Unfortunately I've stalled on this one for too long, it's been month.s When I first started it I was into the historical romance and was excited to find out what happened to the dowry. But the pacing just came to snail's pace and nothing was going on. I lost interest in it and couldn't find it in me to pick it back up. I want to be fair seeing as it's not the author's fault really but being a mood reader I just have to move on from this.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Janna MacGregor

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

Thank you for letting me read this book I couldn't put it down. I was so excited to see Beth and Julia's story come to life. It was also interesting to see and follow Meri's life through the things that he left behind. This story was a very refreshing and I liked how strong and independent Beth was. I look forward to reading more stories by this author

Overall, I enjoyed this third visit with Janna MacGregor's Widow's Rules series. In this one, wife #3 to the trigamist Meriwether, is off to find what he did with her dowry. Without it, she will have trouble withstanding her waste-of-air brother's demands that she marry a letch 50 years her senior just so he can top up his funds. I was BEYOND annoyed with him! First, he refuses to give his blessing when the love of his sister's life asked for her hand, THEN, he marries her off to a man who, come to find out, was already married. Twice. She was the third woman married to the same man at the same time. I was happy when Beth finally told him off, but wow. He deserved so much worse!

Beth Howell fell in love with Julian Raleah in her first season, and agreed to marry him. Unfortunately, her brother refused citing the lack of funds Julian is experiencing. Instead, he gives her to Lord Meriweather. After less than a week of marriage, Meri leaves and never returns. When he dies in a riding accident, Beth learns that two other women also claim him as their husband. The scandal is awful, but these three women become the best of friends, even starting a business together. Now that she's been widowed for a time, her brother is making noises again about marrying her off. His choice this time is old enough to be her grandfather. The man's only 2 recommendations are: he's wealthy, and he's willing to overlook the scandal of Beth's first marriage. The fact that he makes her skin crawl is immaterial.

Beth knows that the only way out of her dilemma is to find her dowry. Her friends both had bequests from Meri, so what did he do with hers? She asks Julian, Lord Grayson, to travel with her, offering part of whatever she finds in payment for his services. At first he refuses. After all, he's never really gotten over her. Beth is offering him a way to restore his estate while continuing to create his steam engines. He just doesn't know if his heart can handle being with her as they travel.

Julian was by far my favorite love interest in this series. He's smart, principled, and feels things deeply. The fact that he's gorgeous besides is just icing on the cake. Beth was strong-willed, but with a brother like hers, she had to be. She was also very smart. I liked that these two could laugh together in addition to the steamier bits.

All in all, this was a satisfying end to the series, although, I think I would have stopped before the book's epilogue. If you like a fun Regency that's not afraid to poke fun at itself, this is a good one to pick up.

Didn’t love the love story of this one unfortunately. The only thing that kept me going was the mystery of what happened to the dowry! The puzzle box was a nice touch, and the ending bringing it all together was unexpected.

I did not finish. The pacing was too slow, I did not feel excited or really care about their shared goal.

This is my first Janna MacGregor book and it will NOT be my last. I enjoyed this book so much! Incredible pacing that kept me engaged from start to finish and a very captivating story line. I truly loved Beth and Julian but mainly Cillian. He deserves his own book! A great read!

I enjoyed this last in the trillogy, though I do not like the Meri revisionism. I think he's a shitty husband and a bad person, and I will not hesitate to say that I think giving him any credit for taking care of the women he married is stupid. It's a no from me.

I like Beth a lot, and I relate to her struggle for independence and means of her own. She's also not just looking for what her husband left her, but an indication that she matters, that she has meaning in the story of her own life.

I think Julian is a worthy suitor as well, and I think he makes a lot of sense as a character. I like the way he and Beth interact and I think they work well together. I also think the course of the plot makes sense for the two of them, and I like where they end up.

I will say that I think their initial romance being so long ago is sticky, given the passage of time in this series. I feel like not enough happened to either of them in an almost ten year span. It doesn't seem believable to me. I also feel like Beth did not have a compelling reason to marry Meri, given what we learn from her in this book. Since she was so hung up on Julian still, and wanted love, I would have thought there would need to be more impetus than "my brother likes him" given how little stock she places in her brother's opinions. I think it would have made more sense if Beth had at some point given up on a love match, and decided to marry to escape her brother.

