The Hesitant Heiress was a captivating tale, a novel that I had trouble setting down in order to get anything else accomplished around the house!
It is the story of a young lady with a tragic past, who doesn’t quite know how to handle the high society that she finds herself thrust into. It is told in first person, which adds to the mystery of the novel. The reader only knows what has happened in the past, and the events that are currently taking place in the story, through the eyes of Amaryllis Brigham.
Amaryllis is a girl with so much hurt in her heart. I felt so sorry for all that she had gone through. I enjoyed the growth she experienced throughout the book, even as I sometimes felt frustrated with her inability to discern who could truly be trusted, and who could not.
The hero of this novel is mysterious and brooding, but not so dark as to pull down the story. I really appreciated that in The Hesitant Heiress. It has the hint of gothic, without the heaviness that I so often associate with that genre. I loved slowly discovering the truth of what had happened in the past, and watching everything unfold and the truth finally come to light. And the romance in this story is fabulous! I truly can’t say enough about how much I loved this story and I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. (5 stars)
My thanks to the author for the complimentary copy I received of The Hesitant Heiress. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy 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 her grandmother’s fortune. Amaryllis reluctantly takes part in her aunt’s society, intent on getting to the west coast on her own… and without a husband.
Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. 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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dawn Crandall is the author of The Hesitant Heiress (released August 1, 2014).
A graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and a former bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Dawn Crandall didn’t begin writing until 2010 when her husband found out about her long-buried dream of writing a book. Without a doubt about someday becoming published, he encouraged her to quit her job in 2010 in order to focus on writing The Hesitant Heiress. It didn’t take her long to realize that writing books was what she was made to do. Dawn is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary.
You can connect with Dawn on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY!
Click here to be taken to Dawn’s blog and enter her Rafflecopter giveaway for one of three ebook copies of either The Hesitant Heiress or The Bound Heart! Ends November 24, 2014.
Britt Reads Fiction 
Anyone that hasn’t read the Hesitant Heiress needs to do so. I was amazed that this was Dawn’s first book. The second one is even better, if that is even possible. And I’m really looking forward to the third book coming out in February!
Thanks Gail! I set out to write the VERY BEST book that I possibly could when I started The Hesitant Heiress (back then I just called it “Amaryllis”)–and I wrote it just for the fun of it! My husband was the one who sent me to my first American Christian Fiction Writers conference where I met and signed with an agent as soon as she read my first three chapters! So everyone should really be thanking my husband when they read my books–otherwise, I’d just be passing them out to my friends at church to read. 😀 And I’m so glad you liked TBH even more! I think every author is scared that their next book isn’t going to be as liked as the last. 🙂
I’ve been waiting for it to come out in paperback but just found out that won’t happen until the spring. 😦 I think this review has convinced me to go ahead and buy the ebook though. Not my favourite genre but I don’t think I can wait.
I’m sorry the paperback didn’t come out at the same time as the eBook version, Kav! I would have preferred it as well, but that wasn’t the kind of book contract I got. I just have to be patient. 🙂
Thank you so much for the wonderful and beautifully written review, Brittany! I added a link to this on The Bound Heart Blog Tour as well! 🙂
Thanks for adding it to the tour, too. Loved it so much and am really enjoying The Bound Heart, as well.