The Widow Rules has been such a fun series. It all starts when the younger half brother of a Duke dies in a freak accident. At his attorney’s office three women learn he married all of them. This is the third in the series and the three have remained fast friends. The first two women are happily married to Dukes. Beth Howell is the third wife. Her husband took off with her twenty thousand pound dowry the day after their wedding. She is the only one that is a member of the ton as her brother is an Earl. And because of the scandal she is no longer out in polite society.

Her brother wants to marry her off to someone wealthy and with a title to bail himself out of debt. Luckily she is of age and has the right to decline. Instead she turns to her first love and friend Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson. She proposes that they hunt down the clues left behind by her husband to see if there any of her dowry money left. Julian has a title and grand ideas for a new steam engine but he is impoverished. She offers to split any money they are able to recover. This leads to adventures from looking for a pig, visiting a gaming hell and being with society in Bath. Of course along the way there is much forced proximity in a carriage and maybe an Inn with only one room available.

I loved the ending and how everything ties up nicely but I found the beginning slow to start. Beth is convinced she will never marry as men have always done her wrong. It takes a long time to clear up a few misunderstandings between them. But Beth’s strong will may be the best thing in the end. I think my favorite of the series in the second book if you’re going to read one you may as well read all three.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.
(3.5 Stars and rounding up as I enjoyed the series as whole.)

Lord Meriwether Vareck, married three women all for different reasons. The first two received a gift of great value. However, his third wife, Blythe Elizabeth Howell, Beth to her friends, had not found her gift.

Her brother, St. John Howell, is the one who convinced her to marry Meri, in the first place. During her first season Beth met a man she knew would be her love of all life.
Sadly thanks to her brother Beth didn't get to marry him.

Julian Raleah, the Earl of Weyhill and heir to the Marquess of Grayson, is a man of science and engineering. He works hard at finding ways to help people's work easier. He fell in love with steam locomotives and wanted to find a way to use that to help other areas. His father was son great with land or money management so his title was not that solvent. When he met Beth that was a changing point and he wanted her to know that he would give her the world if he could but for now it was just himself. However, her brother refused and threatened to humiliate him in society if he contacted Beth again.

Now eight years later Beth has decided she wants to find were Meri spent or hid her dowery. She went to the one person she could trust to help her. Julian Is reluctant to help but does agree and off they go. With only a few clues and a hand full of receipts to go by the two start out.

Join in the journey of Lord Merriweather's final months as the two search for Beth's missing speedy and her gift from him. You will find joy, lively opinionated discussions, frolic in the countryside, a mysterious fortune told, a few gaming houses, and maybe a highway man! Such great fun and adventure awaits! I believe this is the best of the three wives books. The surprises that they discover are memories they will cherish.

I LOVED being back with these characters! Janna MacGregor knows how to tell a story that is both heartwarming and sexy! Will definitely read more by this author.

thank you to net galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the last book in the series, Meri's third wife. With Meri dead, Beth sets out to find what happened to her dowry. She asks for the help of her first love Julian. The man who walked away after her brother rejected his proposal due to Julian's lack of funds.
Beth and Julian retrace the steps of Beth's trigamist husband, as they do so the love they once shared returns.
This book is a little slow and the end just to quick and over the top.
I really liked Julian but Beth's hesitation was more irritating.
I will check out this author again in the future.
3.5 stars

How to Best a Marquess is the third installment of Janna MacGregor 's Widow Rules series. I loved them all! Whenever I'm looking for a good historical romance I look no further than Ms. MacGregor! This story is no exception. I loved Beth and Julian....their romance is steamy, sexy, sweet, and at times humorous. In otherwords, it's everything you could want in a romantic book to curl up with in front of the fire.
My thanks to Janna MacGregor and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

I have a hit or miss relationship with this series but I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this one much more than the previous books in the series.
The characters, their interactions and hilarious side characters at times, the slow burn romance and the few suspenseful scenes, all added up for a good time story.
I’m looking forward to read more in the future in this series or anything that the author will write and I highly recommend her books

I'm a fan of Ms. MacGregor and enjoyed the other two books in the series, but this one fell a little flat for me. The writing was fine, but I just didn't get invested in the romance of Beth and Julian like I usually do with main characters. I did love Julian's Irish butler though. He was a hoot! While this book isn't my favorite, I'm looking forward to her next book.

