In the last Westcott book, we learned a surprise about Mathilda’s past- she had a disappointment in love and so had he and then they met again with that old magic still there. I needed that story… and, here it is. It was all I could have hoped for in a reunion romance.
Review

Someone to Remember is the seventh installment of the Westcott series. Each could be read standalone in a pinch. However, the further one gets in the series, the harder it is to read standalone since there is a great deal of family togetherness and references back to their connections.

Mathilda, oldest daughter of the Dowager Countess, has long since been on the shelf. She has been living out her days fussing over a mother who doesn’t need the fussing. Her life is gray and she tries to be content. Until she encounters Charles once again while on a family mission for her niece Abigail. He is all that she remembered and regrets. She pushed him away when her parents declared him unsuitable and has wondered for over thirty years if she was right to do so- he certainly lived up to his rakish reputation. But… Now, they are in company again and she knows that she never stopped loving him, but can it still matter?

Charles once loved Mathilda and they spoke their love and then she pushed him away because of his reputation. If he had the rep before that, he certainly added to it afterwards and didn’t give it up until later. His encounters with her are unsettling and he’s angry with her for making him feel when he thought he got past all that decades before. But, he can’t stay away from her and finds himself escorting her to the places where their tenderest moments happened. Dare he try again with an older, mature Mathilda? Would her answer be different?

This was a long novella and this second chance reunion romance fit into that shorter page count perfectly. It was as developed as the author’s longer works, brought out the emotions, and engaged the reader with the characters and their romance. I liked how it explored their past and why it didn’t worked, who they were then and now, and how a renewed romance would work in their present. Mathilda has to step out of the gray shadows and she is a lovely personage when she emerges. Charles is right there to encourage her even while coming to terms that his own behavior in the past led to her rejection and now he must show that he’s not that young rakehell and that his family would welcome her with open arms. For those who wanted a bit more with Gil and his father, this is explored a little, too.

This one was light and full of tender romance and I adored it. Now, I’m looking forward to the next Westcott series installment. This is a great series for those who love Regency era romance with a focus on family and personal growth as much as the slow-burn lightly spiced romances.

My thanks to Berkley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

h. To see Matlida break free from her constraints and start to enjoy life was so much fun to read. You always knew she had a little something extra and I loved seeing Charles bring that side of her out.

I also loved the honest and mature way that both of these characters dealt with the past. It wasn't an easy road but it wasn't tedious either. They both made mistakes in their lives that had caused themselves pain but in the end, it was these decisions that allowed them to appreciate what they have now.

A whimsical and magical story of forgiving the past and finding love again!

******Received a review copy from Netgalley*******

A bittersweet and tender romance!

After reading 'Someone to Honor' I noted 'the amazingly secretive meeting of Aunt Matilda (Lady Matilda Westcott) with someone she has previously known,' and exclaimed, 'therein lies a story!'
Therein did lie a story! A story of lost dreams, of lives taking different paths and an endearing love lying hidden for more than thirty-six years, pushed into the depths of the couple in question's respective hearts, until they meet again.
Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson, and natural father to Gil Bennington, now married to Abigail Westcott, and Matilda's niece, loved Matilda when he was twenty. Charles had proposed but had been refused by Matilda as her parents disapproved of him and his lifestyle. Matilda has never married, despite various opportunities, and had reconciled herself to being a loving aunt and her mother's somewhat put upon companion.
Recently, unbeknownst to all but her nephew Bertrand, Matilda had visited Charles to ask him to assist Gil in a custody case for his daughter Katy. As a result the Westcott family has invited Charles to a social gathering 'en famille' to thank him. Charles and Matilda (upon inner reflection and to their own disturbance) find that that the attraction they had for other all those years ago has not lessened.
This is a delightful story of 'second chance' love. And the fact that it is with their 'first chance' love, the road not taken so long ago, makes the story even more bittersweet.
(A little digression, apparently this sub genre is being referred to as 'seasoned', to me a rather ghastly term as it conjures up a seasoned roast chicken or a slab of beef. Not an attractive thought to have ricocheting around in my head! So I am using 'second chance' until some enlightened soul finds a more endearing term.)
Back to the story! I loved that Matilda enjoys traveling in curricles. As we're so enchantingly told Matilda, "remembered that heady feeling of being much farther off the ground than she had expected. The feeling of danger and exhilaration. She laughed aloud." Wonderful!
I love that this apparently staid spinsterish, middle aged woman is a secret rebel with a heart for adventure, who would like nothing better than for Charles to "spring the horses."
Balogh has given us a poignant and at times whimsical (due to the two delightfully reflective and original lead characters) romance that pulls at the heartstrings.

