This is a complicated yet exciting love story. I enjoyed the characters. The story was very interesting and kept me engaged. I enjoyed how it ended. I recommend reading!

I love this series! I'm a bit behind posting this review but I have to say I'm happy that I waited until I really had time to sit with it, Instead of reading it on the run. Jack is a rogue who lives near a widow, Harriet and her children, With smuggling going on all are them, they find themselves stuck in the middle of an unexpected adventure. This author is talented and writes unique and engaging stories. I recommend reading the entire series even as each one can stand alone. The characters are fantastic and the story very developed.

The Cornish Widow by Fil Reid is an enormously complicated book, well, emotionally complicated, anyway. Mrs. Harriet Penhallow has moved to a cottage offered by her dead husband’s great aunt. Upon arriving it became obvious no one had lived there recently and the last person who had done so had left in a hurry. The place was a mess, including vestiges of the former tenant’s last meal on the table. Cobwebs everywhere and accompanying spiders; dust inches thick. The children Lydia, fifteen, and Theo, twelve, didn’t quite understand the seriousness of the matter. There were no beds and only dusty floors to sleep up. Thank goodness Lady Trevelyan, a neighbor, happened by, well, really snooping, and offered assistance. Before long a wagon with three servants and a load of furniture was at the front door. They had it in shape very quickly and now the family had places to sit and sleep; food to eat. The next day when Harriet went to give thanks to the lady, she met the woman’s son, Captain Jack Trevelyan. With a storm brewing up, he offered to walk her home. By the time they got there they were both soaked but the children were enthralled, especially Theo.

Everyone knows Cornwall’s history of smuggling so it is not a surprise that a large part of this story was about smuggling. It was hair-raising but fun, including Harriet and Theo being accidental stowaways on a trip across the channel to France. Harriet’s first husband had treated her cruelly and so she vowed to never get close to a man again. Jack said he was different, but how could she be sure. Getting to know him was very emotional for her. He, on the other hand, had lived with a cloud over his head his whole life and it weighed heavy on him. These characters; this story...quite excellent. Got one’s heart beating, for sure.

I was invited to read The Cornish Widow by Dragonblade. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Dragonblade #FilReid #TheCornishWidow

This was the first book in the series for me so I really didn't know what to expect. Overall, it was an enjoyable read but I found the pacing to be a little choppy. It seemed like there were three separate story ideas here all mashed into one novel. First there is the impoverished widow who is reluctant to get involved in another romantic relationship due to her abusive first husband. Then there is that same widow unwittingly getting involved with a smuggling operation. And finally, there is the dashing young man who discovers the truth about his legitimacy and learns he is actually an heir to a title. Any one of these (or even maybe just two of them) would have made for an interesting tale, but all three just felt like a little too much. And I thought Harriet approved of the smuggling a little too quickly after being so worried about getting caught up in the operation. It was also frustrating to see how little her children respected her orders and pretty much just did whatever they wanted. She is such a strong woman you would have hoped her children were a little more capable and a little less whiny and clueless about the ways in which the world worked. I know I've mostly just pointed out what I didn't like about the book, but there were things I did like. I really liked Harriet's strength in taking what she had and making the most of it. She has a good reason for avoiding a romance but trusts in her own instincts when it came time to giving Jack a chance. And I liked that Jack pretty much instantly saw how great Harriet was and respected the boundaries she was setting. I also appreciated that he never went over her head when it came to allowing her son to come on board his ship. Obviously he also didn't want him on board because of the smuggled goods, but I also think part of it was that he knew Harriet would not have wanted him on the ship without her. The actual romance between the two was really sweet and was allowed to develop from neighbors, to something of a friendship, and then to something romantic. You could understand why she was willing to change her stance on a second marriage in order to be with him.

Thank you Netgalley and Dragonblade Publishing for this arc.

The blurb though is a bit misleading as there is a lot more that happens earlier in the book before any smuggling bit and Jack isn’t as ruthless as most who warn people to “watch the wall my darling, while the gentlemen go by.” On the positive side, I think the historical details and manners were well done.

There is a lot going on in this story which includes little snippet scenes with most of the characters from the earlier novels in this series. I’ve not read them and the characters contributed to the actions in this book so I didn’t mind but a lot of time was spent on them. Jack is the bastard son of a local baronet. He and his mother are accepted in most Society but Jack now has bitter feelings towards the man who only tossed off a few hours here and there for him. One of Jack’s friends and one of his enemies were in the same regiment with Harriet’s husband. I kept expecting these men to say something about Ben Penhallow (dead hubbie) but nothing ever came of this.

Enemy Hussar is now a revenue man who sends shivers of unease down Harriet’s back. Harriet has some suspicions about Jack and what he does and realizes she needs to keep her wits about her when the revenue guy shows up fishing for information. Then Theo’s exuberance gets them stuck on the boat and we spend a long time learning how smuggling is done (not as exciting as Theo thought yet it does give Jack and Harriet time together) before a tense scene that builds up then deflates. I expected more excitement from this but it didn’t happen.

