A little while ago I finished Hayden Wand's delightful adventure, Hidden Pearls.  The book is set somewhere between the late 1700s and early 1800s, and (mainly) follows the adventures of Constance Steele, a young woman from a large English family.  She and her sister are orphans being raised, along with their cousins, by their grandparents.  The book is reminiscent of Jane Austen's work, but has a clear identity and style of its own which makes it by far the best Austen-inspiration I have yet come across.Hidden Pearls was a delightful read, charming in all aspects.Charming is indeed the word which springs to mind most prominently when thinking about this story.  It is fair to say that I was completely charmed by it; charmed by scoundrelly rogues, noble-hearted gentlemen and dignified (and sometimes undignified) ladies.  The narrative sweeps through a wide range of settings, moving from England to Bermuda, land to sea, from elegant country mansions to cozy town houses.  There was an excellently described presentation of period-era families, with a warm setting and nicely-drawn inter-character relationships.  I found the pace was reasonably well balanced and the writing was of a high quality. The themes of Christianity were refreshingly well matched to the story.  However, there were a couple of times when their directness came close to seeming out of place in the rest of the story’s setting.  This was only a minor note of discordance in an otherwise gripping read. So, overall, I recommend this book wholeheartedly to those interested in good, clean, but by no means simple romances, families, lost identities, and the soul-feeding themes of honour, truth, self-discovery and faith.What detains you, good reader?  Go forth and purchase Hidden Pearls at once…! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21416213-hidden-pearlshttps://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Pearls-Hayden-Wand/dp/1492262439