An Uncommon Courtship (Hawthorne House #3)

by Kristi Ann Hunter (Goodreads Author)

When her mother's ill-conceived marriage trap goes awry, Lady Adelaide Bell unwittingly finds herself bound to a stranger who ignores her. Lord Trent Hawthorne, who had grand plans to marry for love, is even less pleased with the match. Can they set aside their first impressions before any chance of love is lost?

My Review: 9 stars

Ms. Hunter has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I have been super excited and anxiously awaiting this book.

I hadn't reread the other books to set myself up for this newest one, so I can say that it stands alone well enough, but would probably feel more complete with having recently read the previous stories.

The pacing of the story fluctuates. It immediately pulled me in and there were times I could not put it down, but then there seemed to lengthy lulls, just chunks of the story where pretty much nothing happened.

I loved that the story didn't revolve around the "wedding night" but rather a quest to understand what love actually is (with a sound Biblical foundation) and a determination to live it out.

Though I related more naturally with the outspoken Hawthorne lades, I found Adelaide's disposition sweet and refreshing. I certainly felt for her over her past neglect, her craving to have proper relationships with her mother and sister, a desire for a close knit family, and ultimately feeling pulled in opposite directions. I understood why she felt confused about how God wanted her to handle her relationships. I found Adelaide's quirks charming and appreciated Trent's failings and honest feelings, even when they weren't fair.

There were a couple of minor things that bothered me- it seemed like some minor issues were resolved, and then resurfaced just to induce insecurity and keep the story suspenseful. like Adelaide worrying that Trent had a previous relationship after he explicitely told her that he had never had the slightest involvement with anyone. Thankfully, these instances were few and they were forgotten quickly enough, but I felt the story would have been a lot stronger if there hadn't been needless worries heaped on top to try to make things worse.

On the whole, the characters are so warm and witty, and their dreams so genuine and relatable that you just want to be part of this (growing) tight knit family unit, where you're safe, protected, accepted, and loved. Thankfully, living vicariously through their stories allows you to be. I can't wait for the next one!