Julie Wright is becoming a new favorite. This is the second book, and it is just as good as the first one. There is a tremendous growth in both the heroine and the hero. I spent the entire day reading this book because I couldn't put it aside.
Caroline Gray has just finished her third season without a marriage proposal. Her mother informs her that there is no more money because Mr. Gray has died and the estate is going to a cousin. This cousin allowed them to stay in their home, but he is now engaged to be married and needs the house for his own family. Mrs. Gray will go live with her brother.
She has found someone to pay half of Caroline's passage to India, with the hope that she can marry the captain there (the son of one of her friends). She has a one-way ticket to sail with the Fishing Fleet to India. If the match does not work out, Caroline must resort to her own devices. There is no money for a ticket home. Caroline would be called a bluestocking in today's parlance. She is well-read, educated, and informed on the issues of the day. This is not what most men want in a wife; thus, Caroline has struggled.
Captain Thomas Scott is the commander of one of the Fishing Fleets to India. He does not like the role because he sees that the young women are at a disadvantage if they do not accept the marriage proposal from one of the British officers. There are no other options. He sees that many of the women who arrive have poor choices and are not necessarily well-treated by their new husbands.
Caroline stirs up the participants on the voyage. She is outspoken, and the men are quickly appalledâexcept for Captain Scott. This is a fascinating interplay between two intelligent individuals. They both know that Caroline has an arranged marriage waiting, but they continue to enjoy each other's company. When they arrive in India, Caroline must decide whether to honor her mother's wish to marry a stranger and save herself and her mother, or follow her heart and abandon everything to do something different. Excellent.
Proper Romance
1. Lies Jane Austen Told Me (2017)
2. Lies, Love, and Breakfast at Tiffany's (2018)
3. Glass Slippers, Ever After, and Me (2019)
** 4. A Captain for Caroline Gray (2021)
5. Windsong Manor (2023)
6. An Inconvenient Letter (2024) -- Read; look elsewhere for the review.
Caroline Gray has just finished her third season without a marriage proposal. Her mother informs her that there is no more money because Mr. Gray has died and the estate is going to a cousin. This cousin allowed them to stay in their home, but he is now engaged to be married and needs the house for his own family. Mrs. Gray will go live with her brother.
She has found someone to pay half of Caroline's passage to India, with the hope that she can marry the captain there (the son of one of her friends). She has a one-way ticket to sail with the Fishing Fleet to India. If the match does not work out, Caroline must resort to her own devices. There is no money for a ticket home. Caroline would be called a bluestocking in today's parlance. She is well-read, educated, and informed on the issues of the day. This is not what most men want in a wife; thus, Caroline has struggled.
Captain Thomas Scott is the commander of one of the Fishing Fleets to India. He does not like the role because he sees that the young women are at a disadvantage if they do not accept the marriage proposal from one of the British officers. There are no other options. He sees that many of the women who arrive have poor choices and are not necessarily well-treated by their new husbands.
Caroline stirs up the participants on the voyage. She is outspoken, and the men are quickly appalledâexcept for Captain Scott. This is a fascinating interplay between two intelligent individuals. They both know that Caroline has an arranged marriage waiting, but they continue to enjoy each other's company. When they arrive in India, Caroline must decide whether to honor her mother's wish to marry a stranger and save herself and her mother, or follow her heart and abandon everything to do something different. Excellent.
Proper Romance
1. Lies Jane Austen Told Me (2017)
2. Lies, Love, and Breakfast at Tiffany's (2018)
3. Glass Slippers, Ever After, and Me (2019)
** 4. A Captain for Caroline Gray (2021)
5. Windsong Manor (2023)
6. An Inconvenient Letter (2024) -- Read; look elsewhere for the review.
Regina (virgosun) reviewed A Captain for Caroline Gray (Proper Romance Regency) on + 890 more book reviews
A shipboard romance that covers the span of a voyage to India in the 1820s. It's a last-ditch effort for Caroline to find a husband in the new British Colony but falls in love with the sea captain instead. This is a very proper love story true to the time period with plenty of emotional highs and lows for both Caroline and Captain Scott. I haven't come across too many bride-ship-to-India romances, so this was a nice refreshing change from the typical London Regencies. The tale flagged a bit when the party arrives in India, but the writing makes it worthwhile overall. 3.5 stars.
