Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand

Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand (2012) Carla Kelly

Set in England in the early 1800s (after the war)

Mrs. Drew is a young widow, and after an improper proposition from her brother-in-law needs to find a home for herself and her two young daughters. She ends up in the dower house of one of Lord Winn’s many properties.

Lord Winn has returned from the war, but wants little more than to escape his over-bearing sisters who are pushing him to remarry–despite the fact that he is a terrible scandal for having divorced his previous wife for infidelity (on her part).

“I do not see how you can possibly find another wife.”

He went to the door then and rattled the knob, giving any servants listening time to scatter from the hall. “As I have no urge to ever marry again, this concerns me not at all.

This book is… completely different from the other historicals I have a penchant for getting.

First, there is no boinking (well, there *is* boinking, but it’s all off the page), secondly, the heroine, Mrs Drew, is a vicar’s wife and quite religious.

she never repeated scandal, and did not think of it, either, beyond a sad shake of her head. “For who of us has not fallen short of the mark?” Anthony would say, and she could only agree.

I can forgive, she thought. It costs nothing except a little pride, and the rewards are infinite.

I quite like both characters, and although there are of course misunderstandings and mix-ups, both are sensible, and more importantly, amusing.

“I bow to your judgment,” he said, his voice calm, his mind in outrageous turmoil. “Just make it look like a home.”

She laughed and got off the bed, to his relief. “That’s easy, my lord! I’ll loan you jackstraws and blocks to trip over in the middle of the night, enough clutter to drive you distracted, and suspicious marks and rings on things that no one admits to.”

And the daughters are really quite lovely.

“Now don’t plague Lord Winn anymore.”

“I am not a plague, Mama,” she replied with dignity. “I am merely a trial.”

Lissy drew a picture of the three lambs. Over her daughters’ protests, Roxanna vetoed Lissy’s first picture of her arm in the sheep. “I think Lord Winn has sufficient imagination to figure out where lambs come from,” she assured her children.

(I thought the birthing of the lambs was a delightful detail).

And as much as this is a romance, it’s also very much about grief and mourning, and I thought those parts were very well done, especially since Mrs. Drew had lost her husband in most ways three years before he actually died.

Although it was a bit slow at times, I appreciate the details, and bits of the time (such as how deadly common illnesses were, how divorce was unacceptable, and especially how women had almost no rights.

“It was the only road you left open to your sister-in-law!” Winn shouted. “She and her daughters are my chattel now and if you do not leave this house at once, I will ask this sheriff to arrest you!” He came forward and took Lord Whitcomb by the neckcloth, jerking him off his feet. “They are my property now!” he snapped, each word distinct.

A reminder that women truly had few rights.
Rating: 7/10
Published by Cedar Fort, Inc.

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