From Waif to Gentleman's Wife by Julia Justiss

The turmoil of the journey, the shock of her current circumstances, and finding out her brother has been fired is just too much. Which is how Joanna Merrill comes to meet him when she literally collapses at his feet after finally arriving at Blenhem. Ned Greaves, the new estate manager hired by Englemere, keeping his own noble lineage a secret. To get to the bottom of the local unrest, Edward decides to pose as Mr.

On his way to take up residence though, Edward’s carriage is assaulted by Luddite hooligans.

So when Edward, being a bit of an agricultural nut, offers to buy it from him, he accepts. Blenhem is out of the way of his other holdings and he’s loathe to leave his wife and young son. Firing Greville, he’s at a loss of what to do next. Nicky gave his distant cousin Greville the job of overseeing the estate, only to learn that he was doing a terrible job of it. Sir Edward “Ned” Greaves has purchased Blenhem Hill from his good friend Nicholas Stanhope, Marquess of Englemere. Desperate, she decides to travel to Blenhem Hill where her brother, Greville, is employed as estate manager. Joanna is tossed out on her ear, with very few coins to her name. What with it being all her fault for throwing herself at a married man. When the fine upstanding Lady of the household catches her husband accosting Joanna, she promptly fires Joanna. So she takes a job as a governess, only to find herself thwarting the advances of her randy employer. Her soldier husband succumbed to a fever he contracted in India, her in-laws have washed their hands of her, her family is abroad, and she’s sunk. Joanna Merrill is a young widow with few options. You mean Regencies can be about more than Dukes and spies? Wow. It was like opening up a window on a warm spring day after a very long, dismal winter. This being my first book by Julia Justiss, I wasn’t all that surprised to discover that Harlequin chose to publish a Regency historical that actually felt different. Now that my crippling burn-out has begun to lift, I’ve been making up for lost time by discovering many Regency writers that other readers have known about for years.

They were literally my lifeline during a time in my reading life when I was so burnt out on All England All The Time that I would read maybe one Regency-set book a year. Which means they offer more to readers than just Regency historicals about spies and Dukes. Over the years I have remained fiercely loyal to Harlequin Historical in part because of their willingness to publish stories set in locales currently not the flavor of the month. Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 01 Oct 09 Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of From Waif To Gentleman’s Wife (Wellingford’s #5) by Julia Justiss

From Waif to Gentleman's Wife by Julia Justiss