An Inconvenient Beauty

Downton Abbey fans, Jane Austen diehards, want to get hooked on an incredible series of novels? Check out the Hawthorne House Series by Kristi Ann Hunter and you will be as hooked if not more than you are on your favorite area of interest surrounding the traditional Regency Romance genres! An Inconvenient Beauty is book 4 and the possible final one in the series and wraps up the love interest surrounding Griffith, Duke of Riverton!  Now that all his siblings are married off and beginning their own lives, Griffith realizes as the oldest, he must find a way to settle down and produce an heir for the families wealth to be inherited to. Only he isn't about to settle for just anyone that society deems is the right and top choice for him.

His entire family has married for love and not necessarily based on where a suitable lady fell on the social ladder in London. He wants someone who isn't really thinking she might be able to offer anyone, that way she won't necessarily have to work at being the best at all the social graces that come from marrying a Duke, one of the highest honors after royalty that is. With it comes a responsibility and a certain standard that must be maintained to keep things in proper order. Griffith believes he has found a suitable wife in the wallflower Miss Frederica St. Claire who is now going into her fourth season with no potential matches. She would make the perfect wife, because no one would even compete with her plain and homely looks and she wouldn't be out to impress him with things he isn't looking for. Now all he has to do is convince her by simply asking her to dance. Even all of London's society has been wagering on just who he might settle with.

Most think that Griffith will settle for the most beautiful and society's pick of the top females. In fact, her cousin Miss Isabella Breckenridge is working her way to doing just that with all the eligible young and older men vying for the honor to court her. He isn't at all interested in her but in Miss St. Claire instead, but everytime he calls on her, she is unable to communicate and sends signals that she isn't the slightest bit interested in the most eligible and wealthy bachelor in London. It seems Miss St. Claire has her own interests in a young man who has returned from the war, a solider whom she thought dead. Now it seems that Freddie will do all she can to push the Duke's attentions off to Isabella instead and often times it is under the most trying of situations, but then again, Isabella isn't interested in the Duke, because her Uncle wants her to focus her attentions on the members of the House of Commons to sway their vote for an Apothecary Bill he is pushing to be passed. He promises that he will take care of Isabella's family, simple sheep herders in North Umberland, but will anyone discover the true meaning behind Isabella's actions?

I received An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter compliments of Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley. This has been such a dream to enjoy every single novel in this series and trust me, you will want to read them in order to understand all the relationships within the Duke's family and how each came to marry the one they have chosen to spend the rest of their life with and ones that they will LOVE first and foremost over what society deems is acceptable. I LOVE Isabella's character because she isn't interested in the Duke for marriage, so it keeps her guard down and she can be the person she is on the inside without having to fake her way through being proper and with that Griffith falls for the true woman she is over the lady she is acting like. Well worthy of all 5 out of 5 stars and only wish there were more to look forward to in this series. There are some historical facts that were incorporated in this novel that are revealed at the conclusion of this novel in the Author's Note section.

For more information about An Inconvenient Beauty, Kristi Ann Hunter or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter

You can find Kristi Ann Hunter on Facebook to enjoy all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on An Inconvenient Beauty, please visit Bethany House Publisher's website.

Havencross

I am beginning to love regencies more than almost any other genre, in part because society was so vastly different then than it is now. Women for the most part has no real role other than securing the best marriage match that will grow their own fortunes. It was all about society, propriety and wealth and the higher you climbed the more that was expected of you. Women for the most part were considered property unless their dowry allowed a marriage that would generously benefit all parties.

Take the traditional regency romances, we've all come to love like that of Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey or others and place it along a rich coastline filled with its own legends and stories, castles and myths like King Arthur and Camelot and the greatest love between Arthur and Gwenevere and you have the basics for the novel Havencross by Julie Daines. For the Cardinham family they had the title and prestige and up until their son John died, all was well. They had left for London in hopes of leaving that part of their past behind, their family home of Havencross in the small country village of Cornwall. But amid rumors of her father's soiled reputation they were forces to head home. It seems her father was seen having an affair with another woman and much to the families dismay, everything that they had hoped for was now in ruins. Even the match Elaine had secured with Lord Chiverton seemed lost as well.

She had left behind all her childhood memories, those she shared exploring the cliffs and caves, once rumored to house magical mysteries of Merlin and Camelot. Even those old castle ruins spurned many of their own legends and the childhood love she once had for Gareth Kemp were best kept in the past. She needed to figure out how she was going to find a future and with Gareth being less the above poverty, still working in the tin mines. So once more she wished upon the hand of Merlin's to find a way out of her mess. She wasn't expecting to find a wounded woman in one of the caves in need of medical attention, but the only help closest to her was the Kemp's and she would have to try and convince Gareth to help even if he refused to believe her childhood stories.

