Constance Lysander needs a husband. Or, so society says. She’s about to give birth to her late husband’s child—a man who left her with zero money, and two other wives she didn’t know about. Thankfully, she has her Aunt by her side, and the two other wives have become close friends. But still—with a baby on the way, her shipping business to run, and an enemy skulking about, she has no time to find the perfect match.

Enter Jonathan, Earl of Sykeston. Returned war hero and Constance’s childhood best friend, his reentry into society has been harsh. Maligned for an injury he received in the line of duty, Jonathan prefers to stay out of sight. It’s the only way to keep his heart from completely crumbling. But when a missive from Constance requests his presence—to their marriage ceremony—Jonathan is on board. His feelings for Constance run deep, and he’ll do anything to make her happy, though it means risking his already bruised heart.

A wonderful friends to lovers story. It's a terrific story. It's got passion, love and romance. Both main characters are nice people who have suffered... Together they find happiness... II love how supportive her friends are to her too. They make a great cast together. A great happy ending. :)

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Constance Lysander and Jonathan Eaton, Earl of Sykeston were close friends before the war, but after coming back home wounded, he chose to seclude himself at the earldom seat in Porstmouth and keep people at arm’s length. But Constance needs a husband to prevent further scandal and her obvious choice is Sykeston. Of course, things don’t go as she expected and the Earl disappears right after the wedding without much explanation.
A year goes by and finally Constance is called to her husband’s side to take her rightful place, but not all is as it seems and Jonathan’s surprise to see her doesn’t bide well with her. But our heroine soldiers on and takes steps to make the marriage work despite her husband obvious apprehensions.
This second chance story was, in my opinion, far better than the first one in the series. Jonathan and Constance were friends first and, despite their trust issues, have an unbreakable bond that will help them come together. Add to that Constance’s determination to make things work not only between them, but also in both their lives and business ventures and we have a good story.
I found it engaging and entertaining and really enjoyed the way this couple navigates their respective issues to finally overcome it all and find their HEA.

This engaging tale (no pun intended) covers the story of the second, and pregnant, of three ladies who found themselves married to the same Lord after his untimely death. She asks her first love to marry her to avoid the stigma of bastard being attached to the child. They had not seen each other in ten years as he had left to join the English Army fighting on the continent. He had previously returned but with a shattered leg from two sniper rounds. Will he keep his promise of ten years prior to always be there for her? This is a story of pain and self doubt. Will she be able to overcome his reluctance to re-enter society?

I found the story line to be both enjoyable and would suggest reading both stories in this series. I have rated this book 4 stars.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for my unbiased review.

I have previously reviewed the first book in the series. I hope that if you read them they will provide you the same enjoyment I had when I read them.

I am usually hesitant about reading regency romance novels, but “Rules For Engaging The Earl” by Janna MacGregor was excellent !
The sometimes humorous interaction with the novels main characters Constance Lysander and Jonathan, Earl Of Sykeston had me enthralled.
The long and arduous road of their difficult relationship had me riveted through many chapters to a great ending.
Five stars !!
I received this ARC through Netgalley for a honest review.

*Received a copy for review.**
I am really loving this series. This book focuses on Constance. & Jonathon. It’s a bit of a childhood friends/ 2nd chance/marriage of convenience with elements of beauty & the Beast.
Johnathon is a damaged hero who is trying to find his place after war. He was in love with his best friend but told her not to wait on him.
Constance fell for a shyster when her first love returned from war but did not come to see her.
I adored Johnathons staff and how much they loved him. North is a gem.
I can’t wait to see what happens with Beth.

This is the third book in a series about three women who think they are married to the same man, who don't find out about each other until he is dead. This book stars Constance, who was leally married to him, it turns out, and pregnant. However, she doesn't find that out until she is about to give birth and AFTER she has already contacted her childhood friend (who she truly wanted to marry), Jonathan, who is an earl and expert marksman, who was injured and permanently disabled fighting Napoleon. Jonathan, who has hidden from society, partially because he hasn't accepted his disability nd partially because there is a potential court martial hanging over his head agrees to marry her to legitimize her daughter. However, when they discover that isn't necessary, tells her they don't need to get married (as while he has also loved her since childhood, he is afraid that his secret and his disability will hurt her more than he is able to love since he thinks he's not truly capable of that anymore either). However, she insists on the marriage and it happens.

