The Courting Campaign
By Regina Scott
Publisher: Harlequin
(Love Inspired Historical)
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Emma Pyrmont has recently been hired as nanny to
four-year-old Alice, the only child of Sir Nicholas Rotherford. Emma, an orphan
adopted by a scientist who treated his adopted children inhumanely, has drawn
her ideas of what a family should be from books that presented a kind father
and loving mother devoted to one another and to their children. She believes
Alice deserves better than an emotionally distant father, and she is determined
to do all within her power to see that Sir Nicholas and his daughter spend more
time together.
Sir Nicholas Rotherford retreated to the Grange, his home in
Derbyshire, after an experimental safety lamp for miners on which he
collaborated led to several deaths. Charged with a gross miscalculation and
with plagiarizing the work of one of his collaborators, he is disgraced and
expelled from the Royal Society. Although Sir Nicholas knows he is innocent of
the charges, he is more interested in pursuing his work than with clearing his
name. In Derbyshire, he works alone in his own laboratory, using all his
knowledge to devise a way to provide miners the light they need without placing
their lives in jeopardy when the source of the light comes into contact with
deadly gases. He feels a particular burden because much of his personal fortune
comes from coal mines he owns. He loves his daughter, but he doesn’t know her
very well. She was only a year old when her mother died, and, although he has
provided bountifully for her material needs, he has left the nurturing to staff
and to Charlotte Dunworthy, his wife’s older sister who has run his household
since her sister’s death.
Emma’s campaign to bring father and daughter closer together
means that she and Sir Nicholas spend more time in one another’s company as
well. She is adamant that she will do nothing to encourage the ideas of Mrs.
Jennings, the matchmaking cook who has a sincere affection for her employer whom
she has known since he was Alice’s age. Mrs. Jennings believes that Emma is
just the one to see that Sir Nicholas spends less time at his dangerous work and
more time enjoying the blessings he has been given, but Emma is aware of their
differences. Still, the more time she spends in his company, the more her heart
is drawn to this lonely man who has a fondness for sugar cinnamon biscuits and
who knows how to include Lady Chamomile, his daughter’s most cherished doll, in
nursery conversations.
Sir Nicholas is finding Emma irresistible too. He
appreciates her love for his daughter, her intelligence, and her subdued
beauty. He finds that his work goes better after a walk with her and Alice or
after talking with her has given him a fresh view. But there can be no happy
ending for these two until threats from their pasts are confronted and
defeated.
The Courting Campaign
is the first book in Regina Scott’s Master Matchmakers series. It is an
Inspirational, and so it should be no surprise that it is a strictly sweet
romance. Although faith is an integral part of the book, it is not preachy in
any way, nor are faith elements ever intrusive or distracting from the story.
However, readers considering the book should know that Emma believes in a God
who has a plan for her life and prayer is a conversation she finds essential.
Scott has created a cast of characters who capture the
reader’s affection and interest. Emma and Sir Nicholas are likeable characters
for whom the reader develops a ready sympathy. They are both people who have
been wounded by life but who have not been defeated by their tragedies. Alice
is adorable, and Mrs. Jennings is a warm-hearted woman whose schemes are
well-intentioned and amusing. Even the villains are plausible characters with motivations
that the reader can understand. I also found Sir Nicholas’s work on the safety
lamp fascinating. Readers who like Regency-set stories that take place beyond
London ballrooms will find the story particularly appealing.
This was my first book by Regina Scott, but it won’t be my
last. I’ve already checked out the release date for the next book in the Master
Matchmakers series. I’ve pre-ordered a copy of The Wife Campaign, which will be
delivered to my Kindle on December 1. The print edition will be available on
December 3. I recommend this book for
readers who like a good romance with rich contexts and no heat.
~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com
~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com
Thank you for your very good review, Janga. I appreciate your insight and honesty---in all of your reviews. I like sweet romances, and inspirational ones at that. A lot of times, though, the story lines are bland and implausible, and, with inspirational stories, preachy. It's good to read in your review that this story has none of those elements. I've never read a Regina Scott book, but will definitely put this story on my TBR pile. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteI have read Regina Scott before and am familiar with how well she writes. I have been very anxious to read this new one as well and cannot wait for it to be published. Thanks for sharing your great review, Janga.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great review, Janga. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for hot and steamy. Other times, I want sweet with no heat. But mostly, I want a well-written story and it sounds like this one fits that bill. I'll be giving Regina Scott a try.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words about the review, Deb, Connie, and PJ. Most of the inspirationals I have read have been contemporaries, and this historical inspirational was a pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review. I read a wide variety of romance sub-genre and have found many inspirational romances I have enjoyed. I do not enjoy the preach ones, so it is nice to know that will not be a problem. I checked Ms Scott's website and discovered I have read and enjoyed some of her non-inspirational Regency romances.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like one I'll enjoy.