Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work

I did have a chance to finish this series, which is 5 books and a 6th due out this year. In the stories, each heroine character is coming from a life of difficulties, where some know the other or were aware of each other in some way. Where often they are centered around the church; daughters of men of the cloth or outright abandoned in youth or widowed and left on their own - some with children.

This series is called Mischief in Mayfair, and as said elsewhere, it involved war veterans "Colonel Sir Orion Goddard, Alasdhair MacKay and Captain Dylan Powell" coming back with their interconnected experiences from the war involving pathological leadership, and what they did and how they reemerged back to society after the war to find their way. At the same time these men with their own scars are helping many of those who were under their command and other veterans who were abandoned to the streets of London.

Post war veteran abandonment bridges time.

The sixth book was read awhile back, which also ties back to the second book and the Vicar's daughter, Dorcas Delancey. At the end of that story, Dorcas's brother, Michael Delancey comes back from being away in the North and plays a role in the final of book two with his sister and father. However, there is something about Michael that is unsettling and not revealed, although it is learned he is following his father's footsteps at a Vicarage in some remote area,

Grace Burrowes had mentioned that she had wanted to tell Michael's story. Thus, book six is his story, which comes with deep conflict, struggle and sorrow as he returns to London after being away for five years. It is a story of deep troubles and misdeeds of the past - of and in a vicarage and its community, and the responsibilities of being in the London future that combine in a wider religious setting. The heroine of the story is the Lady, Psyche Fremont, who oddly enters his world with her own secrets and discovers the weight of what hangs over Michael.

Thought it rather a different story, and yet a good story as most of the series has been.
 
Last week i've finished reading the Secret life of Scoundrels by Anna Harrington. It has been a pleasant experience, helped me see and process some things of my own while reading about the main heroes' journey in each book of the series.

The next series I plan to read is Mary's The Westcott Series.

Btw, what I took home from this project is mainly processing my personal life baggage with each story I've read so far. It takes time and effort but i think that by reading these stories it may help one to understand what empathy towards others and oneself really means which reminds me about our credo:

"Love is light, is knowledge. Love makes no sense when common definitions are used as they are in your environment. To love you must know. And to know is to have light. And to have light is to love. And to have knowledge is to love."

If one is willing to read the Romance novels with an open mind and heart, without anticipating a reward in return then one may learn some pretty valuable lessons along the way.
 
If one is willing to read the Romance novels with an open mind and heart, without anticipating a reward in return then one may learn some pretty valuable lessons along the way.
Absolutely. Also, just reading about fairly healthy family dynamics is like balm for the soul. As others have said we vicariously get the chance to live in a loving family that is willing to go the extra mile and it really has the potential to heal old wounds, the ones we suffered and the ones we inflicted. And I keep reading, because the stories still move me. Not only do I understand myself much better, others too. This is not just the romance novels, I have taken other steps as well, but they play an important part.

Perhaps one of the most important things for me is that I am learning to forgive myself, as for me forgiveness is one of the big lessons in the novels and by extension I'm learning to forgive others, too. These novels are really like paintings of another world in which we are allowed to find refuge and learn our lessons in a very safe way. The more I read, the more I get it.:-)
 
The following books are added to the Romance novels site

314Kerrigan ByrneDevil You Know1How to Love a Duke in Ten Days
315Kerrigan ByrneDevil You Know2All Scot and Bothered
316Kerrigan ByrneDevil You Know3The Devil in Her Beda’s Story
317Mary BaloghRavenswood2Remember Me: Philippa’s Story
318Mary BaloghRavenswood3Always Remember: Ben's Story

Please let me know if you have any questions or challenges.
The last three added books by Kerrigan Byrne (314-315-316) do not appear on the list of books marked as read. Instead, there are three books by Mary Balogh (311-317-318). ;-)
 
Remember Me is out.
Great!

While checking, also noticed:
This series is called Mischief in Mayfair

Which was mentioned above for Book 6.

If people have enjoyed the series to that point, see now that Grace Burrowes has recently released Book 7 and Book 8:

Miss Determined: Mischief in Mayfair--Book Seven
Miss Dashing: Mischief in Mayfair--Book Eight

Edit: Oops (fine print) Book 8 this September.
 
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Mary Balogh in Remember Me explores for the first time
what happens after death.At the very end we see the culmination of the love between the old Duke and the Duchess leaving this life together and going into the light. It was very touching and brought tears to my eyes.
 
My general impression is that emotions come and go, but what remains are the obligations each partner fulfills. But then, some of the more interesting stories seem to perpetuate the conflict forever; there is more to be resolved and more development needed in some characters. The characterization, individual quirks, different values, and motivations are very rich, especially in a genre one might assume to be overly formulaic and idealistic. The romance genre could be presumed to be a collection of love songs, even of the simple popular rock or rap genres (assumed to be about nothing but sex), but that would overlook the duties and deeper characterization manifest in these novels.

I'm into the tragic genre just now but I really appreciate having that sheet as a bookmark. I can recall some of the stories more easily while perusing that spreadsheet too.
 

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