Tag: widows

REVIEW: The Ladies Re-Write the Rules by Suzanne Allain

REVIEW: The Ladies Re-Write the Rules by Suzanne Allain

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Two unexpected gentlemen callers are widow Diana Boyle’s first clue to the registry. Someone has compiled a booklet listing the wealthy widows and spinsters around London. These are women of means. Second sons and other society men with no fortunes of their own could wed well to one of these ladies.

Maxwell Dean is one such younger son – and the author of the list. He produced it as a service to men like himself to spare them the tragedy of falling in love with a poor girl and having to break off the relationship. Frankly, he’s not really sure why Mrs. Boyle is so angry about the list.

Diana isn’t the only woman angered to find her personal information publicized in such a way. But the women do see a potential silver lining – this gives THEM the power in courting rituals and relationships. And they are going to use that power to re-write the rules their gender has been subjected to for years.

 

Review

This was a fun, low stakes story, perfect for reading on a frigid snowy day (like I did) but also on a sunny beach. I think I enjoyed the female friendships that evolved out of the discovery of the registry even more than the romantic relationship. I loved the main three women and enjoyed watching all of them find love.

There’s only one real “conflict” after the initial one around the registry is sorted out. And that is resolved in a low key, low stakes sort of way. If you are looking to lose yourself in a romantic story for awhile, and you don’t want much angst in your escape, this could be a perfect fit for you.

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ – Good +

 

REVIEW: Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

REVIEW: Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Sarah Anderson is trying to hold it all together. She’s running the company she started with her husband while also being their top coder. She’s raising her two young sons alone after the death of her husband. The juggling of everything is leaving her exhausted.

And then she gets the letter from the lawyer.

Sarah’s mother-in-law has always assumed and believed the worst about Sarah. And now she’s threatening legal action to take Sarah’s boys away. So reluctantly, she agrees to a six-week visitation with her late husband’s family. Yes, their verbal abuse and hatefulness is hard to take. But she can endure it for six weeks to show her willingness to compromise.

Luke Thompson, the good-looking rancher next door to Sarah’s mother-in-law is the lawyer who sent the letter. And he’s guarded when it comes to Sarah, ready to see this awful person his neighbor has described. But Sarah is nothing like he expected. How does her mother-in-law see something so different? What is he missing in the story of this family? Who is really telling the truth?

 

Review

I picked this up because I was intrigued by the story. I also ADORED the author’s earlier book, The Me I Used to Be. I thought this would be something similar, and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

I enjoyed this sweet story of steadfast integrity and character in the face of cruelty and anger. Sarah is almost too good to be true.

While I enjoyed the story and the characters, the big climax with Sarah’s family happened mid-book. And unlike The Me I Used to Be, there was no other mystery to carry the rest of the story to the end. I spent the second half of this book waiting for a BIG new conflict or disaster to come, but it never did. The almost-too-perfect-to-be-believable character continued to be saint-like in response to the garbage her late husband had pulled and the fall out she faced through the end of the book.

I felt like the lack of a new challenge or conflict as well as Sarah’s perfection took some of the joy out of the reading experience for me. It was 100+ pages of resolution and happily ever after, which can be nice at times, but isn’t always satisfying. I mistrust books where there’s no challenge or mission – and this one only had a challenge for about half of the story.

These days, though, there is a place for reading an escape story where there’s not a ton of conflict and there’s a whole lot of happily-ever-after. If you are looking for a book like that, give this one a try!

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good +