A Berkley Group ARC via NetGalley

So happy to have finally been able to read this book! Matilda Westcott has been a background character in all of the Westcott novels before this one. A fussy prim and proper “spinster”, Matilda nonetheless has had a sparked about her where you just knew there was something there. In the last book she shockingly went to a gentleman’s home to have him intervene in a court case involving his natural born son. That little episode was the first sign of who Matilda’s lost love might have been.
I just love a second chance romance and especially one that involves people of a certain age. When Matilda and Charles, Viscount Dirksen reunite it makes you just go ahh because she so deserves her HEA and it will be a fun life with a one-time rake who has loved her all these years.
My only quibble is it being a novella because I would have enjoyed a longer read. That said, it was very satisfying to read at long last.

**4.5 Stars**

How does Mary Balogh get me to invest more of my emotions in a ten chapter novella than many authors do in a full novel? She’s a magician, and the pen (or keyboard) is her wand. I’m sure of it. Mary Balogh novels are always chalked full of characters. SO many characters that I am never sure if I’ll be able to get into the book. Then the romance heats up, and I’m sold.

SOMEONE TO REMEMBER is a profoundly romantic second chance romance between two adults in their mid-fifties, how awesome is that? Matilda is a confirmed spinster who dotes on her ungrateful mother. Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson is a widower, father to grown children, and the man Matilda fell in love with more than 30 years prior. When they’re brought together by the Westcott brood, their fascination with each other is immediately rekindled.

As in all Mary Balogh’s books, the writing is quiet and exquisitely romantic. There are passages in this novella that made my heart squeeze and put tears in my eyes from the pure romance of Ms. Balogh’s prose. I loved that Matilda is a 50 something spinster, looks, and acts her age, yet Charles still sees the woman she is under all the starch. Their deep fascination and respect for each other are apparent in every word, and I simply loved it.

I do think the novella is a little hard to read, especially at the beginning, because there are just SO many characters. I also felt the ending was a tad rushed. But that didn’t take away from my obsession with this novella in any way.

Overall, I think that Mary Balogh is one of the most underrated historical romance authors currently, and she deserves all the accolades for this beautiful story. Her stories are quieter than many books being published today, but are simply incredible reads. I feel a backlist binge read coming on.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

As you all know I love this series and this family so I was very excited to get my hands on this next book. This short and sweet, Westcott Series novella is our chance to get to know Matilda’s story. While I love that we get to know Matilda and Charles better I feel like this story should have been a full length novel of its own. I feel like by making this a novella the story was rushed and when it ended I was left wanting more. Don’t get me wrong just like the rest of the Westcott Series this book was well written and the characters have the depth I have come to expect from this author. It’s the story that I didn’t get enough of. I would have loved to have learned more about Matilda and Charles’ early romance considering the amount of devastation experienced by them both in its ending. This was a love that caused Matilda to never marry and devote her life to overprotecting her mother while leading Charles’ into living the life of a rogue, and siring a bastard before eventually marrying another. The few references to that time in their story suggest the kind of love that make me love reading romance. I think giving us that story as well as how their story ends would have given this book a true value as part of the series.

I did enjoy this book, I just wish there would have been more.

“I keep waiting to wake up,” she said at last.
“So do I,” he told her. “But while we are both asleep, shall we share the dream?”

