I enjoyed this book which follows the story of a widower, Beth, who is looking for her dowry and asks the guy she was once in love with for help. This is the third book of the series which could be read as a standalone but I recommend reading it in order to get the full experience. I have to say that I really love MacGregor's writing and how she captures every moment the readers want in her books. I really enjoyed the storyline of this book and how entertaining it was. There were some very unexpected scenes in this book that made just made me want to keep on reading. The pacing was perfect for this book and I enjoyed the setting of the story. I do have to say that this book was probably my least favorite in the series. I really enjoyed the first two books as there was a more romantic plot to them compared to this one. I felt that in this book it was more of Beth trying to find her dowry in order to make her future.

This book is from dual povs of Beth and Julian. Beth is the woman looking for a dowry to get away from her brother and Julian is a marquess that doesn't have much. Beth annoyed me a bit at times with the questions she asked but I really loved how she never gave up on her mission. Julian is such a sweetheart who would do anything for Beth and I truly loved him for that. Both characters have amazing character development and I enjoyed reading their stories. There are many side characters, some who made appearances in the first two books and some new ones. I really enjoyed the side characters in this book especially the very minor ones as they caused so much drama to keep the story entertaining. The romance in this book is a second chance and I was truly here for it as Beth and Julian have that special connection for each other. The book 2-3 steamy scenes which were so cute!

The ending was well done and from the looks of it, this is the end of the series. I really enjoyed reading this series and going on a journey with the past widowers. They truly went a lot after ending up married to one guy. I did have some minor issues with the book but overall it was a great book. I truly recommend that you read this series because it's great and so much better than the Bridgerton books.

Jana MacGregor's latest offering How to Best a Marquess is an attempt at the new incarnation of the romance novel, the historical early feminist. Her heroine Beth had been disappointed in love and then married off by her guardian brother to a bigamist. She has lost her dowry and her standing in society, but with the bigamists death and ensuing scandal she has gained her freedom. All she needs now is to recover her lost dowry and ensure equality for all women. Sounds very simple and easy.

Through the novel Beth makes her intentions to never marry again very clear. To marry would require her to give up her freedom and identity, and most importantly to risk her heart again. MacGregor carefully crafts scenes to demonstrate Beth's internal struggle to remain independent, but at times the repetition become monotonous and the reader is ready to move along. There are several historical inaccuracies in the novel, but nothing too serious to ruin the pleasure of reading. My main concern was that I didn't feel a connection to either of the characters. I wasn't invested in their story. MacGregor put the right words into their mouths but didn't give them the depth of character to make those words impactful.

I loved Beth and Grayson!! I really enjoyed How to Best A Marquess! I ;think if you have good characters the story flows. Beth betrayed by her brother decided to take control of her life. Grayson her true love helps her and at the same time of course reunite and realize the love each other!
The story was running around England with inns, horses and craziness with lots of fun thrown in.
For me I would have liked to see the brother suffer a bit more lol.
Nice read, definitely worth it!





I was given an advanced copy for a honest review.

⭐⭐⭐.5/ - Any time the regency era bourgeoise has to roll up their shirt sleeves and put in some hard work... you can almost guarantee I'm going to enjoy the book! 😂🖤

A SHORT PREVIEW:
When Beth is on the edge of losing everything thanks to her short-sighted first husband, she knows she's running short on options. The stakes are high as she looks to reclaim her missing dowry, all while trying to keep a professional distance from the man she once loved: Julian, the Marquess of Grayson. Julian, for his part, has never forgotten Beth but knows that he must make his steam engine invention a success if he's to create a life for himself and his future family.


THOUGHTS:
- You'll always see me loving regency-era romances because while times were still difficult for the common man, there's just something relaxing about a less complicated generation.
- I also loved that our main characters, Beth and Julian, didn't immediately just jump into a relationship. They know that by entering into a relationship - their future spouses could be offended because they have the same friends. That takes a level of maturity that a nubile young virgin of the ton wouldn't necessarily have!

FAVORITE QUOTE(S):
'With the lightest of touches, his fingers brushed against her cheek, then tucked her hair behind her ear. The sensation so erotic that she couldn't help but inhale sharply'. - Mr. Darcy *hand-flex* level swooning lol

NOTES:
- 🌶🌶/5 ( A few open-door s3xual scenes.)
- Second-chance romance
- Regency Romance
- HEA Ending with that coveted extended epilogue
- 3rd book in a series, and I didn't realize that when I started reading, but I don't feel like it took away from me wanting to read the other books at all!

