Historical Romance published by St Martin’s Paperbacks 25 Apr 23
This is an intriguing story line. Little do each of the three women who showed up at the solicitor’s office for the reading of their husband’s will imagine that their very dead husband had been a bigamist. Even more distressing is the fact that it is not known which one of them is actually the legal widow. The silver lining to this event is the start of a beautiful friendship between the three ladies, as they seek the truth and navigate their future.
Now two of the three have fallen in love and remarried. The legal widow has also been determined and it’s not Beth. She’s back at the beck and call of her brother and his machinations. This time he has another rich crony whom he wants Beth to marry. Determined to live her life on her own terms and shake off the shackles of her brother’s guardianship, Beth determines to locate her dowry and use it to live on.
She seeks the help of her erstwhile suitor Julian to help her run down the various clues and locate her dowry. Herein begins a delightful romp as they follow clues and travel around the countryside, accompanied by Julian’s valet. All sorts of adventures await them as they face and conquer different challenges, including being robbed by a highwayman.
Does their romance have a chance? Will Julian be able to explain to Beth why he walked away from her so many years ago? And can she forgive him so they can have their own HEA? Delightful story and conclusion.
Grade: B
Summary:
Beth Howell needs to find her dowry, post haste. After her good-for-nothing first husband married her—and two other women, unbeknownst to them all—she’s left financially ruined and relegated to living with her brother, who cares more for his horses than he does his blood relatives. If Beth fails to acquire her funds, her brother will force her to marry someone fifty years her senior and missing half his teeth. She’d prefer to avoid that dreadful fate. But her now-deceased husband, Meri, absconded with her money mere days after their illegitimate marriage. To find it, Beth will have to leave town and retrace Meri’s steps if she’s to take her future into her own hands.
Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson, cares not a whit for social norms and generally growls at anyone in his path. Grayson has had a heart of stone ever since his engagement to Beth Howell went down in flames—long before she married that cad, Meri, and sealed her own fate for good. But now she’s on his doorstep, asking for use of his carriage and accompaniment on the hunt to find her lost dowry. Surely Grayson cannot go on the road with the woman who has occupied his thoughts for the past decade. Yet, knowing she needs him, how can he resist helping her this one last time? And maybe that’s just enough time to change the ending to their over-too-soon love story.
No excerpt available.
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