A review by cakt1991
To Woo a Wicked Widow by Jenna Jaxon

3.0

Review originally posted here: https://courtneyreadsromancesite.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/review-of-to-woo-a-wicked-widow-the-widows-club-1-by-jenna-jaxon/

To Woo a Wicked Widow was a promising story, with a great premise, and while it fell a little short of expectations, it was a decent book overall. What captured my attention was the blurb and how it characterized that the heroine Charlotte had been through some difficult experiences that shaped her world view, while the hero, Nash, was marriage-minded and very much interested in a long-term commitment with Charlotte, which makes a nice change to the traditional tropes.

And for the most part, I really like the way Charlotte was executed as a character. She made a rash choice for love, and paid for it by being trapped in a loveless, passionless marriage to an older man, and even now that her husband is dead, she is continually bullied by her stepson and her husband’s heir. I loved the nuances of her wanting to experience passion for the first time, since it was denied her, while being reluctant to trust another man by marrying again.

Nash was…fine. He definitely did exactly what the blurb promised, in terms of being interested in Charlotte, and I did come to warm up to them as a couple eventually, but initially, I did find myself questioning what it was that made him so interested in marrying her right away. And while he is definitely a nice guy and someone I wouldn’t mind encountering in real life, I did find him a little lacking in the depth that made Charlotte so compelling.

And while I did find myself overwhelmed with the many characters being introduced, I did really like the dynamic between Charlotte and Jane as friends, and did find the concept of a club for widows quite an engaging concept for the series overall.

I may read the other books in the series to see how things develop. But it didn’t necessarily “wow” me. However, I do think fans who are interested in historical romance may enjoy this, given that many others have rated this one relatively favorably, so if you’re interested, pick this one up.