Matthew by Emma Lang (The Circle Eight #1)
February 1, 2012
Historical Romance
Trade Paperback
Kensington

Reviewed by Helyce

Matthew Graham is the eldest of eight children. The world as he knows it is met with unexpected tragedy when his parents are murdered and his youngest sibling, Benjamin, is kidnapped and also presumed dead. He has no choice but to take over as head of the family and raise his younger brothers and sisters. He does it without question and he’s doing the best he can. When he learns that his father had started the process of gaining additional land due to a Texas land grant, he heads to Houston to finalize the process. It is there he learns that he must be married in order to redeem the grant. The thought of losing all that land due to him not having a wife is enough to have him lying to the Houston official and claiming that he is, in fact, married, and that his wife’s name is Hannah. The catch, though, is that he must produce said wife within 30 days as she too must sign the documents in order to transfer the land into the Graham name.

Hannah Foley lives with her grandmother and manages a boarding house in town. She’s lived with her grandmother since her mother died when she was 12. She’s had to take on more of the day to day responsibilities as her grandmother ages and can do less to help her out. She often day dreams of a man who’ll fall deeply in love with her and take her away from the drudgery of cooking and cleaning. But Hannah is realistic. She knows that she’s not that attractive; not tall enough, plumper than she should be with curly mud-colored hair that she can barely tame into a braid. She’s accepted that fact and that’s that.

So, when she and Matthew literally run into each other at the market one day she could never have known exactly how much her life was going to change simply because her name was Hannah.

As I read through this story the words “lovely” and “sweet” kept rolling through my head. And it is truly a lovely romantic story about two people who may never have met if not for the fact one needed a wife and the other happened to be named Hannah. When Matthew and Hannah run into each other at the market, Hannah is completely taken by Matthew. He’s gorgeous and everything she’s ever day dreamed about while doing her daily work at the boarding house. And though he attempts to talk to her, she is quick to run away and get out of the store. When the store owner mentions her name to Matthew, he can’t believe his luck and knows that he must find her and tell her of his plight.

I loved that when Matthew approaches Hannah he is completely honest and forthright with her. He didn’t try to use his looks to pretend love at first sight or seduce her. He tells her the facts and asks her to marry him to help him secure the land his family deserves. She accepts knowing full well this is a marriage of convenience and with no prospects in her future, she’s really got nothing to lose. In spite of the odd arrangement however, Matthew is kind of smitten by Hannah and thrilled that he actually likes this woman that will move in with him and his family.

Of course nothing goes as smoothly as planned. Matthew learns that one of his neighbors had been buying up bits and pieces of land in and around his and other rancher’s properties. When a Ranger comes to Matthew’s ranch to investigate the validity of his marriage to Hannah, he leans that there have been other murders in surrounding areas similar to his parent’s murder and in many cases young children were taken as well. It sets up the plots major conflict, while also setting up possible future stories.

Through this, we watch Hannah and Matthew grow closer and fall in love. But before we get there, we watch both of them struggle to be what they think the other wants. Matthew thinks that he has to keep Hannah in line and wants her to be the quiet respectful “do what I say” wife. But Hanna is a tough as nails heroine and she is not going to just toe the line and do what Matthew says. I loved her. She’s got a potty mouth, which was actually quite refreshing as she did not let Matthew dictate to her at all; something I imagine men did quite a lot of in 1836. When she accepted his proposal, she accepted all that came with it and when she realizes she was falling in love with her husband she wasn’t quite sure that was a good thing. She certainly does not expect him to fall in love with her and that is why it was even more beautiful when he realizes that he actually does.

I was very surprised by this story. I don’t generally read historicals and I think this one worked for me because it reads like a contemporary, while set in 1836 Texas. I like to classify this type of romance read as a “feel good” romance because that is exactly how I felt while I read it. Hannah is fun and strong and she takes on her new family proudly and with a lot of love in her heart. She is just what they need to fill the void left by the death of Matthew’s parents. She helps the family heal without them realizing that she’s just want they needed. Especially for Matthew who luckily realizes it before it’s too late. I am also a sucker for a story where the plain Jane gets the hottie! I also love a series that centers around a family and there are enough hints towards the end to make me look forward to book two.

Rating: B

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