About the Book
Book: The Hesitant Heiress
Author: Dawn Crandall
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy in her hometown of Seattle, Washington, disappearing before her very eyes. Now, the only way to achieve her goal comes with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: Marry within the year to inherit the immense fortune of her estranged grandmother.
Amaryllis reluctantly moves in to her aunt’s Boston home and rubs shoulders with fashionable society. Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself quickly falling in love with the most unlikely of men–Nathan Everstone, the envy of every eligible female, whose father has haunted her dreams for the decade following her mother’s tragic death.
However, Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems…and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn’t who she thought at all.
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My Thoughts
The Hesitant Heiress by Dawn Crandall brims with interesting
characters and swoony romance. Amaryllis captured my attention immediately as
she contended with her expulsion and her inheritance stipulations. This
interesting character developed through the novel, though I admit character development
played second fiddle to the unfolding romance (for me).
The novel's amazing romance thread featured strong tension between
Amaryllis and Nathan. I reveled in their attraction and rooted for them to get
together. The romance made me reluctant to put the book down. Then came the steamy
kissing and I stayed up too late reading this novel.
Reading The Hesitant Heiress by Dawn Crandall was
pure enjoyment for me! It stands as the first novel in the Everstone Chronicles
series. Shortly after finishing this book, I purchased physical copies of the
rest of the series and cannot wait to read them! Five stars!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a
copy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are
my own.
About the Author
Dawn Crandall’s debut Gilded Age Victorian romance, The Hesitant Heiress, was a 2015 ACFW Carol award finalist in the debut category and received the 2015 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, the 2015 Write Touch Reader’s Choice Award and the 2015 Romancing the Novel Reader’s Choice Award. Her follow-up novel, The Bound Heart, received the 2016 Laurel Award from Clash of the Titles. Dawn earned a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University. She’s been balancing books and babies lately as her two sons were both born as the four books of her Everstone Chronicles series were being released from Whitaker House from 2014 to 2016. Dawn lives with her husband and two young sons on a hobby farm in her hometown in northeast Indiana.
More from Dawn
Some things just float your boat, you know? What are some of yours? I’m thinking, for many of you, having piles of awesome newly released novels to read is one of those things. Do you remember what it was that you loved to do more than anything else… when you were a kid? Well, for me, at least, it hasn’t changed much. I remember being in third grade and KNOWING that I was meant to write books. But having ADD in the 80’s and feeling like I was a pretty lousy student through most of my school years sort of put my dreams of being a published author in the category of “pipe dream”. Then during my senior year of college, I had one glorious spring break week of creative thinking, and I came up with the name of the heroine I would (hopefully) write someday—Amaryllis Brigham. And I also came up with the last name of the hero, and the family I would write a series about—the Everstones.
Five years after I graduated from college, I got married. And because I had lots of extra time at that point, I decided to check out some books about character development from the library. Which was the first clue to my husband that I wanted to write a novel. Yes, I hadn’t even told him! Then another five years went by while I worked full time at a daycare. I had definitely thought more about writing it by then, but I didn’t really know how to start.
But then I did. At the age of 32, during January 2010, I finally started writing The Hesitant Heiress. I just dove in, half planned and half one-chapter-at-a-time. I love history so much, when I’m doing research the world as it was just comes to life in my imagination and the story possibilities are endless! And really, I wrote Nathan and Amaryllis’s story for myself—for the joy of writing! Creating story, I found, was my favorite hobby beyond reading them! I did have a dream once during the two year process of writing THH, and I very vaguely saw a cover face out on a shelf. But again, to me it seemed like an impossibility, and I just kept focused on the joy I attained from writing it. If you would have told me back then that that first novel I loved writing would be traditionally published and on the market two and a half years after I finished writing it, I would have laughed in your face! And then, when I first saw Amaryllis on the cover of that first book in my series of five… I thought back to the dream I had that one time, and she was it. The way Amaryllis Brigham is situated on the cover of my published novel was very similar to the vague book cover of my dream. God had done it; He had taken the biggest desire of my life, given me a dream even when I was too cautious to hope, and He had made it a possibility.
Blog Stops
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 11
Worthy2Read, February 11
Inklings and notions, February 12
Mia Reads, February 12
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 13
Labor Not in Vain, February 13
A Baker’s Perspective, February 14
deb’s Book Review, February 14
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 15
Rachael’s Inkwell, February 15
Rebecca Tews, February 16
Mypreciousbitsandmusings, February 16
Texas Book-aholic, February 17
Connie’s History Classroom, February 18
Blogging With Carol, February 18
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, February 19
Bliss, Books and Jewels, February 19
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, February 20
Stephanie’s Life of Determination, February 20
For Him and My Family, February 21
Simple Harvest Reads, February 22 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, February 22
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 23
Beauty in the Binding, February 23
Hallie Reads, February 24
Guild Master, February 24
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Dawn is giving away the grand prize package of the complete Everstone Chronicles series in paperback and a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/10744/the-hesitant-heiress-celebration-tour-giveaway
