England, 1800. The daughter of an Oxfordshire country doctor, Caroline Fairbanks, arrives in London accompanied by her handsome but dissolute fiancé, Captain Roger Soames. But Caroline quickly sours on Roger's boorish social circle, which includes the arrogant Lord Jack Willoughby, who pursues her despite her engagement to his friend. Meanwhile, Irish-American shipwright Declan Fitzpatrick has delivered a newly-built ship to its English owners and is eager to return to his Philadelphia home. When Declan intervenes in a violent quarrel at a society party involving Caroline, he becomes her reluctant protector and that changes their futures in a way neither could ever have imagined.
Jefferson Flanders, a novelist, has been a sportswriter, columnist, editor, and publishing executive.
He is the author of CAFÉ CAROLINA AND OTHER STORIES, and the critically acclaimed First Trumpet trilogy of HERALD SQUARE, THE NORTH BUILDING, and THE HILL OF THREE BORDERS.
I was given a free book for an honest review...won a book through Good Reads...thank you.
It was almost like a visit to a Georgette Heyer or Jane Austen novel. We did have a character by the name of Willoughby who was worse than Austen's rogue and he added to the story during some frightening moments. I thought it was a compelling story and enjoyed it very much.
Caroline was a somewhat naive young girl who when her last two close family members (father and brother) died leaving her alone in the world was enticed by a military friend of her brothers to become engaged to him. She learns that things are not always as they seem and has plenty of life changing mishaps. I thought the author set the stage for the characters, plenty of varying scenes described fully and the characters were well written. The story mainly takes place in England and America, not to forget the Atlantic Ocean. Anyone who enjoys a good adventure, old time love story would enjoy this story.
I would like to thank the author and Goodreads for sending me an ARC of this book. I have really enjoyed other books by this author. This story is set in the late 1700s early 1800s England and has done a great job of depicting life during that period. The main character ( Caroline) seems in my opinion to be both a little too trusting and yet very headstrong. I did like the chemistry of Caroline and Declan. This is when the book really started to take shape for me. Overall a nice story.
This is a sweet book and I mostly enjoyed it. The start was sooo slow though. Keep pushing. It’s worth it for a sweet love story. Decent spice level too 🌶️🌶️
Thank you to goodreads giveaways and author for the ebook copy in exchange for this unbiased opinion.
A good only read, especially for those interested in 19th Century ships, ocean crossings and England/early America. The story starts out slowly but does hold interest. Be advised that there is no real detail regarding shipbuilding, and that it is mostly a story focused on the Shipbuilder and a damsel in distress type. It's a good, not great read and I did enjoy it.