3 stars I received an ARC from Netgalley. Although I mostly love the books of Janna MacGregor, this series, Widow Rules, has been a disappointment. I gave the last book three stars; this was marginally better. Aside from the concept issues I mentioned in A Duke in Time, this particular book was missing something. I wish I could pinpoint what it was. While MacGregor does an adequate job of conveying Jonathan’s inner turmoil, I never quite connected with it. Constance, the perfect name for this character, is one of the widows of Meriwether, but has always been in love with Jonathan. Not sure exactly why she married Meriwether, but it did allow a good excuse for her to be pregnant, thus forcing Jonathan to push past his hesitancies to allow love into his life. His reluctance to allow anyone to get close to him only serves to highlight the importance of sharing our burdens with friends and family. Had he done so sooner, he might have avoided a lot of pain. Of course, Constance makes the same mistake, the difference being, she doesn’t allow her conflicts to interfere with her personal relationships. Nevertheless, both could have saved a lot of aggravation if they’d simply shared their troubles. Jonathan is described as a male version of Ms. Havisham (Great Expectations). Even his study is much like I imagined her parlor—curtains drawn, everything dusty and in disarray, basically closed off to the world and frozen in time. And when Constance first sees him, after a year apart, she thinks, “He looked like a hermit who’d found his way out of the woods after being lost for a year.” Luckily, he has a busybody butler who has been with his family since before he was born, and Mr. North doesn’t allow Jonathan to wallow as much as he might like. Which brings me to my favorite character: Mr. North. He cares for Jonathan and oversteps the bounds of a servant to bring Jonathan the love he so desperately needs. The banter between them is definitely a highlight of this story, as North continually pushes Jonathan to do better. When Constance first arrives at Jonathan’s estate, North tells her something Jonathan does which the household discourages. “The solicitous hum in his voice reminded Jonathan of a teacher’s pet currying favor by tattling on another.” During an argument: “Jonathan didn’t need to point out that he was the earl and North was the butler. It never made any difference.” Later, while discussing Jonathan’s newly-cleaned office, North comments, “Everyone is aware you prefer the putrid smell of powder burns mixed with dog.” Finally, during one argument, in which Jonathan accuses North of being an ill-bred haggard: “Don't you have responsibilities besides aggravating me?” Jonathan growled. North smiled demurely. “Of course, sir. Even ill-bred haggard butlers know their duties. It's to remind the dunderheaded lords of the manor what their responsibilities are.” Jonathan There were some really great descriptions of Jonathan’s walls coming down in the face of Constance’s persistent coaxing He observes Constance and thinks this: “Constance glided into the room with her unique, brilliant smile. It reminded him of an unwanted ray of sunshine interrupting a perfect morning sleep. Neither knew when they weren’t wanted.” When she tells him how desirable she finds him (despite his gnarled, lame leg), “Her words blasted a new hole in his heart, but the fickle organ mended itself immediately and started pounding against his ribs trying to reach her.” Still, he tries to fight the pull. He petulantly thinks, “She made people happy. He didn’t like it one bit.” Some problems: Near the end of the story, the narrator mentions that Constance danced with James Sewell, as if the reader should know who that is. However, this particular character is mentioned nowhere else in the story, so some context would have been helpful. And although this phrase only appeared twice throughout the book, it was unusual enough that it caught my eye and caused me to do a word search: “Then and there, Jonathan decided…” Maybe it’s because “then and there” wasn’t really necessary to tell the story, but there was something sophomoric about it. I expect better from Janna MacGregor. Will I read the next book in the series? Hope springs eternal so, yes. June 22, 2022
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Elizabeth J ConnorWriter. Editor. Proofreader. Archives
September 2022
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