**Thank you, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Paperbacks, and NetGalley, for this advance reader copy. I received this book for free, but all thoughts are my own. - SLR 🖤

This book was nice, but not as good as I'd expected. I love a good second chance romance, but unfortunately I really struggled to maintain focus and connect with the characters. There was also a lack of proper chemistry between the MCs, that mad the story fall flat.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

How to Best a Marquess by Janna MacGregor is book #3 in the Widow Rules series. Such lovely characters in this book! The heroine, Beth Howell is on a quest to find the dowry her now-deceased, bigamist first husband absconded with before being forced by her uncaring brother to marry an elderly gentleman just to get Beth our of his hair. She is an intelligent and strong character.Enter ex-fiance Julian Raleah, Marquess of Greyson who ends up helping Beth. This is one swoon-worthy hero! I love these two together. Definitely a perfect couple! It doesn't come easy but I enjoyed their Happily Ever After.

How to Best a Marquess

Although this the third book in “The Widow Rules” series, it is a standalone book. You don’t need to read the first 2 ( “A Duke in Time” and “Rules for Engaging the Earl”), but you will miss out on enjoyable and fun books. Katherine, Constance and Beth were all married to Meriweather (Meri) Vareck —at the same time! The scoundrel ran off with their dowries. This is Beth’s story. She is financially and socially ruined. She must find her dowry, but she needs help for the journey. She asks Julian, the Marquess of Grayson, to accompany her. However, Julian was an “almost fiancé “ years ago. (Beth’s brother refused Julian.) There are misgivings and trust issues on both sides.

Julian has also fallen on hard times and needs the money for his inventions. Beth promises to give him half of what they find. Reluctantly, he agrees to accompany her. Both Beth and Julian still have feelings for each other. Besides the quest for finding her dowry, could this be a second chance at love?

And what a journey it is —- mystery, romance, laughter (wait til you read the robbery scene!), heartache and more. Throughout the quest, both Beth and Julian become good friends again. Julian has never stopped loving her. Beth loves him, too. Because the men in her life have left or failed her, Beth has decided to never marry. As the quest ends, the dowry is still missing; Julian loses the backing for his invention; and the lovers go their separate ways. Ah, but wait —there’s more (as they say in the TV ad!)

Janna MacGregor is a well-accomplished author. When I choose one of her books, I know I will be entertained with a good story and strong characters. One of the factors I like best is that she creates strong, independent, intelligent female characters and developing heroes. I was given an ARC for my honest opinion. I really liked this book. I bonded with Beth and Julian and felt their emotions. I was happy for them at the end —but sad because the book was done! Buy the book —you won’t be disappointed.

How to Best a Marquess is a second chance romance with the close proximity of a coach trip. This trek into the countryside is in pursuit of Beth Howell’s lost dowry.

I really liked the character of Julian, Marquess of Grayson. He was honorable, intelligent, and charming. Janna MacGregor always delivers with her dashing heroes.

I wanted more of Cillian the valet, butler, footman, coachman, etc. etc.
The energy in the highwayman robbery scene was such fun.

A satisfying ending to this series about an unlikely trio of “sisterwives”

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was wonderful. I lived every page of this regency second chance romance. It has everything you look for in a historical romance. If I could go back in time and visit I would choose this time period because I love it so due to great books like this one.
I just reviewed How to Best A Marquess by Janna MacGregor. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I’m a big fan of Janna MacGregor so I was happy to read the final installment of the trilogy, The Widow Laws, this one focusing on Miss Beth Howell and her long-lost love Julian Raleah, the Earl of Weyhill. In the opening scene, we see Beth as a debutante when Julian proposes to her and they swear their love to one another. When Beth’s brother refuses Julian’s suit, he quietly leaves without fighting for Beth or offering her any explanation. This is the first step in her journey to closing herself off from love.

