An Uncommon Courtship by Kristi Ann Hunter

An Uncommon Courtship by Kristi Ann Hunter ISBN-13: 9780764218262 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: Jan. 3, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
The last thing Lady Adelaide Bell expected was a marriage of convenience to save her previously spotless reputation. What's worse is that her socially ambitious mother could have saved Adelaide's reputation and now clearly hopes to use her to gain social position for her favorite daughter, Adelaide's sister.

Lord Trent Hawthorne had grand plans of wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he doesn't know, his dream of a marriage like his parents' seems lost forever. Already starting their marriage on shaky ground, can Adelaide and Trent's relationship survive the pressures of London society?


My Review:
An Uncommon Courtship is a Christian historical novel set in 1814 in England. It's the third book in the series. You don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one, but you'll probably enjoy it more if you know the history behind the "for love" marriages of the other characters.

Frankly, I felt like the story started in the wrong spot. I would have loved seeing Trent and Adelaide interacting when trapped in the ruins, but that's skipped over. The first chapters were mostly each character thinking about what had happened, their dashed hopes, and their worries. I tend to be bored by beginning chapters that are mostly a character thinking rather than interacting. Once the main characters started interacting, I found the story more engaging.

Trent wanted love in his marriage, but what is love? Knowing a person's favorite color or being able to finish their sentences? He consulted with his family and married friends (from previous stories) to learn the answer, and they directed him to the Bible for answers about love and marriage. Whereas the advice of Adelaide's mother seemed more likely to ruin the marriage.

Because Trent and Adelaide are married, they do have sex (though no sex scenes) and have some vague discussions about sex with others (as no one had prepared them for their wedding night). There was no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this book to fans of the Hawthorne House series. If you haven't read any of them, though, I'd recommend starting with an earlier story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.