I do think this series has been a fun one, and I will enjoy all of them upon rereading, though this one is firmly in last place for me.

This is the third book in The Widow Rules series. I haven't read the first two books, and I feel I need to remedy that because the premise of the series follows three woman who, unbeknownst to each other, marry the same despicable man. They don't find this out until his death, but having each being betrayed similarly by him, become fast friends. This book follows the third woman, Beth. Her husband absconded with her dowry before his death, and now she is left in financial ruins. Her brother is forcing her to remarry, and to avoid that fate, she goes in search of her missing money. Beth cannot do this alone, so she goes to the one person she hopes will agree to help her, her former fiance, Julian. Julian has never forgotten Beth, and in fact he continues to long for her, so how can he say no when she needs his help? But helping her is not his only goal. Having never gotten over her, his mission is to also try to win her back.
Beth and Julian were a great match and they had sizzling chemistry. The story was entertaining and engaging and kept my interest all the way through. Although I was easily able to read this as a standalone, I definitely want to go back and read the prior books.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a complimentary copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was entertaining, engaging and fun but had so many emotional moments as well, I definitely teared up at certain points. Especially how two people finding their other halves in the arms of each other. I found myself crying happy tears for the main characters almost more than I felt warm fuzzies. Adored this book.

Finally, we get around to Beth and her history with the Marquess of Grayson. This entire series has been so much fun, and the build-up to Beth and Julian's story was wonderful. This book didn't disappoint.

Beth is off to find her dowry, and she's taking Julian with her. I really enjoy a road trip romance, and this one is filled with humor, passion, and peril.

I love Beth's confident and headstrong nature. She and Julian are a perfect match.

How to Best a Marquess is a great ending to a highly inventive and entertaining historical romance series. Seeing all three wives get their happily ever after was beautiful!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

How to Best A Marquess by Janna MacGregor is sure to captivate Regency romance fans. With a clever and engaging plot, endearing characters, and the perfect blend of humor and heart, this novel is a must-read for those who appreciate the intricacies of love in the early 19th century.

Our heroine, Beth Howell, is a resilient and resourceful woman whose life has been turned upside down by a deceitful first husband. In the wake of her disastrous marriage, she faces a bleak future unless she can reclaim her lost dowry. The stakes are high, as Beth's alternative is to marry a man of her brother's choosing. Her quest for financial independence leads her to seek assistance from Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson.

Our hero, Julian, is a brooding and enigmatic figure who has been nursing a broken heart since his engagement to Beth ended abruptly years ago. When she reappears in his life, seeking his help, he is faced with a dilemma. He cannot resist her plea, despite the unresolved feelings that have lingered for a decade. Thus begins a captivating journey filled with unexpected twists as Beth and Julian embark on a quest to locate her stolen dowry.

What sets "How to Best A Marquess" apart is its ability to balance lighthearted moments with deeper emotional connections. The novel skillfully explores themes of trust, forgiveness, and second chances. Readers will find themselves rooting for these two characters as they navigate the intricacies of their feelings and the challenges that stand in their way.

This is the third entry in The Widow Rules series and tells the story of Beth Howell and Julian, Marquess of Grayson, engaged years ago but broken abruptly, with both bearing the scars years later. How they find their way back to each other is a journey worth taking and a fitting end to this entertaining saga.

Years ago, a young Julian, Marquess of Grayson, proposed to Beth, but her brother denied the match because of the poor finances of the Marquess' estate. Julian accepts this decision, leaves Beth suddenly and without answers, and throws himself into improving the finances of his estate. Years later, and still on the cusp of securing finances, Beth arrives at Julian's doorstep to ask for help. Julian is reluctantly helpless to her pleas.

Beth is recently widowed and has discovered her low-life husband had married two other women, unbeknownst to all. Beth's brother is trying to force another marriage upon Beth, who is more determined than ever to gain financial freedom from all men and have true independence for herself. To do that, she needs to hunt down her dowry. Knowing Julian is in need of money, Beth agrees to split the money with Julian if he helps her retrace her former husbands steps to find her funds. Beth has vowed against another marriage, but Julian still hopes for a family when he can finally restore his estate's funds, and together they must deal with still being attracted to each other on their carriage ride across the country.