All along, Jack has been prying trying to find out exactly what happened in Harriet’s past marriage to make her so wary and skittish. Turns out getting her tipsy (not Jack’s intention) gets her to spill the beans on a toxic marriage that poor seventeen year old bride Harriet walked into and then thought was her duty to accept. I appreciate that while Harriet thinks all along that Jack is easy on the eyes, she still has no initial intention of ever getting married again. Her change of heart is a long time coming and mainly due to how Jack behaves towards her rather than quickly falling in love.

The ending scenes of the book are what actually brought the grade down a bit. Something Happens in Jack’s family that I frankly didn’t see the need for except if this series is to be continued. Then Jack arrives to offer his heart and hand to Harriet who decides that she needs to see how Jack would behave if they got married. I applaud the fact that Harriet is doing the decision making here but she was fooled once so I really don’t see this one experience as being long-term proof of Jack not being like dead-husband Ben. These issues plus the build up/let down of some expectations hampered a book that could have been a lot better. C+

Set in Cornwall where smuggling is not only a source of income to the inhabitants but also brings excitement and intrigue to what would be an otherwise dreary life. Fil Reid is fast becoming one of my favorite authors as she puts together a well-developed plot with an element of suspense running through it. Despite his annoyance at finding a widow and her two children inhabiting the rundown cottage on the cliffs, Jack cannot help but see the fear and insecurity in Harriet's eyes and body language and he feels protective towards her, especially when his nemesis decides to pay her a visit, thereby exposing not only the small family to danger but the whole community as well. When Harriet's incorrigible twelve-year-old son sneaks off to investigate The Fly during the night, she rushes after him, but instead finds herself hiding from the smugglers returning to the boat. Jack cannot help but be amused when the stowaways are found, despite his annoyance that they are jeopardizing the whole crew. However, their forced proximity shows Jack in a new light and Harriet comes to the conclusion that not all men are like her bullying late husband. The book comes to a heartwarming conclusion with a new path laid out for Jack, Harriet, and her small family. I received a copy of this novel as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this book. Very unique storyline. Harriet is widowed. She was married to a monster of a brute and has much trauma. She meets the best man possible - Jack - as her neighbor when she moves to Cornwall. He's a rogue, but a GOOD rogue and smuggler. He's wonderful with Harriet and her two kids. I DID like the last chapter and I am very happy it was open door. She did it her way, and good for Harriet.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

The setting for this book was fun. Who does not like a seafaring adventure on the high seas. What I did not care for was the whole title thing (there was no purpose to that) and the last scene. I would have liked to have seen it earlier in the story not at the very end especially when the trauma to overcome was quite big. Overall a solid 3 🌟

#netgalley #TheCornishWidow

Turned out it wasn't for me! Most of the book was enjoyable and when twist happened I thought this was a 4 star read. But then I was disappointed by the very end and that last scene seemed quite farfetched and unnecessary. I skipped the last chapter.

Received a copy from NetGalley. Thoughts are my own.

I was immediately impressed with this book based on the writing style. It’s well-worded and well-researched, rich with detail on everything from ships to clothing to Cornwall. I loved all of the characters (especially Harriet, Bertha, Theo, and Mrs. T) and I adored the setting too. As for the plot, it pulled me in so much, I did not want to put the book down!

I was sure this was going to be a five-star read for me, but then the last part of the book felt too rushed and far-fetched relating to Jack’s family. I skipped the sex scene (though I didn’t deduct from my rating for that; closed-door is just my personal preference), which felt like a strange way to conclude the book.*

I still LOVED most of the book; I would have l liked it even better if it was a little longer to make the development feel more natural to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dragonblade publishing for the free eARC; I really enjoyed it! I post this review voluntarily with my honest opinions. This review will also be posted on Amazon upon the book’s publication.

*I do understand why the author desired to show how Jack treated Harriet better than her abusive last husband, but it felt out-of-character for a sensible widow in a precarious situation to threaten herself with ruin by sleeping with a man outside of marriage. It felt unrealistic for her to overcome so many years of past sexual trauma so quickly - but I suppose people heal in their own way at their own pace!

This is the fourth book in the Cornish Ladies series. It follows the story of Harriet Penhallow, who is a widow with 2 children. She has to move from Bath to Cornwall and accept the charity of her late husband's aunt. Jack is the captain of The Fly, the only son of Harriet's new neighbor, and a smuggler. One night, when Harriet's son sneaks to the cove where The Fly is, and she follows him. When they hear the crew returning, they hide themselves in The Fly, and before they know it, they are at the sea. The storyline seemed pretty unique. The era represented in the book was good. The language was not for me though. Even with that, I finished it in one sitting. Although I did not particularly enjoy how men are portrayed as superior, I suppose that was a major factor in the past.

Thank you for this arc of The Cornish Widow. The story is about a widow that falls for a smuggler. I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading more from this author.