A great read about a very realistic couple. Loved the romantic story and the family devoted characters included.

i am so thankful that i got to read this book early! thank you so much to the publishers and to netgalley. what a lovely story this was!! it was fantastic and sweet and precious and lovely in every single way!!!

My Rating 3 1/2 Stars. I struggled with writing this review as some parts of the story were distasteful despite my high hopes. My personal biases may have influenced my perception of this book while reading it. Some of Marianna's ideas and some of the choices made are against what I would do, and I assume she could have made better choices. I loved how she was with Dare's son Rory and that she fell in love with the boy. He is one of my favorite characters in the book. Rory's joy and enthusiasm for life are something we should all strive to attain in life. I understand Dare's misgivings and wanting a wife instead of a lover. I think he's better than most people, and Marianna should try to attain his morals.

This was a great start to the Iversleigh Chronicles series, it had everything that I wanted and glad it had a great historical fiction element to it. Jill Darragh has a great writing style and worked with what I was hoping for, she was able to create a romance element perfectly and felt like a realistic romance. I enjoyed getting to know Marianna and thought that her and the rest of the cast worked well. I can’t wait to read more in this series and from the author.

Lovely little tale of a woman trying to keep hold of assets despite the rule of everything going to the man if marriage was a thing. Loved the characters and dear little Rory. Would like to read more in the series to find our what will happen to the children and the characters i have come to love and dear old Dottie ! I did find that around the halfway mark, the story seemed rushed, would of like to see more courting and maybe more about Marianna's past so you got to know her more , also more about her family and the way the assets came into the family and also the vast empire she would lose.

Wanting independence after the passing of her husband, Marianna Marsham moves to the countryside. She finds herself entangled in country society gossip alongside Darfield Buchanan, Duke of Iversleigh, a man who wishes to raise his illegitimate son in a safe, loving home.

Okay, the story is quite cliched, and what you might expect from a Historical Romance, but there were moments I was pleasantly surprised by where Jill Darragh broke away from the mould and let the story have its quicks and twists. I'll admit that it took me a bit longer than usual to be fully immersed in the story. Maybe because Darragh's novel is somewhat similar to Bridgerton and many other Historical Romances, I expected it to take the same path, but it was nice when The Independent Woman diverted some tropes and this let the novel stand out more. I do see this novella as more of a cosy read at home.

Overall, The Independent Woman was a cosy Historical Romance that I highly recommend to any Bridgerton lovers (if you love the romance more than the spice), or to anyone who needs a quick Historical Romance to help them through their Bridgerton fever.

Thank you, NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

An odd mixture this one although the story is totally predictable in many respects. Duke of Iversleigh, estate owner, traditional but bringing up his illegitimate son on the one hand, on the other his neighbour, widowed Marianna Marsham estate owner of a more modern kind, considering her staff and managing her financial affairs. They meet, they are attracted and they get together. What felt off was Marianna's age - seemingly 24 - ok, she has dead husband's money but how she's managed to become quite the very rich and experienced business woman she has at that age is unreal for what, Victorian times? Bit raunchy too plus the discussions about unwanted children, again feels wrong for 19th century but I suppose that the author is trying to appeal to more modern readers. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy.

Review of The Independent Woman By Jill Darragh

The Independent Woman by Jill Darragh is a romance book about two main characters, Darfield Buchanan, Duke of Iversleigh, who, as the title suggests, is born into royalty. He finds himself the neighbor of a beautiful widow and a successful businesswoman. The duke has a son from a previous relationship that didn't go well, and he finds himself bonding well with the young widow. Having both come from a difficult family background, the duke and Mariana are having a hard time bonding with each other, each having their own issues to deal with, with the duke being a cold-hearted man and Mariana being a free-spirited lady. Will the two fit into each other's world? Well, find out in the book The Independent Woman By Jill Darragh

What I like about the book is the independence portrayed by the lady, Marianna Marsham, in a world where women were supposed to be submissive, to be seen, and not to be heard, as they say. She broke the odds to achieve the unachievable in the business world, which is very impressive. Additionally, I like the fact that they both are determined to fight all odds to find their happiness, despite the barriers in their way.

I rate this book, The Independent Woman, By Jill Darragh 5 out of 5 stars for the above reasons.

I recommend this book to those readers who love romance as well as those who love interactions with royalty. Titles like queen, duke, duchess, prince, and so on will be encountered greatly by the readers of this book. It's a book about romance and royalties, and it will be a fascinating adventure into the lives of the high and mighty.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This short book, approximately about 140 pages, was a very predictable story, when I started reading it, you could easily predict the ending . I have to be quite honest about this story, although I have read books in the past with explicit language and sex, I thought that the use of it in this book also with the talk of abortion was not an appealing topic. I am not a fan of what I call “ bodice ripper “ stories, I wanted to read something a bit lighter with a touch of romance, so I expected a different type of book, I was disappointed

Overall I think this story is very interesting, and I liked how different it was in that the heroine was self sufficient, which changed the usual power dynamic of books of the era. The bits I loathed were the explicit sex scenes, and the flippant manner that abortion was discussed. The book came across as written by a crude modern author because of the phrasing used in dialogue, attitudes of the characters, and the very explicit sex scenes. In a separate note, it was very confusing how the story would just skip forward in time and to another location without any preamble, or even chapter change, so the reader wouldn’t be aware what had happened until several sentences in, which is quite frustrating. I have only marked this story as high as I have due to the underlying story being interesting, but I feel it would’ve been better had another author developed it

I absolutely loved The Independent Woman and Jill Darragh as a writer to add to my go-to list. Marianna has every character trait I admire in a female lead – strong, well-spoken, speaks her mind politely, does not prevaricate and loves from her heart. And, I appreciate a man who reflects, learns and even grovels a little as did her duke.

The subject that concerns me is or can be very political. **SPOILER ALERT** “I would make certain I miscarried …” “it’s my body and if I choose not to be pregnant …” My first thought was to wonder why this was in a Victorian romance. Then, the duke’s mother shared with him she had purposefully ‘miscarried twice after the heir and spare were born due to conception both times by rape. Who is your target audience? Didn’t most women of that era suffer or die after abortions? It seems that most readers of this genre are of my 70’s bra-burning age. We made up our minds decades ago and really just want a light hearted romance to escape the burdens of real life.

This is my first Jill Darragh romance. Other than the touchy subject, I thoroughly loved the first of the Iversleigh Chronicles. I plan to read the rest of the series starting with
The Foreign Woman.