Wonderful, stirring, heartfelt romance, but too sad for me. The characters, the plot, the setting are all first-rate. The story, though it has a happy ending, has too much sadness in it, for repeated re-reading. Bits of the plot feel contrived, the second half of the book is not as strong as the first. ( )

This book so frustrated me I tossed it when I finally got to the end. . . . The two characters ended up married before the book ever ended and it took forever for them to get to the inevitable conclusion. Came highly recommended by someone who loves Balogh and Heyer . . . . (2006)

Have my standards dropped? Or am I just more tolerant of a sweet romance? Liked it better in 2020 than 2006. Very short. Very sweet. ( )

This is my favorite or among my favorites of Carla Kelly's books. I just get sucked into the story of a strong woman facing tremendous difficulties and dealing with them with strength and also with some help from good people, including her landlord and eventual husband. It's a warm and charming story. I just re-read it and liked it as much as I did the first (and maybe second) times. There were some anachronisms which sometimes bother me but not so much in this book. ( )

A fantastic romance, and really a splendid book about domesticity and all of its many facets—dramas and jokes and terrors and blisses alike. ( )

Roxanna Drew, recently widowed, has two young daughters and a wicked brother-in-law who's scheming to take advantage of her poverty. The Marquess of Winn has spent years abroad in the army and no intention of ever getting married. In a Regency romance like this, you can guess what happens next. Mrs Drew Plays Her Hand contains some of my favourite tropes—marriage of convenience, mutual pining—and the characters are mostly engaging enough to make this a pleasant read. However, the rampant anachronisms, improbable child characters (a four-year-old shouldn't sound like a twelve-year-old), and the unearned, tone-deaf resolution to the wicked brother-in-law plot means this is far from a classic. ( )