A truly delightful novella in the Westcott series!

I’ve been on something of a historical binge lately, and Mary Balogh has fast become a favorite of mine. I’ve read several series by her already, and when I started this particular one, I had no idea that the fussy Aunt Matilda would soon get her (long awaited) HEA. It’s a rewarding, easy, and sweet second chance romance, and absolutely fitting for a woman who has proved to have a touch of romanticism about her despite her spinster status. I couldn’t help but ache for the missed chance, the lost years, but I absolutely loved seeing an “older” couple find love—both characters are fifty-six, FYI.

As always with this author, I am left wanting the next book in the series but happy to have experienced such a lovely book.

If you have been following the Westcott series, you know that at the end of Someone to Honor, Lady Matilda Westcott – Abigail’s maiden aunt, goes to see Charles Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson and asks him to help Gilbert get custody of his daughter. In that book, it is clear to the reader that Charles and Matilda share a past and did not part on the best of terms, but the reader is never enlightened about what transpired and when.

Lady Matilda acts as caregiver/companion to her mother, the dowager Countess of Riverdale, she is fifty-six and has never married, but that doesn’t mean she was never in love or never wanted to marry, truth is, she was in love and wanted to marry Charles Sawyer, but her parents forbid the match and Matilda sent him away. Looking back, she believes it was the right choice, Charles went on to father an illegitimate child (Gilbert) and became a renowned rake, even after he married and sired 3 children. Matilda will admit to herself that she never stopped loving Charles, but wonders if he ever really loved her. It took all her courage to seek him out to help Abigail’s husband Gilbert and talking to him stirred up old feelings she has tried hard to bury. She was sure the worst was over, but now she has been invited to a family dinner honoring him for his assistance.

Charles doesn’t want to go to dinner any more than Matilda wants him there, but a small part of him needs to know why he has never forgotten her and why she is the only woman he has ever loved. At dinner he is annoyed about how she is treated by her mother and how her family largely ignores her, he tries to talk to her, but she brushes him off. Later when some of the young adult children want to visit Kew Gardens, Charles volunteers to chaperon and asks Matilda to help.
She goes to the gardens and is assaulted by memories of her courtship with Charles, later at the top of pagoda, he kisses her – just like he did 36 years ago. Thus begins a sweet courtship of two people who made mistakes years ago and are lucky enough to be granted a second chance at love.

This was a very sweet read, no real conflict, no drama and no villains, just two older people recapturing a love they shared 36 years ago. It is short, but well written and paced nicely, the love scenes are limited to kisses and the “courtship” does move rather quickly, but I felt considering their shared past, it was believable and I was rooting for their HEA.

This is the seventh book in the series, but it can easily be a stand-alone, however, if you read Someone to Honor – you will definitely want to read this book too, because it will answer the lingering questions you might have had at the end of that story. Either way, it is a very sweet read and I am happy to recommend it.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an uncorrected eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

Someone to Remember is the seventh (and penultimate?) instalment in Mary Balogh’s Westcott saga, which has followed the fortunes of the various members of the large and close-knit Westcott family after the discovery that the late Humphrey Westcott, Earl of Riverdale, had committed bigamy and that his second marriage was therefore invalid.  This discovery naturally had serious repercussions; his son and two daughters lost titles, fortunes and status; his widow couldn’t even claim to have been a wife, and the earldom diverted to a cousin who didn’t want it. Through six books, readers have followed the fortunes of various family members in the wake of these events, and now we come to Matilda, Humphrey’s older sister, a woman of mature years – fifty-six – who has appeared throughout the series as the dutiful spinster aunt who fusses over her mother because it’s something to do and has gradually faded into the background.

