Rules of Engagement takes on several meanings in this compelling romance.

Constance and Jonathan were childhood friends whose romance was just beginning to take root when he's called into military service. Now ten years later, he's a broken and embittered ex-soldier and she's one of three widows of a conman, but the only one of them who is pregnant. She asks Jonathan to marry her to provide legitimacy for her unborn child, and his fond remembrances of their friendship compel him to agree, despite his complete and utter lack of faith in himself.

Society's rules and military rules, as well as a private list of rules that Jonathan wrote for Constance, all are closely examined as these two best friends discover a love that can weather any storm. I wasn't happy with the direction of Jonathan's attempts to protect Constance, but I did respect her methods of dealing with it all. The writing was superb throughout, offering one brilliant solution to two very different problems which also set a beautiful scene for their eventual HEA.

I love the friendship between Constance and the other wives, Kat and Beth, and I can't wait to read the last book in this series. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

The second book in Janna MacGregor's The Widow Rules series was a well done story of unfolding love and commitment. Both of the main characters have serious issues that were addressed in depth and needed to be resolved for a happy ending. There are misunderstandings, deep intrigue and a supportive cast of surrounding characters that make for a very satisfying story. I skip over the steam. I think that detracts from the overall story, but it make the book less perfect than it could have been for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Just as Katherine stood up for what she wanted in book 1, Constance does the same in book 2. She finds out that she was the only true bride just before she gives birth to her daughter. To save face and protect her daughter she wants to marry, but there's only 1 person that she wants. Jonathan has come back from the war and doesn't feel like he belongs to the world he's returned to. Constance has to show him that not only does he belong, but he deserves everything that he's entitled to, namely her and her daughter! Great story, didn't want to put it down to do things around the house! Can't wait to see how Beth finds her happily ever after!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

From the first page to the last you will spellbound by Rules for Engaging the Earl. Jana MacGregor has given readers a book that is well-written, filled it with a great cast of characters that will hold you spellbound as their individual personalities become more than just part of the tale they come off the pages and pull you in, the book flowed well from one thing to another without being forced, witty and humorous dialogue and with a strong plot that bring this read together perfectly with a little help from Mr North! As Constance and Jonathan fight their insecurities and memories of the past as they travel on a journey filled with drama, hope, sizzling passion, blackmail and finding the secret to a happy ever after.. With visit from characters who you found a special place in your heart for from the beginning of The Widow Rules series that brings this read together perfectly!

Constance and Jonathan were childhood friends. But he had decided to go off to war and was gone for ten years. When he returned, he stayed at his estate. He had been in a near-fatal shooting and had almost lost his leg and his life.

Constance Lysander was pregnant, and one of three wives. Her late husband had been killed and left her with nothing. But she needed a good name for her child. She had someone contact Jonathan and let him know she needed help.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was fast-paced and moved well. It was also entertaining and beautifully written. They worked together so well. But he felt he was not worthy of her because of his leg. There were a few times I just wanted to slap him. I recommend this novel and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

Jonathan and Constance have been friends since they were young. Jonathan has been away at war and now home with a leg injury. Constance ask him to marry her as she is not sure the marriage to her first husband was legal and now she is about to have a baby. She wants the child to be a legal birth. Jonathan shows up and she has had the baby and it is a girl. They marry and he leaves to go to the country. Constance decides after a year that she is going to join him. Life is not easy. Jonathan has made himself a recluse. Can they work out their problems and have a happy life? Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this story.

The second book in this series is as vivid and engaging as the first. I am eager to read the third. The series involves the 3 widows of a trigamist who each discover on the reading of his will that they are not his only wife and that their dowries have vanished. Constance needs to wed immediately and proposes to a childhood friend whom she has not seen in 10 years. He has been brutally injured in the peninsular war and agrees to wed her but has no intention of altering his reclusive bachelor ways. Each has serious emotional problems that they work through with the intervention of friends and long time retainers. The author squarely addresses the challenges of living up to marriage vows and the joy and contentment to be found in so doing. A very rewarding HEA between two captivating protagonists. While each book can be read alone, I would recommend reading them in seriatim for the fullest enjoyment.

Rules for Engaging the Earl

Constance and Jonathan, once childhood best friends always thought they would be there forever.

When Jonathan goes off to fight, he tells Constance what to look for in a man.

He is injured during a battle, and feels like he has nothing to offer and is worried about salvaging his reputation. When Constance marries and is widowed, she finds out her husband was also married to others. She asked Jonathan to marry her to ensure her child ends up not suffering the consequences of her actions.

Despite his attempts to make sure their marriage of convenience remains that, Constance and he both long for more.

