A Duke In Time
The Widow Rules #1
By Janna MacGregor
★★★★☆
🖤🖤🖤🤍🤍
Katherine Vareck is in for the shock of her life when she learns upon her husband Meri's accidental death that he had married two other women. Her entire business, along with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a royal supplier, is everything she's been working for and now could be destroyed if word leaks about the three wives.
Meri's far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she's Meri's widow. Or can he?
With a textile business to run and a strong friendship forming with Meri's two other wives, Katherine doesn't have time for much else. But there's something about the warm, but compellingly taciturn Christian that draws her to him. When an opportunity to partner in a business venture brings them even closer, they'll have to face their pasts if they want to share each other's hearts and futures.
Meri's far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she's Meri's widow. Or can he?
With a textile business to run and a strong friendship forming with Meri's two other wives, Katherine doesn't have time for much else. But there's something about the warm, but compellingly taciturn Christian that draws her to him. When an opportunity to partner in a business venture brings them even closer, they'll have to face their pasts if they want to share each other's hearts and futures.
The Plot
Christian arrived home from war because his brother and father passed away and he is now the Duke of Randford. He plans to focus on helping the men who fought along side him and came back to England with nothing. He finds out his brother, Meri, was married, not once, but three times! Christian has to clean up the mess, but when he meets Kat, Constance and Blythe, Kat convinced him to help the widows his brother left behind. As they try to sort out the mess his brother, Lord Meriweather, left behind, Kat and Christian realize the depths of each others characters and slowly fall in love.
I thought the plot was excellent and I kept thinking I knew where it was going, but then it took a different turn! Kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat! I wish Kat would have been honest with Christian about her and Meri’s relationship from the beginning, but I guess that would have sped but the steam and cut the swoon/wooing in half. It was an interesting read, a slow burn romance, and I’m looking forward to reading about the other wives outcomes.
The Heroine
Katherine Vareck is an independent woman who married Meri to gain respectability among the ton, but she still had hopes she would develop feelings for him and have a family she always wanted. She is a very determined, smart, and driven woman and I really enjoyed getting to know her and see her poise as she navigated the mess her late husband left for her! She has an amazing heart and we see that throughout the book as she selflessly helps those in need.
The Hero
Christian, the new Duke of Randford, is a beloved war hero, who just returned home and is ready for the next stage of his life: marriage, family, and helping other soldiers returning from war. He, just like Kat, has a generous heart and really seeks out the love she wasn’t shown growing up. He is a hopeless romantic and it just pulled at my heart strings!
The Steam
Honestly, there were one or two steamy scenes but nothing to hot. This book was more about the SWOON, than the steam for me! Christian was such a romantic and the descriptions of their feelings for each other, gosh, Jenna MacGregor can describe one’s inner thoughts so well, that I found myself going, ‘oh, I feel that same way about my husband!’
Stand Out Moment
When he shows up in York, and she confesses everything to him; I just melted at his respect for her decisions and his response to her was definitely swoon worthy!
Who Would Like This
Anyone who wants a feel good, romantic love story!
Final Thoughts
This book is swoons more than steamy and I’m totally okay with that!
Tropes
Bluestocking heroine, titled hero, ton society, virgin heroine, class difference, war hero, brothers wife, alpha hero, secret identity, orphan, widow
