Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a copy of this book!

As someone who thoroughly devoured the Bridgerton books in a few weeks, I really enjoyed this read. I loved the FMC and found her interesting, and her connection to the MMC was intriguing enough.

I do wish the book went a little slower - it's almost too quick of a read!
Highly recommend!

I liked this but I was also bored by it at the same time. I will be writing a better review to post for a better understanding on what I think about the book as a whole.

🧁Review: Much Ado About Margaret

☕Rated: 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💗 Characters: Margaret and Bridger are beyond hilarious! I will say Shakespeare would be proud! Margaret is very headstrong and very sweet! She is determined to get her work published! Bridger was a complex character with a gooey center that you had to just bite into! I kept reading until I found out LOL

📖Details: This book had a lot of emotional aspects! You have a young woman with a dream! The man that did not want to help publish her book now finds potential in it! A lot of family truths and drama come to light! I have to say I was not a fan of the aunts LOL!! But sometimes characters with the most disdain come with the most addiction to get to know about! Romantic butterflies fly between our two main characters! The romance was perfect! I absolutely loved it!


🍾Extra Details: A true delightful read! A woman who wants to follow her dreams but family members are trying to convince her to do otherwise! A man who turned down her book who now wants to help! I truly adored Margaret's rebellious ways! Rebellion is not just hard grit it can be from the heart and filled with potential to see a goal through!

Bravo! 🕯️

This period romance by Roux has something for everyone who watched any Austen adaptation, or Bridgerton, or enjoys putting pen to paper--its aspiring author protagonist and her smoldering publisher are an entertaining couple. A ne'er-do-well brother and an initial scandal add interest, and a surprisingly strong ex-fiancee character make this a satisfying read.

All in all an enjoyable regency romance! I enjoyed the premise of the story and I thought it was well written. I struggled to connect with the MFC though. Would still recommend

I thought this book was really cute. I’m very picky about my historical romances and this one did a lot to subvert my expectations and the plot always had a slight twist that I wasn’t expecting. I’ve already recommended it to a couple friends that I think would really enjoy it as well.

Adequate but I found the characters eminently unlikeable. So much so that their pairing made sense.

Margaret Arden wants to be a writer. She's put her all into writing a novel that will get her name in print. But her father's death left her, her mother, and her sisters dependent on their aunts' generosity to survive. And the aunts are tired of Margaret not acting like a lady and making an advantageous marriage. A particularly brutal takedown from a publisher has Margaret deciding that it might just be time to give up her dream, but a family wedding puts her in the same house as the unfairly handsome publisher and on the way to a scandal. Bridger Darrow was a captain in the war with France who wants nothing more than to put that behind him. He works as a publisher now and his only hope of saving his family is to find the next, great novel. After rudely and brutally turning down Margaret, he finds himself in close quarters with her and the novel he didn't even bother to read. It's a clash of personalities and obligations that will force both to decide what they really desire.

Despite starting out looking like it was going to be a very generic story, Roux quickly takes things into a fun and empathetic territory where things are still familiar, but feel new as you experience them with the characters. Both Margaret and Bridger have strong personalities and watching them first clash and then fall in love was a treat. The way the story focuses so much on how awful women have it in society could have gotten preachy, yet it feels like something that needs to be navigated smartly and following your heart. A much better way to get the point across.

Overall, it was a super engaging read with characters that I cared about.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the great romance read!

Thank you to the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book! The opinions in this review are entirely my own and unbiased.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I really wanted to love it. There were chapters I liked and some of the interactions and events kept me drawn in. However, there were also parts that made this a "just ok" book for me. I could have done without the sex scenes; they kinda felt out of place somehow, like they didn't feel right in the storyline. But they may just have been me. Who knows!

The only type of historical/Regency era romance I'm interested in is the kind with a heroine who does not accept the misogynistic boundaries placed on women, and Much Ado About Margaret absolutely meets that criteria. I will say, Bridger did seem to take Maggie less seriously as a woman, and then randomly kisses her after no prior relationship development? It did make me struggle to fully buy into him. But I liked Maggie enough to sort of make up for that gap. Overall, pretty good!

