What a good read this was! After a disastrous marriage Fanny wants to taste freedom for a while and to an extent I could understand her fears of having a marriage similar to her first one. However I did think she was unfair to Matthew, Lord Lathbury, in that she kept him waiting for her answer to his proposal. Yet, Fanny was jealous when his attention was given to other women. Matthew was a likeable character, who had loved Fanny for many years. He wasn’t one to give up easily. There are a few secrets that unfold and treachery, that makes this an entertaining story. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have read many of this authors work and I have yet to be disappointed. Great story line, amazing characters, and just enough tension to make it a good read.

‘What a Widow wants’ is the 3rd book in The Widows Club series, following the widowed Fanny (Lady Tarkington) and Lord Matthew Lathbury, who have known each other before and during her marriage. After her husband’s death, Matthew returns to try and convince Fanny to marry him, having proposed before. However, Fanny is unsure as to whether she wants to marry again and wishes to only pursue affairs.
Fanny has a strong personality but her constant deliberation over whether to agree to marry Matthew does become a bit repetitive. Matthew, in turn, is strong in character and morals, and I wondered at times, as to his attraction for Fanny. However, Matthew sees the fragility in Fanny, and you can understand the connection between them has begun earlier in her marriage to Stephen Tarkington. Their depth of character develops over the story, and their relationship and all its complexities, begin to be revealed.
This is part of a great series and I look forward to reading more by Jenna Jaxon. I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of What a Widow Wants in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this was not one of my favorite books, and it took several weeks to finally finish it.

The author, Jenna Jaxon, had a few really well thought out plots, and the writing syle was good. However, there were just way too many characters, and society rules. The plot also changed locations multiple times, and it was hard to visualize. It made it difficult to keep track of what was happening.

It was also very difficult to like Fanny. I found her self centered. She was always looking for ways to please herself at the expense of everyone around her. Matthew was a good guy, but he deserved someone that would appreciate him, and I am not sure that person was Fanny.

I am totally digging this series of widows who want to live their own lives. This story brings us Matthew and Fanny. Love this couple. There are secrets and love and devastation. Matthew is definitely swoon-worthy. Any woman would be lucky to have a man like that on their side. Fanny is just so sweet you cannot help but love her. I was a little worried if the romance could work out in the end but of course it does, it is a romance. Fantastic series.

This book started off with me not liking Fanny, our heroine, and not liking Matthew, our hero. She was just a tad too much the loose woman and he was almost a bully with his insistent marriage proposals. How I managed to stay with the story I’m afraid I can’t say. Actually I kept putting the book aside. But at about the 50-60% mark this story took off with some surprises, action and adventure that made the ending an okay read. Fanny was not totally redeemed but Matthew earned some admiration.

I do think you will have a better feel for this story if you have started with the first two books in the series although this is a standalone book. Characters from the beginning books in the series do play important roles in this book.
Trigger warning: There is an attempted rape in this book.

The widowed Lady Stephen Tarkington, Fanny to her friends, has finished mourning her cad of a husband and is ready to enjoy her freedom. The kind of freedom neither a gently bred miss nor a close-watched wife is permitted: dressing up as Aphrodite for a masquerade, drawing gentlemen away from the party, and hinting at late-night assignations with her dance partners. All is going pleasurably according to plan until the Roman god Fanny kisses during a masquerade turns out to be Matthew, Lord Lathbury, whose proposal she refused years ago but who she had a brief affair with several years ago. Matthew is everything Fanny wants in a lover but unfortunately, he’s on the hunt for a wife.
The third book in the series & the time frame overlaps with the first two books as do the characters. I loved the first book & really liked the second but the jury is out on this one. This could easily be read on its own. The pace of the story varies going from very slow & a bit drawn out to quite fast paced especially when Fanny & Ella leave London. Whist the characters had depth I didn’t warm to them. I liked Matthew but wanted him to 'grow a pair' & lay the law down – he saw what was needed to captivate Fanny at his house party but didn't follow through until the end. I didn’t like Fanny, I found her to be flighty, indecisive, selfish & annoying. She wanted stability & to be loved but nearly threw Matthew’s love away on more than one occasion, I wanted to shake her several times. I’ve enjoyed all the author’s other books but this one left me slightly disappointed as I know her work is usually so much better.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

