Fabulous Victorian romance novella by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes. In The Bridegroom Wore Plaid three of the MacGregor brothers found true love, while the story of how their sister Lady Mary Frances meets her match in Matthew Daniels needs a novella all its own.
Widowed Mary Frances MacGregor has vowed she’ll never succumb to manipulation by another handsome Englishman, but falls hard for lonely, outcast Matthew Daniels. Matthew not only has a scandal in his past, but is forbidden by conscience from explaining to Mary Frances why she ought to marry him anyway.
Grace Burrowes started writing as an antidote to empty nest and soon found it an antidote to life in general. She is the sixth out of seven children, raised in the rural surrounds of central Pennsylvania. Early in life she spent a lot of time reading romance novels and practicing the piano. Her first career was as a technical writer and editor in the Washington, DC, area, a busy job that nonetheless left enough time to read a lot of romance novels.
It also left enough time to grab a law degree through an evening program, produce Beloved Offspring (only one, but she is a lion), and eventually move to the lovely Maryland countryside.
While reading yet still more romance novels, Grace opened her own law practice, acquired a master's degree in Conflict Transformation (she had a teenage daughter by then) and started thinking about writing.... romance novels. This aim was realized when Beloved Offspring struck out into the Big World a few years ago. ("Mom, why doesn't anybody tell you being a grown-up is hard?")
Grace eventually got up the courage to start pitching her manuscripts to agents and editors. The query letter that resulted in "the call" started out: "I am the buffoon in the bar at the RWA retreat who could not keep her heroines straight, could not look you in the eye, and could not stop blushing--and if that doesn't narrow down the possibilities, your job is even harder than I thought." (The dear lady bought the book anyway.)
To contact Grace, email her at graceburrowes@yahoo.com.
Colonel Matthew Daniels, heir to the baronies of Altsax and Gribbony, has accompanied his father, sisters, aunt and cousin to Castle Balfour in Aberdeenshire, where they are guests of the Earl of Balfour and his family. The purpose of the trip is to arrange a marriage between the cash-strapped earl and Matthew's heiress sister. That's the main plot in The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, the first installment of the MacGregor Trilogy. From that book, we already know that Matthew and Mary Fran fall in love and get married, but since they are secondary characters we don't get the whole story. This novella gives us the details.
Matthew is a true gentleman, unlike his vulgar father, and has until recently served in Her Majesty's cavalry in the Crimea (pre-war). Mary Fran, widow of an English officer, has a strong dislike of all things English. Matthew is immediately attracted to her and she, reluctantly, to him. But Matthew has shameful secrets, something having to do with his military service, and does not consider himself a worthy prospective husband for the daughter of an earl. Mary Fran is not really seeking a husband, however; she is content to enjoy herself in Matthew's arms as a distraction from the burdens of raising her precocious daughter, Fiona, and running the castle as a sort of hotel for wealthy visitors who want to bask in their proximity to Balmoral, which is the neighboring estate. As in the first book, Prince Albert has a cameo role, and Queen Victoria is an off-screen character.
I think that this book suffers from the problem that affects many novellas: there is very limited space to tell the story. Here, that situation is complicated by the large number of secondary characters who pop up and then disappear. Even though I had recently read the previous book, I found this one confusing. And even though Grace Burrowes has a wonderful talent for telling a story and creating memorable characters, I just didn't find that to be the case here. The details of Matthew's scandal and Mary Fran's first marriage left me with many unanswered questions, but to discuss them here would be too spoilerish.
If you liked The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, as I did, you'll probably enjoy reading this novella, but in my opinion it just isn't as good as the stories that Burrowes usually publishes. There is a nice set-up for the next novel, Once Upon a Tartan, where Matthew's younger sister is looking after Fiona when the girl's paternal uncle arrives to take her back to her English family. Complications ensue.
This audio novella is quite short, coming in at around the two-and-a-half hour mark, but even so, the story is replete with the emotional punch I’ve come to expect from author Grace Burrowes.
The events of Mary Fran and Matthew run concurrently with those in The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, the first of Ms. Burrowes’ novels set in Victorian Scotland which features the MacGregors of Balfour. Lady Mary Frances MacGregor is a widow and the younger sister of four handsome, strapping Scotsmen, the eldest of whom, Asher, is missing, presumed dead, leaving the next brother, Ian, to take over the reins of the impoverished Earldom of Balfour.
In Bridegroom, Ian is seeking a wife rich enough to enable him to restore and adequately support his family, dependents, and estate, and it seems as though he has found her in the person of Eugenia Daniels, the eldest daughter of the English Baron Altsax. Altsax brings his two daughters and his son, Matthew, a former army officer, to Balfour for the summer, in order to finalise the details of Genie’s betrothal to Ian.
