This book was delightful!! The instant attraction! The hurt feelings! The camaraderie! The angst! The love!

Margaret and Bridger were well matched and I enjoyed their story so much!

At times it felt like there was maybe a little too much going on, one too many stories being told but it came together nicely in the end. There were also a lot of interesting and memorable characters. I’d be interested in reading more about Regina and Pimm frankly.

I really liked how each chapter began with a Shakesoeare quote. I am a huge fan but some of them i did not know. Great romance. Good reminder of the freedoms women now have compared to back then.

Since the death of her father, Miss Margaret Arden and her sisters live with their mother in a cottage owned by their Aunt Eliza and are dependent on her good will. But Margaret has a plan to save her family, that doesn’t involve marrying a rich man. You see, Margaret is an author (an unpublished author, but an author nonetheless) who has just finished her third novel and is trying to find a publisher to publish it and set her on the path of financial freedom. As luck would have it, the publisher she sent her manuscript to (and who never even bothered to acknowledge it) is going to be at her aunt’s salon and she plans to use the opportunity to pitch her book. She is shocked to learn that Mr. Bridger Darrow of publisher Dockarty & Co is an uncommonly handsome man, but once he starts talking any attraction, she felt dies a quick death when he berates her writing and wishes her good luck with her life. But fate has a wicked sense of humor and the two are reunited a couple of months later at her cousin’s wedding. She isn’t thrilled to see him again, but maybe he isn’t as bad as she thought, especially when a tragic mishap turns fortuitous, and he wants to publish her book. Then when her cousin’s new wife is implicated in a horrific scandal, he is the first to help her clear Ann’s name. Will this lead Margaret to her very own HEA or will fate pull the rug out from under her and she will lose everything?

Bridger Darrow is the younger son of landed gentry, with no possibility of inheriting, Bridger joined the military. Now after years of war, he has had enough and it ready to settle back into civilian life. He has inherited a publishing company and is trying to make it profitable and what he needs is a really good book. In all fairness, he tried to read Miss Arden’s book, but was bored to tears after only a few pages and never finished it. Still trying to find his golden goose, he is in London when he is called to his father’s estate. His father is dying, and the estate is in shambles thanks to his older brother, Paul’s reckless spending and now he has disappeared. Leaving Bridger to clean up the mess. When he learns that Paul has left to go the wedding of Bridger’s best friend, Lane. He sets out to find his brother and drag him home, but instead finds Miss Arden as well as a scorned former love interest. And that’s when things get interesting, and he realizes that he seriously underestimated Margaret. But as with everything in his life, nothing is going to be easy. Can he save his brother, prevent a scandal, save his business and win the girl?

I so wanted to love this book and thought it would suck me in and hold me fast until the end. It didn’t. I liked Margaret and her sisters, but Bridger was not really a hero I could root for. Add to that the fact that Margaret and Bridger don’t really spend time together until the book is almost half done, which made it hard for me to become invested in their HEA. I didn’t hate the book, and I enjoyed parts of it, but I found it very “put-downable” and it is not a book I would read again.

3 stars

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

There is more than one plot line in this story. The main plot involves Margaret and Bridger. Margaret is a budding author in an era that wants a different life path for her. Bridger is an ex soldier turned publisher. There are other things happening in the story that readers will find interesting. The conversations between the characters are witty and interesting. Readers will love the characters and enjoy the outcome of the story.

This reminded me of Bridgerton combined with Pride and Prejudice. Enemies with their prides prickled and making assumptions about the other. I didn’t like it as much as I was hoping. Mainly I didn’t like it because I absolutely hated Margaret’s aunts. There are also some points where the characters and their actions, or reactions, seem over the top or go by a little too quickly, which feels a bit like whiplash.

I did enjoy that each chapter started with William Shakespeare quotes. I felt it was connected the author to Margaret more. The fact that, while Margaret is a coward to her aunts, she still continued to investigate the mystery. There is no Margaret Arden without books, which made her relatable to me.

Overall, I rate this novel 3.5 out of 5 stars. Rounded up to 4 because NetGalley doesn't do half points.

Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux is a fun Regency romance about a woman named Margaret who doesn’t want to marry but is forced to look for a spouse to help support her family. She would prefer to publish her novel and make money from writing. Bridger used to fight for his country and now owns a publishing company. He made fun of Margaret’s writing but finds that he actually loves hit novel. After already rejecting her book, he must regain her trust and convince her to let him publish it. As they argue and work together to find who is framing Margaret’s friend and Bridger’s friend’s wife as everyone believes she was caught cheating on her husband. As they keep working together, they find they are falling for each other, but will they need to put their feelings aside based on the needs of others?