The good news is that although this is book number three in this series, all of the books take place during the same time-frame (with some events overlapping to the point they take place during the same exact time). This means that while this story focuses mainly on Matthew and Fanny, you learn enough about the others to make you want to go back and read their stories (if you haven't already). Thankfully, if you haven't read them, it won't decrease your enjoyment of this story.

The bad news? I feel like the book that I read was a completely different one from the one listed in the synopsis. Fanny and Matthew reconnect at the start of the book - so there is very little to be had in regards to her being "a wicked widow". Perhaps I would overlook that if their entire relationship wasn't tedious and predictable. He loves her. He proposes to her, she turns him down, but continues to string him along while she "gets to know him" or whatever.

They finally decide perhaps since they are constantly in each others beds they should get married. But first! Insert what I'm sure the author was hoping to be a shocking surprise, but has become so commonplace that I saw it coming from a mile away secondary story which leaves them at odds.

Insert some random filler here, a couple of twists, and low and behold they realize they truly cannot live without each other and they marry. All the while leaving people like myself wondering why Matthew waited for so long and continued to wait when all she did was spurn him, how Fanny's "methods" could work one minute and fail the next, and just how either of them expected to make a good match this time around when they only chemistry they seemed to have was in the bedroom (or wherever they happened to be when they became over set with their lust for one another).

I am sure this novel will appeal to fans of this author and this series. Just as I'm sure there will be people who pick this story up and immediately fall in love with it. But at the end of the day, it just was not for me. I would read more from this author however, as I have read other stories by her and enjoyed them much more than this one.

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

I didn’t love this one. I thought the heroine was way too flighty and indecisive.
She was way to focused on having fun being a widow than seeing what was right in front of her. I would pass on this one.

3.75 stars - So, the heroine is just a little too silly and afraid for me to score this with 4 full stars. The writing is good and the hero a real catch, but Fanny, the heroine tries my patience. Basically 75% of the strife and turmoil the character’s encounter has to do with her inability to see the hero for who he has always been, and giving into her sister-in-laws interrogation, which set off a chain of unfortunate events. The heroine’s character flaws aren’t insurmountable, however, even with her waffling, this is a very good read. You just need to be prepared for some foolishness from that corner.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What a Widow Wants by Jenna Jaxon
The Widows’ Club #3

Frances, Lady Stephen Tarkington was widowed after her husband died at Waterloo. She has a six year old daughter and was not happily married. She had heard, and believed, that a reformed rake made the best husband only to find out that her husband had no plans to reform at all. There was another man that offered to marry her but she had set her sights on Stephen even though Matthew, Lord Lathbury had a title and proved to be the better man. Matthew saw Fanny and knew he had to have her. He declared his love and his offer of marriage was turned down. When Fanny came to him to seek revenge (and wanted comfort) he was there for her only to be spurned again after four enjoyable months together.

This should be the perfect second chance at love setting BUT...well...I wrote as I read: Fanny is petulant, selfish, immature, a bad mother, dramatic, stupid… and she didn’t wise up till it was nearly too late. I didn’t get her and didn’t warm to her. As for Matthew...he was a nice enough guy but a bit of a wimp to sit on his hands for ten years or even seven years waiting for a woman who continued to turn him down. I didn’t see the attraction between them and though they achieved their HEA eventually I never really invested in them or their story.

Did I enjoy this book? Not so much
Would I read more in this series? Maybe

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Lyrical Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2-3 Stars

Fanny is a widow who just wants to have a little fun and has no faith that a new husband would remain faithful only to her.. Matthew has loved Fanny since before she married her cad of a husband. Matthew is everything her husband wasn't and he is more than willing to prove to Fanny that he has eyes only for her.

