The Captain's Daughter, by Jennifer Delamere {Book Review}

The Captain's Daughter is the first book in the London Beginnings series by Jennifer Delamere. It was published on June 6, 2017.

Summary: Rosalyn Bernay is orphaned, with her two sisters, Julia and Caroline. At seventeen, she leaves the orphanage to make her way in the world. At the age of 23, Rosalyn finds herself in London with no employment, no money, no home, and no friends.

Nate Moran, having been injured in an attack while serving in India, has been recovering at home in London. After his brother injures his leg, Nate offers to work for his brother while the leg heals in order to ensure his brother will have a job to come back to.

Rosalyn and Nate first meet at a train station, as Nate unsuccessfully tries to save Rosalyn from a sketchy character. Later, they are reunited at the theater, where Nate is filling in for his brother and Rosalyn has just been given a job as a dresser for the women in the HMS Pinafore. Soon, Rosalyn is living at Nate's residence, having been taken in by his family as a boarder. Nate has every intention of returning to service in India, but he is captivated by Rosalyn's kind and gentle demeanor, let alone her beauty. Knowing that they will soon be separated by Nate's plan to reenlist in the Army, neither one of them voice their growing feelings.


My Thoughts: This was a delightful book! I happened to come across this book at the library as one of the new releases. It is my first book by Jennifer Delamere. The setting looked interesting enough, so I checked it out. I'm glad I did. Rosalyn and Nate were both your typical main characters in this type of fiction, but as the story played out, they had their own characteristics and talents that made them unique. It is rare that I am not able to predict what will happen throughout a book, but this book didn't go the way I thought it would, and I am glad! It ended up being better. I thought I knew that Rosalyn was going to come face-to-face with Mr. Huffman, Mrs. Hurdle, or Mick again. Instead, Rosalyn had to deal with another evil-doer.


I appreciated the authors inclusion of real characters from the theater, such as Jessie Bond, who really did star in the HMS Pinafore. She did it in a way to tell Jessie's story without changing real-life events. It was fun to look up the real life characters to learn more about them and also to see what they looked like.

(L): Jessie Bond and George Grossmith in HMS Pinafore; (R): Opera Comique on East Strand, London, 1901

(L-R): Miss Helen Lenoir, Mr. William Schwenck Gilbert, Mr. Arthur Sullivan

I was pleased to learn that the author's next book in the series will tell the story of Julia Bernay, Rosalyn's sister, as she attends medical school in London. I am looking forward to reading more about the Bernay sisters!

My Rating: 5 Stars