“Why, do you find there to be something of the Reaper about me?” he said, trying to make it sound like a jest but failing utterly.
She immediately abandoned the bread, coming to his side.
“The very opposite,” she said, taking his hand in hers, despite the fact that they were both sticky with bits of dough. “Your Charm doesn’t bring death, Elmwood. It brings back life. And I believe that reflects you perfectly.”
A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson
LENGTH: 432 pages
GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction
PUBLISHER: Del Rey
RELEASE DATE: 31 March 2026
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
In this witty fantasy romance, a widow blackmails her rakish necromancer neighbor to bring her husband back to life and save her home – only to find herself falling for him instead.
Lady Hildegarde Croft is accustomed to changes in position. After all, she rose from maidservant to lady of the manor when she married Lord Thorgoode Croft. But when he drops dead quite unexpectedly, the plans that would have protected her and the people of Croftholde from her malevolent brother-in-law die along with him. What’s a widow to do?
Fortunately, potential salvation arrives in the form of Lord Erol Elmwood, who is fleeing the consequences of using his forbidden Charm to raise the dead and save his own life. Now he’s injured, destitute, and miserable, stuck hiding out at the neighboring estate.
For Hilde, blackmailing Lord Elmwood to resurrect Thorgoode seems like the perfect solution. For Elmwood, beautiful Lady Croft seems like the ideal distraction from his troubles. The problem is, all she wants from him is the horrifying power he knows he can never use again.
My Review
It was never the people who died peacefully in their beds at the end of a long life who needed resurrecting. No, it was always some wretch pulled untimely from their mortal coil. Whether their death was from the violence of another person’s act or the violence of a body succumbing to illness or accident, it was all violence. It left its indelible mark.
A Widow’s Charm was… okay. It just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, and didn’t really hit for me, unfortunately. The writing wasn’t bad, and I liked the general premise and a few of the characters. But it just didn’t live up to what I was hoping for.
Our dual protagonists were Lady Hildegarde Croft and Lord Erol Elmwood. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t really get invested in either of these characters. I preferred Hilde, though. I liked her initial motivations, and I thought she was a strong person. Elmwood just kind of annoyed me, however, I did kind of feel for him s little more near the end of the novel.
I much preferred Winthrop, Elmwood’s bestie. His friendship with Elmwood was great. I also liked Hilde’s sister Han, as well as Lady Isobel Warrit. Both seemed more interesting, though Lady Isobel seemed rather childish for her age, and was more often than not treated like an obstacle for the romance than a character. Han was awesome though, and she and Isobel were cute. Apparently, the next book in the series is going to focus on them, which is cool, but I’m currently unsure if I’ll go for it.
I was also more interested in Thorgoode, Hilde’s recently deceased husband, as well as intrigued by their relationship. The Croft servants were also more engaging characters to me, as well. The villain is the Harrier, who was also almost comically evil. I didn’t really like him as an antagonist.
“Stop manhandling me! I met Lady Croft by chance, and she’s been quite neighborly, that’s all. There’s been no cozying.” It was surprisingly difficult lying to Winthrop, but it couldn’t be helped.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t having it. “You’re a terrible liar, Elm-wood, and you should know better than to attempt to deceive your closest friend.”
“What about my lawyer?”
“Even worse!”
The plot was decently interesting, but stalls for much of the book. Fair warning to those who enjoy a mix of story and characters – there isn’t much of that here. A Widow’s Charm either focuses on characters or the sexual tension between Hilde and Elmwood.
Speaking of that, the romance between the two POV characters annoyed me. I’m not always big on dual point-of-view books where both of the characters are two sides of the same romantic relationship, and this was certainly one of those times. The almost constant misunderstandings and thinking things are sexual innuendos was also tiring to read. I audibly sighed quite a few times throughout. It also irritated me how immediately horny Hilde and Elmwood were for each other, particularly Elmwood. I hate insta-love and insta-lust. Plus, I don’t think these two had that much chemistry. I just wasn’t into Hilde and Elmwood as a couple, and since that was like 90% of the book, it was kind of hard for me to take.
(Han and Isobel appeared to have a more appealing dynamic, but we got only glimpses here so it was hard to tell. I’m sure it will be central to the next novel, as it’s their book. But I’m not sure if I’m gonna read that, so…)
The thing I liked the most about the book was the art. I liked it so much I added a star. The cover art is so, so pretty, and the interior chapter headings are also gorgeous. The magic system and the world were also cool. And as I mentioned above, the writing also wasn’t bad. In fact, it was pretty good; the prose was fine. Honestly, some of the lines were truly beautiful.
Death slipped in at the end of a perfectly ordinary day, creeping over the threshold of evening as if it might go unnoticed-as if the consequences of it would not shape all that was to come.
The climax of A Widow’s Charm was also pretty awesome, and the ending was sweet, even if it felt very rushed. Part of it really seemed like the author remembered that there were conflicts that needed resolving, and just spedran it.
This is definitely a more cozy read. It’s perfect for a gloomy day on the couch, if you’re into the sort of stuff it brings to the table. If you like books that focus more on characters, romance, sexual tension, and romantasy, you’ll probably like this one. There’s also going to more to this universe, as I’ve previously mentioned, as this seems to be the start of a series, even if it doesn’t appear to have a name yet.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope that everybody has an amazing day/night!
See ya ~Mar