Readers of the prior books in the series know that Meriwether (Meri) Vareck married three women in relatively short succession but neither told the women nor anyone else that he was a trigamist. This unfortunate situation was only discovered after he died in an accident. The three women -- Katherine, Constance, and Beth -- after learning the truth, developed a friendship. Katherine and Constance have seen their situations greatly improve, and they have found their happily ever after. However, Beth is still struggling. She has developed a successful business, but she really needs to find her dowry so that she can establish greater financial independence. Beth is the only of the women who was raised in high society, but her brother St. John, is a wastrel, and has squandered the family fortune. He is attempting to marry off Beth to a rich noble in order to make the estate solvent again, with no regards to Beth's wishes. Between her first love, Julian (Earl of Weyhill), abandoning her after her brother refused to grant his blessing to his marriage proposal, and the scandal that ensued when Meri's actions were revealed, Beth has sworn off marriage. However, knowing that Julian (now Marquess of Grayson) also needs money, she asks him to travel with her as she attempts to track down her dowry, following the trail of receipts and rumors Meri left in his wake. Julian has invented a new type of steam engine but needs investors to make it profitable, and to satisfy the investors, he needs to build engine prototypes, which requires an infusion of cash.

Beth and Julian will have quite the adventure as they attempt to determine what has happened to the dowry. Beth is determined to never get married again, while Julian wants to convince Beth that he is the one for her and atone for his earlier failure. The physical attraction between them is still quite strong, which will pose potential problems, but have rather pleasant results. The consummation of Beth and Meri's marriage was of the "slam, bam, thank you ma'am" fashion, and as a result, Beth has never known the joys of a quality intimate relationship; a deficiency that will be rectified during this trip.

The resolution of what happened to the dowry is quite creative, both in how it is discovered and the ramifications of the discovery. This book was definitely a fitting ending to the series.

How to Best a Marquess isn’t quite what I thought it would be, and not in a good way.

When this book landed in my inbox, I didn’t know what to expect. When I read the blurb I was hopeful, but unfortunately this book missed the mark. The short timeline and the loose plot were not what I typically enjoy in a book, so this wasn’t quite for me.

Also, this has nothing to do with the book at all, but the cover is completely the wrong decade of dress. 1816 is the Regency era (think Pride and Prejudice, Bridgerton, etc) and that dress is distinctly NOT regency. It's closer to 1860 than 1816. This, however, is not the author’s fault. In fact, I was SO happy to see that our FMC was wearing a chemise under her stays and that they were correctly referred to as stays! The menswear was also very period appropriate, which is always nice to see. As a fashion history nerd, it was so nice to see that attention to detail, and I really appreciated it! The cover, however, could have been better.

I did enjoy the writing, and there was nothing I hated about the book, but this wasn’t anything particularly special in my opinion.

Definitely give this a chance if you’re a historical fiction fan, or if you like the social politics of Bridgerton!

Thank you to SMP Romance for providing me with a NetGalley copy as part of the SMP Influencer program. All thoughts are my own.

I will post my review to Instagram on April 18th, and will share it to Amazon on publication day.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Beth Howell is in desperate need of her dowry, and after her no good for nothing trigamist husband ran off with it, she enlists the help of Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson, to help her find it. He is a down on his luck inventor, and when Beth promises him half of her dowry in exchange for accompanying her on the journey. Julian hopes that Beth can forgive him for breaking their betrothal years ago, and he hopes that they can rekindle the love they once had.

