Book Review #bookreview #thewidowworeplaid #jennajaxon #netgalley #historicalromance #zebrapublishing
This is the first Jenna Jaxon book I have every read, and I found it to be very enjoyable, well written, and she is definitely someone I plan on checking out her back list. This novel is the sixth book in the Widow's Club series, and it definitely reads like a book that would have been better read in series order. While overall I found the story to be very enjoyable, I definitely think I would have had a much stronger connection with the hero and heroine and all the supporting character if I had this in order. I did not find the story overall confusing, yes there are lots of characters and yes we enter this romance in the middle of it, but Jenna Jaxon's writing was very accessible and easy to follow when it came to the various players in this series and I am definitely interested in going back to the beginning of this series to get a deeper understanding of all the players and they interconnected nature of this series with the strong female and male friendships that are evident in this story.
We enter this story in the middle of Jane and Gareth's romance, they are already in love at the start of the novel and they have basically been living together for the past few months. Gareth has also proposed marriage three times to Jane previously to the start of this novel. The action of the novel starts with Gareth and Jane's friends coming to Gareth's Scottish estate for a hunting party. While in the company of their friends Gareth realizes that he will still do anything to win Jane's hand and Jane starts to realize that her relationship with Gareth is more important then her freedom as a widow. So Jane finally is able to say yes to Gareth's proposal of marriage. From here the novel is very action driven around murder attempts on Gareth (and Jane's) life, being stranded, working together and care taking.
The romance is very low angst, we know that Jane and Gareth love each other, they never question their love and they stay strong in their relationship. The plot of this novel is definitely action driven, it focuses on the many different characters from past novels and how they intertwine with everyone, while still keeping the majority of the focus on Jane and Gareth's situation. Because Jane and Gareth are already in love and in a physical relationship the steam level of this novel is on a higher level and Jenna Jaxon is able to parcel these scenes throughout the novel from the start. Overall I really enjoyed watching Jane and Gareth work together, they seemed to have a really balanced and understanding relationship, but I do feel like I would have been even more invested in them and their friends if I had started this series at the beginning.
I would recommend this story especially if you are interested in starting a series that appears to be very well interconnected. I think Jenna Jaxon's writing is definitely worth checking out and I am very much looking forward in exploring her backlist.
Thank you to Zebra Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC, all thoughts and opinions are my own.