A Captain for Caroline Gray (Proper Romance Regency)
It’s London, 1820, and Caroline Gray and her mother are in deep trouble. It’s the end of Caroline’s fourth Season, and she still hasn’t found a husband. This is because her over-intellectual parents raised her to be well-read, scientific-minded, and interested in politics, not attributes most men look for in a wife. Caroline’s father died, and his heir, Caroline’s cousin, is now marrying, and the estate belongs to him. This leaves Caroline and her mother penniless. Caroline’s only choice is an arranged marriage with a man in India whom she’s never met.
Upon the ship conveying girls to India, Caroline meets Captain Thomas Scott—and the two are intensely attracted to each other. Scott is delighted with Caroline’s quick mind (as well as her beautiful body), and as they endure the difficulties of the long voyage, their initial interest turns to love. However, Caroline has obligations to her unknown fiancé, and Captain Scott has his own emotions to struggle with. Both must come to terms with their choices for the future to find true happiness.
Unfortunately, I found Captain Scott very annoying. His attitudes are often very 21st century, rather than Regency. But not always—he accuses Caroline of not being truthful, ranting about how a man away for months needs to trust his wife—how about her being able to trust her husband away that long? I had far more sympathy for Caroline, as her predicament is real and it’s her parents’ faults that she became unmarriageable. So although the novel has an unusual and intriguing premise, the story, for me, fell a bit flat.
