⭐⭐⭐ Was I hooked by that book? Yes. It’s a charming second-chance romance that takes a few detours on the way to happy-ever-after.

Meriwether Vareck, also known as the trigamist, left behind three heart-broken women when he died. None of them were particularly sad over his passing, but more over what they had lost otherwise. Beth Howell was his third wife, not legal, of course. She asked her one-time beau, Julian, the Marquess of Grayson, to help her look for the dowry that Meri took when they got married. With her reputation hanging by a very thin thread, she dared further scorn when she took off alone with Julian.

MY THOUGTHS

Beth was wary of trusting in Julian and their friendship. After all, he had left her first, then her husband who wasn’t really her husband, and her brother, who never saw her as a person but a commodity to be bargained with. Most of the time her protestations against marriage felt a bit like she was just stubbornly clinging to a promise she had made to herself, and she now refused to even consider changing her stance.

In this case, it was Beth who wanted her cake and eat it too. Maybe the title should have been “How to Best the Very Stubborn Lady”. Julian was won right from the start; Beth was the one holding out. They were both constantly reminded that there was a whole world outside their little bubble, filled with people with all sorts of expectations and judgements. That put a bit of a damper on their ardour every so often and put Beth back to square one.

I loved Meri’s gift to Beth and how everything was resolved in the end. Although, I was a bit disappointed in her and the way she chose to fix things with Julian. I was happy that they reconciled and had their blissful ending.

Meriwether, apart from the appalling way he treated his three wives, seemed like he lived an extremely interesting life. And somehow, in death and after all the ordeals, Meri managed to charm even the reader into sparing a smile for him.

And I can’t finish this without saying that everybody should have a valet like Cillian.

This was a satisfactory conclusion to the saga of the trigamist and his beleaguered wives. I can recommend this series if you like historical romance. This book stands well on its own.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Were you hooked by that book? Let me know in the comments below.

Genre: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Series: The Widow Rules
Other books in the series: A Duke in Time, Rules for Engaging the Earl