Interesting read. Caroline was more or less rejected by her peers. She was intelligent and curious, labeled a blue stocking. Having no prospects and being forced out of her childhood home. She agrees to travel to India, to meet a man as a possible match.
The majority of this story takes place on the ship, bound for India. The crew and a handful of single ladies, (historically known as “the Fishing Fleet women “) also looking for an English gentlemen to marry, spend three months on the high seas. With many adventures, this is a good read. The story really picks up, when they arrive in India. Romance, adventure, suspense and a touch of history, are all part of the story.
I felt a connection with Caroline, as she craved the intellectual topics, but is frowned upon, because she is a woman. So she tries to keep quiet and demure, to fit in with the ladies of society.
I thought the story moved along at a good pace. It held my attention throughout. I do wish there had been an epilogue. I wonder what happened to Tom? I have read and loved other books from this author. This one is a good one and worth reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Official rating: 3/5 stars

Our book's heroine is Caroline Gray, a young lady in want of a husband. However, the ton doesn't favour opinionated and intelligent females and Caroline's family's poor fortunes leave her no choice but to travel to India to meet a man she has never met in consideration of a future engagement. Her journey throws her in the path of Captain Thomas Scott, the Captain of the vessel ferrying her across the ocean. Captain Scott however, has a great deal of opinions of his own. Namely, that he looks upon these young unmarried ladies making the journey as foolish and likely to suffer a fate worse than death with the men of questionable character there.

Let me preface this by saying that I've read thousands of historical romances (my particular catnip when I've had an off day and I want to enjoy the blissful fervor of two characters falling in love) and I did find the premise intriguing and unique. I wanted very much to like it and enjoy the 'Pride and Prejudice'esque vibes the book had. However, I found the two main characters lacked chemistry. Or rather, that Captain Scott was someone I could not believe that Caroline would fall in love with. He was extremely unappealing as the male romantic hero as he did not accord himself appropriately and maturely. During the entire novel, he swung from irritation to conflict, to 'oh my god i must be in love' to anger again, and I found myself wishing for Caroline to decide she was done with men and pursue a life in India on her own.

The secondary issue I had with the book (potentially nitpicking in a way), but Caroline's name annoyed me to no end. The appropriate British spelling of her last name is 'Grey' rather than 'Gray" and her name repetitiously spelled as 'Miss Gray' threw me a little off-kilter and kept me from becoming fully engrossed in their world.

All in all, I do wish the book delivered a little better in the romance department.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book sucked me in right away! I loved the main character and the setting at sea. “A Captain for Caroline Gray” was a great read to sink into and get lost in!

I was enchanted by this book. Julie Wright is a 'new' author to me, and she writes exceptionally well.

Miss Caroline Gray finds herself on a ship bound for India to possibly marry a man she has never met. Her London Seasons to make a match were unsuccessful, and she has run out of options. Although beautiful, her bluestocking notions make her unattractive to eligible men in 1820's England. During the 3-month voyage, she makes several friends as well as enemies, but is also drawn to the captain, Thomas Scott, whose ideas are similar to her own.. He is also attracted to Caroline but his reservations about women who travel to India to become essentially mail-order brides is a barrier between them.

This is a 'clean' Regency romance. I would have given it 5 stars except for the author's use of the names 'Mumbai' and 'Kolkata' instead of Bombay and Calcutta, as those cities were known in the 1800's. She explains in the Afterword that she used the more modern names in respect to Indians who object to reminders of British colonialism. Isn't the plot of the story (transporting women to a far-off British colony to become wives of army men) also a reminder of colonialism? Please don't try to be politically correct when writing historical romances.

I received an ARC to write an honest review.

I am a sucker for Regency romances involving sea captains on the faint hope that they will resemble <i>Persuasion</i>. Caroline Gray and Captain Thomas Scott are a nice enough pairing, but they're unfortunately not in the same league as Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth.

Girl meets boy.
Girl falls in love with boy since he's the only one who can tolerate her being an insufferable pedant.
Girl loses boy after he willfully misunderstands her.
[Convoluted and unnecessary sub-plot involving a threat against the captain's ship]
Girl finds boy again and all is well after he realized he was being an idiot.

The writing is mostly conversation between characters with very little narration, so it's a very fast read. Historical details are thin, and the use of the modern names for Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai stick out as glaring anachronisms (although the author explains in the acknowledgements that this was a deliberate choice).

Caroline Gray is an interesting heroine, and I loved the idea of a Regency lady attending physics lectures (even if those lectures are about technology like the Newcomen steam engine that was already a century old at the time of the novel). But she is a somewhat boring heroine because she doesn't change or develop much over the course of the story.

