#Blogtour #Excerpt : A Captain for Caroline Gray (Proper Romance Regency) by Julie Wright @Austenprose @scatteredjules @ShadowMountn #ACaptainforCarolineGray #HistoricalRomance

Hello Readers! I’m pleased to be part of blog tour for new regency romance book in Proper Romance Regency, A Captain for Caroline Gray by Julie Wright. Check out the book details and excerpt in this post.

A Captain for Caroline Gray (Proper Romance Regency) by Julie Wright
Publication Date : March 2, 2021
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Genre: Regency Romance, Historical Romance, Inspirational Fiction
Hook: Aboard a “Fishing Fleet” bound for India, an outspoken bluestocking must make the choice of an arranged marriage, or her heart’s desire.
Comparable authors: Georgette Heyer, Julie Klassen, Sarah M. Eden, Sally Britton, Arlem Hawks.
Format: Trade paperback, eBook, & audiobook (336) pages

Synopsis:

Regency London

Caroline Gray’s third season in London society ends as badly as her first two—no marriage proposal, no suitor, not even a glimmer of an interested prospect. She suspects it’s because she is far too quick to speak her mind to men who are put off by her forthright opinions, her eager intellect backed by a formal education, and her unconventional ideas about the future. She is far more daring than demure to suit the taste of her class. Besides, Caroline thinks there will always be next season to find a husband.

However, her family’s dwindling income leaves Caroline with only one choice to secure her future: a one-way ticket to sail with the Fishing Fleet to India, where the son of a family friend waits. If the match doesn’t work, Caroline cannot return home.

Captain Thomas Scott loves the thrill of the open sea, and as commander of one of the ships of the Fishing Fleet, he ferries scores of young English girls to the shores of India to find husbands. The voyages pay well, but he struggles to understand why families would allow young women to be matched with total strangers so far away.

The trips have always been routine and uneventful—until this trip’s first night’s dinner with one Miss Caroline Gray. She engages in a lively political conversation, presenting opposing viewpoints to the conventionally opinionated gentlemen at her table. Captain Scott is secretly amused and delighted at her boldness, not to mention quite drawn to her beauty.

The rest of the passengers are shocked by her behavior and Caroline finds herself an outcast, suffering harsh judgments from the other passengers. However, she finds an unlikely ally in Captain Scott which quickly draws them closer.

Both know an arranged marriage awaits Caroline at the end of their voyage, yet the attraction between them is undeniable. Caroline will have to decide if she will honor her mother’s wishes and marry a man in India whom she has never met, thus securing a future for her and her mother, or be brave enough to throw convention to the wind and commit to love a sea captain. He may be enchanted by her bold and unconventional ways, but will his love and admiration last?

Advance Praise:

• “A charming historical romance in which smarts and sass are vindicated.”— Foreword Reviews

• “…a delightful, not exactly traditional Regency romance. Teen readers will enjoy this adventurous journey with its proactive heroine and exotic settings.”— Booklist, starred review

“An unconventional woman finds herself at home at sea in this stirring Regency from Julie Wright…This adventure is sure to entice fans of historical romance.”— Publishers Weekly

Excerpt:

Caroline stretched her spine from the bent position she’d endured in an effort to stay relatively isolated while on deck. She preferred to be hidden where she could draw things that interested her rather than draw the other ladies—a favor she’d already done for each woman so they would have no reason to complain. It didn’t hurt that Clara, Mr. Black’s wife, who lived aboard the ship and acted as chaperone and maid to the young ladies, had taken a liking to Caroline and decided she did not need such a close eye kept on her. Clara had apparently not made the same decision regarding Miss Cole and Miss Luke as she followed them diligently.

Caroline appreciated the freedom. She’d found a spot between some rather large coils of rope and a crate of folded canvas.

She’d noticed it while searching for a good vantage point from which to draw the likeness of the little boy she often saw scurrying up the rigging for the sails. Since first drawing the child, she found herself drawing him again and again. Not only when he was on the lines but also when he was down in the galley preparing food.

She scouted the ship continually and drew everything she saw, but for reasons she could not explain, the boy had quite captured her.

She frowned at her current sketch. Did the child have a bruise on his cheek or was that simply dirt from his work? Had he fallen while climbing the ropes?

She closed her sketchbook, cinched its leather cords tight, and glanced around her before she dared to stand and scurry from her hiding place. She skirted around the mast and ran straight into Lieutenant Peterson.

He looked both startled by the collision and baffled that she was in such a location at all. She didn’t apologize for being where she was likely not welcome. She had learned that if she acted like she belonged, then she would belong.

After his initial shock wore off, Peterson smiled warmly, his gray eyebrows rising along with his cheeks. “Sketching again?”

She smiled and nodded.

“You’ll run out of graphite long before we reach Mumbai if you continue as you are.”

“If I told you I have an entire trunk dedicated to this particular diversion, would you believe me?” she asked.

“Of course. And I would think it a good use of space. Has Mr. Black pestered you yet to make good on your promise to draw his likeness?”

She laughed, untied the leather cords, and opened her sketchbook to the page where she had a few rudimentary sketches in process. She had liked drawing him because the lines in his weathered face were deep and interesting.

