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Navy Captain's Convenient Wife
A Regency marriage of convenience, romance in uniform story
A favor for the Captain…
A new life as wife and mother?
Battle-worn Captain John Beattie is dealt another blow on his return from Trafalgar. His motherless young son, Allan, has been heartlessly abandoned by those hired to care for him. Required to return immediately to active duty, John throws himself at the mercy of his late friend's sister, Anna Fontaine…
Anna can’t say no—the Captain’s desperate struggle to protect his son and his country touches her gentle heart. But temporarily caring for Allan backfires when rumors threaten unwed Anna’s reputation. Honorable John insists on marriage—but will Anna’s place in his family ever be more than convenient?
From Harlequin Your romantic escape to the past.
A favor for the Captain…
A new life as wife and mother?
Battle-worn Captain John Beattie is dealt another blow on his return from Trafalgar. His motherless young son, Allan, has been heartlessly abandoned by those hired to care for him. Required to return immediately to active duty, John throws himself at the mercy of his late friend's sister, Anna Fontaine…
Anna can’t say no—the Captain’s desperate struggle to protect his son and his country touches her gentle heart. But temporarily caring for Allan backfires when rumors threaten unwed Anna’s reputation. Honorable John insists on marriage—but will Anna’s place in his family ever be more than convenient?
From Harlequin Your romantic escape to the past.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2026
About the author
Carla Kelly
141 books808 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
Although Carla Kelly is well known among her readers as a writer of Regency romance, her main interest (and first writing success) is Western American fiction—more specifically, writing about America's Indian Wars. Although she had sold some of her work before, it was not until Carla began work in the National Park Service as a ranger/historian at Fort Laramie National Historic Site did she get serious about her writing career. (Or as she would be the first to admit, as serious as it gets.)
Carla wrote a series of what she now refers to as the "Fort Laramie stories," which are tales of the men, women and children of the Indian Wars era in Western history. Two of her stories, A Season for Heroes and Kathleen Flaherty's Long Winter, earned her Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America. She was the second woman to earn two Spurs from WWA (which, as everyone knows, is all you need to ride a horse). Her entire Indian Wars collection was published in 2003 as Here's to the Ladies: Stories of the Frontier Army. It remains her favorite work.
The mother of five children, Carla has always allowed her kids to earn their keep by appearing in her Regencies, most notably Marian's Christmas Wish, which is peopled by all kinds of relatives. Grown now, the Kelly kids are scattered here and there across the U.S. They continue to provide feedback, furnish fodder for stories and make frantic phone calls home during the holidays for recipes. (Carla Kelly is some cook.)
Carla's husband, Martin, is Director of Theatre at Valley City State University, in Valley City, North Dakota. Carla is currently overworked as a staff writer at the local daily newspaper. She also writes a weekly, award-winning column, "Prairie Lite."
Carla only started writing Regencies because of her interest in the Napoleonic Wars, which figures in many of her Regency novels and short stories. She specializes in writing about warfare at sea, and about the ordinary people of the British Isles who were, let's face it, far more numerous than lords and ladies.
Hobbies? She likes to crochet afghans, and read British crime fiction and history, principally military history. She's never happier than talking about the fur trade or Indian Wars with Park Service cronies. Her most recent gig with the National Park Service was at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota border.
Here's another side to this somewhat prosaic woman: She recently edited the fur trade journal of Swiss artist Rudolf F. Kurz (the 1851-1852 portion), and is gratified now and then to be asked to speak on scholarly subjects. She has also worked for the State Historical Society of North Dakota as a contract researcher. This has taken her to glamorous drudgery in several national archives and military history repositories. Gray archives boxes and old documents make her salivate.
Her mantra for writing comes from the subject of her thesis, Robert Utley, that dean of Indian Wars history. He told her the secret to writing is "to put your ass in the chair and keep it there until you're done." He's right, of course.
Her three favorite fictional works have remained constant through the years, although their rankings tend to shift: War and Peace, The Lawrenceville Stories, and A Town Like Alice. Favorite historical works are One Vast Winter Count, On the Border with Mackenzie and Crossing the Line. Favorite crime fiction authors are Michael Connelly, John Harvey and Peter Robinson.