This is my first time reading anything by Janna MacGregor and I was so pleasantly surprised! Rules for Engaging the Earl was a solid 5 out of 5 stars and had everything that I was looking for: a widowed-ish heroine, a baby, a dog, a hero who loves said baby... just lovely. Constance's and Jonathan's chemistry (though angsty and like omg will this relationship work??) was FANFREAKINGTASTIC.

While I absolutely adored the steam in this book - as well as how much the heroine expressed her enjoyment of sex and her desire to have sex with Jonathan - I think I may have adored the tender moments even more! The moment between Jonathan and baby Aurelia in the middle of the night when he changes her diaper:

"She held up her hands, a command for him to pick her up again... Aurelia still fretted with little whimpers and a short sob... Patting her back with on hand, he brushed a knuckle across her cheek..."
- I skipped some parts there but like you get the point as to how CUTE and WHOLESOME this little tender in-the-middle-of-the-night moment this is!! And then when Aurelia chews his finger like goodbye so cute :(

Omg also the fact that Constance likes, and I mean really likes, giving Jonathan a massage, both to soothe his leg but also to soothe their horny for each other needs. I LOVE IT.

I will definitely be reading the next book in "The Widow Rules" series!!

Jonathan, Earl of Sykeston, has been friends with Constance Lysander since they were children--they were actually each other's first kiss, before war and life put distance between them. In the years since, Constance has not only been married and widowed, but discovered that her late husband was a bigamist with two other wives. In an effort to give her unborn child a life and a name, she's asked Jonathan to marry her, and he's reluctantly accepted.

The issue? Jonathan isn't the man Constance once knew. Though considered a war hero, Jonathan has been left ashamed and an outcast following an injury he received that has left him permanently disabled. Having become a loner and reliant only on himself, he's determined to make this a pure marriage of convenience... unfortunately for Constance, who very much wants a lot more than convenience.

This one was a mixed bag for me, but ultimately I quite liked it and plan on reading more from Janna MacGregor. And a lot of this does ride on Constance as a heroine--she's sweet and kind but not too sweet, independent without being a girlboss. Perhaps most refreshingly, HER desire for sex and intimacy is what drives a lot of the initial conflict in the relationship. Constance likes sex. She's had it, she's into it, and she's not ashamed of either of those facts. And it's not that Jonathan doesn't want her in return... He definitely doesn't. Like, there's no big external conflict keeping these two apart (there is an external conflict, but it's not a huge deal and I think it was a bit ornamental, if I'm being honest). They know each other, they're attracted to each other...

The issue is in Jonathan's emotional issues. Which, I want to stress, are not invalid. He has been through a lot. He's seen war. He's killed people. He's suffered an injury that has pretty severely limited his mobility, especially for a man of his era (he can't bear any weight on his knee, basically). He's been humiliated and scorned due to that injury. I totally get it. And I love a self-loathing hero. But at times, MacGregor does lean in so hard to Jonathan's self-loathing that it feels more like self-pity, and that's where I was like... Okay, dude. I understand. But we do have a plot to move along here, and you do need to get it together for the sake of that plot.

And he does! However, he tested my patience, and there was a point where I wasn't sure if I could possibly reconcile with some of his actions (or rather inaction--he's quite passive for the first half of the novel). I'm actually pretty impressed with how MacGregor turned it around. I suspect it had a lot to do with how much Constance held him accountable and, for all her patience and love, finally snapped a little and demanded that he shape up as a husband and father. And he did! There was a bit of a third act final shot, but by then the two had worked on the relationship enough for me to feel good about it, and he had groveled a good bit. Perhaps one of his grovels involved her sitting on his face. Who is to know?

I did find MacGregor's handling of Jonathan's disability interesting. As someone who doesn't have a disability, I really can't speak to how well or accurately she wrote that. However, it was refreshing to not only see a disabled hero in a historical romance, but a heroine who was very game. Constance was not a babe in the woods and shocked over Jonathan's scars or daunted by his anxieties surrounding sex (as he hadn't had sex since before his injury). Reading about them trying things out to maintain an active sex life while ensuring that he didn't further hurt himself was different from what you typically see in a historical romance, and I appreciated that. Also? Hot sex.