In order to understand the relationship in Someone to Remember, it’s necessary to refer back to the previous book in the series, Someone to Honor, so please be aware that this review contains spoilers for that book. Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Bennington returned from fighting at Waterloo to discover his late wife had left their four-year-old daughter in the care of her parents, who are now refusing to return her to his care. Although Gil was an officer, his illegitimacy and humble origins made him unacceptable to his in-laws; his father was a nobleman – Viscount Dirkson – but his mother was the daughter of a blacksmith who refused all offers of support from the viscount, and allowed Gil to believe that he had washed his hands of them.  When Gil joined the army, Dirkson purchased a commission for him, but after that Gil made it clear that he wanted nothing more to do with him.

But when Abigail Westcott married Gil, the entire Westcott clan naturally became interested in the situation; and when Matilda learned that Dirkson was Gil’s father, she took the unprecedented – and rather scandalous – step of paying a call upon the gentleman at his home in order to ask him to speak for Gil at the upcoming custody hearing.  It was clear from the moment Dirkson’s name was mentioned that he and Matilda had some shared history, and it’s soon revealed that they had once been in love and hoped to marry, but that Matilda’s parents had opposed the match and persuaded her to give him up.

When Someone to Remember opens, Alex, the Earl of Riverdale, announces that he has invited the viscount to dinner by way of thanks for his help and support in the custody case.  Matilda is profoundly unsettled by this turn of events, but puts a brave face on it, telling herself that she can manage to spend one evening in company with the man with whom she’d once been deeply in love.  She already knows he has aged well, that he’s still handsome and vital, whereas she herself has become somewhat drab and disregarded, especially by her mother, who almost never has a kind word to say to or about her.

Dirkson is hugely conflicted over seeing Matilda again.  On the one hand, he’s angry with her for stirring up emotions he’d thought long dead and buried, but on the other, he can’t seem to stay away from her.  But his anger soon turns from being directed towards Matilda to anger on her behalf when he realizes how invisible she has become to her family.  They don’t mistreat her or ignore her, but none of them really see her:

She was a person by God, even if she was past the age of fifty.  Even if she was a spinster.  She deserved a life.

Someone to Remember is a gentle, charming story of love lost and found.  There’s not a lot of plot, but Mary Balogh excels when it comes to exploring emotions, character and relationships, and she packs quite a lot of that into the short page-count as Matilda and Charles think back on their youthful relationship, ponder their mis-steps and how their choices have shaped their lives ever since.  The best thing about the story, though, is watching Matilda transform from a woman who had dwindled into a shadow of her former self into one revitalised by love and happiness. When we first met her earlier in the series, she came across as a rather stereotypical spinster aunt, somewhat fussy and always on the verge of reaching for the smelling salts, but as the series has progressed, she has been revealed to be a more complex character, one with a dry wit and sense of humour that is perhaps a little rusty from disuse, and a woman with a mind of her own who is compassionate and deeply loyal to her family and those she loves.  Fellow reviewer Janet Webb wrote an interesting piece on Matilda’s presence and influence throughout the series, and if you’ve read it, many of the pointers to the things that have brought Matilda to this point in life have been dotted throughout the series like a trail of breadcrumbs, and it’s been masterfully done.

Dirkson’s backstory isn’t one filled with sunshine and roses either.  After Matilda rejected him, he went off the rails a little (and had the affair that produced Gil) and earned himself a reputation as a rake of the first order.  His marriage was arranged and while not unhappy, was not one in which either party felt love or passion for the other (he was wayward and she had no real interest in men) but the connection he feels to Matilda has endured and starts coming back to life as he realises that he very much wants to take advantage of the second chance life is offering him.

There’s an engaging secondary cast consisting of the younger generation of Westcotts, I enjoyed watching Matilda’s mother admit to having made a mistake when she talked her daughter out of marrying Dirkson -and for anyone wondering about the state of Gil’s relationship with his father, there’s more on that, too.  Someone to Remember is a quiet story but a satisfying one that shows it’s never too late to find – or rekindle – love.

Note: The Amazon listing says this is 272 pages (and it’s priced accordingly), but Someone to Remember is a novella of around 110 pages; the rest of the page count is taken up with sample chapters of other books in the series.

