Remember Me by Mary Balogh: Read a release day excerpt

If you’re a historical romance reader, you’re probably familiar with Mary Balogh. The iconic romance author is returning with Remember Me, a Ravenswood novel.

With this being Balogh’s most recent release, you might recognize her from other titles such as Remember Love which is the first Ravenswood book or her Bedwyn Saga series which follows the six Bedwyn brothers and the one sister. In a way, it sounds like the Bergman Brothers series yet makes it historical.

However, we have a surprise as we were able to score an exclusive excerpt from Remember Me to share on its release day. With yesterday being Juneteenth, we figured it best to share it on its release date.

I’d like to thank both Berkley and Mary Balogh for sending this excerpt along to share with all of you so let’s get into it.

Read an exclusive excerpt from Remember Me by Mary Balogh!

Of course, since this is an excerpt and I’m sharing it with all of you, there won’t be any spoilers but I’m excited, so I won’t wait any longer.

"Remember me?“Have we met before, Lady Philippa?” he asked. But he had the ghastly feeling that they had.They had certainly not been introduced to each other. He, as the stranger in their midst, had been introduced, but he seemed to recall James explaining to everyone gathered in that barn that there were too many to present to him individually—he would never remember their names. Someone, surely as a joke, had then suggested that he join the dancers and try his skill at one of the ribbons dangling, bright and intimidating, from the maypole. He, in the spirit of the joke, he supposed, had suggested that he was willing to give it a try if he could dance with . . . the blonde…It was surprising sometimes how clear certain memories could be even when one had buried them deep and not brought them out into one’s conscious mind since the events happened.Totally unexpectedly he had learned that Stratton—the Earl of Stratton—lived nearby. His name had been mentioned as something of a joke—a warning that the blonde was not just anybody. She was Lady Someone-or-other, daughter of the Earl of Stratton. He had not danced, with either the blond or anyone else. Nor had he stayed to watch the others dancing. He could not remember leaving the barn, but he did remember very clearly now that the memory was in the forefront of his mind that the normally mild-mannered James Rutledge had been furious with him. He had told Lucas that he would have planted him a facer as a prelude to pounding him to a bloody pulp if Luc were not a guest at his father’s home. He had settled for a blistering verbal assault instead, and Lucas had taken himself off early the next morning before the family was even up. He had neither seen nor heard from Rutledge since, though he did recall sending a carefully worded letter of thanks to Lady Hardington, James’s mother, for her kind hospitality, and some sort of fictitious and surely unconvincing explanation for his abrupt departure before Easter had even arrived.He was quite sure they had never spoken to each other, he and Lady Philippa Ware. They had never been within twenty feet or so of each other. Not until today, that was. How was he supposed to remember her? He had the uneasy feeling that there was more to those two words than polite inquiry, though—Remember me?“Was that you?” he asked her, just as if he expected that she had been following his train of thought.Her chin jutted and her lips thinned, but she still spoke softly.“It was,” she said.Good God! But why was she so angry? She very obviously was.“By my recollection we were not personally introduced,” he said, “though I believe I was generally presented to the whole gathering. It was a large barn and the lighting was dim and flickering. I left with James Rutledge before the dancing even began. I was afraid of being coaxed into participating and making an idiot of myself before strangers. I do beg your pardon if you were offended that I did not stay and dance with you or any of your friends. I am sure I did not intend any insult. And it was a long time ago. I was twenty-one or -two, I would guess. You must have been a mere girl.”“I was eighteen,” she said. “Do you really believe, Lord Roath, that you left early that evening only because you did not wish to be persuaded into dancing? Would not a simple no have sufficed if that had been the case?”He was sitting closer to her than he had been earlier, he realized suddenly. He had not moved his chair back after Jenny passed behind him. And he was leaning forward, his forearms across his knees. Their faces were uncomfortably close despite the low table between them. But he resisted the impulse to move back now despite the fact that he felt a certain dread of what she might be about to say. Some of the details of that particular memory, doubtless the worst ones, had not yet surfaced in his mind. She was about to help that process along, speaking in her quiet, distinct voice.“You left, Lord Roath,” she said, “because you did not choose to dance with soiled goods.” Excerpted from Remember Me by Mary Balogh Copyright © 2023 by Mary Balogh. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher."

As you can see, the author gave us just enough to tease us and honestly, I’m about to run out and grab this one since it’s out already. Even though I’m not a big historical romance fan, I must say that there’s something so romantic about historical romances. There’s so much yearning and the need to touch which is amazing for romance readers.

Whether you’re a fan of this series, this author or want to try a new historical romance, then you can buy Remember Me at your favorite bookstore as it released today.

What do you think of this excerpt? Are you going to be picking up Remember Me today? Let us know in the comments!