So for all that I was a little frustrated with this one at times, I really am interested in reading more from MacGregor, and I like that she's taking risks. Even if I feel like Jonathan went a bit overboard from time to time, at least she tried it. I felt like she wasn't afraid to make him a bit... actually unlikable, which made him being rebuilt more enjoyable. Especially when he was paired with such a likable heroine.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rules for Engaging the Earl
Book 2 in The Widow Rules series
Rating: 3 stars
Thank you to the author/publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

Rules for Engaging the Earl is a second chance at romance story. Jonathan and Constance have known each other since they were children and were very close friends, but then Jonathan leaves to serve his country and leaves behind Constance with a young broken heart. They meet again 10 years later and she is now a pregnant widow who's husband married her while at the same time had married two other women.
She calls on Jonathan to come back and to marry her to help her. He's always had feelings for her and she for him, but Jonathan is not the same man from 10 years ago. He is battle torn physically and emotionally. He's become such a grump and feels he doesn't deserve to live happily. He still agrees to marry her but they both establish a set of rules for their marriage. Some were broken and others were honored thanks to his sweet match making staff ( I really loved them!) and her friends.
Why the 3 stars?
I'll be honest and say that there were times that I was bored. There seemed to be too much internal dialogue and Jonathan seemed a little to mopey and grumpy, even when Constance put so much effort to make her marriage a happy one. I really liked her. She was such a strong and independent character that I think she really didn't need to marry Jonathan...sorry, but she was too good for him. I loved how she handled her business, her home and even her baby when it was customary to just have other people carry out those tasks.
Secondary characters stole some of the scenes, especially Regina! I could easily picture her sitting at the table with very good manners.
I look forwards to Beth's story!

I had a little bit of trouble buying into the story of having Jonathan and Constance marrying due to her pregnancy. Especially since they found out right before the wedding that Constance was the legal wife of her deceased husband and therefore the baby was legitimate. It seemed like Constance was only marrying Jonathan because raising a child alone was going to be difficult. She never talks to him about her feelings for him and the fact that she wants the marriage because she wants him specifically (not just because she knew he would come to help her if she asked). And then is upset when he doesn't immediately take to being a father. The first scene between Jonathan and Faladen broke my heart for Jonathan, and you could understand why he would revert back to his recluse state. I liked seeing him start to come out of his shell once Constance came to live with him. I was really frustrated with all her friends just dropping in with no warning and her not being able to see how difficult it was for him - she only thinks of how happy it makes her that they're there. And then for her friends to tell her she should leave him - I definitely was not a fan of them at all. Constance's reaction to finding out the truth about the letters was justified, but then she wouldn't even let him explain his side and just leaves him. In summary, I was definitely on Jonathan's side throughout the book. I loved his final confrontation with Faladen and him standing by Constance as she confronted the man herself.

Rules for Engaging the Earl is the second book in Janna MacGregor's series The Widow Rules about three women married to one man. The "second" wife, Constance is pregnant and calls on Jonathan, an Earl she's known previously, to marry her. Jonathan is far more broken than I expected. Constance and Jonathan were wonderful characters in difficult circumstances that develop a loving, lasting relationship. The deceased husband leaves "investments" behind for Constance just as he did for his bride in the first book of the series, A Duke in Time. I look forward to see what these may be for the "third" bride! I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it.

I was provided an advance reader copy of this book. This is my honest opinion voluntarily given.

I have been provided with a review copy of Rules for Engaging the Earl from NetGalley for an impartial review. This is the second book in The Widow Rules series and I just loved getting to reenter this amazing world. This book was just so easy to get lost in. I completely got lost in the story and I just loved getting to see these new characters come together. I just absolutely love this story and I just didn’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

I really enjoyed this book, loved the interactions between the two main characters and how they learnt to communicate with one another. The general plot is like most in this genre but Janna MacGregor does it really well and i love reading her books :) Whenever I start one of hers I know I'll be immersed in the setting so well that if I close my eyes I can picture it perfectly.

They were best friends, their first kiss until Jonathan left for the war as a marksman. Decade later Constance was jaded by her 1st husband and left her and 2 others in a bind. Jonathan came back worse then before and lost. But Constance needed him and Jonathan would help, even against his hurt.
Will these two ever become what they were to each other before their forced separation?
Or will Jonathan keep pushing and pushing to make the only woman he loves leaves for good?

About to give birth to her late husband’s child, Constance Lysander learns that he was actually married to two other women and has left her with no money apart from her family business which he was unable to take. She’s grateful for the support of her aunt and the two other wronged women who have now become her dearest friends, but she must marry to save face in the eyes of society.

Jonathan Eaton, the Earl of Sykeston, has just returned from war scarred and with a debilitating limp. He’s not the man Constance grew up with, preferring to hide away at his estate and avoid society, but when she says she needs him to marry her, he’s there for her. His strong feelings for her have never abated, but he’s determined to keep his heart locked down to protect both himself and her from any pain.

When Constance and Jonathan finally find themselves living under one roof, the heartache they’ve both suffered causes problems for them right away, but the attraction and connection between them is strong and their relationship has the potential to become so much more than the convenient alignment it started out as.