And that's all she can think of that would interest anyone. Carla Kelly is quite ordinary, except when she is sometimes prevailed upon to sing a scurrilous song about lumberjacks, or warble "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in Latin. Then you m
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 4, 2026
Carla Kelly never disappoints me.
This is a marvelous story of a marriage of convenience and our couple's slow achievement of a true, loving, relationship. Set in 1805-6, post Trafalgar, so we are in the middle of a war, with our hero on active duty, and his new bride trying to cope with two children and a husband with a very uncertain schedule.
Kelly sets the action around the Balearic island of Menorca and the surrounding Mediterranean Sea. The British mission is to keep the French fleet bottled up. Meanwhile The US Navy in engaged in a war on the Barbary pirates of North Africa. It was great fun to see the Americans get mixed up in the story.
As usual with Kelly there are moments of humor and moments of great sorrow. Keep the tissues handy.
Anna Fontaine is a great heroine--full of love and common sense. Captain John Beattie is likewise a great hero--valiant, caring, and tenderhearted. They well deserve their HEA.
This is a marvelous story of a marriage of convenience and our couple's slow achievement of a true, loving, relationship. Set in 1805-6, post Trafalgar, so we are in the middle of a war, with our hero on active duty, and his new bride trying to cope with two children and a husband with a very uncertain schedule.
Kelly sets the action around the Balearic island of Menorca and the surrounding Mediterranean Sea. The British mission is to keep the French fleet bottled up. Meanwhile The US Navy in engaged in a war on the Barbary pirates of North Africa. It was great fun to see the Americans get mixed up in the story.
As usual with Kelly there are moments of humor and moments of great sorrow. Keep the tissues handy.
Anna Fontaine is a great heroine--full of love and common sense. Captain John Beattie is likewise a great hero--valiant, caring, and tenderhearted. They well deserve their HEA.
July 3, 2026
Weer zo'n fijn verhaal van een van mijn favoriete schrijfsters . Dit x wat spannender omdat er een zeeslag plaatsvind waar de heldin Anna bij aanwezig is , plus dat zij ook met spionage geconfronteerd wordt .
May 9, 2026
Navy Captain’s Convenient Wife is exactly the kind of story that reminds me why I keep returning to Carla Kelly’s novels—especially her tales set against the backdrop of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. She has such a gift for blending historical authenticity with deeply human, emotionally grounded romance, and this book is no exception.
Captain John Beattie returns from Trafalgar already worn down by war, only to discover that his young son Allan has been abandoned by the very people meant to care for him. With duty calling him back to sea, John turns to Anna Fontaine—his late friend’s sister—for help. What begins as a desperate favor quickly becomes something far more tender and complicated. Anna’s gentle heart can’t refuse a child in need, but her kindness soon sparks gossip that threatens her reputation. John’s honorable solution is marriage, but the real question becomes whether this unexpected union can grow into a true family.
I loved this couple from the start. John’s quiet strength and vulnerability, paired with Anna’s compassion and steadiness, make them a pair worth rooting for. Their relationship unfolds with the kind of emotional nuance and slow‑building trust that Kelly excels at. The scenes with Allan and Pru are especially touching, grounding the romance in real stakes and genuine warmth.
As someone already familiar with Kelly’s naval settings, I slipped into this story effortlessly and found myself completely absorbed. The blend of domestic tenderness, military duty, and the ever‑present uncertainty of wartime life kept me turning pages long after I meant to stop. It’s one of those books that feels both comforting and compelling—a romance built on honor, kindness, and the courage to hope for more than convenience.
A beautiful, heartfelt read. I had a hard time putting it down.
Captain John Beattie returns from Trafalgar already worn down by war, only to discover that his young son Allan has been abandoned by the very people meant to care for him. With duty calling him back to sea, John turns to Anna Fontaine—his late friend’s sister—for help. What begins as a desperate favor quickly becomes something far more tender and complicated. Anna’s gentle heart can’t refuse a child in need, but her kindness soon sparks gossip that threatens her reputation. John’s honorable solution is marriage, but the real question becomes whether this unexpected union can grow into a true family.