What ensues is a lovely story about her and her daughter pulling him out of a dark place and them creating the family the two wanted as children but life wouldn't allow. What I think makes the second chance trope work is if the book makes the couple seem like they are better now than they would have been if they had gotten together originally, i.e., that all those circumstances changed them for the better. I think the book achieves this, especially with Constance, and Jonathan being sweet with her daughter goes a long way with him on that end.

I also liked that this book has a lot of plot, both with Jonathan's secrets and Constance's. All and all it was a very good read. Thank you so much NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Constance and Jonathan's story. This is the second book about three women who find themselves married to the same (now deceased) scoundrel. Constance turns out to be his actual wife and happens to be very pregnant with his child. Jonathan is a soldier who returned from war with not just physical, but also emotional wounds.

Throughout the story you have Constance forcing Jonathan to engage in his life, bringing him back from his dark cloud of unhappiness. I enjoyed her spunk and that she didn't sit back and wait for him to dictate everything in their relationship (e.g. cleaning his study when he clearly didn't want her in there, making a point to seek him out when he indicated he wants to be left alone). It's wonderful to see Jonathan engage with Constance's daughter and how he adopts her as his own. I also loved having the other characters we were introduced to in the first book of the series make appearances throughout the book. It's like getting together with friends you haven't been able to see for awhile.

Steam wise, I'd rate this 4 / 5. Jonathan has physical limitations due to his injuries, but they still find a way to be passionate with each other.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rules for Engaging the Earl is book 2 in The Widow Rules series. This series follows 3 women who all found out, upon his death, that they were married to the same man. The 3 ladies become fast friends and each book follows their journey. Constance is pregnant and in need of a husband quickly to save herself and her unborn child from ruin. She reaches out to her childhood best friend Jonathan and asks him to marry her. I did enjoy this one more than book 1 in the series.

Constance Lysander and Jonathan Eaton, Earl of Skyeston, met when they were growing up and became the best of friends. They had a lot in common and spent a lot of time together, up until he turned 17 and was recruited for a special, secret assignment for the Crown. He made her promise to not wait for him while he was away and they don’t meet up again until 10 years later. Jonathan was a top marksman who suffered an injury in the war, now his career is over and he was left with a badly injured leg and a colder attitude on life. He’d rather spend his days alone at his estate with his loyal dog and target practice. But when his childhood friend Constance asks for help and needs a marriage quickly, she’s the one person he can’t say no to.

This was a super interesting premise. Constance is pregnant and has another man’s baby while marrying her childhood best friend to save her reputation. I really loved Jonathan’s character, the wounded war hero who just wants to isolate himself away. I loved seeing Constance bring so much back to his life, his relationship with her daughter was so sweet, his dog Regina is featured a lot and I love a loyal pet, I also really enjoyed the meddling butler and staff trying to push Jonathan and Constance together. There was some drama/suspense/villain hanging over both Jonathan and Constance that I wasn’t as much of a fan over, I felt like they had enough to overcome together already and would have rather had more time with them. Other moments I liked: she makes the ointment for his injured leg and gives him massages, he introduces her to a shower, he lets her sleep and helps take care of the baby at night, she works and inherited her father’s business, the entire staff at his estate.

Thank you to the publisher (St. Martin’s Press, SMP Romance) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this honest review are my own. Rules for Engaging the Earl has a publish date of April 26, 2022.

This is the third in the series, it can be read as a stand alone but reading the others gives the story more depth I think at least.

Constance Lysander thinks her marriage to her bigamist husband isn't legal and doesn't want her child born illegitimate so she asks an old friend Jonathan who has been injured in the war to marry her. He agrees but by the time he arrives she's found out that her marriage is the legal one so marriage is no longer necessary however she still wishes to marry Jonathan.

This is a sweet friends to lovers romance with serious issues of PTSD (war). I was rooting for the couple.

Engaging historical romance,part of a series featuring the Pheonix Club. Good characters and an intriguing storyline.

This was a solid read. The author had a great story that easily flowed. I found the characters charming and I would absolutely recommend this author and book to other readers.

