When squire’s daughter Margaret Honeywell’s father dies, her abusive neighbor and prospective husband Fredrick Burton-Smythe gets total control of her. He has challenged a stranger to a duel and Margret finds he looks the spitting image of her childhood friend. Events spiral into a race of jealousy and revenge, where Margaret is stuck in the middle.

Getleman Jim is the standalone regency romance by Mimi Matthews set in Somerset 1817 about squire’s daughter Margaret Honeywell who has been left in control of her abusive guardian and neighbor Frederick Burton-Smythe. Through his will, her father forces her to marry Fred and have the estates joined or she will lose all her assets. But Margaret has her heart set on illegitimate son and estate groom Nicholas Seaton, who went in search for his father years ago and never returned.

When Margaret tries to prevent Fred from dueling, she is shocked to meet John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare, who looks just like Nicholas but denies having met him. Fred picks up on a connection between the two and becomes even more bullying and controlling towards Margaret. She finds herself stuck between the two men trying to prevent them from hurting each other.

Main character John Beresford, Viscount St. Clare, has a secret history having grown up in Europe. I feel for him as the plot progresses and he is not able to tell Margaret the truth.

Secondary character squire’s daughter Margaret Honeywell was verbally assertive but suffered health challenges following her father’s death. Descriptions of her health I felt made her character come alive and be relatable. She is my favorite character of this story.

I felt this plot included some unique elements. The terrible lack of judgment and next level cynicism in the will added excellent dramatic effect. I particularly felt surprised and relieved by how Margaret’s closest friend Jane acted reminiscent to her lawyer in the early parts of the story. She certainly needed one as the plot progressed. The writing was captivating with thoroughly engaging dialogue and great character building. All this made me fly through the pages and wish for more.

The best part of this story was when Margaret tried to stop Fred’s duel by visiting his opponent. This serious surprise became the center of the plot. The effects of the will were by far the worst part.

The heart wrenching feelings between St. Clare and Margaret I felt were particularly well written. St. Clare offered Margaret 3 forfeits which I felt gave the story an element of fairy tale I’m sure would appeal to younger readers.

This unique story with several fresh elements would captivate readers of regency romance and fans of Mimi Matthews. Similar authors might be Michelle Griep or Erica Vetsch.

Thank you to publisher Perfectly Proper Press and for this eARC which gave me the opportunity to share my honest review. All opinions in this review are completely my own.

Conclusion: this unique regency romance includes captivating drama, legal issues, mystery and romance as St. Clare and Margaret tackle difficulties of secrecy, jealousy and revenge.