I loved this couple from the start. John’s quiet strength and vulnerability, paired with Anna’s compassion and steadiness, make them a pair worth rooting for. Their relationship unfolds with the kind of emotional nuance and slow‑building trust that Kelly excels at. The scenes with Allan and Pru are especially touching, grounding the romance in real stakes and genuine warmth.
As someone already familiar with Kelly’s naval settings, I slipped into this story effortlessly and found myself completely absorbed. The blend of domestic tenderness, military duty, and the ever‑present uncertainty of wartime life kept me turning pages long after I meant to stop. It’s one of those books that feels both comforting and compelling—a romance built on honor, kindness, and the courage to hope for more than convenience.
A beautiful, heartfelt read. I had a hard time putting it down.
June 19, 2026
⭐ 4.5/5 Stars
What an underrated gem of a book.
I honestly stumbled across this through Goodreads recommendations and picked it up on a whim, and I'm so glad I did.
Sometimes the best reading experiences come from books you weren't actively looking for, and this was definitely one of those for me.
The relationship between Anna and John was simply wonderful.
There was something so effortless and natural about the way their connection developed. The romance never felt forced or overly dramatic. Instead, it unfolded in a way that felt genuine, allowing their feelings to grow organically as they got to know and trust one another.
Those are often my favorite kinds of love stories—the ones that don't rely on endless misunderstandings or manufactured drama but instead focus on two people building something meaningful together.
I was also incredibly impressed by the amount of research that clearly went into this book.
The author did a fantastic job of bringing the historical setting to life and making the story feel authentic to the time period. It never felt like historical details were being dumped on the reader, but rather woven naturally into the narrative in a way that enhanced the story.
The setting felt lived-in, believable, and immersive.
What I loved most, though, was the family aspect of the story.
Watching these people slowly become a family was easily one of the most rewarding parts of the book.
Each of them was carrying their own burdens.
Each of them was struggling in different ways.
And yet together they found support, belonging, and a sense of home that none of them had before.
Those moments of connection were often just as meaningful as the romance itself.
The children were especially wonderful.
And my heart truly went out to Prue.
There were so many moments involving her that pulled at my emotions, and I found myself rooting for her happiness just as much as I was rooting for the main couple.
What an underrated gem of a book.
I honestly stumbled across this through Goodreads recommendations and picked it up on a whim, and I'm so glad I did.
Sometimes the best reading experiences come from books you weren't actively looking for, and this was definitely one of those for me.
The relationship between Anna and John was simply wonderful.
There was something so effortless and natural about the way their connection developed. The romance never felt forced or overly dramatic. Instead, it unfolded in a way that felt genuine, allowing their feelings to grow organically as they got to know and trust one another.
Those are often my favorite kinds of love stories—the ones that don't rely on endless misunderstandings or manufactured drama but instead focus on two people building something meaningful together.
I was also incredibly impressed by the amount of research that clearly went into this book.
The author did a fantastic job of bringing the historical setting to life and making the story feel authentic to the time period. It never felt like historical details were being dumped on the reader, but rather woven naturally into the narrative in a way that enhanced the story.
The setting felt lived-in, believable, and immersive.
What I loved most, though, was the family aspect of the story.
Watching these people slowly become a family was easily one of the most rewarding parts of the book.
Each of them was carrying their own burdens.
Each of them was struggling in different ways.
And yet together they found support, belonging, and a sense of home that none of them had before.
Those moments of connection were often just as meaningful as the romance itself.
The children were especially wonderful.
And my heart truly went out to Prue.
There were so many moments involving her that pulled at my emotions, and I found myself rooting for her happiness just as much as I was rooting for the main couple.
June 9, 2026
My favorite author writes another winner! Read it while on vacation last week.