Sometime later, Beth’s brother arranges for her to marry Lord Meriwether Vareck, not knowing Beth will be his third wife, subsequent to and simultaneously with Constance and Kat (her best friends since the discovery). When Beth realizes that Meri took off with her dowry and never came back—before dying unexpectedly—she vows she will never marry.
Meanwhile, her good-for-nothing brother St. John is busy trying to arrange a marriage for her to an elderly widower because he needs money and views Beth as a means to obtain it. She refuses and decides it’s time to search for her dowry, so she asks Julian to accompany her. Initially, it’s unclear why she chooses to invite Julian, but she justifies it because she doesn’t want to involve her newlywed friends and she doesn’t really have anyone else to ask—since she has been ostracized as a result of her downfall. The truth is, there’s probably a part of her that never even admits that she wants to spend time with him because she needs to know why he left her. Maybe, she even wants to see if there’s still anything left between.

Beth promises to give Julian half of her dowry, or whatever is left of it, when they find it, and although it is clear that they both have strong feelings for one another, he agrees to help her. She disappoints him by defining their relationship as a business one. She is very upfront about her vow to never marry, but Julian is determined to change her mind. Over the course of their search, they grow closer. Julian comes to understand how many times Beth has been betrayed by the men in her life and thus, doesn’t trust them. She comes to understand she still loves Julian, but she’s hesitant because she doesn’t want her soiled reputation to damage Julian’s.

The story is an adventure with a literal journey. Not only do the two of them follow a trail left behind by Meri in the hopes of finding something/anything, but they also journey inwardly in their feelings for one another. Julian realizes his love for Beth has only grown, while Beth realizes she still loves him. However, she doesn’t possess the courage required to accept his new offer of marriage. She tells herself she loves him too much to risk his reputation or his property, and I’m sure she believes that, but ultimately, that’s not the only thing holding her back. It’s stressful and their fate is uncertain until the very end.

During Beth and Julian’s journey, they arrive at one of the inns and the scene is described thusly: “Moving with the speed of honey on a brisk January day, an elderly couple tottered out of the inn with a middle-aged woman following.” This may be the cleverest wording of “slower than molasses in January” that I’ve ever read.

Without revealing the ending, I do need to mention that I found the whole thing with Cumberland and Somerset confusing. Where did Beth live? Cumberland? Where was she when she was ‘married’ to Meri? Cumberland? Did he visit the other property when he left wherever she was? Somerset? Where is she now (at the end)? I’m sorry, but the way it was presented, I still couldn’t figure out how something got from one place to another, especially since Meri was so briefly in her life. Despite my confusion, I still loved the book, and I was happy to read Beth’s HEA. There were a bunch of typos but I’m sure those will be fixed prior to publication.

Beth, a widow, is looking for her dowry that her polygamous husband of one week took when he left her. She wants the money so she can live independently from her controlling brother and the scandal of finding her husband had two other wives. Julian is a poor marquess who hopes to restore his wealth by building steam engines to power mills. Always in love with Beth, and rejected to court her by her brother, Julian realizes he is still in love with her. They set out together to trace the last steps of her husband before he died. I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my honest review.

How to Best a Marquess, Janna MacGregor writes a classic romantic tale of a strong women, Beth, who tears into a variety personal throes. I adore MacGregor’s subtle, but relevant perception of feminism in this book. Moving from one pivotable moment to another, my heart was captured by powerful friendships and a charming male role who is dedicated to pure, honest love. Grayson is everything a women desires, loyal, proud and inventive. Cheers to Janna for delivering a passionate, historical fiction piece!

Super excited as this was my first ARC from NetGalley, this did not disappoint at all and made me remember why I am so into historical romances. I did not read the other books in the series, but this book definitely piqued my interest in the other books!
I liked the mystery element to the book and the fact that this was basically a road trip second-chance romance, just in a historical setting. I've also never really seen a story involving trigamy as a scandal. Frustrating that Beth would be the one that has her reputation ruined when she had no idea what was going on, but really highlighted misogyny that's impossible to separate from historical romances.
The history between Beth and Julian and their "failed" courtship showed how well suited they are for each other. Beth admired Julian for his work on steam engines and did not care that he was basically broke, while Julian respected Beth and wanted the best for her. The fact that they both fell victim to their circumstances was so realistic and actually made me cry a bunch throughout the novel (which is rare for me). Their misunderstanding that lead to the typical third act breakup did not seem petty to me at all, and I understood where they were both coming from. When they eventually got together I was just so happy as it all made sense.

Thank you to Janna MacGregor, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the arc of “How to Best a Marquess”

I had a sudden urge a week or so ago to read a historical romance or two and went on NetGalley where I found a listing for How to Best a Marquess. I’m glad I did!

