I LOVED Kristi Ann Hunter’s A Defense of Honor! But before I get into my ranting, fangirling review (I’m trying to keep it minimal, don’t worry), I’ll talk briefly about … CAMP NANO BEING OVER!
Guess what? I went over my goal of 60,000 at 76,441! (Just so you know, ~30K of those were Before a Fall, 9,400 are pages edited of Beyond Her Calling x 200, and a little over 30K are pages edited of Once a Stratton x 200 + words added to OAS.)
So … yeah! It was a successful Camp NaNoWriMo for me! Probably one of the most successful I’ve ever had.
And now the review!
Title: A Defense of Honor
Author: Kristi Ann Hunter
Series: Haven Manor, #1
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Era: 1810s (Regency)
Setting: England, London and countryside
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Source: from the publisher in exchange for honest review
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars
A Defense of Honor by Kristi Ann Hunter
When Katherine “Kit” FitzGilbert turned her back on London society more than a decade ago, she determined never to set foot in a ballroom again. But when business takes her to London and she’s forced to run for her life, she stumbles upon not only a glamorous ballroom but also Graham, Lord Wharton. What should have been a chance encounter becomes much more as Graham embarks on a search for his friend’s missing sister and is convinced Kit knows more about the girl than she’s telling.
After meeting Graham, Kit finds herself wishing things could have been different for the first time in her life, but what she wants can’t matter. Long ago, she dedicated herself to helping women escape the same scorn that drove her from London and to raising the innocent children caught in the crossfire. But as much as she desperately wishes to tell Graham everything, the risk of revealing the truth may come at too high a price for those she loves.
Buy on Amazon ~ Add on Goodreads
WHOA! If you thought Hawthorne House was good, get ready for something even more fantastic! Hunter’s Haven Manor series looks to be the most fantastic thing she – or any other author – has come out with in a while!
Let’s just get right into things before I start fangirling.
PLOT: 5/5
*incoherent screaming*
OH MY GOODNESS! This plot is so amazing that it makes all the other amazing plots ashamed of their lack of amazing! 😍
I don’t want to give spoilers, so I won’t go into it much. I couldn’t put it down! It was paced perfectly, it was entertaining, it made sense …
When a book doesn’t have a ton of issues (none that I can remember), there’s often not a lot to say. However, I was so, so pleased!
CHARACTERS: 5/5
THE CHARACTERS WERE AMAZING! 😃 I got so into Kit’s mind that I forgot the difference between right and wrong. 🤣 So yep. Kudos to the author; I think I’ve got a book hangover.
Both Kit and Graham were excellent characters! I’m so excited to read an update about their lives in the next books. 😉
Other amazing characters who I loved to death: Daphne, Aaron & Oliver, Jess, Priscilla … they’re all so much fun!
Basically, all the characters were amazing! I cannot put into words how excited I am to see them again in the next book!
SETTING: 5/5
As far as I could tell, there were no major inaccuracies in the book and the setting was well-portrayed.
There are some very unconventional characters, especially for the era, but Hunter pulls it off perfectly. No complaints!
WRITING: 5/5
I LOVE HUNTER’S WRITING STYLE!!! It is basically the best, most amusing third person limited I have ever had the honor to read!
*jumps up and down while waiting for the next book*
CONTENT: 3/5
Language: n/a
Violence: n/a
Sexual: lots of talk about unwed mothers and their illegitimate children; handled super well. A couple kisses, none too detailed. Mentions of evil men, philanderers, etc. A story about a woman being seduced by a man is told in minor detail though nothing about the actual sex is mentioned.
Other: talk about childbirth, pregnancy, and nursing
3/5. Not recommended for readers under 14. A story about a home for illegitimate children & women who help couldn’t have been handled with more taste.
OVERALL: 5/5
I can’t tell you how much I love this story. I ADORE A DEFENSE OF HONOR! Please let the time until the next book comes out go quickly because other I WILL DIE.
Review by Kellyn Roth of Reveries Reviews
Reveries Reader Group
We’re back for another fantastic round of Reveries Reader Group!
My Update for This Week (July the 25th)
Already Read/To-Be-Reviewed: 11
Already Read/To-Be-Mini-Reviewed: 0
Need-to-Read/To-Be-Reviewed: 15
Stuffed-in-Closet/To-Be-Read: 20
On-the-Kindle/To-Be-Read: 65
Goodreads To-Be-Read: 889
This week I … didn’t finish any books? I started one, but I didn’t finish any! And I know, that’s awful, but it’s been difficult to find time with my crazy writing schedule and what not.