I'm feeling very conflicted about this one and I'll explain why.

I know I'm not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but most genres have a distinct style to their covers. This looks like a historical fiction cover. So I was expecting historical fiction that contained a romantic storyline (based on the synopsis). However by the time Thomas and Caroline first meet, I experienced an unhappy realization.

The last four or five books I've picked up I basically had to immediately abandon because they were all very over the top on the physical attraction, with the characters developing an exaggerated preoccupation with each other within minutes. This always feels very insta to me, and kind of a little lazy. I want to see a relationship grow and for feelings to develop based on mutual appreciation and attraction for <i>all</i> of MC's attributes. And with a book about a bluestocking, the expectation is that the MMC will fall in love with the FMM because of her personality. So I was incredibly disappointed that Thomas becomes preoccupied with Caroline just from seeing her across the ship (even though he's transported dozens of women over the years and never paid any lady any attention before). He fixates on her long before they ever speak. And frankly this all tainted a lot of the rest of the book for me because I couldn't really get past this.

However, things did turn around a bit after this initial section. Throughout the book, the characters strictly adhered to the societal norms of the period, which was a refreshing change of pace from many other historical romances. There were no modern references or anything that pulled me out of the time period or anything, so I REALLY appreciated that and it made up for a lot of my disappointment from the beginning.

I really liked Caroline and her struggle to live in a world that scorned her for being herself, while forced to adhere to society's rules in order to actually survive in it. However, I wasn't a huge fan of Thomas, who did not seem to know how to manage his emotions despite his age and experience with the world, and ended up pulling Caroline back and forth depending on his mercurial mood.

And then the ending. After spending the entire book dealing with ordinary people, living their ordinary lives, we suddenly get this <spoiler>elaborate plot to damage Thomas' supply train, burn his ship, and kidnap young Tom and Caroline</spoiler> all in like the last 5% of the book. I don't know why the author needed to add in something so fantastical all of a sudden when the entire book was devoid of stuff like this. And then I felt a little deprived of the Caroline and Thomas reunion/reconciliation. It didn't work for me for a few reasons. And then the book ends. No epilogue. It was very abrupt.

So as you can see I'm very conflicted on this. Which was disappointing because I wrote my senior thesis on the British Raj and the role of women, like those in the fishing fleet, so my expectations were high.

...I guess I'll just split the difference and give this 3 stars.

<i>I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.</i>

This story is a delightful tale of staying true to yourself, being brave, and doing the right thing even when it's hard. I really enjoyed Caroline's eccentricities and the Captain's regard for her. Their romance blooms at the perfect moment (and that kiss!!). There are a few moments that felt slow and cumbersome, but they don't last too long before the story picks up again. A sweet, unique romance with a fascinating setting!

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for my review copy of this book. All opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

So here is the thing! I absolutely love books on ships! I don't even care...I love them! I want to be on one soo badly! This book just added to it and I loved every minute! I loved the Captain and Caroline! They were so much fun to learn about and understand. Their lives were difficult and I thought Ms Wright did a masterful job working them through them!! She ddid such a marvelous job letting us really feel what the characters are going through! Yay for Proper Romance! I love it!

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion. Great historical romance with a nautical spin! Women looking for a husband for status and a future isn’t as far removed as we may think.

This is a great book to relax with. A little like Pride and Prejudice with early judgments and misunderstandings setting the two characters apart. Eventually they find their way to each other but other obstacles arise.

The author had an interesting historical fact – at one time women who failed to make a match in England would travel to India in hopes of marrying an English man. Into a story based on this fact she inserts cliched uninteresting characters and a relationship of manufactured misunderstandings, ending it all with an action movie finish. I found this book a slog to finish and the climax eyerolling in it ridiculousness. This is my second book by Julie Wright, and evidently this author is not for me.

I read an advance reader copy of A Captain for Caroline Gray from Netgalley.

2.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this proper romance of Captain Scott and Caroline. The description took me to the setting of being on a ship in regency times. It had me feeling laughter, tears, sighing and a little suspense. I would give it more than 5 stars. Very well done.

I was skeptical about this book as I have not loved Wright's other works... however, this felt different than the other Proper Romance books Julie Wright has written. This was a slow burn, which is my favorite type of love story.

Caroline is very likeable- smart, kind, and trying to make her own way as to not be a burden on her family. I didn't like Captain Scott at first, but he quickly grew on me. Their personalities mesh well, and they challenge each other. There is not a lot of action in the story except some towards the end, but rather the story focuses on relationships (friendships, love, contentious connections). Overall, a very enjoyable read.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on the work.

