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tiffanynoel's review against another edition
3.0
Oh the mixed feelings.
I love Trent. Like a lot. And I have since the very beginning. And I liked Adelaide, she was fun and their getting to know each other was entertaining.
I do feel like the whole forced marriage and learning to love each other could have been done without the whole difficultly with sex part though. And while it was all very tastefully written it isn’t exactly what one hopes to fine a in a clean romance book, no matter that they are married.
Overall though I enjoyed the book. And I liked getting to see the rest of the Hawthorne family again as well!
I love Trent. Like a lot. And I have since the very beginning. And I liked Adelaide, she was fun and their getting to know each other was entertaining.
I do feel like the whole forced marriage and learning to love each other could have been done without the whole difficultly with sex part though. And while it was all very tastefully written it isn’t exactly what one hopes to fine a in a clean romance book, no matter that they are married.
Overall though I enjoyed the book. And I liked getting to see the rest of the Hawthorne family again as well!
jan1234's review against another edition
4.0
Although I found this a slow start, I think I enjoyed this more than the others tbh. Trent proved to be quite a character. A few of my favourite quotes/scenes -
Trent bursting into Griffiths' bedroom middle of the night/early morning. I laughed so much at this!
"How do I love my wife" This was so funny too. There are many others but don't want to spoil it for others. This series isn't my typical read, but it's nice as a lighthearted series on audible during the summer holidays.
Trent eventually learns that God knows what is best for him, and Adelaide learns to be herself around her new husband. I really liked the fact that the other members of the family & Amelia made frequent appearances in this book too.
I loved the Epilogue too. All in all a nice lighthearted book. I own this on audible.
Trent bursting into Griffiths' bedroom middle of the night/early morning. I laughed so much at this!
"How do I love my wife" This was so funny too. There are many others but don't want to spoil it for others. This series isn't my typical read, but it's nice as a lighthearted series on audible during the summer holidays.
Trent eventually learns that God knows what is best for him, and Adelaide learns to be herself around her new husband. I really liked the fact that the other members of the family & Amelia made frequent appearances in this book too.
I loved the Epilogue too. All in all a nice lighthearted book. I own this on audible.
srmcdaniel14's review against another edition
5.0
Okay, so the whole “convenient marriage” plot is definitely not new, but the author had twists and swoon-worthy moments that encouraged each flip of the page.
Adelaide’s character immediately drew me in. She wasn’t the glamour girl of the regency era, but an overlooked, clumsy young girl who had a tender heart and disheveled appearance. I adored her. But what hooked me the most was the love story. Both Trent and Adelaide found themselves stuck in a situation that forced them into marriage. Though nothing indecent occurred, the speculation was reputation damaging. So now, they landed themselves married to each other as complete strangers. It was beautiful watching their relationship grow and love blossom. The tender things Trent invented to capture his bride’s heart poked at mine. Endearingly sweet, especially for a man who’d been known for his tough pugilist skills.
But what impacted my heart the most was spiritual theme of the story. Love is a choice. It goes beyond feelings and sentiments. It climbs higher than mere words. It’s a decision. Like how God chose to love us even while we were sinners.
So yes, two thumbs, five stars, and all that jazz! It’s worth your time and will leave your heart refreshed with a happy sigh.
Adelaide’s character immediately drew me in. She wasn’t the glamour girl of the regency era, but an overlooked, clumsy young girl who had a tender heart and disheveled appearance. I adored her. But what hooked me the most was the love story. Both Trent and Adelaide found themselves stuck in a situation that forced them into marriage. Though nothing indecent occurred, the speculation was reputation damaging. So now, they landed themselves married to each other as complete strangers. It was beautiful watching their relationship grow and love blossom. The tender things Trent invented to capture his bride’s heart poked at mine. Endearingly sweet, especially for a man who’d been known for his tough pugilist skills.
But what impacted my heart the most was spiritual theme of the story. Love is a choice. It goes beyond feelings and sentiments. It climbs higher than mere words. It’s a decision. Like how God chose to love us even while we were sinners.
So yes, two thumbs, five stars, and all that jazz! It’s worth your time and will leave your heart refreshed with a happy sigh.
english_lady03's review against another edition
3.0
I could have loved this book, I really could. There was a lot to like in it. I loved Trent Hawthorne, another slightly eccentric and socially awkward character, and Adelaide, who was also something of a misfit with clumsy streak (yeah, I really identify there).
It was all about two characters who married in less than desirable circumstances learning to love one another, with all their foibles. There was plenty of wit and humour, especially involving Adelaide's mother who was- for lack of a better word- a total harpy.
However, there were two elements that ruined it for me. First was the matter of the consummation. The scene itself was not nearly as graphic as I had expected from some reviews, not at all really. Yet the characters went off and discussed it with family members afterwards. This made the whole thing embarrassing and really, awkward for the reader as well as the characters
The other major complaint I had was with the language. Again, as with the previous instalments, this Regency novel was riddled with Americanisms. I can ignore these if they are not too obvious, intrusive or only in the narration instead of the character's speech, but that was not the case here. I would be getting into the book, and then another Americanism would just knock me straight out of the setting.