Rules for Engaging the Earl (The Widow Rules, #2) is a well-written story from beginning to end. This is the story of Constance Lysander, who we found out in book one was the legitimate wife of Lord Meriwether in all his “trigamist” ways. Constance and Jonathan, Earl of Sykeston were best friends who shared just about everything. They were each other’s first loves and dreamed of one day having a future together. Unfortunately, Jonathan decided to serve the military but prior to leaving, he wrote what he wished for her in a husband and did not want her to wait. It was then that they shared their first kiss. Years later and a ruined reputation, Constance is due to give birth to her late husband’s child and proposes a marriage of convenience to her first love to keep her child legitimate. Upon his arrival to marry, she finds out that her station has changed, and he no longer needs to marry her.

Constance is still in love with Jonathan and still wants to marry. He has been the only man she will ever love, and she still dreams of having a future with him. Unfortunately, the war has changed Jonathan. He has become hard, harsh and believes he is broken physically and mentally….he only sees himself as a cripple and that is all everyone would see when they look at him. The years have changed something in both characters and only time would tell if they could overcome it. Jonathan’s character took some time to grown on me and a third way through the story you start to see his warmer side. However, I wasn’t quite sure how this marriage of convenience would play out because both were coming into it with secrets and lies…Jonathan wanting to protect her from rumors of his dereliction of duty, and she not wanting his interference in her business dealings with a foe. As their relationship began to grow, they gradual started to heal from their past wounds. When things are going well, drama rears its head into the relationship in the form of the Marquess of Faladen, and the secrets they hold from one another comes to light.

I thought the author did a very good job writing the hero’s dealings with PTSD and the heroine’s feelings of abandonment. I loved how she developed their character throughout the book. I love the tropes of marriage of convenience as well as friends to lovers. As with all historical romances, I love a bit of steamy between the H/h and there was romance, passion and love. The inclusion of the supporting characters Kat, Beth, Mr. North the butler and Regina the mastiff mistress were nice additions. Although there were some minor misses for me, Ms. MacGregor produced such an enjoyable story with a lovely HEA. Recommend the read and looking forward to Beth’s story in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

England - 1805 and 1815

Jonathan Eaton, the Earl of Sykeston, and Constance Lysander grew up near each other, and both lost their parents to influenza when they were young. So they had much in common, as well as shared hopes and dreams for several years as youngsters. But there came the day when Jonathan would have to break Constance's heart when he tells her that he is joining the British Army after it was discovered that he speaks French, Spanish, and German fluently. Distraught, Constance gives Jonathan her journal and pleads with him to never to forget her.

Ten years later, Jonathan is back in England, and appearing at the London home where Constance is staying to respond to her request that he marry her. Her late husband left her pregnant, and with the threat of destroying her reputation because her husband had also wed two other women, unbeknownst to each of them. And now he is dead, Constance is pregnant with his child, and the rumors of his escapades promises to complicate everything. Constance inherited her parents' ship fitting company in Portsmouth, and she won't let its reputation be ruined, or that her child will be considered illegitimate. The only problem is that Jonathan is not the same man who left her ten years before. After being badly injured in the war, he has a mangled leg, and, while he will dutifully wed his dear friend, he will not be anything more than her legal husband.

After the quick ceremony, Jonathan returns to his home in Portsmouth, leaving his new wife, and newborn daughter, in London. He's done his gentlemanly duty, and now he will, once again, retreat to the safety and solitude of his home, far away from his beautiful wife.

Constance begins receiving sweet letters from her husband, responding in kind. Her baby, Aurelia, is growing rapidly, her business is thriving, and suddenly, after almost a year, she receives an entreaty to go to Portsmouth to her husband's home. But when she arrives, she's shocked to see how stunned he is by her appearing on his doorstep. And his rather cool, distant behavior has her even more confused. Why would he want her there, and obviously clearly not want her?

Jonathan has a lot on his personal plate now. Not only is he bemused by the arrival of his wife and her child, but a former colleague is threatening him with a lie about Jonathan's encounter with a French enemy during the war. Similarly, the couple who run Constance's business for her tells her of a client who is accusing their company of poor workmanship, and threatens to sue. Still, Constance wants to find a way to soften her husband's demeanor, and to find what has made him a recluse in his own home.