I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was a sweet story and loved the references to writing. However, I felt Bridger could have been developed a bit more as it took me a bit to warm up to his character based on his attitude.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Margaret Arden is a lady who wants to get her book published. Darrow is a publisher and Margaret brings her book for him to read to a party that she made sure he was invited to. They do not have a great first meeting. Then at Margaret’s cousin Lane and his fiancé Ann’s wedding Margaret’s manuscript is lost on the estate where Darrow finds several pages and decides that he wants to publish it. When someone who looks like Ann is found kissing another man Margaret and Darrow try to clear Ann’s name. Darrow figures out that his brother is responsible and Ann’s cousin is the women that he kissed. Darrow’s brother Primm and Ann’s cousin decide to get married after Ann’s cousin forages a certificate of marriage. Darrow and Margaret stop them in time and save Ann and Lane’s marriage. Darrow and Primm go to their father’s home where he is near death and when he dies during that same time Margaret is given a choice and has no choice but to forget about Darrow and writing. Some time passes and Darrow publishes Margaret’s book and they decide to marry.

The was a cute play on Much Ado About Nothing with a few twists for the Regency period. It all seemed rather unbelievable to me. Margaret dreams of being a novelist while her aunts are pressing her to marry since her family is poor and needs her to make a wealthy marriage. Bridger Darrow runs a publishing house and he’s hoping to make a success of the business since his family’s money has been wasted and his brother is somewhat of a rotter. He starts out rudely dismissing Margaret’s novel which he hadn’t read beyond the opening. But then he realizes it’s a great read.

Throw in the mistaken identity scandal that is built on the plot between Hero and Claudio from the Shakespeare play. That plot element gets solved, and quickly dismissed which doesn’t seem likely.

I didn’t buy the characters and the romance that quickly blooms between Margaret and Bridger nor the way it all gets resolved.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

4 stars

This was a fun, lighthearted, regency romance with just a hint of mystery sprinkled in. Margaret was an independent, intelligent, funny fmc and Bridget was a sweet if misunderstood mmc with way too much to deal with. I liked their enemies to reluctant allies to lovers development. It felt like a very natural progression in their relationship and I liked seeing them get to know each other better.
My main issue with this book was that the description made it seem like this was going to be about Margaret’s book and the struggles of women trying to get published in the regency era but this plot line really took a backseat for the majority of the book. Even in the parts where it was the focus there wasn’t a whole lot of struggle, just a minor miscommunication. This made the book feel a little disjointed because it seemed like there were two different plots. I also would’ve loved a deeper dive into the main characters, especially Bridget dealing with his trauma from the war (which does come up once, but is never really mentioned again), I think it would’ve helped the reader connect to the characters more.
Overall, I thought this was a cute book and I really enjoyed the relationship between the main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC!

I wanted to love this book as much as I loved the premise of this book. But it just didn’t work for me.

The enemies became lovers with little personal interaction or communication. The spice felt very out of place and like it was there just to be there.
I loved the setting and side characters and even quite like the MCs individually but nothing can be done to convince me they actually fell in love.

This book was seriously the most bad ass regency romance I have ever read. The main characters were EVERYTHING. Margaret is a writer, she has always been a dreamer thanks to her upbringing and when she lost her dad everything changed, for her and her sisters. She wrote this amazing book, and she wants it badly to get published. Little did she know that she will be meeting the one man who will help make this happen for her. But how they met was not the nicest, Bridger is also another character who has gone through some trials in his life, and between his horrible dad and drunk brother, this man has it bad. Margaret’s aunt wants her to marry for money, and some drama unleashed while attending her cousins wedding. This was an adventure, and so much fun to read, the drama was worth everything lol.

I really admire what this debut tried to do!! I loved that Margaret and her passion for literature and trying to publish her novel. The literary undertones and classic tropes were reminiscent of Ne’er Duke Well by Alex Vasti, a recent histrom favorite.

While I loved Bridger and Margaret, their romance got overshadowed at times by the mystery aspect and the numerous side characters, and I found myself wanting more from them prior to this.

I’m hopeful this will turn into a series as I’d love to get inside Violet’s head!!

