Review: A Duke in Time (The Widow Rules #1) Janna MacGregor

     

Print Length: 384 pages

Publisher:  St.Martin's Paperbacks (June 29, 2021)

From Goodreads.com:  Katherine Vareck is in for the shock of her life when she learns upon her husband Meri's accidental death that he had married two other women. Her entire business, along with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a royal supplier, is everything she's been working for and now could be destroyed if word leaks about the three wives.

Meri's far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she's Meri's widow. Or can he?

With a textile business to run and a strong friendship forming with Meri's two other wives, Katherine doesn't have time for much else. But there's something about the warm, but compellingly taciturn Christian that draws her to him. When an opportunity to partner in a business venture brings them even closer, they'll have to face their pasts if they want to share each other's hearts and futures.

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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Janna MacGregor is one of those authors that people tend to either really love or really hate. For me a lot of the time, her books seem to fall into the "this was an okay read" for me. Her writing style is strong, her plot-lines interesting, but sometimes I don't feel like her characters do the whole thing justice. 

Christian and Kat, while adorable together more often than not crossed into the realm of outright cheesiness. For example, after they make love for the first time, he tells her that he held heaven in his arms. Cute maybe, but it was just another example of the over the top lines that made me roll my eyes. 

There were also a lot of things that you had to overlook in this story - for example a lot of it read as though it could be taking place in PRESENT day instead of the regency, and that was a bit off-putting as were the constant (and very odd) things that kept turning up for Christian from his dead brother's belongings. Instead of getting everything all it once, it would seem he got them in bits and pieces - tigers came one day, a few days later (or maybe it is weeks) erotic statues get delivered, etc, etc. 

I also didn't care for how things wrapped up with the wives. It would seem as though Meri was even more of a jerk than we thought (and trust me we all thought he was a pretty big jerk from the first). And it was never even resolved why he would do what he did (and trust me when I say it was bigger than him just supposedly marrying three different women). 

All things considered, if this is a story that appeals to you, please don't let me thoughts discourage you from giving it a try. I felt it was an enjoyable story even with its faults. I would read more from this author. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                                A Duke in Time is available from Amazon.com