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After a failed romance, Madilda has resigned herself to the life of an aging spinster daughter and aunt as well as the caretaker of her mother. But when her old beau comes back into her life, she starts to think that there might be more in store for her than what she thought.

Charles never imagined that after so many years he would still have feelings for Matilda. But after spending time with her, he becomes determined to remain in her life...permanently.

Can these two find their way back to one another?

I absolutely adored Matilda and Charles story. It is not often that you get a historical romance where the H/H are old enough to be grandparents. I loved watching these two find their way back to one another after so many years! This novella was a wonderful addition to the Westcott series!

Recommended Read.! SOMEONE TO REMEMBER is perfection. I laughed, cried, smiled, and sighed my way through this novella. It is utterly lovely, and the sweetest midlife romance. Author Mary Balogh infinitely reigns as the Regency romance queen.

Charles and Matilda are enchanting together. Matilda is flawlessly designed as the suffering spinster, fussing over her aging mother, who decidedly does not want her assistance. Matilda’s first and only love, the notorious rake, Viscount Dirkson — her Charles — has never forgotten their moment in time. Can they really have a second chance?

Mary Balogh illustrates unrequited love with such heartache and longing that you can’t help but want more for these aging characters. Is it ever too late to rekindle love lost? In addition, she executes an outing with young people, and this couple as their chaperones, beautifully. It’s always such a joy to reenter the worlds Balogh lavishly creates.

As always, the author does so many things beyond compare in SOMEONE TO REMEMBER. Fans will adore glimpses of their favorite characters from the Westcott series. Avery, Duke of Netherby, was, as always, his “quite so” self while wielding his quizzing glass. He is my favorite, so I was thrilled with his appearance.

Even those who haven’t read the entire series are given enough explanation to hopefully entice them to read more. They won’t be disappointed. I love this series and have only missed one book (SOMEONE TO HONOR) which I hope to remedy soon.

Although this addition to the Westcott series is shorter than the other books, nothing is lacking. Balogh knows how to touch the reader with her words, no matter the length, and, truthfully, sometimes I love sinking into a quick love story just like this. Its length is the reason I chose to review it over SOMEONE TO HONOR.

Balogh is a master at depicting large gatherings. The confusion of everyone talking at once is brilliantly explored, making me laugh and anticipate more. Matilda is a perfect, ageless heroine. She blossoms before the reader, and it’s the best kind of character development. Charles is exactly who he should be for Matilda, making me adore him for admitting what they lost, then gained.

I am one happy Balogh fan. More, just like this, please!

Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies.

I have read all the books in the Westcott series. Some I have loved, some I've been a bit hesitant and some I've struggled with. This one was amazing and I am so so happy that Matilda got her story told.

Matilda is the oldest daughter of the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, the matriarch of the Westcott clan. She is content to be her mother's caretaker and watch her nieces and nephews grow up. When Matilda's niece Abigail marries abruptly and her husband needs help, Matilda has a connection that could possibly set everything right. This connection will also bring her face to face with the man she was in love with thirty years ago. It also brings about the thought of what might be if she has the courage to take it.

Matlida has been the aging aunt who fusses over her aging mother. They show up to help and cluck and it's been annoying in the past books. In Someone to Trust while Elizabeth is trying to figure things out, Matilda quietly comes to her rescue with perfect advice. The words of someone who has been in her shoes and made the wrong choice. I was intrigued and instantly wanted to know what had happened to Matilda. Then she is instrumental in helping Gil and Abigail and I was thrilled. There was an interesting, likable woman underneath the fussbudget.

Finally Matilda gets her own story, a second chance. I loved it. Charles and Matilda get a moment and it is not in their younger years. I adored this novella.

Someone to Remember by Mary Balogh is the 7th book in her wonderful Westcott series. I have said this before, I love this series, even though I do not read a lot of historical romances, but this is very well written by Balogh, with wonderful recurring characters that we get to revisit in the Westcott family.