I reviewed A Defense of Honor by Kristi Ann Hunter as well as several different products on Amazon, though it wasn’t required so I suppose it was more of a procrastination method. 😉
Goals
Last Week’s Goals
Read two ebooks from my Kindle.
Failed. I got about halfway through one, but I didn’t finish it.
Decide on next Wednesday’s review.
Check! That worked out. 😉
Update Goodreads.
I did! Kinda. I mean, not consistently, but on occasion …
This Week’s Goals
Finish two books.
I’m in the middle of two, so this shouldn’t be a problem.
Prepare three reviews.
This way I won’t have to be scrambling Tuesday nights to get everything ready. 😉
Last Week’s Challenge
- Go through your Kindle/e-reader and delete all the books you’ve already read/make sure they’re in the Cloud, not taking up space on your device.
- Then go through each of your unread books and make sure you fully intend to read every single one of them. If you will never read them or they don’t look interesting, delete them.
- Organize your ebooks into folders based on genre, next-to-read, or whatever system you prefer if possible!
I did it! How about you? Report in the comments!
This Week’s Challenge
- Make a list of the books you’d like to read before the end of this summer.
- Post that list someplace where you can look at it every day and feel guilty.
Seems simple enough, eh? I’ve already got a start with my review copy list. What about you?
TTFN!
~Kellyn Roth~
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p.s.
Have you read anything by Kristi Ann Hunter? How about A Defense of Honor? How did you do for Camp NaNo this year?
9 Responses
Wow!! Congrats on Camp NaNo; that’s awesome! 😀 I just barely reached 77K in Battle Song…after 6 months (though I think I was only writing in it for 4 of those…) so that’s really impressive! Good job!
Have you read anything by Kristi Ann Hunter?: I’ve never read any books by Kristi Ann Hunter, but after your review, I want to read this one! It sounds awesome! Has it been published yet or did you get an ARC? (Also, the cover is so pretty! Except for the different color on the “A” because to me it just blends in, haha.)
How did you do for Camp NaNo this year?: I didn’t do Camp this year…but I can calculate how many words I wrote this month (because why not procrastinate from actually writing?)…18,825. So…not the best, haha, but I have been busy and at least I’ve written some!
When do you get OAS back from the editor? And when is the writing conference you’re going to?
That’s great! 😀 Gosh, I wish my novels were that long … 😉 I’m going to have to work on length; I can never get them much longer than 60K! That’s okay, it took me over a year to write Once a Stratton (April 2017 to May 2018?). 😛
YOU SHOULD! This one was fantastic. It was published in June … I got an ARC like May … *dies* I’m so sorry, Bethany House! *shoots myself*
YES, the cover is gorgeous, but I have NO CLUE why they did the “a” like that?
That’s great! 🙂 Better than I do for most Camps, actually … and I am participating then! It’s weird – I can write like a maniac any other time of the year, but MOST of the time, I can’t work during the summer? I don’t know why.
I got it back today, actually! Started making my way through the edits. Whoosh! Lots to think about. And the writing conference is the 20th – so not too much further away!
Haha…my first novel was 35K. Then there was a 40-45K one…but I think after that it jumped to 70K? And then I had a 90K one. But Battle Song will probably end up being 80-85K when I’m done. Honestly…I have no plans for length with my novels. It just happens. 😛
Oooh, okay! I’ll have to go see if my library has it!
I don’t know…maybe they thought it would look cool or something. 😛
Are you busier in the summer? Or less busy? Sometimes I feel like I have to get just the right balance between busyness and non-busyness to be able to write a lot.
Ooooh, yay! 😀 Good luck with all the edits!
Well, I thought I had plans, but now Before a Fall is at 32K and should be about 45K and I thought it was going to be 10K then 20K then 30K then 40K. Help. 😉
Uh, somewhere between busier and not busier? Like, I’m volunteering now and I have a lot more to do, but I don’t have a full work schedule and no school right now … so yep!
Congrats on Camp NaNo!!!! Thank you for the wonderful review of A Defense of Honor. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 And yep, absolutely! Glad you liked it.
Ah, making yourself feel guilty … sounds like a great idea! XD Honestly, I just briefly named all the books I want to read before the Summer is over–there are only about four or five. (Not that I don’t want to read more, but none are specifically for Summer)
And yes, I completed last week’s challenge by organizing my ebooks! I tried to read a couple, but only got about halfway through one. (Kind of like you :P)
CutePolarBear
Hey, making myself guilty works well! 😛 Haha, that’d be nice … I’d like to get through 15, but it won’t happen.
NICE! 😀 Look at you go!!