Tuesday, December 22, 2009

My Darling Caroline-Adele Ashworth

My Darling Caroline
Adele Ashworth
Avon, Jan 26 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780061905872

Brilliant botanist Caroline Grayson desperately wants to attend oxford, but her gender rejects her. She tries to sneakily gain admittance at a school in New York hiding that she is a female, but though accepted her father intercedes.

He has arranged a marriage for her with brooding veteran Brent Ravenscroft. She gets a husband she does not want; he gets his horses and estate back, bought by her father while Brent was fighting Napoleon; and her father rids himself of his fourth daughter. Forced to marry, Caroline hopes to annul the nuptials and flee to America. Brent would relish seeing her leave, but fears he would lose what he received if he can not accept the genius as his wife. Neither anticipated falling in love.

This is a reprint of a RITA award winning Best First Book that entertains the audience the moment the botanist and the veteran reluctantly agree to a marriage of convenience. The concept of not taking care of the affairs, in this case property, of the soldier at war has a modern context as the military tries to accommodate the deployed solider. Caroline also feels somewhat like a modern woman with her desire to attend higher learning in science; unheard of for the Ton. Fans will enjoy Adele Ashworth’s take on the marriage of convenience as the lead couple is the reason she won the RITA.

Harriet Klausner

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