Mary Balogh wraps up her Ravenswood series with Always Remember, Ben’s story. The romance is wonderful, yet the slightly muted character of the heroine means this book isn’t my favorite Balogh novel in the series, but it’s still worth reading.

Ben Ellis (as previously established, the by-blow of the late Duke of Stratton, raised by his father’s wife as a part of the family) is a single father to a young daughter. The child is the result of his marrying his mistress when he discovered she was pregnant; he and Marjorie adored each other, but her sad passing from an illness has left him adrift. Now Ben and three-year-old Joy are headed for a summer vacation at Ravenswood.

Lady Jennifer Arden is a spinster at twenty-five, the sister of a duke, and due to a twisted right leg incurred during a childhood illness must ambulate with rudimentary crutches and other devices. Her family adores her and she’s forged many a friendship, but she has no prospects for a romance since she turned down a fortune-hunting duke. Jennifer and Ben meet when he stumbles upon her learning how to walk using a primitive crutch, and Ben decides to devote himself to making some better mobility devices for her. After making her a special shoe and brace to aid her walking, he starts pulling her out of her shell with jaunts outside of the home.

They are instantly attracted to one another, and Joy comes to love Jenny as well. With Ben’s help, Jenny begins to experience more and more of the world. She’s there for him when his mother’s family abruptly makes contact, causing him to worry about their ulterior motives toward himself and Joy. But he and Jenny come from inequal social positions, which mean they can never marry – or can they?

I’m not qualified to judge the author’s presentation of Jenny as a disabled person, but I found it decent, if fairly simplistic. I can, however, say that Jenny is a fully-fledged character all her own and not a plot’s morality lesson, and she wants to be more mobile and ambulatory. It’s her somewhat weaker personality that I found a bit lacking. It’s not that she’s insipid, it’s that she doesn’t feel as vibrant as Ben or any of the other characters around her.

I did feel as though there was a little too much focus on making Jenny abled – on her walking – instead of the other parts of being disabled, but that doesn’t factor into my grade, as it’s Jenny’s expressed want. The pain she goes through does feel realistically handled, as does the fact that her family feel the need to shelter her.

I will always love a widower who still adores his late wife, but isn’t afraid to love more people. Ben is an incredible character and one of my favorite heroes of the year. I loved his relationship with little Joy, who feels like a credible child, and generally enjoyed her antics in general.

Yet I honestly really wanted to read Marjorie and Ben’s love story instead of Jenny and Ben’s; the way Balogh sets up those early chapters and gives us a peek at Marjorie’s fiery sass, it’s hard not to want to spend more time with her instead of Jenny, who sometimes comes off as a little bit too much of an innocent milksop. Yet Balogh does a good job contrasting these two women and making Ben’s attraction to both of them make sense. And Jenny does grow into a stronger and more unique person over time.

Outside of the sweet romance, there is a lot of careful exploration of the importance of social status, and what that means to both characters. Ben has to struggle to figure out who he is within the scheme of his own family, while Jenny has to claim her independence and individuality. Both stories are quite compelling.

Always Remember isn’t perfect Balogh, but even imperfect Balogh is pretty good.