The Captain’s Daughter (Book 1, London Beginnings) – Jennifer Delamere

Saying goodbye to her two younger sisters – Julia and Cara – was bittersweet for Rosalyn Bernay. After their mother loses her battle to an illness and their father, a sea captain, is seemingly lost to the oceans, the three children lived a pleasant life in a Muller Orphanage, until they went their separate ways.

Unfortunate circumstances force Rosalyn to leave the home where she worked as a ladies’ maid. Whilst she planned to join her sister in Bristol, she ends up taking a train to London. There, she is accosted by two men.

Nate Morgan, dressed in his military redcoat, happens upon Rosalyn as she arrives at Paddington (station). Unfortunately, she takes his helpfulness the wrong way and walks away with a woman who he suspects isn’t who she says she is.

Regretting the manner in which he handled the situation, he turns his mind back to his healing hand and the circumstance of his return from India.

After overhearing the real reason she was helped by “Aunt Molly”, Rosalyn finds herself in a back alley outside a theater. Immediately befriended by a young actress, Jessie, she convinces Miss. Lenoir, the administrator of the theatre, to take on Rosalyn as the new dresser.

Fate has intervened, and Rosalyn is surprised and wary of bumping in to the rugged soldier again. But, as she soon discovers, Nate is not as rough, or someone to distrust, as she first believed.
The bright lights of the theatre works its magic on Rosalyn,  and she wonders if the stage is for her. However, will the life she abruptly left behind, find her again in London?

Thrown together in a close-knit community, Nate and Rosalyn form a friendship, with hints of something else. But with both having a past they would rather keep to themselves, as well as a future that wouldn’t include the other, will they be able to work past their different pursuits and perhaps turn their friendship in to something more?

The main protagonists are likeable and warm. And, with the author giving subsequent characters as much depth and enticing background stories as Rosalyn and Nate, it was an excellent opening to both the Bernay and Moran families as well as the beginning of a serial. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the theatre group, the descriptions of 1800s London and the romantic undertones. I look forward to reading more from this author and her ‘London Beginnings’ series. A recommended read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review from Bethany House as part of their blogging program. The opinions expressed are my own and I am not required to give a positive critique. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”