Thanks to Dell and NetGalley for this advanced copy

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
🌶️

✨Summary✨
Miss Margaret Arden is an inspiring author in a society, which is greatly frowned upon profession for women. Though she does not let society deter her from pursuing her dreams. Mr. Darrow from the publishing company she sent her manuscript to, however, does rankle her after a chance encounter during her aunt’s house party. Mr. Darrow completely inhalants her book to Margaret’s face and they make a spectacle of themselves. Margaret is enraged and vows to hate Mr. Darrow.
Mr. Bridger Darrow is dealing with an ailing father, an out of control brother, and estate finances when he meets Miss Margaret Arden. He comes away from their initial meeting angry and vindicated that he did the right thing by rejecting her manuscript, because the woman is clearly out of her mind.
However, when the pair are thrown together once more for Margaret’s cousin, who happens to be Bridger’s best friend’s, wedding, a series of events brings them closer together. And when a mystery evolves, it’s up to the dueling duo to solve it or risk the good reputation of someone they both hold dear.

✨Critiques✨
The change in pov half way through a chapter was hard to follow at first, though I did get used to it.

👩🏻My Recommendation👩🏻
If you enjoy Shakespeare’s timeless stories with a touch of Jane Austen and Bridgerton, you’ll greatly appreciate and enjoy this novel. The writing style is excellent and the characters are full of life.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing the ARC and the opportunity to review this book.

I love the cover and concept of this book, but the writing style is not for me.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Maggie is passionate writing, which is a difficult occupation for a woman in Regency England. And her family needs her to forget all that, find a rich husband, and settle down. Instead, Maggie finds Bridger, a publisher who initially detests her work. A house party, a series of encounters and misadventures, mysteries and intrigue make this book a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the Shakespearean references.
I'd recommend this this book to lovers of light-hearted Regency romances.

Margret knows in her soul that she is a writer. She just needs to convince someone to publish her. She brings her manuscript to her cousin's wedding hoping to convince Bridger to print it only to get swept away in a mysterious scandal.

Read if you like:
-Regency Romance
-Forced Proximity
-Annoyance to Lovers

I had a difficult time getting into Much Ado About Margaret. I enjoy regency romances and the forced proximity of a house party, but I felt like the book wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Was it about Margret winning Bridger over with her writing? Was it about solving the scandal? It tried to be both, and didn't quite achieve either.

Not a bad book, just one that was a little scattered.

"Madeleine Roux's next season in Regency England follows a rebellious writer and the man who risks everything to publish her.

Margaret Arden yearns to live like the passionate and daring women in her novel. The idyllic life at Mosely Cottage with her two younger sisters and mother is fine, but Margaret wants more than the demure and dainty existence she's known. After a particularly brutal rejection from an annoyingly attractive publisher, Margaret fears being forced into marriage to protect her family if their financial situation doesn't improve - until her cousin's glamorous wedding masquerade brings her onto a collision course with scandal, notoriety, and even love.

Captain Bridger Darrow is starting over after fighting for his country. Now home, he is struggling to save his family from destitution and succeed in a new venture of passion: book publishing. It's all going rather poorly, until he stumbles upon loose pages of an astonishing novel while in attendance at his dearest friend's wedding. Bridger knows he must publish it. But upon meeting the author, Bridger is stunned to discover that he - she - is a woman, and he has already told her off in grand fashion.

While Bridger is keen to gain her trust and rescind the initial rejection, Margaret can't help but be skeptical of his intentions. Sparks fly between the two, just as the wedding of the season starts to descend into chaos when a masked dance leads to a case of mistaken identities."

One can't help wonder why he rejected the manuscript in the first place...

Aspiring writer Margaret longs for financial stability to protect her family, and publisher Bridger seems to be determined to hold her back. The two are entrapped at the same house party, and discover they have more in common than they originally thought. Much Ado About Margaret is a cute read,

I was really excited by the concept, an early female Victorian writer determined to make her way. The male lead was also a strong and interesting character. It was refreshingly down to earth without titles or wealth and human characters with human flaws.
That is where the good stuff ended, the other characters were superfluous, the drama pointless and rushed. Tying up all the loose ends at the end lacked depth especially the lack of consequences for the wrongdoer.

I love when the first interaction between MCs is disastrous and they become enemies. It was a journey for Margaret and Bridger to find they HEA and I enjoyed every moment of it.