So I made a wonderful, remarkable discovery in the world of Christian Regency romance. And that wonderful, remarkable discovery is none other than Kristi Ann Hunter. Why I’ve never read one of her books before is a mystery, but she has quickly catapulted her way onto my list of favorite authors. I devoured her Hawthorne House series as quickly as I could, and I’m so excited to share some short reviews. There are 5 books total, including the novella, in this series.
A Lady of Esteem (Hawthorne House Book #0.5)
A Lady of Esteem is a novella about Miss Amelia Stalwood, the ward of an absent-minded viscount. Better at befriending servants than members of nobility, Amelia lives in the shadows. Anthony, Lord of Raeburn, is a reformed rake who is finally returning to London after a long absence. Soon, Amelia finds herself befriended by Miranda Hawthorne and introduced to a society life she’s unfamiliar with, including the attention garnered by her interactions with Anthony.
I loved the humor. Hunter’s dialogue had me literally laughing out loud at times. The gentle way Anthony teases Amelia warmed my heart, as did Amelia’s gentle innocence. And seeing Amelia’s interactions with the servants, plus their obvious matchmaking scheme, made it even more enjoyable to watch her grow and come into her own. But my favorite part of this novella was the lesson that sin is sin, and none of us are better than the other, no matter our social status.
A Noble Masquerade (Hawthorne House Book #1)
A Noble Masquerade follows Miranda Hawthorne. Since childhood, she’s written secret letters to her brother’s best friend, the Duke of Marshington. But instead of sending them, she hides them away. When her brother’s new valet, Marlow, accidentally sends them, she finds herself exchanging letters with a man she’s never met.
First of all, let me say that I loved the prologue. Seeing Miranda at a younger age, and then seeing some of those characteristics still hidden within her adult self, made me feel like I really knew Miranda. I saw through her attempts to act like a lady because I knew how much she struggled with it.
I don’t want to give away too much about Marlow and the Duke of Marshington. But the underlying mystery, as well as the tension when the reader knew the truth before Miranda, kept me turning pages until late in the night. For fear of giving away spoilers, I won’t delve too much into the romantic storyline. The mystery aspect, though, was wonderful! I loved seeing Miranda’s strength and ability to hold her own.
An Elegant Facade (Hawthorne House Book #2)
I was really nervous about reading An Elegant Facade. I didn’t like Georgina in the previous books, so I was afraid I wouldn’t like her in this one. However, Hunter did a great job of making me actually sympathize with Georgina.
A miracle in itself.
An Elegant Facade overlaps a bit with A Noble Masquerade, which I liked. It allowed me to see moments when Georgina was especially snobby from her point of view. And then I began to understand why she acts the way she does. The method was genius on Hunter’s part. (Even if she did mention in her acknowledgements that she wouldn’t recommend doing that because it about drove her crazy.)
I managed to develop a grudging respect for Georgina once I discovered her secret. She puts a lot of work into keeping it hidden, and I admit she’s smarter than I gave her credit for. And I enjoyed watching Colin put the pieces together. Then again, I enjoyed Colin period. Hunter did a great job with the interactions between Colin and Georgina as they begin to thaw toward each other. Even though this wasn’t my favorite book, I think I may have appreciated it the most because I saw all Hunter’s hard work and how it paid off.
An Uncommon Courtship (Hawthorne House Book #3)
I was kind of excited to see Trent’s story. I loved the goofy brother. And now I love him just a little bit more. The prologue of An Uncommon Courtship shows Trent as a young boy spending one more memorable moment with his father before the Duke’s unexpected death. I appreciated getting a peek at their father. He’s mentioned by the characters several times within the series, but this prologue gave me a better idea of who he was by the way he interacted with his two sons.
As far as marriage of convenience stories go, An Uncommon Courtship wasn’t my favorite. BUT, it was good and well done. I laughed so hard at times as poor Trent and Adelaide tried to navigate their unexpected marriage, and other times I felt the pain with them when things didn’t go exactly as planned. From the very first scene, I was rooting for them, and I’ll admit I began to love Trent a little more each time he showed his protectiveness toward Adelaide.
I also liked the discussion about love as much more than a feeling. You don’t get that in a lot of romance novels, especially these days. And there were some aspects of marriage not usually explored in Christian fiction, but I appreciated that Hunter explored them tastefully and honestly.
An Inconvenient Beauty (Hawthorne House Book #4)
The final installment, An Inconvenient Beauty, finally gives us Griffith’s story. Griffith seemed to me the stalwart sort, the type of man you can depend on. But this book finally gave me a taste of his emotional side, the side he hates.
And I loved it.
His awkward interactions with Frederica St. Claire lent so much humor to the book, I looked forward to the next time they interacted. His befuddlement at her strange behavior and doubts about his “logical” choice for a bride made me look laugh, providing a nice distraction from the frustration of Isabella’s predicament. Not that I wasn’t sympathetic to Isabella’s plight. I well understand feeling obligated to help your family. But I found her uncle to be a horrid, unfeeling, insufferable man. I needed some laughs to help me get through his scheming.
What I enjoyed most was Isabella’s self-reflection about letting God take care of her problems. I love watching the spiritual growth of characters, and Hunter provided several moments during this series, but I felt Isabella’s the strongest because it resembled problems in my own walk with God.
Final Thoughts
I highly recommend the Hawthorne House series to any Regency romance lovers out there. Not only are the books well-written, but Hunter packs plenty of humor, tension, and faith-filled moments into every chapter. If you want to check out the series for yourself, click on the pictures to go to Amazon. You can also grab the series from Christian Book Distributors, including the novella, which is only available as an e-book.
Love Regency romance? Check out my review for The Bride of Ivy Green by Julie Klassen here or Michelle Griep’s Once Upon a Dickens Christmas series here.
