Patience is a widow has recently been sprung from Bedlam and is in the process of trying to obtain back her infant son from Markham, her husband’s devious and conniving uncle who conspired to put Patience in Bedlam in the first place. But a new hero arrives at Hamlin Hall unexpectedly: Duke Repington, Patience’s husband’s estranged cousin. Repington is the true caretaker of baby Lionel, and he vows to raise the boy right. Little does he realize that the new nanny he hires is actually Patience. Patience, the woman who actually doesn’t have any patience; she is headstrong and greatly dislikes following orders, much to the order-loving Duke’s chagrin. Can these opposites figure out a way to work together for Lionel’s benefit? Yes, yes, they can.

This book is not the easiest read. And I don’t mean in the emotional sense. I mean like, sometimes, it’s difficult to determine who is speaking (due to Riley’s habit of not identifying the speaker) and the switch between Patience’s first-person narration and Repington’s third-person narration is jarring and distracting. Most disconcertingly, there is no swell of emotions. Despite the fact that this book should have a slow burn, the protagonists don’t trust one another or respect one another for the first half. Then, they grudgingly respect each other. Then they can’t keep their hands off each other. Umm what? Where did that come from!?!

On the chaste to steamy scale, it’s a 1. I’ve read YA romances that make my heart pound more.

This was a decent historical romance. It took me a little to get into the story – the writing in the first few pages felt a little off, and it was tricky for me to really understand what was going on. Once I got into the story, there was a lot to like. I enjoyed that the protagonist is a POC from the Caribbean, it added a different perspective that is often lost in Regency romance. It was also great to see a realistic portrayal of wartime injuries during that time.
However, I didn’t fully buy into the romance, and there were some choices that made me feel frustrated.
Overall, this was a middle of the road read, with a few bright spots that make it stand out from other books in the genre.

This was an odd one for me. I enjoyed to setting and atmosphere of the story. I really appreciated the heroine not being the stock white lady that you usually find in books like this. Representation is so needed in this genre. It was refreshing to see someone actually have pain instead of like other male protagonists who usually are written to blow off any injury.

All of that said there were some things here that weren’t as successful as I would have liked. The opening scene was disorienting and while I did catch on pretty quickly it doesn’t start you off on a strong foot. The choice to change to do dual perspectives but with different types of person perspectives was so odd to read. It gave everything a disjointed feel that hindered my ability to really find my way into the romance. Almost like it was being told in two similar but different languages. There’s also a lot of plot that takes from the romance.

Overall it was interesting to see some really underrepresented topics get some attention but there are some tweaks I think that if made would have made dramatic improvements.

I was really excited about this book. The cover and title had me hooked, and I was jonesing for a historical romance read.

A widow with a small baby boy is taken advantage of by her late husband's uncle who locks her up and then has her committed. With the help of a group of widows, she is able to leave the asylum and try to regain her papers and her baby. In her way is the Duke a war veteran with an amputated leg and a cousin to her late husband, who has come to be the boy's guardian.

I did like the idea of the Widows protecting each other and the group righting wrongs, that definitely caught my attention, but I didn't feel that excitement for the rest of the plot.

Unfortunately, I never could get into the book. Another reviewer pointed out the POV being first and third for different characters which was confusing. It also felt like the same conversations kept happening over and over.

And even though by this point in the book it was a love match, they ended up with a marriage of convenience for a while, which didn't seem to fit (maybe if it had happened very early in the book).

All in all, a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC.

I was really excited for this book. I was really intrigued by the premise. Sadly, the book didn't quite work for me. Something about the writing style just didn't work. I've read a lot of historical romance by this point, and it just didn't quite fit the writing style of the genre. Another reviewer pointed out that one of the POVs is first person and one is third, which I think is part of it. The other part was just how the characters thought/described things. It wasn't bad, but it just felt off and continued to distract me. I really wanted to like the book, but I just didn't. That said, it did have some good representation with a West Indian main character and a veteran, amputee main character. (less)

I devoured this book. I usually dislike romance books with a baby trope, but it plays so perfectly into how our Duke and Lady come together that I couldn't help but root for them to become a happy family of three.
Lady Patience Jordan lost her husband and was then separated from her child by a money-grubbing male relative. Then her little boy's true guardian comes along and it's her chance to get her son back and escape with him back to the West Indies. Only she discovers that the imperious Duke that is now lord of the manor is as broken as her and that working with him might just be just what they all need to find happiness.
Along the way, there's a lot of investigating and side plots that involve widows working together to right the wrongs their society allows and puts the unfairness of how women were treated at the forefront. This does lead to plot threads left completely unsolved, but I believe it's setting up the further volumes that appear to be coming as part of this series. A little annoying, but a minor element compared to the pleasure of the main plot.

Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the chance to read it first.

I had never read this author before and was excited by the cover, description, and discovering a new author. However, I could not get through this one. I tried multiple times but I don't think this book was for me. I felt confused and lost most of the time.

Maybe I'll try another one of Riley's books sometime but this one just wasn't for me.