Mary Fran is a secondary character in that novel; she is both housekeeper and hostess, and spends a lot of her time rushing from place to place and being generally frazzled trying to keep everything running smoothly, as well as being a mother to her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Fiona. It’s quite obvious from the title of the novella as to the direction the story will take (and anyone who has read or listened to Bridegroom will know how things work out), so it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that the novella charts the development of Mary Fran’s relationship with Matthew Daniels.
Because of the way this novella relates so strongly to the events of the previous book, I’d say it’s probably best to have read or listened to Bridegroom first, as several of the characters who feature in it, pop up in the novella, most notably Ian MacGregor and Baron Altsax, Matthew’s slime-ball of a father.
Mary Fran and Matthew is short, but very sweet. Although I admit that the shorter format did mean that the romance had to progress quite quickly, Ms. Burrowes has nonetheless shaped a deeply-felt relationship between her central couple. Surrounded by people who love her, Mary Fran is lonely and starved for true companionship, and it’s truly sad that it takes a stranger to see it. But that person is no stranger to loneliness himself and recognises a kindred spirit when he sees one. Matthew is kind and considerate, recognising that Mary Fran needs both a sympathetic ear, and someone who will treat her as a woman rather than as a mother, sister, and household factotum. The pair are instantly and deeply attracted to each other, but there is something murky in Matthew’s past that is holding him back, something which makes it difficult for him to pursue the sort of honest relationship he wants and that Mary Fran deserves.
I enjoyed the story which skilfully depicted the heroine’s frustrations and longings. Matthew was a lovely beta-hero whose intuitiveness and consideration towards her were realised beautifully.
Roger Hampton’s performance was, once again, very good indeed, and apart from one very small exception, his interpretation of each character was consistent with the accents and tones he had employed in the two previous books in the series. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of Matthew, to whose softly spoken intonations he gave an underlying note of authority which made him sound very proper and very sexy at the same time. There were one or two occasions when I felt his interpretation of Mary Fran tended towards being a little shrill, but I didn’t find it detracted from my overall enjoyment.
I'm not someone who automatically loves everything and anything written by Grace Burrowes---or by any author, in fact :) I really adored this novella beyond the telling of it, though, and felt it managed to highlight all of Burrowes' greatest strengths while eliminating the aspects of her full-length novels that elicit an impatient sigh or two ;)
While I understand that many don't like the novella format, I find the well-written ones ideal reading for me: They give us just enough characterization, stories and themes to reel us in, evoke emotion and stimulate our imaginations, but the authors of these shorter gems are forced to limit the tiresomely repetitive conversations, contrived conflicts, and dragged out, annoyingly similar, oh-wait-this AGAIN?! sex scenes.
I've become a huge fan of Grace Burrowes' smart dialogue, insightful prose and insanely engaging and emotionally evocative style and tone. I do, however, think that a lot of her work can be meandering, slowly or erratically paced, and annoyingly repetitious. Mary Fran and Matthew serves to give us everything I love about Burrowes' work and almost nothing that I don't. The plot is, by necessity, more focused and streamlined. We're given just enough to fall in love with the characters and their connection with each other without being subjected to an endless series of contrived conflicts that leads to that "ugh, just talk to each other and get on with it already before I start disliking both of you!" irritation with which we romance readers are all too familiar.
Mary Fran and especially Matthew are among my very favorites of GB's many characters, by the way...perhaps because we didn't see enough of them to get weary and impatient with their 395-page "issues"? ;) Mary Fran is understandably guarded and extremely strong without being "bitchy" (a surprisingly fine line for many authors to walk!), passionate and candid and clever without being presented as unrealistically perfect. Matthew, meanwhile, embodies a lot of what I love about GB's typical hero: he's a bit broken without wallowing in whiny self-pity, genuinely kind and gentle, smart and competent and loyal and quietly strong and determined. Those who like ultra-Alphas probably won't be too taken with Matthew (or most of GB's other leading men, for that matter!), but I found him that perfect "beta with an underlying streak of alpha-ish toughness" that makes GB's heroes among the only ones found in today's historical romances that I'd actually adore in real life.
As always when reading novellas, you might find yourself wanting even more---but, for me, that's the mark of a wonderfully written story, and far preferable to wishing there was LESS material, which is how far too many of today's 375-page-ish romance novels make me feel :) Interestingly, Mary Fran and Matthew will remain one of GB's most memorable and root-worthy couples for me despite---or perhaps because---spending 'only' 75 or so pages with them.
I heartily recommend this novella to both existing Grace Burrowes fans and prospective new ones, though reading Bridegroom Wore Plaid will give you a brief introduction to these characters and their struggles. Either way, though, I wouldn't hesitate to hit the "buy" button. There's so much joy for a relatively low price!
