Young, widowed, and newly out of mourning, Nicholette Everstone is an heiress yearning to be loved. Her parents had arranged for her to marry her loving late husband, but the marriage ended tragically on her wedding day. Returning to Boston after being away, she finds there’s someone new to her set of friends and family she can’t help but fall for. But when she learns of the danger and sacrifices this man takes on, will her heart be strong enough to keep her fears at bay?

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I’ve read several of Crandall’s Everstone Chronicles books, so I was excited to read Enchanting Nicholette (which won’t release as a single title until later this month, but is currently available as part of the Timeless Love collection). If you’ve enjoyed Crandall’s previous books, I think you’ll like this one. If you’ve never read her books but the flavor of Austen, I think you’ll enjoy these — Crandall’s books (including Enchanting Nicholette) provide a unique blend of the historical high society often read in Regency romance, but the more contemporary (and American) setting provides a fun, fresh spin to each story.

For starters, I wish I’d re-read (or at least skimmed) the previous book before starting this one. I eventually did go back to review The Cautious Maiden to help refresh my memory. If you haven’t read any of Crandall’s earlier books, I highly recommend those first, as it can be confusing trying to figure out how all of these characters’ live weave together (at least read Book 4, which you might be able to read without having read the first three).

That being said, Enchanting Nicholette continues to showcase Crandall’s unique style (she writes in 1st person) and voice. This story didn’t grip me quite as thoroughly as her past novels (there was a tad too much time spent in Nicholette’s head for my liking), but knowing the history from the other books kept me wanting to read and see what would happen. Overall, once I started reading it I couldn’t wait to see what would happen (though it was pretty obvious, I still kept reading). It was a fun, easy read that kept me entertained. I give this book 3 of 5 stars.

*I received a free copy of this book. The opinions are my own.

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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 first 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.