An Elegant Facade (A Hawthorne House novel) by Kristi Ann Hunter - MUST READ!!


Will she give up everything to keep her secret, a secret?


Title:  An Elegant Façade
Series: Hawthorne House, Book 2
Author: Kristi Ann Hunter
Publisher:  Bethany House
Release Date:  July 5, 2016
Genre: Inspirational Historical Romance
Lady Georgina Hawthorne has always known she must marry well. After years of tirelessly planning every detail of her debut season, she is poised to be a smashing success and have her choice of eligible gentlemen. 

 With money and powerful business connections but no title, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. He intends to marry someday, but when he does it will not be to a shallow woman like Lady Georgina, whose only concerns appear to be status and appearance.

 But beneath her flawless exterior, Georgina's social aspirations stem from a shameful secret she is desperately trying to keep hidden--and that Colin is too close to discovering. Drawn to each other despite their mutual intent to avoid association, is the realization of their dreams worth the sacrifices they'll be forced to make?




First, I must give a BIG shout out to Kristi Ann Hunter:  Happy Release Day!!!

Next, I must say Kristi has done it again! She managed to get me so hooked onto her characters and the story, that I'm staking my claims on some great characters! (Yes, I'm calling dibs on both Trent and Colin.) An Elegant Façade is what the title and cover suggests, elegant, beautiful and oh so perfect for any Regency, historical or romance fan. Since A Noble Masquerade, I was all in love with the Hawthorne House series, including stalki- ahem, befriending the author, Kristi and bugging her to give me an interview in hopes of getting more info on the rest of the series, especially my first love in the series, Trent. Want to see how I did with the interview? You can check it out HERE. Then when An Elegant Façade became available, I was lucky enough to snag an early copy. Of course, I had to jump right onto it. Boy! Can I tell you how I love thee? (*dreamy sigh)
"A good friend recently reminded me that all the answers are in the Bible, and I think this is definitely a case of God using an evil to create good." (343)

CFRR2016 Swag
Colin was the perfect hero of a story. He's handsome, smart and willing to go to lengths for the heroine to protect her, and annoy her. Isn't that fun? The easy and sometimes satirical banter always gets me. What made me love Colin more was the way Kristi allowed us to be inside his head. Knowing his feelings, his thoughts and his self-doubt, gave way to the perfect book boyfriend. Did I also mention he's quite mischievous in his own way? Very similar to Trent (that's how I fell for him in A Noble Masquerade! And he wasn't even the main hero)!  Yes, Colin. I need to go back and reread A Noble Masquerade and meet Trent again. His presence in An Elegant Façade was also quite comedic.

"Save me." Colin turned to find Trent, wild-eyed and panicked. "From what?" Trent's gaze darted around the room. "Whom." Colin rolled his eyes. "From whom, then." (228)

Yes, Colin's my love in An Elegant Façade, but I'm pleasantly surprised by how I've fallen for Lady Georgina too! In both A Noble Masquerade and A Lady of Esteem (prequel), I did not like her at all. That speaks to the talent of the author to change that around in one novel.  This book gave me a very good and compelling reason to relate to her, and ultimately find that she's someone I can and do like. Harboring a secret that created self-doubt and isolation from love ones can be debilitating in more ways than one.  And there lies the message of God's love for us despite our flaws, our disabilities and our shortcomings.   That scene in the library and the revelation! *Fanning self! Not only for the romantic aspects, but the final revelation and admission.  I need to go back and read this all over again!

Colin and Lady Georgina were perfect main characters, but the support of Duke of Marshington (Ryland), Lady Miranda, Price, Harriette and of course, my Trent were just rounding out a well executed play.  I can truly see it play out right in front of my eyes, and I do hope we'll be able to see them all again in the near future!

Besides the characters and the romance, I must say, the plot and the use of a different perspective in several scenes from the first book was ingenious. It's like having the whole 360 degrees of those scenes displayed in front of us, and that may also be a reason why I have found Lady Georgina not the spoiled lady she portrayed to be in both the prequel and in A Noble Masquerade.  If you love Jane Austen, Regency novels, a good romance with lovely messages interwoven throughout, unexpected plots and great characters, you must read Kristi's Hawthorne House series.



Can you tell how much I've enjoyed An Elegant Façade from this fairly long post?  Well, there's more. I'm excited to share that Kristi is one of the 35 authors attending the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat this August in Nashville! (I get to bombard her with questions about Colin and Trent! *shhh) If not, at least I'll get her to sign my copy of An Elegant Façade!  Check out the awesome swag and giveaways Kristi has graciously provided guests!




Are you excited? I love those stress books (you know, instead of stress balls)!! And those pretty ribbon keychains! And who doesn't love autographed books?!  So yes, I'm beyond excited, I'm ecstatic about CFRR and I can't wait to meet these awesome authors! All 35 of them, including Kristi!

Can't wait to meet Kristi too? Well, you can meet her first on An Elegant Façade Facebook Launch Party TONIGHT, 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM EST!! Click on the image below to head to the Facebook Party page.



NOTE:  I received a gifted copy of this book from the publisher. No review was required.  All opinions expressed are my own. For my review policy, please see my Disclosure page.


TO PURCHASE A COPY

    




Kristi Ann Hunter graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in computer science but always knew she wanted to write. Her debut novel, A Noble Masquerade, is a RITA double finalist. She lives with her husband and three children in Georgia. 



TO CONNECT WITH KRISTI:  website, facebook, twitter, pinterest 











                                                                                                                                                                      



Thank you for reading my posts. For full blog information and links to giveaways, head over to the blog: http://justcommonly.blogspot.com.

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