The lieutenant fairly beamed at the image. “Why, look at that! I don’t think I’ve ever seen an image look so true to life.”

“I will take these few quick sketches and make him a gift of a much nicer portrait.”

“Quick sketches? I would not be capable of creating such a likeness if I were given eternity to complete it. It is not mere flattery when I say you are truly talented and possess a great skill. It would be a delight to have you draw the officers as well. I am sure the captain would like that.”

Caroline did not consider herself a great talent and felt herself flush with warmth from the compliment. “Would the captain like such a thing?”

His lip twitched with something almost like humor. “From your hand? I daresay he would.”

“I have been meaning to ask. Is the captain well? He has not been at dinner for several evenings.” She fidgeted with the leather cord, feeling silly for voicing her worry aloud.

The twitch in the lieutenant’s mouth returned as he murmured, “It’s probably just the fine company.” At her questioning look, the lieutenant smiled fully. “It is likely he is in turbulent waters when faced with a lady so unlike any other he’s met before.”

Nothing was said specifically, but she felt certain the captain had wanted to avoid her.

Had her carrying on about steam power and constellations truly been so awful?

Had the captain been so mortified?

The lieutenant turned to leave, but Caroline stopped him. “Lieutenant? This boy . . . ” She turned to the page of the most recent image she’d made of the child. “Who takes care of him?”

“Ah.” Lieutenant Peterson grinned outright. “Young Tom! He’s the cook’s boy.”

“I fear the child may have fallen. Perhaps the cook should be alerted to a possible injury.” She pointed to the smudge she’d recorded on the child’s face. “I think I saw a bruise, but I could be mistaken.”

The lieutenant’s smile faded. “I will assuredly talk to the cook regarding the matter.” He nodded and bid her farewell.

Caroline considered the conversation several times in her mind as she explored below deck. She was looking for a diversion, but only found a crate filled with rope that put her in mind of a coiled snake, a box of various tools, and three dusty buttons that must have fallen off a uniform long ago.

Caroline sighed, realizing she’d put off preparing herself for dinner for far too long. She returned to her cabin, slowly dressed, and then trailed the other ladies to the dining hall. She steeled herself before entering, hoping the captain to be absent again.

Stop, she thought. It makes no difference if he is inside or not.

She could not let the captain’s opinion of her make herfeel anything at all—good or ill. The captain would notbe part of her future society. He would deliver them all toMumbai, and then go back to London, and she would neversee him again. His opinion of her was the least important onthe ship.

That was what she told herself before entering. So why, on this night after his many absences, this night when she’d decided she could not care one whit regarding him and when she hadn’t expected to see him at all, did she feel a jolt shiver up her spine when her gaze locked with his?

Purchase Links :

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | DESERET BOOK | GOODREADS

Author Bio:

Julie Wright wrote her first book when she was fifteen and has written over twenty novels since then. She is a Whitney Awards winner for best romance with her books Cross My Heart and Lies Jane Austen Told Me, and she is a Crown Heart recipient for the novel The Fortune Café.

She has one husband, three kids, one dog, and a varying amount of fish, frogs, and salamanders (depending on attrition). She loves writing, reading, hiking, playing with her kids, and watching her husband make dinner.

She hates mayonnaise.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM  | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS

Blog Tour Schedule:

March 01      My Jane Austen Book Club (Excerpt)

March 01      Austenprose — A Jane Austen Blog (Review)

March 02      Storeybook Reviews (Review)

March 02      Lu Reviews Books (Review)

March 02      Bookworm Lisa (Review)

March 03      Probably at the Library (Excerpt)

March 03      Our Book Confessions (Review)

March 03      Lady with a Quill (Review)

March 04      The Caffeinated Bibliophile (Review)

March 04      Fire & Ice (Review)

March 05      Literary Time Out (Review)

March 05      Among the Reads (Review)

March 06      Books and Socks Rock (Review)

March 07      Encouraging Words (Excerpt)

March 08      So Little Time… (Review)

March 09      For Where Your Treasure Is (Review)

March 10      Laura’s Reviews (Review)

March 10      My Bookish Bliss (Review)

March 11      Heidi Reads (Review)

March 12      Reading with Emily (Review)

March 13      The Christian Fiction Girl (Review)

March 14      Silver Petticoat Reviews (Excerpt)

March 15      Austenesque Reviews (Review)

March 16      The Lit Bitch (Excerpt)

March 16      Greenish Bookself (Review)

March 17      Inkwell Inspirations (Review)

March 18      A Darn Good Read (Review)

March 19      Relz Reviewz (Review)

March 20      Book Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina (Review)

March 20      Christian Chick’s Thoughts (Review)

March 21      Jorie Loves a Story (Review)

March 22      From Pemberley to Milton (Review)

March 23      Gwendalyn’s Books (Review)

March 23      Historical Fiction with Spirit (Review)

March 24      Captivated Reading (Review)

March 24      Books, Teacups, & Reviews (Excerpt)

March 25      Roseanne E. Lortz (Review)

March 26      Cup of Tea with that Book, Please (Review)

March 26      Randi Loves 2 Read (Review)

March 27      Library of Clean Reads (Review)

March 28      The Bibliophile Files (Review)

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