Enchanting the Heiress (#03 in Hearts On The Heath Series)

This book easily gets five stars. If not six. Absolutely loved it! The romance was beautiful, and it had me laughing out loud constantly at the banter between the different characters (seriously, Kristi Ann Hunter is the best at banter!), but it was the journeys the two main character took to understanding themselves that had me truly captivated. What does it mean to truly love and help those around you? How do you live out God's call on your life when you're not sure what it might be, or society's rules stop you? I love how this author weaves such incredible truths and wisdom into laugh-out-loud romances. Didn't want to put it down and already looking forward to reading it again.

As I began reading this third book in the series, I wasn't enjoying it as much as the others as the lead character, Harriet, comes across as not very likable and rather stand-off-ish. This was how she was presented in the previous books too. That is the whole point of the book though, how she grows and changes. I loved learning her story and really came to like her. I loved learning from Jonah's patience too. There are some good lessons to learn in this book as you journey along with both Harriet and Jonah. I have read it a number of times now and have come to love it even more.

It's a fun and thought provoking reverse Cinderella story. Sometimes, romance gets a bad rap for setting up unrealistic expectations about love, for favouring laughs and witty dialogue over substance, and sometimes just creating a great tension-filled plot rather than something real. To be honest, some of Kristi's earlier books did this, and it annoyed me. I've seen a real maturity in this series, and this book didn't disappoint. It made me excited to see what Kristi will write next. It's still got the witty dialogue, the great plot, and the fun, sweet romance, but there's more. There's something real. It's not all lords and ladies and fun/drama. There are middle-class, upstarts, and nobodies. There are deep explorations of faith and something that feels real. The characters both had so much to learn and complimented each other so sweetly. I really liked the direction of this series and am hopeful for more books like this from Kristi.

It has been a long time since book 2 was published, so I had to go back and familiarise myself with some of the characters. It could perhaps be read alone but then the secondary characters would not contribute much to the story. I like this series and would read them again. If you want an escape and don't want to read complicated modern romances, I definitely recommend this series.