Matilda Westcott, our heroine, is considered a spinster by her family, due to her spending most of her life caring for her unappreciative mother. Matilda, who is now 56 years old, has never forgotten the man she loved and gave up 36 years ago.

Charles Sawyer (Viscount Dirkson), our hero, was surprised when Matilda came to visit him (in previous book) to plead for his help for his illegitimate son. Once he stepped forward to help, Charles did not expect to run into Matilda again. But the Westcott family is huge, and since Charles did help Gil and Abby, they invited him to a dinner hosted by the Earl of Riverdale. Charles unexpectedly finds himself feeling his attraction to Matilda reemerging, and begins to make an attempt to win her back after all those years. Will 36 years of no romance allow Matilda to open her heart to Charles again?

After the dinner is over, the young adults of the family plan an excursion, but the family insists they have chaperones. Charles agrees to serve as chaperone, as long as Matilda also comes to help. After a little pressure from the young family members, Matilda agrees and they end up spending a lot of time enjoying themselves, as well as ruminating about the past.

What follows is a beautiful sweet story that brings Charles and Matilda together in a slow build rediscovery of a love that never left. I really enjoyed watching Charles convince Matilda that he still loves her, and Matilda allowing herself to finally give in to her love for Charles.
It was wonderful to see all the Westcott’s again, especially the younger members of the family. This is a big family, and we get to see many of them in each book, which is always fun. The romance between Charles and Matilda was wonderful to watch, with so many emotions, both sad and sweet. I always thought Matilda’s mother was too hard on her over the years, but it was great to see the change; especially with her mother now being very supportive of her and Charles.

I do not read a lot of historical romances, but I plan on reading every book in this series. I can’t say enough about Mary Balogh’s writing, as the Westcott series is a ‘do not miss’. If you enjoy regency romance with great couples and secondary characters, you should be reading this one. Someone to Remember is another fabulous fun heartwarming story in this fantastic series.

Someone to Remember is the 7th installment to Mary Balogh's Wescott series. I would call it book #6.5 since it is the length of a novella, but that's just me. It shines light on an older member of the Wescott family, Matilda, who has been cast until now as the spinster aunt who is a bit of a romantic.

After finishing Someone to Honor, I was intrigued by Matilda's past with Viscount Dirkson. I was so pleased to see that she was getting her own Happily Ever After! It is smaller than the rest of the books in the Wescott series, but the novella length was ideal for this story. Back during the days of Matilda's debut, Charles Sawyer was her beau for a time and even asked to marry her. Matilda ended up turning him down, and since then never remarried. Now it's about thirty years later, and Charles has become Viscount Dirkson. His "natural" son (conceived before marrying) has recently married into the Wescott family. So Matilda is seeing quite a bit more of him.

Charles was heartbroken when he was rejected by Matilda in his youth. It set him off on some very bad behaviors and gave him a bad reputation. However, he did end up marrying and is now a widow. Matilda being back in his life is restirring all of his old feelings and some adorable protective ones against anyone who doesn't pay her attention. He starts to wonder if there is still a chance for them.

I loved Charles and Matilda both. Their trips down memory lane are so sweet! It was amazing to see Matilda shine, and Charles was the perfect hero to help her do so. This book was short and sweet, and it had snippets from the other books in the series at the end if you are interested in picking one of them up. Can't wait to see who Mary Balogh has fall in love next!

The following joint review will appear on Dear Author on November 6th, 2019. It will be also be posted to Twitter @janine_ballard and @dearauthor, and on Goodreads (Janine Ballard) within the week of its publication.

Janine: In book six of Mary Balogh’s regency-set Westcott series, Someone to Honor, Matilda, the 56-year-old maiden aunt in the Westcott family, did something scandalous in calling on Viscount Dirkson with only her niece’s stepson, Bertrand, for company.

Matilda’s purpose was to inform the viscount that Gil, his illegitimate son, was in need of aid. We learned that Matilda and the viscount were romantically involved in their early twenties until something came between them. Now comes Someone to Remember, Matilda and Dirkson’s story.