I really enjoyed the last book, but I ultimately struggled with this one. Sometimes, I find that Janna's writing lacks a certain amount of flow so when I am reading it's abrupt and the odd turn of phrases interrupt my enjoyment of the book. I was excited for Beth's story, and I do love second chance romance, but I wish there had been more connection between these two in previous books so that I could have been invested in their story, but there wasn't. So, then you run into the problem where you have to cram all of their story into this one book. I enjoyed Julian's first proposal, some of the funny things that they got into on their journey, and Julian telling Beth that if they couldn't be together then they couldn't be friends. Set those boundaries, Julian. Things I could have lived without: Beth's martyrdom and choosing what's best for Julian without asking him, that super weird epilogue, and how they randomly became super rich. I mean, sure find some money but there is no way someone whose dumb enough to marry three people is smart enough to make smart investments that make them the richest people in England. A little bit over the top at least to me.

Overall, a nice conclusion to the series. Interested to see what she will do next.

Thank you to St Marins Press for my complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed How to Best a Marquess. While it is the third book in the series, in can be read as a stand-alone. With that being said, I would recommend reading the prior books in the series before diving into this one. I was able to follow the storyline but I would have enjoyed the book more had I read them.

This was a slow burn steamy historical romance and a fairly quick read. While I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this one (trying to find a missing dowry). I am not a fan of miscommunication. The entire premise of this story is based on a misunderstanding. Grayson asks for Beth’s hand in marriage and her brother dismissed him. Does Grayson tell Beth the reason ? Of course not. It was nice to hear Beth alude to this fact in a particularly funny episode.

Grayson is swoon worthy. The valet is funny. Beth is headstrong. Her brother is a piece of work. Their friends are loyal. You put them all together and you have a quick fun steamy read.

This is the final installment of "The Widow Rules" series. I read this book first, and then went back and read the first one. I believe these can be read as standalone books, with minor spoilers.

Blythe "Beth" Howell was swindled out of her dowry when she wed. Her husband had two other wives, and only spent a few hours in her company. Now, her brother wants her to marry a septuagenarian to escape the scandal of her first marriage. Beth gives that a hard pass, and goes on a trip to reclaim her dowry with an old flame, Grayson.

Loved this whole storyline! It was the type of treasure hunt that you so rarely get in a historical romance. Featured friends from the first two books, as well. Beth gains confidence over the course of this story, and learns to stand up for herself.

This book seemed less polished than the other books in this series, as if MacGregor didn't have enough time to edit her prose. I still enjoyed reading it, and it was worth my time to finish the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4/5. Releases 4/25/2023.

For when you're vibing with... Roadtrip romance, a heavy dose of second chance, hot bathtub scenes, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, and a bit of sweetness.

Beth Howell is in trouble. After discovering that her late husband was a bigamist--and that her marriage was never valid--she's socially ruined and financially dependent on her brother, who's on the verge of forcing her to marry an old man. She had a dowry--but her husband ran off with it within days of their marriage. Taking matters into her own hands, she goes on a hunt for the money... and the only man she can think to ask for help? Julian, the Marquess of Grayson: her former fiance.

This took a minute to get going, but once it did, I was quite charmed by the soft-yet-hot chemistry and sense of knowing and longing between our leads. It's a classic second chance, with a good dose of roadtrip romance.

Quick Takes:
--There are certain things you want from a historical roadtrip romance. Tense carriage rides, highwaymen, general mayhem. You get all of this here, but it's a bit... tenser, because Julian and Beth actually know each other quite well and are still not entirely over that whole "ended engagement" thing. The sense of them knowing each other and having both a lot of affection for each other and a lot of unresolved beef is strong with this one.

--If you're a fan of the "hapless man is unable to deny wacky broad anything", this is for you. I am a fan of that dynamic, personally, and it's deliciously clear from the jump that Julian really can't deny Beth much of anything. And part of that is also due to guilt. If it wasn't for him, would she be in this mess at all?

--I will say that I think the "why" of the broken engagement could've been a bit angstier. The general conflicts keeping our couple apart really weren't quite as intense as I would've wanted, but I am nothing if not an angst hound.

--There is a really lovely sense of friendship that really isn't friendship because while they know each other very well and like each other a lot, they also want to fuck like rabbits. I really loved this sort of back and forth they got into fairly early in the book where they just sort of kissed for fun and made flimsy excuses about why they were constantly kissing and how that's actually just a normal thing for pals to do? Just friends being buds, slipping each other some tongue on the regular. It's nonsense reasoning, and I was digging it.