When I picked up this ARC and began reading, I did not know it was part of a series. When the other wives appeared with their new husbands, I got an inkling that there was a previous story here, and so I found out this is, indeed, book 3. It works perfectly fine as a standalone, as all the necessary information is presented in this book, but it was a surprise to me.

I particularly liked that Beth never had any resentment towards Julian for leaving her without explanation. Both characters were fairly level-headed, sometimes argumentative, but never did they bring up the past hurt of being proposed to and then dumped. Beth was simply determined to take control of her future for herself, and there wasn't time spent being angsty about a past that is done and over with now - including about Beth's late husband and his infidelity. The main conflict really was just that Beth and Julian were so obviously still in love with each other, and needed to fight harder for each other.

However... I struggled to remain interested in this story and to finish reading it. At 25% in, I didn't find that much was happening or that I was especially interested in reading the story. But I think my biggest complaint was that Beth and Julian have a conversation one night in which they agree they will not become lovers and engage in an affair, because they share a social group and it would be unfair to each other and Julian's future wife to have that awkwardness between them at social gatherings, and they value their friendship with each other. THAT SAME NIGHT, Beth tells Julian to kiss her, and he does. And then the next morning he proceeds to talk about how they need to be comfortable with each other and making her burn the next time he kisses her. I'm really disinterested in reading a story where both characters go from hot to cold to hot to cold again and again, verbalizing why they can't be together and then flirting with each other all day like they didn't just talk about abstaining from a relationship.

I wondered how Beth (who we met in previous books) would have her happily ever after. Beth's brother convinced her to marry a man who (unbeknownst to them) was already married - twice! After this man dies (all of that is backstory) Beth sets out on a road trip to see if she if she can recover her dowry. Her partner on this adventure is Grayson, an old love.

I enjoyed their travels and the situations they got into. And I enjoyed seeing their friendship and love blossom. I did get frustrated with Beth and her determination to be alone. I guess Grayson did too :)

This was a nice end of the series.

Overall, I think this was fine and entertaining. Second chance romance can be tough for me because the initial breakup needs to make sense, but also still be redeemable enough to justify the couple reuniting. Because of this, I do need it to be a bit of a slower burn so that there’s not an additional 3rd act breakup, and unfortunately this had one.

I still enjoyed these characters and thought this relationship was sweet, but it wasn’t a home run for me.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy from Janna MacGregor, and this was an excellent way to end it. I enjoyed learning the backstory of Beth and Julian, and following their second-chance journey with all its twists and turns. And of course it was nice to catch up with the couples from the previous books. Fun all around, with some humor, a bit of mystery, and a healthy dose of romance. I do definitely recommend reading this trilogy in order - there's a pretty specific timeline from book to book that's best followed in order.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

After learning that her husband was actually already married to two other women, Beth Howell was left with a ruined reputation and finances, reduced to living with her scapegrace brother. If she hopes to avoid his machinations to marry her off to a man old enough to be her father, Beth must learn what happened to the fortune she brought to her marriage. Though with her supposed husband now deceased, finding out what happened to the money will be even more of a challenge.

Julian Raleah, the Marquess of Grayson, isn’t one for social niceties and has kept everyone at arm’s length since his hopes of marrying Beth were shattered long before she married the trigamist. Now Julian is surprised to see the woman he still loves at his doorstep and asking him to escort her on the search for her missing dowry. Julian knows going on a road trip with the woman he’s been unable to remove from his thoughts is a bad idea, but he also can’t let her down when she needs help, even if it does leave him wondering if there’s even a slight chance of them finding the happy ending after all.

I wanted to like this so much, but it just didn’t work for me, so you risk spoilers from here as I get my thoughts out. I honestly haven’t cared for this series as a whole, but this was definitely the worst installment for me. I’m not sure if I was already going into a slump anyway (probably just because of things going on in my life), but it took me over two months to finish this and that was with me skimming quite a bit of the latter half. I will say that I liked Julian as a hero; his loyalty and steadfastness are to be commended. However, they are also a strike against Beth because I just kept feeling like she didn’t deserve him and wondering what he actually saw in her.

