Dreams and challenges!

Much Ado About Margaret by Madeleine Roux       

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Margaret Arden had been encouraged by her father all her life to write.

Now he’s dead, Margaret, her mother, and her sisters are living off the charity of her mother’s sister, Aunt Eliza. There seems to be a strained atmosphere between her aunts and her mother. Margaret plans to save the family through her writing endeavours. She needs to have her novel published 

Only when she takes it to a friend of a friend's publisher, Bridger Darrow he scorns her, belittles her, and tosses her out.

Mind you Darrow had been having a bad day. He’s just discovered his brother Pimm has been taking money from the business.

Of course Margaret and Bridger meet again at her friend Lane Richmond’s wedding house party to Ann Graddock. Not happy!

The dour aunts are there too. Margaret is being pressured to marry for wealth like they did. Her mother had married for love. Now look at her! They are threatening to cut off the funds they give to her mother and send them all to a very small cottage in a very far away place! That novel being published has just tripled in importance!

That’s why Margaret’s brought her writings with her. Somehow that precious manuscript is swept out of the window by a malignant wind, assisted somewhat by Aunt Eliza we all suspect. Pages are snatched up by guests including Bridger who now decides he likes what he reads. He wants it! It might just save his business! Good luck!

The wedding celebration becomes a hot pot of family jealousies, spurned ex-loves, misunderstandings, affronts to the aunts and their petty retributions. Indeed the whole scene seethes underneath. True love is trampled upon, fought for, denied and pretty much killed.

A mass of emotions and situations that bloodies all the heroes, both primary and secondary.

A tale of deceit and love, of happiness almost lost.

A Penguin Random House ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.