I really liked this book. It was slow in a couple of spots but overall a very good read. I cannot wait to read Ms. Jaxon's next adventure.

What a Widow Wants continues the “Widows Club” series by Jenna Jaxon. I enjoyed book one in the series, haven’t read book 2, but was looking forward to this one.

I didn’t like the hero of this book, and I *really* didn’t like the heroine. The book starts with the widowed Fanny at a ball, looking for a warm bodied male. We learn that she was unhappily married, is finally out of mourning, and is ready to have a commitment-free good time. Almost the first man she encounters is her lover who she abandoned to marry her no-good husband. This woman has shown bad judgment from the beginning, and she continues in pattern. Matthew, the spurned lover, has kept the flame for Fanny burning all this time, and he is ready to pick up where they left off, but she isn’t ready to settle down. At a point later in the book, Fanny reveals her dreadful secret to Matthew, and instead of rising to the occasion, he finally lets her down and leaves her.

This is the fair and honest review I promised in exchange for this ARC. My goodness, so much going on in this story. A club of widows, a plot, infidelity and lots of house parties. Truly a gem

What a Widow Wants by Jenna Jaxon was an historical read that once again brings us into the lives of the ton. This is the third book in the series called Widows’ Club. Each of the women in the club were widows, and determined to run their own lives now. Some of the women do not want to remarry and others just want to find love.

Fanny, Lady Tarkington’s cad of a husband has died and she is finally free of the horrid man. She has wanted to be free of him for a long time and has waited her year to restart her life. Matthew, Lord of Lathbury has always wanted her! He originally asked her to marry him before she married the cad. They had an affair halfway through her marriage and she left him and went back to her husband. They have always been aware of each other and now the opportunity to start again has happened.

Problems galore happen however, Fanny drags her feet and wastes too much time (according to me) and Matthew is just as bad wasting time. I wanted to smack them both to get them moving…. A mad lord and poor choices lead to a stunning surprise with Hannah and her daughter, but … well Matthew does come up to snuff. I found the book a trifle long, with all the flip flopping of Fanny and Matthew. What a Widow Wants by Jenna Jaxon was a good read.

Fabulous historical romance with an amazing heroine. I read this in one sitting as I just couldn't put it down. A definite recommend!

This book is not the best in the series. The plot did not really enthralled me. I found Fanny just playing to hard to get and Matthew just not loveable. The fact that she cheated on her husband with him did not seat well with me.
I voluntarily reviewed this ARC and all the thoughts and opinions are all mine.

I love historical romances, but there has never been a more hated heroine ever until Fanny. What was she thinking marrying that husband just because in her mind reformed rakes make best husbands? Well, unlucky her, her husband does not reform and she herself has an affair with Matthew who was in love with her all along. Then he tells her he loves her and she breaks it off with him because she feels guilty. I thought her very selfish, stringing Matthew for years.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

I received an ARC via NetGalley. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Matthew, the Earl of Lathbury has been in love with Fanny since almost the moment he met her at her come-out ten years prior to the events of this book. He has remained unmarried all this time, quietly waiting for the likely demise of Fanny's husband, a reckless army major. Although she was taken with Matthew as well, Fanny pursued the rakish Lord Stephen Tarkington, an army major and third son of a marquess, believing that reformed rakes make the best husbands. Except Stephen never reformed and had many affairs outside their marriage, leading Fanny to have her own extramarital relationship with Matthew for four months, three years into her marriage, to get her revenge on Stephen, before feeling guilty and breaking it off, despite Matthew's confessions of love and attempts to get her to run away with him. Now a widow and out of mourning, Fanny is eager to rejoin society and have a scandalous assignation with a gentleman, but not marriage. Matthew has waited long enough and is eager to reunite with Fanny and make her his countess, only she's not interested in commitment, only enjoyment of his body, and after all this time he's not sure how much longer he's willing to wait for her.