Sadly, Mary Fran and Matthew was one of those novellas that I feel was a bit of a waste. It read more like a collection of deleted scenes rather than as its own short story. It spans the entire time frame of The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, but shoved into a quarter of the pages. I did want to see how Matthew and Mary Frances ended up together, since they were one of the "extra" couples in the first book, and this does show all of that, but it didn't flow well. It just jumped from scene to scene of them together, and that was it. It was actually quite boring, and I felt no connection to either of them. The one thing I did really liked was how it showed that Matthew and Eugenia's father was even more of a scumbag than I thought! He certainly got what was coming to him!
Short and sweet story about a sister, Mary Fran, who takes care of everything for her Scottish family. She was tricked into marrying her now deceased husband leaving a large "chip" on her shoulder. Matthew takes the time to see through her false smiles and expresses a real interest in her. As they spent more time together they both have to look past gossip to find the truth and true love.
A cute little book! Lovely to know how Mary Fran and Matthew got together. Fiona is lovely, and the development of the couple is great even if is fast, because we already know a lot about the background story from the first book. What I like most is that we have new perspective on scenes and new scenes too. This makes the book more interesting to read.
Heroine: Lady Mary Frances MacGregor, about 26? Nickname: Mary Fran. Sister of the Earl of Balfour. Scottish
Hero: Matthew Daniels, about 31. Son and heir to the Baron Altsax. English
Date: 1850s
How they meet: Matthew accompanies several members of his family to the home of Mary Fran’s brother in Scotland. His father is negotiating a marriage between Matthew's sister (Genie) and Mary Fran’s brother (Ian). They are staying for a visit of several weeks.
What happens: Mary Fran is serving as hostess and falls victim to some ungentlemanly behavior from Matthew’s father. Matthew encourages Mary Fran to let him know any time the baron acts inappropriately. During the duration of the visit by the Daniels family, Matthew and Mary Fran have plenty of opportunity to get to know one another and they each find a kindred spirit in the other.
Verdict: I didn’t find the romantic chemistry between the hero and heroine to be all that believable. Novellas sometimes just aren’t long enough to develop a convincing romantic connection. Matthew’s "big secret” didn’t come between them, so I’m not sure what purpose it served in the plot. One definitely needs to read the first book in the series to understand what is going on. I didn’t hate it, but it was so dull I just can’t rate it any higher.
A waste of time. I mean, the author couldn't be bothered to name it anything, so that probably should have tipped me off, but I was hopeful. There was nothing in this that in any way made it clear why or how these two fell in love or had a connection. The hinted at/around/vaguely revealed backstory of Matthew's previous life and scandal is completely insufficient. Making a novella that works well is it's own craft. You can't just sketch some scenes, borrow some from the prior novel in the series and vomit some plot bunnies at your audience and expect it to gel. It didn't.
This novella is set in parallel to the first MacGregors book. If you read that, you pretty much know what will happen, but Mary Fran and Matthew's story is expanded and we get some of Mary Fran's background as well as a little more of Gordie's.
Some of the new content is Matthew's scandal. I was disappointed in how lame that was.
Mature themes: the usual GB sex plus backstory involving Mary Fran's scandal and some implied disturbing backstory involving Matthew's scandal.
This novella contains the missing parts of the story contained in The Bridegroom Wore Plaid. Ian's sister Mary Frances is a widow with a small daughter and a hidden sadness. Matthew Daniels is a disgraced former soldier, but in Burrowes' world, a good guy has reasons for his actions. Matthew has good reasons for his, and Mary Fran cares little for conventional moods and mores. She accepts his reasons and his heart as her own.
Enjoyed the story. A little short on the depth & details about his leaving the military but a good short story.
Note: Check your libraries before you purchase it. Was recently listed as “New Release” 6-21-2021 on Amazon. I knew I had this book & I’d bought it, on Amazon 2012 or 2013. I enjoyed re- reading it.
Since we already knew what happens with Mary Fran and Matthew from The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, I figured this would be a boring rehash. Nope. It was short, sweet and simply beautiful. Grace Burrowes is just amazing.
DNF @ 50% - This book started off interesting but the romance was just too soppy for my taste and I got bored from reading about all their feelings and emotions. I get that this is a love story but spare me the toothache!
This was my first Grace Burrowes novella and I am glad to say these hold the same quality as her full length works! This did feel a tad bit insta-lovey but I basically give that a pass in novellas so 🤷🏻♀️
Lovely novella that fits in the gap in the MacGregor series for Mary Fran, the widowed sister, and Matthew Daniels who's visiting as Mary Fran's brother woos his sister (see the other books in the series for the resolution of that romance). Very sweet and quick read.
This novella does a very nice job of filling in some pieces left by book number one of the McGregor series. It did leave me wishing Matthew could have had a longer book of his own as he is a good man.
Fills in some gaps from the first MacGregor book which is nice. I do love Mary Fran, but Matthew is a bit boring for me. Which is odd, considering his scandalous and secretive background that you learn about here.
This is the shortest story of this author that I have read and it did not give time to ease into the plot. Mary Fran and Matthew are attracted to each other.