British people don't say 'fix tea' or 'fix breakfast'. They say make or prepare tea- fix means something different in Britain. If you'd told someone in the Regency period you were going to 'fix their tea' they'd probably think you had dropped the teapot, or broken the box in which they kept the leaves.
Also, please, for goodness sake, I once again implore American authors to stop writing about Brits putting cream in tea. WE-DONT-DO-IT. If what is meant by 'cream' is thick, whole milk call it milk. Not cream.
Back to the matter of the language, we don't usually say 'gotten' all the time, and we don't say 'drapes' or 'candies' We say 'curtains' and 'sweets'. Regency ladies did not ‘write their mothers', they wrote to them.
I don't deny that this author worked hard on this series, and generally she did a good job, but she would really benefit from a British beta reader, who could spot that sort of things, because sadly this Brit found the constant use of American terms and phrases not just jarring, but really grating.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, I like the characters, and I will read the next one, but I'm not sure I would want to spend money on the paperback. Maybe the Kindle edition. Without some of the problems above, this series could be comparable to the Greats of the Christian Regency genre, but sadly feel short.
I requested an electronic copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley for review. I also purchased the paperback of my own volition. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
It was all about two characters who married in less than desirable circumstances learning to love one another, with all their foibles. There was plenty of wit and humour, especially involving Adelaide's mother who was- for lack of a better word- a total harpy.
However, there were two elements that ruined it for me. First was the matter of the consummation. The scene itself was not nearly as graphic as I had expected from some reviews, not at all really. Yet the characters went off and discussed it with family members afterwards. This made the whole thing embarrassing and really, awkward for the reader as well as the characters
The other major complaint I had was with the language. Again, as with the previous instalments, this Regency novel was riddled with Americanisms. I can ignore these if they are not too obvious, intrusive or only in the narration instead of the character's speech, but that was not the case here. I would be getting into the book, and then another Americanism would just knock me straight out of the setting.
British people don't say 'fix tea' or 'fix breakfast'. They say make or prepare tea- fix means something different in Britain. If you'd told someone in the Regency period you were going to 'fix their tea' they'd probably think you had dropped the teapot, or broken the box in which they kept the leaves.
Also, please, for goodness sake, I once again implore American authors to stop writing about Brits putting cream in tea. WE-DONT-DO-IT. If what is meant by 'cream' is thick, whole milk call it milk. Not cream.
Back to the matter of the language, we don't usually say 'gotten' all the time, and we don't say 'drapes' or 'candies' We say 'curtains' and 'sweets'. Regency ladies did not ‘write their mothers', they wrote to them.
I don't deny that this author worked hard on this series, and generally she did a good job, but she would really benefit from a British beta reader, who could spot that sort of things, because sadly this Brit found the constant use of American terms and phrases not just jarring, but really grating.
Overall, I did enjoy this book, I like the characters, and I will read the next one, but I'm not sure I would want to spend money on the paperback. Maybe the Kindle edition. Without some of the problems above, this series could be comparable to the Greats of the Christian Regency genre, but sadly feel short.
I requested an electronic copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley for review. I also purchased the paperback of my own volition. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.
kebreads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this story.
Content: clean - married couple fade to black sex
Content: clean - married couple fade to black sex
mrsbrharris's review against another edition
2.0
I feel bad giving this book only two stars when I really like the others in the series, but I didn’t really enjoy it.
flowersofquiethappiness's review against another edition
3.0
After seeing fellow reader friends exclaiming how they loved this one, I knew I needed to check it out. Plus I loved book one of this series and as much as I love the Hawthorne family in particular, when I saw this one had a contract marriage as its premise, I was hooked. :) And I ended up really liking it! Watching Adelaide and Trent circle around each other so very tentatively, both clearly uncertain of the other, is pretty cute. Although I will say that I expected a little more confidence from Trent. As the man in the relationship during this time period in history, I expected him to at least take charge of a few decisions. Instead, he decides to completely ignore the fact that he's married. In fact, the degree to which he was naive over things really surprised me! It felt a little unrealistic, I think he should've known a few more things than he did, and he frustrated me with how long it took him to finally begin acting like he's married. Now Adelaide's naiveness is perfectly understandable and I enjoyed watching her begin to learn confidence in herself and what she is capable of. And of course, the Hawthorne's! Once the rest of the family finally shows up (much too late in the story for my liking, I admit), then things truly begin to happen. Lots of forward movement in the latter half of the story brings everything to its delightful conclusion and I closed the book with a happy sigh. So while the first half was a little disappointing, the last half made up for it. I'm always game to read about a contract marriage, there's just something about that trope that pulls me in every time! :)
theallmightyme's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0