Madeleine Roux’s next season in Regency England follows a rebellious writer and the man who risks everything to publish her.
-
Love retellings and Much Ado is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. This takes place in the country at a house party. It does follow the original story points but is very unique to this time period. Love that Margaret (our Beatrice) is an author trying to get her book published and the man she’s talked with thinks it’s absurd until he reads a random page of hers. So much drama, expectations and notes passed around.

*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC; the review is my own.*

I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, but don’t mistake that for a promise that it is without at least a temporary heartbreak. True to the title, it is a little bit reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (which is my very favorite of his works), though it doesn't feel like a simple rehash of the whole plot. In fact, the main characters recognize and remark upon the similarities themselves. This could have come off as somewhat cheesy, but it was done in a very natural, realistic way.

Although they're not exact reincarnates of Benedick and Beatrice, Margaret (22) and Bridger (27) have a very similar rapport. They don't bicker quite as much, but the animosity is definitely there because of a previous interaction regarding Margaret's book. I couldn't help but root for them from the beginning and applaud Ann's efforts and determination to throw them together as much as possible. I really liked them as individual characters and as a team once they got to that point. Honestly, they were adorable and so perfectly matched. I loved the close relationship between Margaret and her sisters, as well. Violet and Winny were quite hilarious and supportive of their sister, and I cannot imagine the relationship between the three of them souring like it did for their aunts.

My only complaint about this book (and I realize not everyone will agree with me) was the jump into physical intimacy between Margaret and Bridger. To me, it didn't feel true to either of their characters (or the general tone of the rest of the book), and it felt rushed for the sake of including those scenes. The same consequences could easily have been brought about just from the two of them sharing a room/bed without anything more than a kiss occurring. Look at the trouble that ensued from the Ann-look-alike kissing a man on the balcony.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and will likely take a look at other work by this author.

How it ends: (view spoiler)

Note: A little mild swearing, one f word (felt out of place). Two open-door sex scenes (easily skipped).

Well - I truly wanted to love this book, but it just fell short for me. The historical romance, the regency-era timeline all are ones that I generally enjoy. The writing style itself was really hard to read - I felt like there was a lot missing between the blurb of the book and the actual plot-line. There was little emphasis on the writing career and publishing aspect of books, and a lot of emphasis on jealousy and a really annoying back-and-forth about if the MMC is an jerk or not.

The descriptions of the characters identity also really turned my stomach - I know the timing of the book (it was the 1800's afterall) had some play in that, but why write an Indian character in such a vile way? There's no reason to state that she's ugly, and that she's oh, so jealous of her white cousins because they are in fact, white. It was just really not pleasant to read, and some of the descriptors were really sickening - ie: she appeared like a bunny nibbling clover - say what!?

The misogyny in this book was atrocious - again, I tried to allow for the fact that this book was written depicting an 1800's timeline but it still was just too much.

I did enjoy the element of the family dramatics - I thought that added a very interesting side plot that was amusing. I also loved all of the quotes at the beginning of the chapters and the descriptions of the locations were truly wonderfully done and well written. I could easily picture the hill overlooking Tetherly, and the marsh! It was nice.

All in all, I truly appreciate this arc and thank NetGalley and RandomHouse/Dell publishing!

Margaret is desperate to get her book published so she can keep writing but also to save her family and herself from a business transaction loveless marriage if her aunts have their way. Bridger is having a bad day thanks to his brother when Margaret brings her book in and presents himself as a class A jerk. Luckily for them, they are both at a friend's wedding, giving them both a second chance. There's lots of mystery and scandal solving going on, and lots of jealous people, but a friendship forms leading to more. There were some parts I didn't like, but overall, it was a good read.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

3 stars

This is a regency-era drama with odes to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Margaret is a woman aspiring to be a published writer, one with energy and thoughts abounding. Bridger is a publisher in London, one with a haunted past. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, they find themselves drawn together, over and over.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish this book - simply because I kept forgetting about it. It was okay. There is a large cast of characters who could be colorful, there are “mysteries” that could draw the reader in, but the writing just didn’t capture me. So often, even when action was occurring, it was obvious what the impetus was and what the outcome would be. It’s a difficult task to link your writing to things as iconic as Shakespeare and Austen, when your readers might have expectations and ideas about your work already. Of course, this particular novel twisted that somewhat, as it is not a retelling, per se. (Much Ado exists in the world of Much Ado About Margaret.)