I got through about 50% but could not finish this book. I typically enjoy historical romance novels but this one was difficult. The writing was so dense with odd verbiage that I didn’t understand what was happening in the beginning of the book. Once I finally got the style of the writing it was so repetitive - the duke threatens to fire LaCroy, LaCroy plots to take her baby, they banter, repeat. I started skimming the conversational lines to try and trudge through but even that couldn’t keep me engaged. Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington and a military man to boot, has an amazing sense of humor. Wounded in the Peninsular War he doesn't let it get him down. As the guardian of his cousin's son, his focus is totally on him. When the baby's mother, his cousin's widow, finally reveals herself he's infatuated. Her protective instincts make her a fierce mother. Together they will work as a team to protect the baby from the man who plans to kidnap him. It's all about the money. Between the two of them and some extra help, Busick plans to succeed. It's little difficult to distinguish the individual's dialogue from a character's thoughts, but I have to say Busick is now one of my favorite heros.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book

A love story that had me screaming with happiness the whole time.

I loved Busick's charming and flirty personality. And I loved Patience's more reserved but friendly personality.

This book has adventure, funny scenes and an amazing romance, full of respect and a very pure and honest love. One of the best historical novels I have read. I want to continue reading about these two characters and I also need to know more about the secondary characters.

An amazing read.

Got to about 50%, then tried to skim the last few chapters, and couldn't even manage that. Interesting premise but the writing was kinda clunky for me. Scenes weren't all that climactic, because at times I couldn't even understand what I was reading. No real chemistry between the characters. What kind of name is Busick??

I saw this book on bookstagram and knew I wanted to read it. I absolutely loved it. It drew me in and I didn't want to take a break. Definitely did not disappoint!

I want to thank NetGalley, Kensington Books and author Vanessa Riley for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

I have never read this author before, and from the cover look I was super excited for this book. I love historical fiction, and having a main character who is a WOC is refreshing. The old adage of “don’t judge a book by its cover” comes in here. You think you’re stepping into a lovey dovey story, but it’s actually quite serious. I found the first few chapters confusing, and the author’s overzealous writing style was a bit much to swallow on occasion. Overall, disappointing read.

Thank you again to those named above for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

Unfortunately did not finish this one as I didn't connect with the story or the writing style. Am sure this will be other readers' cup of tea though!

I haven’t read many books with a Woman of Colour as the main character. However, I didn’t like the writing; it was too confusing and the plot made no sense to me.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved getting to read a historical swoons-and-stays historical fiction with a WOC lead. It was lovely to see her racial identity and how it affected her life experience acknowledged but also not be the one and only aspect of her characterization. I also appreciated the male lead (and co-POV) having the also-rare perspective in a historical rom-com of an amputee, a pleasant surprise that wasn't included in the rake-meets-widow description.. The progression of the leads getting to know each other was believable and intriguing. And there were enough twists that I wasn't entirely sure where things were going, even when I was 4/5 of the way through the book.

I love reading historical romance novels, so I was really excited to read this book. But, unfortunately, I found it disappointing. The book had a very confusing beginning. I couldn't even figure out what was happening for the first few chapters because the reader doesn't really get a clear explanation of what's going on for awhile. I think I would have felt a stronger connection to the book if certain details had been made clearer in the beginning. I also found it kind of confusing that the story alternated between one character's thoughts being told to us in first person and another character's thoughts happening in third person. It made it hard for me to really connect to the story.

This is my first book by this author and I was really excited to read a historical with a WOC as the heroine. Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite work for me.

The heroine is the daughter of a rich, West Indian businessman. She marries into the ton, but never quite fits into society. I thought that part of the book was so interesting. The hero is her late husband’s cousin and her son’s guardian. The heroine secures a position as a wet nurse/nanny in order to protect her son from her late husband’s evil uncle.

The hero flirts with the heroine, but I didn’t really see any chemistry between the two. The book also doesn’t really address the power imbalance between the hero and heroine.

Also, the cover, title and the tone of the dialogue didn’t quite fit with some of the more serious topics that were addressed in the book.

That being said, the Widow’s Grace storyline was intriguing, as were the side characters Jemina and Gantry. I will probably read the next book in the series to learn more about Jemina.

I enjoyed this book. It’s been a while since I read a Regency book. I enjoyed the story and the tension. I look forward to the next book in the series.

This book was hard to read. It was written in the first person and they made it a little difficult, but for me, the problem was the communication. The characters had the same conversation, repeatedly. It seemed as if the characters were trying to be portrayed as stubborn, but it became redundant. I mean, how many times does a 'no' mean no? In this book, 'no' had not meaning. The characters would just dance around a subject without making any sense for pages and pages. It was very confusing and that it sad because the story made a lot of sense and would have been wonderful if the conversations made more sense. I was confused at this and because the conversations were so confusing, it was hard to see where the grammar and spelling errors were. But they were there. This story was about a young widow who had been committed to Bedlam, escaped, sneaked into her home to feed her baby, but her deceased husbands uncle who had her committed was going to be kicked out by her deceased husbands second cousin and so she escaped from feeding her son by going out his window and then she had to climb down the ivy and then help the second cousin into the house because he was an injured soldier, and.....it just continues in this convoluted manner and story line through the whole book.
Not only was the story strange and circling, there was no continuity or smoothness to the read. It was difficult and I felt I had to interpret what the author wanted instead of just being told what the story was. It was like I was guessing through the whole book. Non of the characters were likeable or made by sense. It seemed like one would talk fuit and another answered him with chemical formulas. That is how discordant this book was. I do not recommend reading. No stars.