Both Julian and Beth annoyed me at the beginning with their refusal to ask their friends for help. Beth acted as if everyone around her was trying to tell her what to do, but only her brother was doing that, and she refused to put him in his place. From the get-go, this just felt like yet another supposedly feminist book with a man hating heroine. Nothing special, something I’ve read loads of times and never really enjoy. Beth kept going on about all this freedom she now had since her fake husband’s passing, but I have no idea where she got that notion from given that her brother was still clearly controlling her so much and she was allowing it.

I was already not a fan of Beth and then we learned that she hates horses, which was something of a final straw for me as a lifelong horse lover and owner. I’m also amazed at how she treated everyone around her. She’s certainly not someone I’d want as a friend given the way she treated Julian. Beth remained adamant about keeping her promise to herself to never marry again, but rather than make her seem like a strong heroine to me this just got old fast as she was constantly at cross purposes with what she truly wanted for herself. For instance, she hated all horses because of a minor incident with one that was truly caused by a horsemanship error on her part. She applied that same logic to men as well and it just made her seem even more airheaded than she already did.

Aside from that, I thoroughly lost patience with the book and the road trip antics which were probably meant to be funny were lost on me. Beth railing about her reasons for not wanting to marry again to a stranger who is threatening her life was just ridiculous. The moment of peril should’ve been a turning point in her relationship with Julian as they were reminded how precious and fleeting life is, but that’s not what happened. Way too much time was spent on this scene with the highwayman, and it felt like it just delayed the already slow plot even more. I also wasn’t a fan of how weak Julian was made to look here, though I did like his tenderness toward Beth even though she wasn’t exactly kind to him.

The pacing of the entire book was very slow, and I struggled to maintain any interest. The plotting felt very slapdash and Beth very childlike. Then, as if I didn’t already dislike her enough, she questioned Julian about his past and tried to hold it against him that he’d been with others, though the same was true for herself as well. Hypocrisy is something I cannot stand and that was another strike against her. She was the queen of mixed signals, with Julian, but also in other areas of her life. For instance, she openly blames her brother for ruining her life and yet she idiotically continued to dismiss him as harmless.

If all that weren’t enough, we then get the dreaded third act break up because of course. Essentially Beth just used Julian for comfort and then threw him away when she was done with him. I’m not sure if this was supposed to feel empowering to women but I didn’t care for it. She then had the audacity to be upset with Julian for saying he couldn’t see her anymore as just friends, because it would hurt him too much. She just put on this false, misplaced sense of nobility that just made her look dumb and emphasized the fact that she was out of touch with anyone else’s feelings but her own.

Lastly, I wanted to see the brother put in his place more and I didn’t need any sort of redemption arc for Meri the trigamist, especially one that didn’t actually explain his terrible behavior. I see why this was useful as a plot device, but I was not a fan. Even when everything had worked out and there were no barriers left, Beth still saw a problem between herself and Julian, once again creating her own issues. She even said she wanted someone who just wanted her and not her money…she hadn’t had any money the entire time and Julian still professed his love for her, so the only conclusion I could draw was that she was a featherheaded pea brain. Perhaps this is why the chemistry between these two felt rather forced, especially because she was so hot and cold with him, and he was so (understandably) lacking in confidence.

I’m usually a fan of epilogues but this one just felt dumb and unnecessary. I didn’t need another nod to Meri, nor did I want more weird attempts at redemption for him without any explanation for his behavior. I normally love a slow burn road trip romance that’s full of pining, but this was not it. I’m still a fan of this author and she’s responsible for some of my favorite stories, so here’s hoping this series was just a fluke for me as many other readers have loved it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nice ending to the trilogy. I enjoyed running around with Beth and Julian on their treasure/dowry hunt. Not a fan of third-act-breakups, but it all works out in the end. Great cover.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

This is a great historical romance. Last in the series, really blew it out of the park. The history between the characters and the banter was top notch. Great read if you're in the mood for historical.