As Someone to Remember opens, Alexander, Earl of Riverdale and son of Matilda’s cousin, Althea (this is one series where the diagram of the family tree comes in handy), and Wren, Alexander’s countess, call on Matilda and her mother to suggest that the family host a thank you dinner in honor of the viscount, who helped Gil when Gil needed it.

When he gets the invitation, Charles, the viscount, has to tell his heir, Adrian, that he has another son. Adrian isn’t happy with this news, but attends the dinner with Charles anyway.

At the dinner, Charles is aware of Matilda studying him and annoyed at her constant assistance to her mother. He feels she has sacrificed her happiness to serve her mother, and that she deserved better.

Later, they wind up chaperoning a group of young people in Kew Gardens and begin to converse about their past. Matilda and Charles were separated in large part by his wild reputation, a reputation he more than lived up to in the years after he was forced to give up Matilda.

Would he have led a different life had he and she not been parted? Would theirs have made for a happy marriage? Charles and Matilda are both haunted by this question.

I won’t spoil what happens after this, since the story is a short one.

This is a partial review. The complete review will appear on dearauthor.com, Twitter and Goodreads within a week of its publication date.

Although I am not a big fan of novellas, this one is full of characters to savor and love in the next entry in the Westcott family series. Life offers a second chance for Matilda Westcott when she becomes re-acquainted with the man she rejected many years ago as a young woman (but never stopped loving). Mary Balogh continues to weave her magic in this continuing story.

I just love the Westcott series! Matilda up to this point has been my least favorite character, but I found her novella charming.

This is a sweet novella although nothing much happens plot-wise. There is a lot of self reflections on both Matilda's and Charles' part as they navigate finding each other again later in life. They were separated early in their lives and now 30+ years later, they are finally reunited. I enjoyed watching Matilda's transformation from a shadow of herself who fussed over her mother to a vibrant and happy woman in love.

Having not read any of the previous books in the series, I found the beginning of the book very confusing when all the relatives are listed. All in all, it was a quick and enjoyable read, but I would recommend reading at least some of the previous books in the series to understand better all the family relations.

There isn't much in the way of plot surprises in this novella featuring the overly fussy elder aunt of the previous Westcott novels, fifty-six-year-old Lady Matilda Westcott, and her long-estranged first love, Charles Sawyer, now Viscount Dirkson. We were given a hint of their past relationship during the previous Westcott novel, <i>Someone to Honor</i>, when Matilda paid an unconventional call on the widowed viscount to persuade him to take a hand in a custody case involving his natural son. At the opening of this story, the head of the Westcott family invites the viscount to dinner to thank him on behalf of his family, and during that dinner, Dirkson ends up agreeing to serve as chaperon on an outing for a group of the young people from both families—if Lady Matilda will agree to serve with him. Lots of internal ruminating on both protagonists' parts about their past relationship, as well as gentle scenes in which the two find their way back to each other, in spite of the painful way in which they first parted more than thirty five years ago and the raking that Charles Sawyer resorted to in its wake. The best part may be the surprising reevaluation of Matilda's relationship with her mother.

A predictable, but sweet romance (although I did wish that there had been some sex—not all fifty-somethings are too old for bedsport—just saying...)

Someone to Remember is a sweet novella in Mary Balough's Wescott world. I've been enjoying this series for quite some time now and it was lovely to see this addition.

Please note that you will have wanted to read the series prior to this book to gain any real insight. Following from where we previously left off, Matilda Wescott, spinster and caretaker to her mother, is acknowledging her loneliness and her previous brief romance Charles, now Viscount Dirkson.

Dirkson, you will remember, is the father of Gil who married Abby in the previous story. His character is quite charming and since these characters are in their 50's, the romance is both mature and sweet. After all these years, Matilda and Charles have never forgotten one another.

There is not a lot of story here since but what is here is fun and easy to follow. There is some tension but no sex mentioned. I think this is a perfect way to tide me over until the next full length book!