The Reluctant Widow - Book 18

This is a reread. I am a Georgette Heyer fan. I went through a real obsession with her a few years ago. What spurred this reread is that I happened to see somewhere on the internet that a long time ago they made a (bad) movie of The Reluctant Widow. I had read it before and didn't think it was really Heyer's best, but still enjoyable. Anyway for some reason Rick and I started watching this (bad!) movie on youtube. We didn't get far into, but it was enough to make me realize my memory was fuzzy. Rick actually noticed the book on the shelf in the bedroom and took it out. I read the first three chapters aloud to him over the course of a few days (it helped him fall asleep quickly, LOL). But then he had to go away for a week on business so we stopped that. But I continued reading it to myself!

Anyhoo! Here's my review:

The Reluctant Widow is a typical Heyer work of Regency Romance fiction. Wonderful characters, funny, sparkling dialogue, a great sense of historical accuracy and attention to every day detail, an exciting plot line and a touch of romance, these are all hallmarks of a Heyer work. And they are all present here in The Reluctant Widow. However, this book just didn't work quite as well as some of her other books have for me. For one thing the heroine, Elinor, and Lord Carlyon, the hero simply do not know each other well enough or see each other enough (the novel all takes place in the space of a week) to really build romantic tension. So I thought that aspect of the novel fell very flat. I also had trouble with Lord Carlyon's cavalier attitude towards protecting Elinor from his dangerous cousin.

Other than Elinor, who is delightful, I loved the characters of Nicky and his dog Bouncer. Lots of laughs there.

This was a terrible week in terms of news so I needed something light to read and The Reluctant Widow did provide some lovely diversion.

For more book reviews see 52 Books in 52 Weeks.