Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed In the Woods, a mystery set in Dublin, Ireland. Tina shared a holiday contest at Nigella Lawson’s website — A Christmas Pudding Hunt. The contest is still going on, so you’re not too late to join in the fun. Tina also reviewed another book set in Ireland. The Girl in the Castle is historical fiction set during the tumultuous years of the early 20th century. Sim took us to St. Paul’s Cathedral, the iconic feature of the London skyline. Becky reviewed the ninth book in the William Monk series by Anne Perry: A Breach of Promise.

Book: The Viscount Needs a Wife by Jo Beverley
Genre: historical romance
Publisher: Signet
Publication date: 2016
Pages: 432

Source: e-book from the library

Is this the last novel I’ll ever read by Jo Beverley? That makes me sad.

Summary: Kitty Cateril is a widow trapped in her mother-in-law’s house with few acceptable options for escape, one being a second marriage. Her best friend from school is aware of a newly-minted viscount, Beau Braydon, who is need of a wife to handle the details of his country estate while he resumes his exciting life in London. Will this situation be any better for Kitty than the one she leaves behind?

Thoughts: I’ve been putting off reading this book. The author, Jo Beverley, died in May and I didn’t want to rush reading her final book. Another book is mentioned in the Afterword, so maybe we’ll get one more but her website hasn’t been updated and there’s no mention of another novel in her Wikipedia article or on Goodreads.

My favorite historical novels teach me about history. I came away with this one with a much greater understanding of the royal line during the Regency period. George the Third had fifteen children, but had a very hard time getting legitimate grandchildren out of any of them. Beverley uses this situation to generate an adventurous plot for our hero and heroine to solve.

Appeal: The Viscount Needs a Wife stands alone just fine, although there are cameo appearances from a few characters in Beverley’s earlier novels. If you like historical novels but women with modern sensibilities and men who honor them, a Jo Beverley novel is a great choice. Occasionally, it feels anachronistic, but when I’m reading for pleasure, I want a strong heroine and a hero who is her match.

Will you miss Jo Beverley now that she is gone? If you haven’t read her before, there are a ton of novels to catch up on. I enjoyed both of her longest-running series: The Mallorens and The Company of Rogues.