A Summer to Remember
Balogh's most celebrated standalone. Kit Butler's arranged pretend-courtship of Lauren Edgeworth, which becomes real. Balogh gives both characters complex inner lives and genuine wounds; the romance is built on mutual respect and recognition rather than fireworks, which makes it strangely more moving. The best argument for the "marriage of convenience" trope.
The fake engagement is elaborate enough to fool both families and a beloved grandmother, and detractors call the whole premise “phony and contrived and reeked of Obvious Plot Device.” Lauren is the flashpoint: fans call her restraint a strength, but critics describe her as “insecure, prissy, cowardly and kind of frigid,” the same trait read as opposite virtues by opposite camps. One reader gave up around page 84, writing “it's page 84 and she's still a proper Regency stick,” still waiting for the heroine to loosen up. Kit's early pursuit, driven by a wager with his friends, reads as pushy rather than charming before he wins her over, and readers wanting more heat say “I just didn't quite feel the love or the passion.”
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
