It's funny how an experience with a book can be so affected by previous reading adventures. A Matter of Class is skillfully plotted, with beautiful and slightly flawed characters, superb story threads, and a little intrigue. I don't think I ever would have loved it, but I probably would have liked it more. The indomitable Mary Balogh drolly pokes fun of the class system in Regency England, and gifts the reader with a thoroughly delightful tale. It's a shame, because I feel like I probably would have enjoyed A Matter of Class much more had I not read Lord Fenton's Folly first. The final blow was the fact that the book it so reminds me of is not one I particularly enjoyed, so my associated feelings were doing this story no favors. It's kind of hard to get invested in a story when the only thing it has going for it is a romance with a plot I've already read and characters for which I can't muster up a care. That isn't a total dealbreaker (let's face it, I'm the type of reader that has no problem reading the same story over and over.as my Tudor, Arthurian, and Wars of the Roses reading list can attest), but the insubstantial characters did nothing to capture my interest. I felt like I was reading a rehash of a story I already read. Unfortunately, I read Lord Fenton's Folly before I read A Matter of Class and the former must have been heavily inspired by the latter.

Hate turned love romance, historical setting, so much of this was calling my name.

I don't remember if I had added this to my TBR before or after reading Leah's review, but either way her review upped my expectations and excitement a lot. Book Review: A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh.Book Reviews: Wars of the Roses Round Up.

A matter of class by mary balogh