There just wasn’t a grab for me. I wasn’t particularly invested in any of the characters, or curious about their choices. It seems like a decent novel, just not the one for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the editors for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Much Ado About Nothing
By Madeleine Roux

Regency England was taken by storm with this novel. A bored and aspiring writer in regency England has written the go to novel of the century – the only glitch is that she is living in regency England with no hope of getting published! In a time when women were more inclined to make menus and raise babies than write a novel, it will take more than luck to see her dreams come to reality.
A funny, often adventurous reading, this book highlights how women were made to step aside and let a man take care of them and how many fought the constraints of society and dared to step out on their own. No matter the cost. Well written the storyline brings home the struggle women had to endure to breakthrough societal norms into the unknown. The prejudices they were handed and the shame of daring to defy the norm. This book has it all and should immediately be in your lap and open.
It’s a book that will entertain you on every level while keeping you turning the pages . This is one book that you will read more than once, a book that you will be glad you purchased and possibly a book to pass down through the generations. It does not disappoint and I highly recommend you put in on your to be read bookshelf immediately. If you liked Bridgeton, you will love this book. #muchadoaboutmargaret #Netgalley

After some initial challenges getting into this book, it became more and more engaging as I got into it. I love how this enemies to lovers story is more than skin deep and includes all sorts of secondary stories like how the second son is the more responsible one, how we find out why the first son is a drunken rake. The ending with Regina’s sponsorship seemed kind of abrupt and I didn’t love her inclusion in general, I was content hating her but then I had to love her. Interesting story overall. I’d read more from this author.

The premise of this sounded fun, but I feel like the author got too caught up in the complexities of writing historical fiction. The tropes felt tired and the writing over-complicated itself to the point of being annoying.

Also, on the subject of annoying, our love interest was actually the worst. He has a fairly low opinion of women as a whole and while I do believe people can change and that growth happens, I struggle to believe that he would flip his opinion so quickly.

I just felt tired and uninspired by this book, probably because it was tired and uninspired. I do think some people will like this, unfortunately I am not one of said people.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux is a book I picked up because of the cover...I can't lie. I saw it and requested it and I loved it.

Margaret Arden is our fmc and she's not your normal demure and dainty girl. She would rather be someone passionate and daring like the characters she writes in her novels. Her goal is to become published and her worst fear is that she'll only amount to what society expects of her so when she sees an opportunity to get her novel in front of a publisher, she takes it. What she doesn't expect is a brutal rejection that makes her question everything she's thought about her goals. But when her cousin's glamourous wedding gives her another chance, she's determined to make the most of it.

Captain Bridger Dryden is starting over after years of fighting for his country. He's now home and struggling with his past but as a partner at Dockarty and Dryden publishing, he can turn to his love of books as a bit of a relief from everything. When he goes to the wedding of his best friend and comes across loose pages of an amazing book, Bridger knows he needs to publish it. But when he finds out that the author is none other than Margaret Arden, the same person he brutally rejected in the past, he is determined to figure out how to gain her trust and win her over.

In the midst of all of this, there's something wrong with Bridger's brother and he's created a bit of a scandal for the wedding party which Margaret and Bridger are determined to help resolve. As the wedding is descending into chaos and things are getting out of control, Margaret and Bridger are learning who the other really is and the chemistry between the two is undeniable. The question is whether they can overcome their past, decide what they want their futures to be, and determine if that future means they can be together despite all the obstacles they have in front of them.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was a little slow in parts but I urge you to not let that deter you from picking up and finishing this book. I thought Roux did a great job of developing these characters and telling their stories.

This story is about a rebellious writer and a man willing to publish her. Kinda. There is a lot more to it than just that.

The sparks fly between our leading lady and man. They have the passion, but can it lead to something lasting?

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.