Constance has her hands full with raising a toddler, running a business, and trying to peel away the layers of hurt that her husband clearly is dealing with. Jonathan just wants the world to go away. His butler, cook, and staff have protected him by keeping quiet about things, but Constance is slowly discovering parts about her husband that she hopes will return the old Jonathan that she grew up with back to her.

RULES FOR ENGAGING THE EARL is book two of The Widow Rules series. Besides all that Constance has dealt with, she also has the two other women her husband wed as dear friends, and they are trying to find what the scoundrel did with each of their dowries. Jonathan is clearly not the man she knew ten years ago, but she knows he's in there somewhere. The household staff wants their employer to be happy, and they're trying hard to help the new mistress achieve her goal.

A very emotional, poignant love story is the real heart of this tale. Both Jonathan and Constance care for each other, but the damage done to Jonathan's soul will be a struggle to overcome. He is convinced that he doesn't deserve happiness, despite the obvious love Constance tries to embrace him with. Keep reading, it's tough to not care, and there must be a way to overcome his pain. RULES FOR ENGAGING THE EARL is heartbreaking at times, but it's a lovely story.

I really enjoyed Rules for Engaging the Earl! We are introduced to one of the main characters, Constance, in book one and her story is compelling. She is left pregnant after a certain trigamist dies. Initially she believes she needs to marry so that her child will be legitimate, but she finds out that she was actually the legal wife at the end of book one. Still, she asks her childhood best friend Jonathan to marry her. She wants her daughter to have a good father figure rather than the scoundrel who married her and then left. The problem is, the Jonathan of her memories is not the Jonathan that exists now. Her childhood friend was kind, gentle, and valued Constance above all else. But after Jonathan gets sent off to war, he becomes changed. He now has a sense of apathy toward the world, and that extends to Constance. From the scenes from his point of view that he is desperate not to care out of fear that he will start to feel more complicated emotions. He is scared and isolates himself rather than lean on others for support. Personally, I felt his change in personality was a little *too* much, but I won't deny that PTSD can do major things to someone's psyche. His character growth is stilted. Jonathan will seem to make strides towards healing only to fall back into bad habits. While this is totally believable, it's not necessarily fun to read in a romance novel. That said, I really did enjoy the book, and I think he put together a decent grovel to Constance given the circumstances.

If you enjoy friends to lovers than this is the book for you. Constance and Jonathan were childhood friends until he became a spy/sharpeshooter and returned home a tortured man and needs Constance to help him heal.

This is a well-written, enjoyable, romantic read.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I had a difficult time getting into this book and it took several days to finish. I found Constance to be a very selfish person. Her only goal was to repair her reputation. She used Jonathan's feelings for her for her own personal gain. She did not seem to care that if she had a son he would inherit Jonathan's title leaving his own legitimate first son out.

The villain storyline ended on a poof of smoke. I though it was too easy and convenient without any real action or angst.

Rules for Engaging the Earl follows childhood friends Constance and Jonathan as they enter into a marriage of convenience to provide Constance and her new baby some much-needed stability.
I loved the dynamic between the two of them-- Constance's trust issues stemming from her late husband's treatment of her and Jonathan's lack of confidence after being a soldier mean they have to be vulnerable with each other and work together to support each other. Their relationship was believable and definitely drew me in. Watching both of them-- especially Jonathan-- learn and grow and begin to trust themselves and the people around them again was lovely.
I had a little trouble with the prose, because it had a close third narration that bounced between the two, which led to some confusion while reading and led to a bit of a feeling of whiplash. Other than that I really liked the book!

As someone who did not especially enjoy the first book in this series, I wasn't even sure if I truly wanted to read this one, As it turns out, I am glad I did because I enjoyed this one much more. The sweet beginning drew me in and reading about Jonathan finding himself while falling in love with a baby and allowing himself to be part of a family kept me engaged. I did not need the nefarious villain and it could have been at least 50 pages shorter but there will les hemming and hawing when the next book comes out because I will almost certainly be reading it.