I had a ton of fun reading this! I loved Beth as a main character and Julien was charming and nice. I’ve read a lot of romance novels and it’s always a mixed bag on whether or not I’m going to actually like the MMC, but I loved Julien! He was genuinely nice and wanted what was best for Beth. Their friendship was sweet as well.

I think if you’re looking for a well rounded story, a fantastic main character, a sweet romance, and a MMC who isn’t pushy this is absolutely the book for you!

4/5 stars! This is the third book in "The Widow Rules" series by Janna MacGregor. I love historical romance. It is probably the genre I have been reading the longest, so I have a soft spot in my heart for this genre. After reading the premise, I was excited to get to know Beth and Julian's story. I love a good grumpy sunshine romance and we get that in spades here, as was the miscommunication trope. I'm not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope but it was handled well here. Overall, really enjoyed Julian and watching them get their HEA.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The third book in this series is just as action packed, full of twists and just enough steam as the first two were. Beth and Julian are a great couple and well matched.

My first Janna MacGregor. This can be read as a stand-alone, I didn't really feel like I was missing any puzzle pieces by not having read the first books in this series.

I'm not a big fan of second-chance romance, but I really enjoyed the setup for this one. The tension, desire, and angst all create a wonderful slow burn.

This is a good old-fashioned road trip romance for most of the book with lots of zany capers (getting stripped and tied to a tree after the heroine tries to shoot the robber? FUN!)

The writing is wonderful and purple and Julian is the hottest kind of hero. The bathtub scene (sex lessons because she's never gotten off before) where he takes care of her from behind like the scene from Ghost after hand-feeding her a chicken dinner, I cannot 🫠🫠🫠)

If you are into pampering and getting taken care of like a princess by a sexy, sexy engineer, this book is for you.

I had to drop this to three stars because the end of the second act all the way through the breakup and into the end just dragged really horribly for me. I didn't like magical resolution of all the problems and I really hated her proposing to him, like NO thank you.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story has great friendships and a love story that stands together even after all the trials. Lots of mystery thrown in to add to the story.

THE REVIEW
Beth Howell and Julian Raleah were once in love and hoped to marry, but Beth’s brothers refusal of the match sent Julian away without a word to Beth. Beth was devastated and confused; Julian was embarrassed and ashamed.

Years pass and Beth is forced to face Julian and ask for his help in recovering her dowry that her deceased husband, Meri wagered. Beth was the third wife of Meri and left in the worst position of the three.

Julian Raleah was devastated to be denied a marriage with Beth but he has never stopped loving her. So when Julian hears about her fake marriage and she shows up at his door asking for help, he is optimistic that he can win her back! What ensues is an adventure across the British countryside in an attempt to retrace Meri’s path and find her dowry!

Julian and Beth were so cute! I felt for both of them and the positions they were put in. BUT I will say, I hate a miscommunication trope! I find it so frustrating when years of happiness are lost because they didn’t simply TALK! I was able to get past my frustration in this book, however, because they were able to recover a friendship quickly and neither was overly angry with the other. They had cute banter and believable sexy times! The adventure was fun and added to their ability to actually communicate with each other.

BUT then my other hated trope of a second act break-up popped up. Ugh. This one bothered me because I didn’t understand Beth’s reasoning for refusing a future with Julian. She made it sound like she had no choice, but Julian was the one with the title and in need of funds, so if he was MORE than willing to overlook the concerns, she should be too!

This wasn’t my favorite of the series, but I did run through all the emotions (even some teary eyes) and I liked how everything was settled with what Meri had left his wives.

TROPES
Historical Romance, Regency Era, Beta/Cinnamon Roll Hero, Scientist Hero, Protective Hero, Titled Hero, Damaged/Tortured Heroine, Experienced Heroine, Independent Heroine, Widowed Heroine, Second Chance Romance, Road Trip Trope, Second Act Breakup, Bath/Shower Steam, Four Star, Three Flame

How to Best a Marquess by Janna MacGregor

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

3/5 stars

This was book three of the Widow Rules series. Having not read the previous two books, there were parts of the book that were a bit confusing to me. Eventually the pieces came together but it would have helped to have read the first two books.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were well-written and the love scenes were just steamy enough.

This book lost stars for me because the end of the journey was a bit abrupt for me. I found it quite confusing and rereading it didn’t help. I also didn’t find Beth’s speech at the end very believable, given the timeframe.

All in all, an entertaining Regency romance.