Courted by Understanding by Bree Cariad

Courted by Understanding by Bree Cariad

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I do believe that Courted by Understanding may be my favorite of the In Hyacinth series to-date. As much as I love the perfect hero and heroine, I also adore those that feel like real people and Dora and Gaelic are perfect examples of people I would befriend. With her short stature, plus-size figure, and the complete lack of interest by the courting males of Hyacinth, Dora has relegated herself to spinsterhood at the ripe old age of 20. While I hated that Dora felt this way about her future, I loved that she threw herself wholeheartedly into working with Chris at the Inn, which gave us a chance to see how their sibling-style relationship has continued to develop since Courted by Trouble. Actually, because Dora works with Chris and because Chris and Stephanie still live with Dora, fans of the series get to catch up with both of them.

Despite how bleak Dora’s love life appears, she loves her job and the chance to meet new people on a near daily basis, the most interesting of late being Xan’s cousin, Gaelic. I thought it was so cute when Dora decided that she must have a thing for Covington men based on her reaction to Gaelic. Because it’s always easier to see attraction not directed at yourself, I was quite excited to see that Gaelic seemed to be taken by Dora and while their initial interaction was briefer than expected, I knew I only had to bide my time for his return and it proved to be well worth the wait. The group ski trip was not only fun to watch play out, but also rather insightful. I loved that Xan proved himself to be even more observant than we already knew him to be and that he pointed out the negativity associated with the age expectations of the courting system despite it having worked out well for him and Kathy. That the ski trip served as the unofficial beginning of Gaelic’s courtship of Dora just made it that much sweeter.

As much as I loved the way that Gaelic used his time while traveling for business to get to know Dora via their lengthy phone conversations and how the gifts he sent to her that showed she was never too far from his thoughts, my absolute favorite part of the book was when Gaelic walked in on Marjorie harassing Dora. As laidback as Gaelic had been to that point, I think that scene proved that he could be just as intense and commanding as his cousin Xan. Marjorie got a serious lesson in karma that I think may actually stick this time (hehehe). Yes, there are so many wonderful scenes in the book, but the adolescent fat girl in me loved that the mean girl got her comeuppance. Courted by Understanding is the first book in the series that left me wishing that the series wasn’t quite so sweet because I really wanted to see the heat that Gaelic promised to bring to the bedroom with his slippering technique. This is also one couple that I would love to see get a follow-up book as I think it would be a blast to see Dora Out of Hyacinth. Courted by Understanding was an absolute gem of a read that I have added to my reread list. As always, I’m already looking forward to Ms. Cariad’s next installment in the In Hyacinth series.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Courted by Understanding (In Hyacinth #4) by Bree Cariad blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


View all my reviews