This book hooks you on the first page. It has just the right amount of suspense, drama and romance to keep you turning the pages to see what happens next. This book was a very enjoyable read. Thank you Shadow Mountain Publishing via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I read this very quickly since once I started I found the story engaging and didn't want to put it down. The story had a natural flow and dialogue. I especially liked the conversations between Miss Gray and the Captain. They both challenged and strengthened each other. I loved Miss Gray from the start. I enjoyed her spirit, spunk and wit. I also enjoyed the friendships she made on the ship. Miss Jeffries and Miss James were wonderful. I found the writing descriptive and had historical detail woven in seemlessly. Plus, seemed well researched. The romance was slow and subtle and sweet. I've read Julie Wright's contemporary novels and was interested in how she'd do with historical. I'd say well done!
Thanks so much NetGalley for the ARC. Opinio's are 100% mine own & not obligated to leave a review.

Caroline is not a typical woman of society, she is a learned woman with opinions and views, which makes it hard to find a husband, as her third season finishes unsuccessfully, her circumstances force her to board a ship bound for India to find a suitable husband.

The book is mainly set on the ship, a setting that I enjoy, but here it was different and I liked that, the relationships develop slowly between Caroline and the Captain, and between her and the other female passengers.

I liked Caroline, she was a strong character. I didn’t much like the Captain.
I also liked some of the secondary characters.

The time in India was a bit short but well described, some action near the end.

But it did end quite abruptly, I feel like we needed a bit more.

Overall a good solid clean romance.

A fun story set on the high seas with characters who are real—which means they make mistakes and jump to conclusions and need forgiveness.

Sometimes life is more about the journey than the destination.

A Captain for Caroline Gray by Julie Wright is a heartwarming and fascinating nautical romance.

Caroline Gray was always encouraged to learn and discuss anything. Her bluestocking ways were not what gentleman in London's society were looking for in a bride.

Caroline's father died, and her entailed home went to a cousin. When said cousin decided to marry and consequently take possession of his home, Caroline saw herself in a difficult situation.

Without a place to live, she agreed to travel to India to meet the son of one of society's matrons.

Although she only agreed to meet the man and then decide if she would marry him, Caroline had no money for the trip back, so she knew she did not have a real choice in the matter.

Desolated, she started a journey into the unknown, having little in common with the other passengers and feeling more than ever her inability to be ladylike and keep up with their superficial interests.

Only one person, for good or bad, stirred Caroline's emotions, Captain Thomas Scott.

Her love for Captain Scott grew slowly and ran deep. They first dislike each other, then judge one another, and only after they get really close their feelings start to change.

Caroline was remarkable. She had the quiet strength of Elinor Dashwood and the resilience of Anne Elliot. Being smart when it was considered a flaw for a woman, she did her best to try to hide her brilliance and fit in.

Captain Thomas Scott was lovely, honorable, and dissatisfied with the world's many injustices.

He felt for these women who were uprooted and sent to unknown lands to marry men they knew nothing about.

He was not perfect, and it made it easier to relate to him. I was smitten after the first chapters.

The side characters were fascinating - Arnav and his wood carvings, loyal Black and his wife Claire, and the sweet cabin boy Thomas.

I loved everything about this story! I wish there was an epilogue to keep reading about their kids and grandkids.

This was my first book by this author, but it will not be the last.

Highly Recommended!

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*This review will be posted on https://lureviewsbooks.com on 03/02/2021*

Caroline’s three London seasons have all ended the same: no marriage proposal, no hint of a suitor, no security for the future. She is faced with only one choice: a one-way ticket to India on the chance she might find a husband there. The journey is long, and she determines she must mend her outspoken ways before she arrives. The handsome Captain Scott makes this an impossible determination.

The premise for this was fascinating, and I wanted to love it. However, I found Caroline difficult to like. In a time when wit was celebrated, I found it hard to believe that Caroline never found a way to share her intelligence in a way that would be appreciated by others. Instead, she came across as blunt and argumentative. She wanted to be true to herself but in doing so, denied that she could better herself.

Captain Scott also behaved distantly because he was determined not to fall for any o the women in his care. So it was difficult to see why Caroline was attracted to him when he would behave coldly. He fell for her intelligence. But there is the inevitable misunderstanding that drives them away.

The story does end rather abruptly, making the slow build of their relationship frustrating. When she got to India, I found that an interesting setting, and it was well described. The supporting cast of characters were enjoyable, and I would very much like to learn more about Caroline’s kind cousin.

For readers looking for a clean, out of the norm, Regency romance, you won't go wrong with this one.

I really enjoyed this cook. Caroline was such a likable character that I found myself immediately rooting for her. The plot kept me interested throughout and I really enjoyed the other characters as well.