Review: The Jilt by M. Battle Jackson

★★★☆☆

🌶

Series: The Graces, Book 1

Review:

This review was written for Reedsy Discovery

Breaking her engagement in her final season and establishing a boarding school with minimal resources, Grace finds her calling–and even love

After discovering her fiancé and another woman together, Grace Trelawny must convince her father to allow her to call off the wedding. A philanderer himself, he begrudgingly agrees after more details are revealed about the encounter. He has already declared this will be Grace’s final season; her chances of marrying in the future are slim. After his passing, Grace and her mother are turned out by Grace’s brother’s wife. The costs of running such a household quickly add up, and Grace devises a plan to transform their new home into a boarding school for five young ladies. When a handsome British Army captain brings his niece to Miss Trelawny’s Seminary for Young Ladies, a hesitant courtship emerges between him and Grace, tiptoeing the line of propriety in Regency England.

Starting right as Grace discovers her betrothed in a compromising position, The Jilt by M. Battle Jackson propels the reader straight into Regency drama. As abruptly as Grace’s engagement ends, Grace and her mother are forced to acclimate to their new living situation with absolutely no knowledge of how to manage finances. Grace is thrust into the role of house manager upon discovering that her mother has no concept of costs or budgeting. Her situation is frustrating–having to parent her mother–but her industriousness leads to a successful venture. The Jilt is written primarily from Grace’s perspective, but Captain Chamberlain’s perspective is sprinkled throughout. The cautious love story that develops between Grace and Captain Chamberlain explores the difficulty of getting to know a suitor within the confines of delicate society in 19th-century England.

I appreciate the inclusion of a Cast of Characters list at the beginning of the book, and the cover art is simply stunning. The Jilt is the first book in The Graces series, which follows Grace and her students. Those who enjoy historical fiction, Austenesque novels, and Regency romances featuring intelligent, driven women will likely enjoy this book.

Audience: young adult, adult
Trigger warnings: death
Recommended for fans of: historical romance, regency romance, Austenesque fiction

Publisher's Synopsis:

Finding her betrothed in the arms of another woman, Miss Grace Trelawny called off her upcoming wedding, and Society promptly labeled her a jilt. Newspapers hinted at a scandal. Will she ever find true love now that she has been banished to her country estate and forced to earn a living?

Capt. Marcus Chamberlain had no thoughts of marrying as his career in the British army caused frequent absences to dangerous places. But when he placed his niece in Miss Trelawny’s seminary for young women, he began to have second thoughts after meeting the lovely headmistress.

The Jilt is the first book in the series, The Graces, which will follow the lives and adventures of Grace and her five pupils as they navigate the rigid rules of Society in the Regency era.

Source:

Reedsy Discovery

©M. Battle Jackson: February 7, 2025
Edition: ebook, read on KU
308 pages

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