The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows

(3.5, rounding up.) I love a good slow burn, but holy cow, this was glacial. I think I was at something like 65% of the way through before they kissed? I did enjoy both MC's journeys - Agatha letting go of her old life in London and Penelope finally starting to live for herself. I also learned some history in this! Most of the time, Regency romances just use that era as a setting to mean “empire dresses and lots of balls and The Season” (which is not a complaint, I love that stuff too), but this has no one with a title (except the villain) and actual political persecution, which is much more in line with most people's experiences during this time. Don't get me wrong, “realism” in any historical romance isn't a thing, but a perspective that's focused on working-class people is absolutely refreshing.

(Side note: this cover is the most awkward thing I've ever seen. The models don't even appear to be in the same room, let alone sitting on the same piece of furniture. Neither model looks overcome by passion, more like they're fighting to not sneeze, and they're both probably twenty years younger and quite a bit thinner than the descriptions of the characters they're supposed to be representing. I ‘m all about a cover with real people, but ... if you don't want to use models who are accurate to the characters, that's not saying much great about whoever's doing the selection here.)

I was getting annoyed with YA protagonists for being so immature and teenagery and then I was like lol you dummy take a break and read a grownup book. And then I did and I was like wow look at these responsible women! Small business owners! Upstanding community members! Humane beekeepers! Being reluctant to discuss their feelings due to propriety but ultimately working it all out! Truly I loved to see it.