Customer Reviews

The Captain's Courtship (Zebra Regency Romance)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite the fact that I work long hours as a lawyer, I found myself staying up against my better judgment until almost 2:00 a.m. to finish this wonderful new novel by Kate Huntington. The plot, involving an impoverished Yorkshire girl who is dragged to London by her vulgar but ambitious mother to catch a rich and titled husband and who enters into a sham engagement with the handsome heir to an earldom has been done many times before. However, in Ms. Huntington's talented hands, it seems fresh and new. I can't remember the last time I read a book of this genre and found the dialogue to be so real that the characters practically leapt off of the page. Not only were the main characters well developed and richly drawn, but all of the secondary characters came to life for me as well. The storyline developed logically and realistically, without any contrived scenes. Although the book ended happily, the story seemed so true that the love affair between Vanessa and Alexander could easily have turned out much differently. In short, I heartily recommend this book to all lovers of the regency novel who are sticklers for accurate period detail, witty and fresh dialogue, and a well-crafted plot. My only advice would be not to start reading this book after dinner on a work night when you have to get up early the next day, because you won't be able to put it down before dawn!

This is a new regency by a new regency writer, and I thought it was FABULOUS. Even taking into account that I typically enjoy the "false engagement" plot, I think that this one is outstanding. The heroine, Vanessa Whittaker, is a fortune hunter of necessity--eldest daughter of a widow with several more and no funds. Her character and her situation (often snubbed and of necessity dealing with elderly, rich suitors chosen by her mother) are very well handled. Also the hero, who wants to return to the war but is rejected because of his father's influence, has real character, and the development of his affection for Vanessa is wonderful. He persuades her to play the role of fiancee when he realizes that his father will be willing to send him back to his company if he thinks that his son is going to marry this card-carrying fortune hunter with and improvident family. Vanessa is a gem, the Captain is charming and interesting, and the plot seemed fresh to me, despite the number of false betrothal novels I have read. Oh, and there is a rich array of minor characters, most of whom are also full characters rather than carciatures. I recommend this book very highly!

I enjoyed this book very much. It was charming and the characters were quite well developed. Humor and wit abounded, and there seemed to be few scenes that were out of place for the setting. The author wove the characters together skillfully. I hope for a sequel featuring the heroine's sister Lydia.

I LOVED this book! The characters were easy to fall in love with, sympathize with and cheer for. The romance between Vanessa and Alexander was both tender and passionate. Their love for one another was so evident even though it was supposed to be a make-believe courtship. I cried more than once while reading this story. I couldn't put this book down. In fact, after finishing it I picked it up the next day and read it all over again.

The CAPTAIN'S COURTSHIP is everything a Regency should be, and more. Kate Huntington has such a wonderful, wonderful voice! I loved this book!

I don't read a lot of Regencies, so I was delighted that THE CAPTAIN'S COURTSHIP was written with style and humor, without so much of the era's slang and mannerisms that I couldn't follow the action. Ms. Huntington kept the suspense high as I turned the pages, creating wonderful conflicts and a heroine well worth rooting for!

I did find this book somewhat appealing, although I confess to enjoying her second book THE LIEUTENANT'S LADY rather more. What were my initial impressions? Firstly, that it was a good read, although not a read that stuck in my mind. This might have something to do with the false engagement plot device which is really not one of my favorite plots. The premise is certainly interesting, given that the hero's reasons for persuading the heroine to agree to a fake courtship and then a false engagement are both noble and then ignoble.

Despite the charms of the various minor characters, I have to confess to some frustration, which I could articulate only after reading the sequel (see my review of that book). Firstly, the mother is not just ambitious and vulgar, but she has absolutely no social sense whatsover. [The mother in Heyer's Cotillion comes across as positively respectable by comparison, which is saying something!]. While I can understand that legally and morally the daughters could not restrain the mother, yet their apparent inability to stop her extravagance as well as her social excesses was both shocking and frustrating, even though her faults advanced the plot. The heroine was demure enough to refuse to take advantage of the hero as she could have done, but at the same time, not modest enough to express any regrets privately to her sister or to the hero about her mother's behavior. I have to say that I found her younger sister Lydia more appealing as a potential heroine.

What I found hard to believe was that the heroine and her family use their hard-won resources towards the end of the book to make improvements on an estate that is not theirs. We learn this only in the sequel, which comes as a shock, and which makes more sense of the mother's determination to marry off her eldest daughter well. But I wish that information and some other family information had been made clearer first. It would have made me more sympathetic to the mother's plight, and understand the heroine's dilemma better.

Basically a good read, if not entirely believable. I cannot say that the plot really strains my credulity, but I found it hard to believe that the hero would care for the heroine that much, given how little she has chosen to share with him. Also, while I understood his desire to return to the Peninsula, I could not really warm to him that much, especially when he becomes a little too credulous at the end.

A charming, elegant, well-written story by a versatile and talented writer. I look forward to her next book!

I enjoyed this book very much. It is a sweet, lovely story, wonderful characters and very well written.