I received Havencross by Julie Daines compliments of Covenant Communications. There is something amazing about this novel. Perhaps because it contains tidbits of everything we love. Regency fans will love everything about this book and even fantasy fans will love the connection with King Arthur along with some mysterious smuggling that seems to be happening right in their own backyards, but for now, those remain a secondary concern. With Gareth's hard work, he is no longer a nobody and is in position to marry above his previous social standings and unfortunately the only woman he has loved is finding herself in her own possible marriage proposal from a man she had thought forgotten about. Mystery, adventure, romance and even a bit of magic will find its way into a reader's heart by the conclusion of Havencross and now Julie Daines will be a watch author for me, one that will go on my must have list. This one easily garners a 5 out of 5 stars in this readers opinion.

For more information about Havencross, Julie Daines or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Havencross by Julie Daines

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The Elusive Miss Ellison

I can't say for sure what inspired my love for traditional regency romances. Maybe it was Downton Abbey or any of Jane Austen's novels, but I love the life of the ladies of that era. Responsibilities were much different as was a woman's role. Not so much subserviant but one had to hold her tongue and avoid saying what she thought, especially if one held some financial gain that would make her an agreeable match to the right man. It was much different for someone in service, because that was their lot in life and would look for matches in the same line of work as they were. Never did most of those relationships intermix with upper crust and those of servants. That is until Miss Lavinia Ellison, the daughter of the local Reverend and charitable do-gooder among those in the village of St. Hampton Heath in England.

The only way most of the town's residents life would improve was if the new Earl of Hawkesbury took a personal interest of those who serve his estate. Yet one could hardly be expected to answer that call personally even if Lavinia could inspire such a visit or plead her local charity case. However without his necessary funds to make the most basic repairs, it seems as if the revenue the Earl was anticipating would not be as healthy as he would hope.

It is Lavinia who challenges him to see the needs of those who depend on him, that they are not taking advantage of his good intentions and that in the long run, it will only benefit him. But since they come from two very different sets of circumstances, it is hard for them to see past what they only know of their own circumstances. Lavinia is determined to help those she deems less fortunate even if Nicholas, the Earl of Hawkesbury can't or won't. He is trying to see her side of things but unfortunately for Lavinia, he ability to temper her words with grace, doesn't make it easy for Nicholas to hear her truest intentions. Is there hope for either one of them? Time will tell.

I received The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller compliments of Kregel Publications. This is Carolyn Miller's debut novel into the Traditional Regency Romance, and I can tell fans of the genre will absolutely LOVE Lavina Ellison's gumption, grit and sass! The attention to detail instantly transports readers back to Gloucestershire, England of the early 1800's. I can't wait to see what will happen when Nicholas' mother gets a dose of Lavinia to see if she will applaud the girls determination or will issue the ultimatum most mother's made of their sons at that time in history. For me, this one was a welcomed 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about The Elusive Miss Ellison, Carolyn Miller or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn Miller

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Bride of A Distant Isle

Since Downton Abbey, I've grown to truly appreciate traditional regency genre's and one of the very best authors I have found is Sandra Byrd. I've read quite a few of her novels and the attention to detail is what really makes me feel like I'm part of the novel not simply reading it. I can't imagine how difficult life was in England in the mid to late 1800's and when the parents died leaving behind no male heir, the fortune went the way to the next male descendant in the family, be it cousins or even more removed than that. Daughters were left with nothing, and that is why many families chose to find suitable matches for the women in the family before anything happened to the father.

In Bride of A Distant Isle, Miss Annabel Ashton has found herself in such a precarious situation. Her mother died while being committed to an insane asylum and since she was born without a father being married to her mother, the family estate of Highcliffe Hall falls under the hands of her cousin Edward. Annabel's mother wasn't married, was committed an insane, so all the property that would have been hers has been handed over to the next male heir in line. Since Annabel was too young when her parents died, she is left destitute and the only thing Edward can do to cover the debts owed on the estate is to sell it or find a suitable match for Annabel even if she isn't interested in marriage.

While Edward struggles to find a way to salvage the estate, he asks Annabel to be a spy to a possible business partner to a sea captain from Malta, Captain Marco Dell'Acqua. She soon learns that her and Marco have more in common than physical attraction when Annabel discovers some mysterious family artifacts and jewelry that begin to appear in her things. They seem to have a Maltese background and all of them may lead to the fact that Annabel is the proper heir to the estate, unless of course the mental illness of her mother starts to manifest itself in her at the same time her mother was committed.

I received Bride of A Distant Isle by Sandra Byrd compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review and did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review. The opinions contained here are my own honest and personal evaluation of the novel. For fans of traditional regency, you will absolutely love this novel. It has a bit of suspense added to keep the reader engaged in the story line as Annabel makes some startling discoveries of her mother and of her family background that could be detrimental to her own safety if they are brought into the open. I love the subtle clues that Annabel and Marco give to one another based on a sense of propriety for ones reputation during that time frame. I personally believe this one deserved 5 out of 5 stars in this reader's opinion since I read it in one sitting in a matter of hours and could not put it down. This is the second novel in the Daughter's of Hampshire series with Mist of Midnight being the first!

For more information about Bride of A Distant Isle, Sandra Byrd or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Bride of A Distant Isle by Sandra Byrd

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To read more reviews on Bride of A Distant Isle, please visit Howard Book's website.