--There is a thing relating to the dead bigamist husband that I found to be a bit... much, but it's pretty minor. You'll know it when you see it.

--A lot of the dynamic in this book is "who you are in the eyes of others and how you're perceived by them versus who you are with someone who truly knows the soul of you". It's very touching, and I was about it.

--The flirting is a LOT. You get all the casual kissing, the There's Only One Bed thing, them trying to catch glimpses of each other naked all the time. It really feels like you're reading about two people with a decade's worth of unresolved sexual tension.

The Sex Stuff:
There are several sex scenes in this book, and while they aren't super lengthy, they are well done, and the sexual tension leading up to them is very good. There's one scene (the bath shenanigans!!!) that was just so decadent and caring and all about the spoiling, and that was... quite nice. I did not expect that from Julian, to be real.

This is the end to a trilogy, and I would actually say each book is better than the last, which is always nice. There's a gentle, soft sense to Janna's writing style, which doesn't always work for me--but with her, it does. It's a lovely read.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this series, The Widow Rules. Janna MacGregor has concluded this series of Meri and his three wives in the best way possible. The ending is especially magical considering all the anguish these couples have had to endure. Beth possible had the hardest time adjusting and almost did not make it. Thank goodness, Ms. MacGregor gave her Julian. He is her match made in heaven.

Their journey to the HEA is very different from the others which makes it that much more enjoyable. Their ability to love and forgive is hard earned and special. Although this is last in the series, it is the best of the series. If you have not read the previous books, go back and enjoy!

“How to Best A Marquess” The Widow Rules book 3 by Janna MacGregor
A Wild Ride to a HEA
You do not have to read books 1 and 2 first; BUT, to get the full story I strongly suggest you start with book 1 of this series and work your way to book 3. I believe you will be glad you did. Now to this book. Yes there were some scenes that were a tad more detailed than I prefer, but I am glad I didn’t miss this story.. What a series of adventures in the search for the missing dowry. And the ending.. well it was perfectly delightful.
Happy Reading ! !
NOTE: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I loaded a copy of this book via NetGalley

This book took me by surprise. It’s not exactly my preferred genre but I did enjoy some parts of it.

The characters were well written and very likeable. It was a very heartwarming romance. It’s part of a series but I read it as a stand alone for the tropes I enjoy. The female protagonist is a bit quirky.

I did not enjoy the miscommunication and the third act breakup, however that’s pretty common in a lot of books.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Ptess for the arc.

Second chance romance

This second chance romance started out with great promise. Part of a series that’s had at its center three women who’d found out that they’d been all married to the same person, Lord Meriwether Vareck.
Beth (Blythe Elizabeth Howell) has promised herself to never marry again, and find out what has happened to her lost dowry.
Only her self-centered brother has decided to marry her off once more to an older lord in exchange for money, just like her first non marriage. I am at a loss to understand why Beth couldn’t find her voice to say NO!
Of course she’s a scandalous figure—even more so after she and Lord Meriwether’s two other wives/widows became friends. (Sister wives almost!)
So Beth is chasing down what’s happened to her dowry with longtime friend and foresworn would-be-husband Lord Julian Grayson. Grayson caused her heartache as a young woman. Julian is now a Marquis who requires funds to attract backers for his steam engine. He agrees to help Beth in exchange for the funds he needs when her dowry’s found.
We’re treated to them charging around the countryside with a strange Irish valet, meeting all sorts of mishaps, whilst panting after each other, with Beth still vowing never to marry again. Julian goes from broken hearted swain with a conscience, to lusty lover, to defender of the woman he’s always loved. Beth goes from a young woman determined never to give into her feelings, to a siren, and back again to uptight widow. The will I, won’t I, push and pull between the two drove me crazy.
I did like the Duke of Pelham, a strange man who looked after his sisters unlike Beth’s awful brother.
So many adventures and yet in the end all I could wish for was a quick exit.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ebook and this is my freely given opinion.

