Miss Hartwell's Dilemma Books in Order

This is a short linked Regency pair rather than a long open ended series, and that compact shape suits it well. The first book, Miss Hartwell's Dilemma, centers on Amaryllis Hartwell, who has had to rebuild her life after her father's scandal leaves her without proper support. Instead of marrying for rescue, she creates Miss Hartwell's Academy for Young Ladies and makes a working life for herself. That practical streak gives the story a slightly different feel from the usual ballroom first romance.

The school matters. It is not just a decorative backdrop. It gives Amaryllis responsibilities, allies, children to worry about, and a real reason to hesitate when old feelings and new romantic possibilities appear. Lord Bertram Pomeroy comes back into her orbit as an old suitor, while Lord Daniel Winterborne arrives as the difficult father of one of her pupils. Add in lively girls, family strain, and a lurking threat from outside, and the book becomes as much about judgment and steadiness as about choosing a husband.

That is the real through line of this pair. Dunn is interested in people who have to make sensible decisions in a world that rewards appearances, rank, and easy assumptions. Amaryllis is not drifting through society waiting to be chosen. She has already chosen work, independence, and usefulness, and any romance has to fit around the life she has made.

The second book, Two Corinthians, shifts the focus to connected characters and opens things out into a more traditional London season comedy. Bertram Pomeroy returns, and the story tangles together Claire and Lizzie Sutton, George Winterborne, old disappointments, new attractions, and a pleasing amount of crossed purpose. It feels lighter on the surface than the first book, but it still shares the same interest in how people misread one another and how family expectations complicate courtship.

There is a lot of humor in these books, but it is not empty fluff.

What you can expect overall is a pair of smart, traditional Regencies with linked families, memorable side characters, and heroines who are more grounded than dreamy. The stakes are emotional and social rather than melodramatic, though Dunn is happy to stir in a little danger when it suits the story. If you enjoy courtship novels where work, money, and reputation matter just as much as attraction, this pair has a lot to offer.

It is also a nice example of Dunn's broader romance style. She can be funny, brisk, and warm, but she rarely forgets that love stories are easier to care about when the people in them have something solid to lose.