Full disclosure: I did not delight in the first book in this series, A DUKE IN TIME. Kat and Randford were so noble, so perfect, so bland; I kept falling asleep. But I liked the other two women introduced as fellow wives who, along with Kat, had been wed, dumped, and widowed by the feckless Lord Meriwether. Plucky Constance, married for her shipping company and left pregnant, and sighing Beth, married for her enormous dowry and then dumped, but at least not pregnant. In DUKE, Constance tells Randford to summon the Earl of Sykeston to bail her out, and I marveled at her confidence. Widowed, pregnant, alone? An earl will marry me!

In RULES, Constance and Jonathan, the earl, captivated me at once. In the first chapter we see them as young friends, flirting, fond of each other but ready to take on the world. Constance wants to become part of her parents' shipping business. Jonathan is off to the wars. He gives Constance a list of expectations to which she is to hold gentleman who aspire to her hand, teaching her to value herself. Then he leaves, and horrible things happen to them both. He becomes a crack marksman but doesn't complete his last mission and is severely injured in an attack, which causes him to withdraw from society upon his return and hole up in his estate in Portsmouth. Constance becomes a confident businesswoman but, alas, marries the wrong man (above) and ends up with baby on the way.

Jonathan, wounded and scarred, marries Constance upon her request to give her security and repair her reputation, but thereafter returns to his estate in Portsmouth to commence being a dunderhead. After about a year of lovely letters, Constance heads to Portsmouth to be a wife and, incidentally, look in on her shipping business. The obstacles are plenty and believable: Jonathan has lies to hide (like, who really wrote those letters) and he is being threatened and manipulated by his former commanding officer, the Marquess of Faladen. Constance's business is threatened also by, guess who, the Marquess of Faladen. Neither of them wants to confide their troubles in the other, though nevertheless they begin establishing marital intimacies, after first negotiating a set of "rules" for their marriage. Very businesslike, and quite funny. And then, just as it's meant to, everything they've been hiding blows up in their faces.

Constance and her earl are both likeable characters, though I grew a bit impatient with Jonathan and his "she'll be disgraced if I'm court martialed" pity party; Constance survived her previous humiliating experience of bigamy just fine. And I admit I'm not fond of this trend in historical romance for upper-upper class characters to desire being suburban housewives. Constance is a professional businesswoman (no hint that "trade" is a tarnish in any way) as well as supermom, but she also just wants nothing more than to clean and freshen her husband's study and coo when he gives her feather dusters and garden spades as gifts.

Constance, girl! You're a countess! You have servants to do the housework! You get to throw parties and dinners, gamble, promenade through pleasure gardens, travel, take waters at the spa, buy and wear scrumptious clothing and then go to the theater and the park to show yourself off. I would like to start reading historical romance where upper-class aspirant characters actually enjoy the ridiculous lifestyles that the Regency ultra-rich lived. I read this genre to *escape* by obligations as a middle-class suburban working mother.

Nevertheless, back to the story: I enjoyed reading how these two characters gradually found each other, learning to trust and share and yes, the hard stuff, be honest. Hint: everything turns all right in the end.

I admit I'm looking forward to Beth's story, though I wonder why a girl with a lovely name like Blythe would want to be called Beth. I hope she won't turn out to be a paragon like Kat and Constance are. I admit I don't always align with MacGregor's sensibilities or style--I was horrified by the dog at the dinner table! Simply not done! But I like MacGregor's characters and the heart behind them. I can't wait to find out what Grayson is hiding behind that seemingly perfect exterior. This was a fun, sweet story about two people who find their way back to one another and learn the lessons of trust.

I usually like Janna MacGregor's books and Rules for Engaging the Earl wasn't really an exception. Though I appreciated how constant the FMC Constance was and how assertive she was, I think we've come to a point in 2022 where we can move past the hero so down on himself for having a disability that his self-esteem can only be rebuilt by the heroine's love. To me, that was the real low point of Rules for Engaging the Earl. The author also uses the infamous "miscommunication trope", but I don't mind it, as is was well used and made for a nice third act breakup with angst and longing, which I liked. I wanted Jonathan to be more assertive, like he got to be at the end of the novel, from beginning to end. I liked the intimate scenes, though there could have been more.
I wasn't bored (which is saying a lot as I've been reading a lot of recent releases that were dull), but the novel could have been better.
3.5 stars