The Merry Month of May

by Joan Smith

When Sara Word's long-lost fiance returns six years later, his brother Haldimer, who had been the object of Sara's secret desires, is strangely anxious for the two former lovers to reunite

Genres: Regency, Romance

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 28, 1990

About the author

Joan Smith is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and the Ontario College of Education. She has taught French and English in high school and English in college. When she began writing, her interest in Jane Austen and Lord Byron led to her first choice of genre, the Regency, which she especially liked for its wit and humor.
Her favorite travel destination is England, where she researches her books. Her hobbies are gardening, painting, sculpture and reading. She is married and has three children. A prolific writer, she is currently working on Regencies and various mysteries at her home in Georgetown, Ontario.
She is also known as Jennie Gallant

Reviews

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 1 out of 5]

So very very not merry!
A very frustrating and depressing book - especially if one is the kind of reader that likes to identify with the h. Because nothing works for this girl!
Sad because JS knows how to write a Regency. A romance maybe not so much. (At least this book has nothing to show for it).

This is not just a triangle, but a quadrangle or even a pentangle.
The h and the H's brother (younger and handsomer) were engaged once but he ran off a day before the wedding and is presumed dead. The h never marries. Everyone believes her to be a tragic figure - that she's grieving but only she knows that it's guilt over her relief at escaping the marriage and nothing more. Now, 6 years later, the om walks back, widowed, with two sons and an encroaching and domineering Canadian SIL in tow.
The h's and the H's families are happy and believe that these two will pick up where they left off. The H actively pushes the match, the om not sure which one to choose - the h or his SIL.
The H reluctantly courts the SIL/ow and dogs her heels to leave an open field for the h and his brother. The ow is happy to have a lord 'chasing' her and sets her sight on him.
The h protests to everyone - her family, the H, the om, the om-2 that she doesn't want him back but no one believes her, wagging a sly finger at her. Have a little revenge but...
Very little h/H romance if any. So not fun.
And so it goes on and on.

This book is majorly about the vulgar-ish ow and her exploits and how she wraps everyone around her sly little finger. She's rude, selfish, cunning, uncouth but the whole book revolves around her.
The H is the veriest nodcock ever. So, after 6 years he suddenly realizes that he likes/loves his brother's once-fiancee? His praising the self-seeking ow once too many times made me dislike him even more.
The h is snippy when she's not boring. Period.
It's alluded that she chases the H but no. She's too wishy washy to do anything that decisive.
The h's sister spends the book befriending the popular ow, finding her own sister a big bore. Their mother also grudgingly admires the ow.
(So you see, how the author diminishes her own h?)
The H's mother's deafness, turned into a comic device, is grating.
Another om, the h's faux suitor, Swithin starts out well as this outré and effeminate dandy but even he's vanquished into obscurity by this ow. And later slayed romantically.

Why not just make her the MC?
Oh wait, but she's just that!
Because she gets - to soak all the attention, pick of men, her own rousing romance, a last chapter dramatic chase after her by one and all, the man she actually wants and her triumphant hea.
So, she queening it at the end. Thinking everything revolves around her and it probably does. Because everyone indulges her and over looks her snide belittling of the h - in the last pages. The h’s sister is even more enamored of her. As is the om-2.
And now picture this - she and the h will be SILs and neighbors forever. Just imagine the ... uh, joy!

Bottomline : The author hates her h.

[Kelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Joan's best

I've read so many of Joan's books I lost count. This was my least favorite. I didn't care for the characters. I honestly just made myself finish it. A big disappointment.

[Nancy Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope all Canadians are not judged by Betsy! We are more like Sara.

[Julia Hebner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected laughter

I, too, questioned the legality of a man marrying his late wife's sister. I am glad I let that detail slide because this is a genuinely funny book.

[Ainee Beland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a romp of a reading; cleverly written with dynamic characters. Most fav is Sir Swithin Idle who is wealthy, intelligent, of good character, and not particularly ugly. He would be the first to point out that he was a pretty fellow. Idle having made his way to the women lifted the tail of his jacket and sat beside Mrs. Wood. As he crossed one small knee over the other, she felt a twinge of envy for the delicacy of his foot. Not many ladies could boast such a dainty one, with the instep so well arched, and an ankle as thin as soup bone.
Sir Swithin Idle can speak on any subject, especially of himself, ad infinitum—ad nauseam. Millinery, fashion, painting, poetry, drama—no doubt love. His antics carry this book forward, and the ladies' dismissal of him is sad and pleasing since he simply chose not to notice...example of this is: No one in their right mind is interested in Idle. He is close to a lunatic which makes no difference. And the ladies seem to find him an engaging lunatic...and Swithin is just who he is and an adamant neighbor who tries to help when he can.

[Marilyn Kavanaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clean witty Regency

with many of the usual tropes of the genre, including misunderstandings, Spoiler Alert: an unexpected return and a misleading elopement.

[Katja · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one in which everyone is silly.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have read this humerous Regency romance many years ao although I remember only the title of the book itself. I would have remembered the heroine since she does not seem to have any gumption or sass, but sits quietly at home for 6 years after her fiance Lord Peter Haldiman, leaves her the day before their wedding without leaving her a note explaining his actions. It seems that she was relieved he had left but she does not tell anyone. But now he is back, a widower with two sons and Miss Harvey, a sister in law, who is rich but has no idea how to act in England. His older brother, Lord Rufus Haldiman, hopes he will now offer for Sara, and yet is bothered at the thought. The characters of Sir Idle and Miss Harvey are excellent and alone worth reading this thin novel.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent romance novel, nothing particularly spectacular or horrible about it. Overall, this one is a bit forgettable but I did enjoy reading it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and fun. I had forgotten how much I liked her books.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A woman's fiance disappeared 6 years before, much to her relief. Then he comes back and everyone expects her to accept him again.