I really wanted to love this book so much more than I did. Typically, scarred or tortured heroes are my absolute catnip, but Jonathan was kind of a pill. I think mainly his brooding just went on way too long and his reasons for pushing Constance away didn’t make much sense, neither did his reasons for leaving for war in the first place, and his inner monologues about his fears and reasons to keep Constance at a distance just became repetitive for me very quickly. I was so looking forward to an emotional scarred hero redemption story and I just wound up feeling bored instead. I think Constance put up with too much ridiculousness from Jonathan but also gave him too hard of a time in other ways. He definitely needed a large shove back into life, but I didn’t care for the fact that one minute she was encouraging him to confide in her and telling him that they would face any challenges that arose together as a team and in almost the next thought, she’s talking about her shipbuilding company’s problems and how she’s not going to tell Jonathan because she’d rather deal with them on her own. Yet, she couldn’t see how she also needed to work on things herself to make their marriage better.

I think a lot of times Jonathan was emasculated and Constance wasn’t as sensitive to that or helpful in those terms as she could’ve been. A lot of his issue was his loss of pride and sense of self-worth as a man and she and her friends didn’t always help with that. Much of his improvement and ultimate handling of his PTSD issues and taking back of his life occurs off page and with him separated from Constance and while I understand why his character needed that time to work on himself, I’m still not sure why she couldn’t have also been a part of it and been there to help him more. It also still doesn’t quite make sense to me why he was so determined to be indifferent to Constance; yes, he’d been betrayed and let down by others but not by her or even a woman, so I just never really got the source of his turmoil beyond trying to protect her unnecessarily and I think that made his behavior seem more repetitive to me.

I did like this book much better than its predecessor, but I still find this almost instantaneous friendship between these three women who were married to the same man to just be so odd and cringy. Also, I’m sure this is just me and will be an unpopular opinion, but I could’ve done with way less cooing over the baby. I think that has everything to do with where I am in my personal life, but she is mentioned a lot, and it got old fast for me. I think Constance and baby Aurelia might actually have more page time together than Constance and Jonathan did, so I think this definitely was something that hurt the romance for me. It didn’t help that they had this dark cloud of a potential enemy hanging over the whole story and it could’ve easily been avoided if these two had gotten together and talked everything out and used their heads to realize that the situation didn’t quite make sense.

On the whole, I think Jonathan’s surliness was a bit overdone and Constance’s portrayal as this super mom who works all the time, likes cleaning, has time to play with her baby, and somehow still has energy for sex was off-putting to me. I’m not sure if this made me dislike her exactly, but I wasn’t as prone to rooting for her as I thought I’d be. I also never understood why Constance even married Meri in the first place. She’d been in love with Jonathan and talked about how she couldn’t really find anyone she wanted to marry so she just settled for Meri. Why? She had her own business which, if anything, would’ve been enticement not to marry, and she never mentioned a strong desire for children as a motivation, so I just didn’t really get it.

Basically, this was by no means a bad story, it just wasn’t quite the pining scarred hero story I was wanting. I was bored by the near constant three steps forward, two steps back nature of the relationship between Constance and Jonathan as they were each insensitive to the other’s feelings and insecurities. I also think Constance’s friends mostly just made the situation worse and we got too much of their interactions as meaningful dialogues when I’d have rather seen that between her and Jonathan, rather than most of the relationship development and character growth seeming to occur off page. Nonetheless, this is still something I think is worth reading and I’ll continue on to Beth’s story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A well written story which was enjoyable. I liked Constance in the first book and it was nice to get to know her better. She barely knew the Earl of Sykeston. She expected him to be the same as she remember. Her childhood friend had changed a lot. I like the way how Constance got him out of his comfort zone. It was a fun and easy read.

This is one of the more unique setups for a historical romance that I’ve read and I really loved it!

Constance is left penniless and pregnant by her worthless husband, a trigamist who married her two other women and duped them all. To ensure that her child is legitimate, Constance needs to marry. And who better to ask than her childhood best friend and broody grump, Jonathan, the Earl of Sykeston.

I love a friends to lovers, marriage of convenience plot more than anything on earth and this delivered. Jonathan has been in love with Constance for years. These two dance around each other when all they really want to do is BE with each other in full, not just for convenience. I loved that Constance becomes best friends with the other two women her “husband” married. It was such a cool plot point.

I do wish they hadn’t danced around each other as long as they did, but overall, the tension and push/pull was well worth it.

If you like, friends to lovers, marriage of convenience, and childhood friends, this is perfect.

After enjoying the first book in the series, I was so excited to get the story of Constance and Jonathan. as it was set up so nicely in book one. The book did not disappoint. It was a lovely second change romance that did not disappoint!

I received an ARC for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.