BOOK REVIEW- AN UNCOMMON COURTSHIP

 
Life for Lady Adelaide Bell was easier if she hid in her older sister's shadow--which worked until her sister got married. Even with thepressure of her socially ambitious mother, the last thing she expected was a marriage of convenience to save her previously spotless reputation.

Lord Trent Hawthorne couldn't be happier that he is not the duke in the family. He's free to manage his small estate and take his time discovering the life he wants to lead, which includes grand plans of wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he doesn't know, his dream of a marriage like his parents' seems lost forever. 
Already starting their marriage on shaky ground, can Adelaide and Trent's relationship survive the pressures of London society?   AMAZON   3.5 STARS

Wow, I'm not exactly sure what to say about this book. The best thing to say is that I had mixed feelings.  When I read the information about this book, I wasn't expecting the story to go in the direction it did when they had to get married.  That was different.  Awkward, yes you could feel it.  The way Adelaide and Trent avoided each other and then when they saw each other you could feel the awkward tension..   Adelaide's mother was some piece of work.  She's a user. Not of drugs but of people and especially of her youngest daughter Adelaide.  All of her life, Adelaide was abandoned pretty much.  She was invisible till needed, she'd even been left behind in stores and at church.  She had to find her own way home, that's just sad.  Helena was her older sister and everything on her mother's radar was about Helena.  Both were incredibly shameless social climbers.  
One of the things I liked how opposite Trent's family was.  They were warm, real people who weren't afraid to welcome people and show affection.  It wasn't very long before Adelaide realized she had found a real family, with Trent's.  Each and every one of them was interesting and I enjoyed their interactions.  Trent's older brother, Griffith held the title and he was a good, godly man.  I liked how Trent went to him when he needed help.  Although some of those meetings made me smile.  And sometimes shake my head, Trent was a good man too but often clueless about a lot of things too.  Still, I liked him and how he tried to overcome some of his resentment of his situation.  He did waffle between trying to believe he's married and turning tail and running.  
His way with his household staff was odd to say the least, but it was also funny at times.  It also became another family of sorts to Adelaide too.   One of the things that I really liked was that Trent had an unusual trigger, that caused him to feel tender towards Adelaide.  He found her clothing mishaps endearing.  He took it as far as looking for them and then he would tenderly correct it.  He began to like her individuality as it would pop up every so often.  That included her sometimes untamed hairdo and glasses, all which he thought suited her.  
I guess the part that I didn't like was that for every step that made forward together, they ran backwards so much further.  That went on for quite a while.  A lot could have been solved if they had just talked to each other.  But they were basically 2 strangers trying to learn how to communicate among other things.  I feel Adelaide's sense of everything being thrown at her so quickly and she was trying to find her balance in an unfamiliar world.  It took a while but it was interesting to see her begin to find her backbone.  
All in all, although it wasn't my favorite book, it did have its moments. 
And I really liked the eBook cover for this book; very attractive.

I received a copy of this book via Bethany House and I am giving my honest opinion of it.