This is the third book in the Widow Rules series, and about the third wife of the infamous trigamist, the deceased Lord Meriweather, Beth Howell.

Beth was raised a proper Society lady, the daughter of a Viscount, loved by her parents, taught how to be a lady, with a generous dowry and prospects. The story opens years prior to her ill-fated marriage to Lord Meriweather, on a night when she thought all her dreams were coming true. She had been courted sweetly and romantically by an Earl, Julian Raleah, the heir to the Marquess of Grayson, and had expectations of his proposal. He arranges for a romantic interlude in their hosts' garden, during a ball and they promise their hearts to each other, with his pledge to go to ask her brother's permission to wed her the next day...

Unfortunately that never happens. Julian is denied permission by St. John, Beth's brother, belittled and threatened to be exposed as being an impoverished fortune hunter, and not worthy of their family. To save his pride and honor, Julian gives up on his dreaming of marrying Beth, and seeks to improve his family fortunes by focusing on his steam engine innovations.

Beth, after her years of disappointment in men, including her trigamist husband Meriweather, her wastrel brother who seeks to use her rather than protect her, and is now seeking to marry her off to fill his own coffers, as well as Julian who abandoned her, if finally forced to seek her own future. Through no fault of her own, she is ruined, and has nothing to lose, so she decides to follow the path of Meriweather's last days to figure out what he did with her dowry. Perhaps if she can recover some of it, she can seek to live independently. But she does need a bit of help and protection, and the person she seeks out is Julian. She offers him half her dowry, if she can recover it, if he will help her. Initially he refuses, but being desperate for funds himself, until he can gain investors for his engines, he ends up agreeing to help her.

Their adventure together is an angsty give and take because they have so much history, and despite their history, they still deeply love each other, but wanting to protect their own hearts from any further breakage. Beth, having had so many men fail her in so many ways, is very distrustful and not wanting to risk having her trust or heart broken again, and having been ill treated and shunned by Society, just wants to live her life outside of it. Julian still loves and yearns for Beth, but there is a lot of history and heartache to overcome.

I really enjoyed the second chance love story and the recovery of their lost love, though I was quite frustrated from the get go (as I am sure Beth would be) that Julian did not fight for their love, especially when Beth's brother turned out to be such a selfish ass-hat anyways, who obviously was not looking out for her whatsoever. After all, it sounds like everything bad that happened to her could be laid directly at his feet, and then he was manipulating her into another bad marriage to gain monies for himself. Also, it sounds like Julian never stopped loving Beth... so why did he not fight for their future together harder????

I quite enjoyed the story and the underlying humour of their following the path of Lord Meriweather - he was a terrible liar and manipulator as well, but oddly enough, he sounds like he was a charming, charismatic, cheerful sort of rakehell. Yes, he did something terrible to these three women... but in the end, it sounds like he did things to make up to them for the ill he did them. Ultimately, he really made life better for them because his actions directly lead to their friendships and them finding their true loves and fortunes. What can I say, other than this is fiction after all, and so a gambling, womanizing, lying trigamist can be deified as a cupid, and thanked for it!

4.5 stars out of 5

How to Best A Marquess is the third book in the Widow Rules series. Beth Howell was the third wife of the deceased trigamist, Meriwether. Ruined in the eyes of society, Beth works for a living embroidering and sewing and trying to escape her brother’s attempts to marry her off to men old enough to be her grandfather. Tired of being used by her brother, Beth is determined to find out what Meri did with her dowry and asks her former beau for help. Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson asked Beth to marry him years before but walked away when her brother accused him of being fortune hunter. Still down on his luck, Julian needs money to get his steam engine produced and change his fortune. Hunting down the dowry, Jules and Beth discover that they still have feelings for one another but Beth is determined not to remarry as every man she has loved has let her down. Sweet and sensual, Beth and Julian get a second chance at love in a hard won HEA in a satisfying end to the Widow Rules series. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.
Elements of this “road trip” historical romance were intriguing, but ultimately the characters and writing fell a little flat. I would try another book from this author.