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A review by onthesamepage
The Widow Wore Plaid by Jenna Jaxon
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start with the one thing I wish I'd known before picking this up: you need to read the other books in the series first. This one does not stand well on its own. From the very beginning, you are dumped into a pre-existing relationship, so you've missed out on all the fun "getting to know each other" and "unresolved sexual tension" parts and skipping straight ahead to "we've been having some fun in bed, when are we getting married?" But Jane really likes her independence and isn't looking for anything more than a good time. Or so she claims anyway. Meanwhile, Gareth has babies on the brain because he needs an heir, so Jane's constant refusal to marry him is really ruining his plans. He's confident in his ability to talk her around though, but something strange is afoot and he keeps getting into weird accidents that could kill a person who isn't the main character. Will he manage to impregnate Jane before he runs out of time to do so?
Honestly, I'd say the hints of danger are the most fun parts of this book, but if nothing else it taught me a few new things about what I really don't like in my romances:
- overuse of nicknames like my love, dear, darling, sweetheart or anything along these lines. If there was a page where a character could go two sentences without using one of these, I must've missed it.
- the total and complete focus on that most important of things: impregnating the woman you love. Addendum: also the heroine really hoping she gets pregnant fast because that would be the ultimate proof of her love for the hero, even though she already has kids and isn't very involved with them. That is quickly blamed on her ex-husband though; he just didn't want her to be close to her kids, and even after his death she apparently never bothered to change that.
- 2D villains who are also just really stupid and secretly 5 year old boys who're just mad the world doesn't work the way they want it to. To clarify, I don't like this in any genre.
One thing I did like to see was the friendship between this group of women that formed a bond when they all lost their husbands during the Battle of Waterloo. I can't necessarily say I liked the characters because they all felt rather flat, but I like the idea behind it.
Speaking of flat characters, the characterization of Gareth can be summed up as "loves Jane, much strong, want babies", whereas Jane is more "dnw marriage no I do want, my purpose is to please Gareth". I don't feel like I learned anything about either of them, and because the start of their relationship is (probably?) in a different book, I can't say I felt much chemistry either. If you've had the chance to root for them as a side couple in other books, I can see this book being a bit more enjoyable than it was for me.
Let me start with the one thing I wish I'd known before picking this up: you need to read the other books in the series first. This one does not stand well on its own. From the very beginning, you are dumped into a pre-existing relationship, so you've missed out on all the fun "getting to know each other" and "unresolved sexual tension" parts and skipping straight ahead to "we've been having some fun in bed, when are we getting married?" But Jane really likes her independence and isn't looking for anything more than a good time. Or so she claims anyway. Meanwhile, Gareth has babies on the brain because he needs an heir, so Jane's constant refusal to marry him is really ruining his plans. He's confident in his ability to talk her around though, but something strange is afoot and he keeps getting into weird accidents that could kill a person who isn't the main character. Will he manage to impregnate Jane before he runs out of time to do so?
Honestly, I'd say the hints of danger are the most fun parts of this book, but if nothing else it taught me a few new things about what I really don't like in my romances:
- overuse of nicknames like my love, dear, darling, sweetheart or anything along these lines. If there was a page where a character could go two sentences without using one of these, I must've missed it.
- the total and complete focus on that most important of things: impregnating the woman you love. Addendum: also the heroine really hoping she gets pregnant fast because that would be the ultimate proof of her love for the hero, even though she already has kids and isn't very involved with them. That is quickly blamed on her ex-husband though; he just didn't want her to be close to her kids, and even after his death she apparently never bothered to change that.
- 2D villains who are also just really stupid and secretly 5 year old boys who're just mad the world doesn't work the way they want it to. To clarify, I don't like this in any genre.
One thing I did like to see was the friendship between this group of women that formed a bond when they all lost their husbands during the Battle of Waterloo. I can't necessarily say I liked the characters because they all felt rather flat, but I like the idea behind it.
Speaking of flat characters, the characterization of Gareth can be summed up as "loves Jane, much strong, want babies", whereas Jane is more "dnw marriage no I do want, my purpose is to please Gareth". I don't feel like I learned anything about either of them, and because the start of their relationship is (probably?) in a different book, I can't say I felt much chemistry either. If you've had the chance to root for them as a side couple in other books, I can see this book being a bit more enjoyable than it was for me.