Katherine Vareck is in for the shock of her life when she learns upon her husband Meri’s accidental death that he had married two other women. Her entire business, along with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a royal supplier, is everything she’s been working for and now could be destroyed if word leaks about the three wives.

Meri’s far more upstanding brother, Christian, Duke of Randford has no earthly clue how to be of assistance. He spent the better part of his adult years avoiding Meri and the rest of his good-for-nothing family, so to be dragged back into the fold is…problematic. Even more so is the intrepid and beautiful Katherine, whom he cannot be falling for because she’s Meri’s widow. Or can he?

With a textile business to run and a strong friendship forming with Meri’s two other wives, Katherine doesn’t have time for much else. But there’s something about the warm, but compellingly taciturn Christian that draws her to him. When an opportunity to partner in a business venture brings them even closer, they’ll have to face their pasts if they want to share each other’s hearts and futures.

Titles in The Widow Rules series include — A Duke in Time – Rules for Engaging the Earl – 

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  A Duke in Time
Series:  The Widow Rules #1
Author:  Janna MacGregor
Genre:  Historical Romance
Published:  June 29, 2021
Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press
My Rating:  4 stars

A Duke in Time begins The Widow Rules series with a lively, delightful tale of intrigue, lies, mystery, and eventually, a forever love… but first we need to solve a mystery.

Kat is about to discover just what an incredible jerk she’d married truly was.  Oh, she’d had lots of clues beforehand but this… this really was beyond anything she’d ever thought Meri capable of.  It seems her husband (and we’ll use that term lightly) had lots of expensive tastes and a need for endless doweries which lead to these two ladies in the solicitor’s office with her claiming to be Meri’s widows as well.  It seems that she was not the only woman Meri had married, devoured their money, and then moved on to the next wife.  Enter one good man, Meri’s estranged brother to the mix, a war hero, an all-around good man who will try, reluctantly, to sort out the mess his brother left behind while trying not to fall for the strong-willed, lovely Katherine.  And you’ll find that intriguing, lively, interesting tale unfolding before your eyes.

Aside from Meri, I liked the characters in A Duke in Time.  Katherine is stubborn and good-hearted, strong with a softer side, wise beyond her years with an air of innocence still at times.  Christian is simply a good man from his core outwards he’s just a man who does his duty with honor, lives his life without the need to step all over others, and had thought that he put enough distance between his brother and the rest of his family to be able to live a good life without the constant drama and troubles.  Unfortunately, he was wrong on that.

I enjoyed watching Kat and Christian work around their differences while still acknowledging their instant attraction to each other.  Katherine’s work is interesting, the way she’ll draw the other ladies into her world and in some ways, mother hen them brought smiles to my face.  There is definitely sizzling passion between this couple, as well as a growing love that can stand the test of time.  But they also have to sort out some trouble, some mystery – and parts of that will be woven throughout the entire series (trilogy) I expect.

In all, I had a good time in this opening story, enough so that I’ll be watching for Rules for Engaging the Earl to release in 2022 for I now need to know what happens to these ladies next.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story.  It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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