When Capt. John Beattie returns from his Navel sea duties he must inform the sister of one of his shipmates that he died on the voyage. Anna Fontaine is heartbroken but she understands that it was always a possibility when the Royal Navy in on duty.
The captain faces another dilemma as his young son needs care as he is soon to be called on another Naval assignment. In desperation he asks the lovely Anna if she would take on the responsibility if he provides for them while he is gone. Anna agrees. Captain John offers a marriage of convenience to keep up social propriety. Anna considers herself a near spinster as she is all of age 28 so why not! The story takes off from there...
Carla Kelly has the ability to take this not-so-unusual Regency plot and turn it into a captivating story of of adventurous friendship evolving into tender love. She is well versed in the details of the times and weaves actual historical facts in the story. I have read all but one of Carla Kelly's many books, many of them twice, favorites even three times. She has her own shelf in my personal library. Love her stories!! Way to go, Carla!
When Capt. John Beattie returns from his Navel sea duties he must inform the sister of one of his shipmates that he died on the voyage. Anna Fontaine is heartbroken but she understands that it was always a possibility when the Royal Navy in on duty.
The captain faces another dilemma as his young son needs care as he is soon to be called on another Naval assignment. In desperation he asks the lovely Anna if she would take on the responsibility if he provides for them while he is gone. Anna agrees. Captain John offers a marriage of convenience to keep up social propriety. Anna considers herself a near spinster as she is all of age 28 so why not! The story takes off from there...
Carla Kelly has the ability to take this not-so-unusual Regency plot and turn it into a captivating story of of adventurous friendship evolving into tender love. She is well versed in the details of the times and weaves actual historical facts in the story. I have read all but one of Carla Kelly's many books, many of them twice, favorites even three times. She has her own shelf in my personal library. Love her stories!! Way to go, Carla!
May 20, 2026
I just adored this, as I knew I would! I just love Carla Kelly's writing style. You just don't see anyone else writing like this anymore. It's quiet. It's earnest. The love scenes are tastefully done to the point where you could almost read them aloud to your friends without blushing. (It's like a Hallmark channel grandmother wrote a screenplay for a soft-focus scene in an old Hollywood movie. 🤣) The characters have the biggest hearts and the best of intentions. There's peril. There's danger. There's adventure. And you can tell she's done her research, from the intricate details about Navy life to the accounts of Napoleon. You really feel like you're reading something EPIC. I can't wait to read more Carla Kelly!
Content Warnings: lots of talk about war, a widower still grieving his wife, two characters we don't really know die on page (with dignity, really poignant), wounds (not described in super graphic detail, but still), child neglect/abandonment (before story begins), person dying of consumption (before story begins), person dying of an infection (off page)
Content Warnings: lots of talk about war, a widower still grieving his wife, two characters we don't really know die on page (with dignity, really poignant), wounds (not described in super graphic detail, but still), child neglect/abandonment (before story begins), person dying of consumption (before story begins), person dying of an infection (off page)
May 9, 2026
History at it’s finest!
The Napoleon war did go on for ages but what a way to read about history with some fiction and romance. Carla Kelly knows how to write historical fiction and I believe the Royal Navy is one of her favorite subjects!
The Napoleon war did go on for ages but what a way to read about history with some fiction and romance. Carla Kelly knows how to write historical fiction and I believe the Royal Navy is one of her favorite subjects!
May 3, 2026
Meets the highest standards of the genre, as Kelly always does.
May 8, 2026
Carla Kelly writes such heartfelt, tender romances that really highlight the atrocities of war and the inherent honor and dignity of humanity. This one is no different, and I cried.
Heat level: 2.5
Heat level: 2.5
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May 10, 20264/23/2026
May 29, 2026
As usual, brilliant. Great history lesson, wonderful character depth, and heart-touching love story.
June 6, 2026
I love the book and I love this couple.
But what I love the most and have captured me to this story is the little girl Pru. She is my favorite in this one.
But what I love the most and have captured me to this story is the little girl Pru. She is my favorite in this one.
June 21, 2026
The book was fine but I got really bored and just wanted it to be over already.
June 17, 2026
Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews