Courted by Fall by Bree Cariad

 Camille Covington thought she had it all: the perfect life, the perfect future, and the perfect suitor; until it went downhill just days before her 18th birthday. Now struggling to pick up the pieces, she did everything she could to not let anyone know just how depressed she’d become. She did such a good job that she fooled even herself.

Newcomer to Hyacinth, Jerod Kinsley, offered friendship but used to the more traditional way of Hyacinth life, Camille didn’t know what to do with it. Set on a path of destruction, she quickly found out just how supportive her family and Jerod could be. As he and her family encouraged her on a life she never even imagined existed before, Cami began to find her inner strength. When her and Jerod’s relationship solidified through the Hyacinth Courting system, she found out just how freeing discipline from the man she loved could be.

Courted by Fall is the second book in the In Hyacinth series and brings us Cami’s story. If you read book one – which I strongly recommend that you do first so that you understand the courting system of Hyacinth – then you are already familiar with some of her story as she is Alexander’s younger sister. Cami befriended the newly arrived Kathy and helped her understand some of Hyacinth’s courting system as she herself was excited about her upcoming eighteenth birthday so that her longtime friend and crush, Damian, would be able to finally court her as he promised he would do. But when Damian shows up for a dinner at Kathy’s during Courted by Discipline, we realize that he may not intend to follow through with his promise.

In the opening of Courted by Fall we find Cami seeing off Xander and Kathy as they are moving to Nashville so that Kathy can attend college. While Cami is happy for her brother and best friend, she is also sad because she will miss them and because Damian did indeed break his promise and left town in a scandalous fashion. In her grief and determined to deal with her problems on her own, she engages in behaviors that are self-destructive and ends up in the hospital where she briefly meets Jerod Kinsley. After her hospitalization, Cami is forced to reevaluate her life and what she wants out of it. As events unfold we learn that Cami is not the only one getting a second chance because she just may be Jerod’s second chance for happiness.

While I still find the courting system odd (as in, not something I would ever participate in), I really enjoyed Courted by Fall. Because book one had already introduced Hyacinth’s courting system, this book focused more on Cami herself and what she endured when her life was turned upside down and what she experienced while she got back on track, including her relationship with Jerod. I loved the way in which Cami’s family united around and for her and helped her find her way. Their support went a long way in giving her the confidence she needed to start her own consulting business – and I gotta say that I loved how the men in her life had no problem admitting to their lack of fashion sense. Typically I prefer sex in my romances, but Ms. Cariad writes the In Hyacinth series in such a way that I don’t need it. These novellas are sweet romances that make for a nice break in my reading schedule and I am already looking forward to reading Courted by Trouble.

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Bree enjoys good books with great characters. While she may be an adult, her favorite memories are from her teenage years reading inspirational romance with girls just like her and strong heroes. That's one of the reasons she's written In Hyacinth, a series of Courting Romances.

Courting Romance - where contemporary romance meets traditional values.

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About the series "In Hyacinth" by Bree Cariad:

Hyacinth, Washington is all about old-fashioned values. In Hyacinth words like trust, honor, and kindness aren't just buzzwords. Hyacinth is a community built on tradition and trust, where men are the head of the home and women are encouraged to follow their lead.

Each story in the series is of a young woman (18-20) and her struggle to figure out who she is in this little town while at the same time going through Hyacinth's old-fashioned courting system. On their way to meet, get to know, and finally marry their princes, these heroines grow in ways they and their town never expected.