Now I'm just gonna vent a bit. **Cue potential spoilers here**

Full disclosure, I hated Fanny, right down to her ridiculous name. It's not that she's a poorly written character, because the opposite is true, but she was awful. She has been stringing Matthew along basically since her come-out, but she won't give him up and let him move on; he still thinks he has a chance so he waits for her. When all obstacles are removed and they can finally be together, she turns down his marriage proposal on the grounds of getting to know him again after their seven year separation. Ok fine, that makes sense, but she's happy to use him for sex, uncaring of the love he readily confesses that he still has for her. He would give her everything but she is selfish and wants only her own gratification and basically just wants to sluttily flit around the gentlemen. Fanny acts like a young girl, rather than a grown woman with a young daughter of her own. She's also stupid. She's totally reliant on her late husband's eldest brother, the Marquess of Theale, by all accounts not a nice man, to care for her and act as guardian for her daughter, Ella. She'd rather have her illusion of freedom and so-called independence (though she's clearly not at all independent) than be with a nice man who she loves and who loves her in return and who would care for her and her daughter.

Then when his estate responsibilities call Matthew away from a house party at which he was to be her guest, Fanny very nearly has an assignation with another man, despite having come to an understanding of sorts with Matthew, and writes to Matthew to tell him that she changed her mind and didn't go through with it. Since one of the things she questions about Matthew, and all men really, is the ability to be faithful, I found it very hypocritical of her that she was just about to quite happily sleep with someone else without regard for Matthew's feelings or concern that she might hurt him. Obviously, Matthew is livid and counters with a house party held at his own estate. Fanny's general interest in brief gratifications over her own future happiness and that of her daughter continued to infuriate me. She even has the nerve to be "hurt" when Matthew sends her his house party invitation without expressing any anger for her near assignation. Matthew made all of his intentions perfectly clear to her and yet she persists in doubting him and playing and seeing immature games everywhere. Then, immediately upon arriving at Matthew's estate she's lusting after the footmen, her hurt forgotten. I understand her reluctance to trust after her husband cheated on her so much, but she also knows very well that Matthew is quite unlike Stephen. Then when Matthew shows attention to all of his guests and fails to single Fanny out, she's all upset and doubts his feelings for her and his intentions. I just felt like she had no right to say a word since she was perfectly prepared to sleep with another man. She just assumes Matthew is playing games, despite the fact that this is obviously what she's been doing, so she's very hypocritical yet again. When Matthew starts trying to determine her feelings for him by trying to make her jealous, she becomes angry and immediately assumes he's just moved on and is faithless. After 10 years pining after her and she still believes this. Ridiculous. She finally does come to her senses and accepts Matthew, with the stipulation that he meet Ella to make sure he gets along with her before they can marry or even announce their betrothal. Matthew's mother manages to delay this and then join him, along with his sister, Beatrice, on the trip to London to meet Ella.

Seriously stop reading my rant now (if you still are) if you don't want spoilers.

During this meeting it becomes apparent for the first time that Matthew is actually Ella's biological father. Fearing scandal and knowing this will be apparent to everyone, Fanny decides she can't marry Matthew. Again. Cue lots of back and forth angst and ridiculousness, then her sister-in-law notices, her late husband's family finds out, and chaos ensues and it may be too late for any happy ending because she's wavered too long.

About halfway through it, I finally started to enjoy this book, Fanny started to appreciate Matthew and reciprocate his feelings and became more tolerable. Now I actually really want to read the other installments in this series.

This book was awful!
SPOILERS!
The heroine cheats on her husband because the husband cheats on her then when he dies, she decides she will let loose and be a wicked widow. But then she starts back up with the hero (who was the man she’s cheated on her husband with) but won’t marry him. Then it turns out they have a child together but she doesn’t tell him and let’s him believe it’s her late husband’s child. Cannot stand books based on cheating and I feel like the blurb for this book was completely misleading. It made it sound like a nice, sweet second chance romance - DO NOT READ IF THAT IS WHAT YOU’RE EXPECTING!
0.5 stars.
Arc received from Netgalley.