly sessions." They had sat up late most nights during the past three weeks, as they did each year, sharing some of their deeper concerns and insecurities--and triumphs. They kept few secrets from one another. There were always some, of course. Ones soul could never be laid quite bare to another person, no matter how close a friend. Ben had held his own soul close this year. He had been depressed. He still was. He felt chagrined, though, that he had not hidden his mood better. "Perhaps we are intruding where no help or sympathy is wanted," the duke said. "Are we, Benedict? Or shall we sit back down and discuss it?" "After I have just made the herculean effort to get up? And when everyone is about to totter off to bed in order to look fresh and beautiful in the morning?" Ben laughed, but no one else shared his amusement. "You are depressed, Ben," Vincent said. "Even I have noticed." The others all sat again, and Ben, with a sigh, resumed his own seat. He had so nearly got away with it. "No one likes to be a whiner," he told them. "Whiners are dead bores." "Agreed." George smiled. "But you have never been a whiner, Benedict. None of us has. The rest of us would not have put up with it. Admitting problems, asking for help or even just for a friendly ear, is not whining. It is merely drawing upon the collective sympathies of people who know almost exactly what you are going through. Your legs are paining you, are they?" "I never resent a bit of pain," Ben said without denying it. "At least it reminds me that I still have my legs." "But--?" George had not himself fought in the wars, though he had once been a military officer. His only son had fought, though, and had died in Portugal. His wife, the boys mother, perhaps overcome with grief, flung herself to her death from the cliffs at the edge of the estate not long after. When he had opened his home to the six of them, as well as to others, George had been as wounded as any of them. He probably still was. "I will walk. I do walk after a fashion. And I will dance one day." Ben smiled ruefully. That had always been his boast, and the others often teased him about it. No one teased now. "But--?" It was Hugo this time. "But I will never do either as I once did," Ben said. "I suppose I have known it for a long time. I would be a fool not to have done so. But it has taken me six years to face up to the fact that I will never walk more than a few steps without my canes--plural--and that I will never move more than haltingly with them. I will never get my life back as it was. I will always be a cripple." "A harsh word, that," Ralph said with a frown. "And a bit defeatist?" "It is the simple truth," Ben said firmly. "It is time to accept reality." The duke rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and steepled his fingers. "And accepting reality involves giving up and calling yourself a cripple?" he said. "You would never have got up off your bed, Benedict, if you had done that from the start. Indeed, you would have agreed to allow the army sawbones to relieve you of your legs altogether." "Admitting the truth does not mean giving up," Ben told him. "But it does mean assessing reality and adjusting my life accordingly. I was a career military officer and never envisaged any other life for myself. I did not want any other life. I was going to end up a general. I have lived and toiled for the day when I could have that old life back. It is not going to happen, though. It never was. It is time I admitted it openly and dealt with it." "You cannot be happy with a life outside the army?" Imogen asked. "Oh, I can be," Ben assured her. "Of course I can. And will. It is just that I have spent six years denying real- ity, with the result that at this late date I still have no idea what the future does hold for me. Or what I want of the future. I have wasted those years yearning for a past that is long gone and will never return. You see? I am whining, and you could all be sleeping peacefully in your beds by now." "I would r-rather be here," Flavian said. "If one of us ever goes away from here unhappy because he c-couldnt bring himself to confide in the rest of us, then we m-might as well stop coming. George lives at the back of beyond here in Cornwall, after all. Who would want to c-come just for the scenery?" "He is right, Ben." Vincent grinned. "I would not come for the scenery." "You are not going home when you leave here, Ben," George said. It was a statement, not a question. "Beatrice--my sister--needs company," Ben explained with a shrug. "She had a lingering chill through the winter and is only now getting her strength bac Details ISBN0345536061 Author Mary Balogh Short Title ESCAPE Language English ISBN-10 0345536061 ISBN-13 9780345536068 Media Book Residence Saskatchewan, -CN Series A Survivors Club Novel Year 2014 Publication Date 2014-07-01 DEWEY 823.914 Series Number 3 Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2014-07-01 NZ Release Date 2014-07-01 US Release Date 2014-07-01 UK Release Date 2014-07-01 Place of Publication New York Pages 416 Publisher Random House USA Inc Format Paperback Imprint Dell Publishing Co Inc.,U.S. Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:137574271;

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