From Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan Illegitimate Polly Brandon has never felt like more than an ugly duckling. So she's amazed when Hugh Philippe Junot pays her such close attention as they sail for Portugal. Under ordinary circumstances she knows this distinguished Lieutenant Colonel of Marines would never have looked at her, but having his protection for the journey is comforting - and something more that she's afraid to give a name to. Should she trust what she sees in Hugh's eyes - that she's turned from ugly duckling to beautiful, desirable swan?
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Marrying the Royal Marine (Mills & Boon Historical)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By C. Halford
Format:Paperback
After reading the blurb and the reviews for this book, I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed.
There was some great historical details , and the portrayal of the men and women on both sides of the war was really well done. It was moving without just portraying stereotypes.
But the romance between Polly and Hugh was just lacking for me. It may be that this book just wasn't my cup of tea, but i never really felt any emotion towards the characters apart from indifference and a bit of boredom. In the end I was reading the book just so I could be finished and put it at the back of my bookshelf.
It's worth a read if you haven't got much else to do, but it's certainly not a book I'll be reading again, like I love to do with my favourites.
There was some great historical details , and the portrayal of the men and women on both sides of the war was really well done. It was moving without just portraying stereotypes.
But the romance between Polly and Hugh was just lacking for me. It may be that this book just wasn't my cup of tea, but i never really felt any emotion towards the characters apart from indifference and a bit of boredom. In the end I was reading the book just so I could be finished and put it at the back of my bookshelf.
It's worth a read if you haven't got much else to do, but it's certainly not a book I'll be reading again, like I love to do with my favourites.
Format:Paperback
I have just finished "Marrying the Royal Marine", the third book of the very enjoyable trilogy by Carla Kelly, about Lord Ratliffe's 3 illegitimate daughters. For the very first time I feel compelled to write a review to say how thoroughly I enjoyed this book . Often later books in a series are disappointing. This one bucks the trend. It is the best. It is absolutely encharnting. I couldn't put it down. It is the delightful love story of Polly & Hugh. It is a ripping yarn of adventure, life theatening moments, romantic episodes and sweet & tender love. In spite of Polly's youth, inexperience and lack of confidence and Hugh, an older man, with a wealth of experience, and the confidence of a long career as a successful officer in Wellington's army, they are drawn to each other from the very first meeting. We follow their adventures together in Portigal. Through the horrors of capture by a marauding troop of French Dragoons, fear, danger, cold, starvation and lack of privacy, their unlikely love grows in the tenderest, caring of ways. Their loyalty & support for each other finally brings them to the place they long to be; in a passionate and loving marriage with an adopted son and the hope of children of their own.
I was sorry to reach the end. It made me laugh & cry. I will wait a long time to find a book as gripping and full of such caring love as this one. I know I shall read it again & again. Marrying the CaptainandThe Surgeon's Lady (Mills & Boon Historical)
I was sorry to reach the end. It made me laugh & cry. I will wait a long time to find a book as gripping and full of such caring love as this one. I know I shall read it again & again. Marrying the CaptainandThe Surgeon's Lady (Mills & Boon Historical)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars
23 reviews
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nobody does it better than C. Kelly.
22 May 2010
By Old Latin teacher
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The only criticism I could possibly make of this book is that it is too short. Not too short to have a fully developed story, just too short because when reading a Carla Kelly book, I don't want it to end. As usual, the Kelly characters are real people, the kind you feel you would like to have as friends, and the romance builds naturally and warmly. Polly Brandon is the last of the half sisters of this Kelly trilogy (after MARRYING THE CAPTAIN and THE SURGEON'S LADY) to find her true love, Hugh Junot, marine colonel. And, as usual, in addition to a heartwarming romance, Kelly gives us a bit of history, 1812 Britain at war with the French in Spain and Portugal, and a true look at war, not as a good vs. evil struggle, but as good and evil soldiers on both sides in a struggle against each other's country. Polly and Hugh have an unusual courtship, first on the ship over to Portugal from England, where he cares for her during a particularly acute case of seasickness, and later in Portugal when the two are taken prisoner by a French division of troops. Secondary characters such as Polly's half sister Laura and her surgeon husband Philemon Brittle (the protagonists of THE SURGEON'S LADY) play minor roles and are only necessary as the reason Polly is going to Oporto, to help her sister in the hospital there. We also have a very brief reacquaintance with Oliver, half sister Nana's husband (MARRYING THE CAPTAIN). But the true stars of the show are Polly and Hugh and the difficulties and adversaries they must overcome together, all with true grit and humor and optimism. I hope I'm not making this sound like a Pollyanna story. It's not. It's great. It's Carla Kelly. Speaking of which, wouldn't it be nice to have reprints of some of her older wonderful stories, like MRS. DREW PLAYS HER HAND,REFORMING LORD RAGSDALE, LIBBY'S LONDON MERCHANT or THE WEDDING JOURNEY?
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intense and moving - one of the author's best books
21 May 2010
By Aliza Mansolino
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A brief synopsis: Polly Brandon, the younger half-sister of the heroines of Carla Kelly's previous two books, (see "Marrying the Captain" and "The Surgeon's Lady") is sailing to Portugal to help out at her brother-in-law's satellite Navy hospital, and meets Royal Marine Lt. Colonel Hugh Philippe Junot on the boat. They get to know one another better after he helps her through a truly horrifying bout of sea sickness and become friends. Hugh is smitten with Polly (he calls her Brandon)but hesitates to continue the acquaintance as he is much older than she is. However, events conspire to bring them together in a harrowing, character-defining journey through war-torn Portugal.
The cover blurb on this book does not do it justice. This is an incredibly moving story about love, inner strength, and the lengths that war drives honorable people to - I found several scenes deeply touching. Though the story is intense, it's leavened with humor and charm. Ms. Kelly has a way of really getting to the heart of her characters.
Highly recommended!
The cover blurb on this book does not do it justice. This is an incredibly moving story about love, inner strength, and the lengths that war drives honorable people to - I found several scenes deeply touching. Though the story is intense, it's leavened with humor and charm. Ms. Kelly has a way of really getting to the heart of her characters.
Highly recommended!
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kelly: One of Best!
23 May 2010
By lovesbooks
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I almost never yearn for some snob to tell me that romances are trash, and if any did, I always cite Carla Kelly's books as proof beyond dispute that they are not, but "Marrying the Royal Marine" proves the point beyond doubt. It is interesting (constantly), funny (occasionally), touching, (repeatedly), and suspenseful (regularly).
There are books I read because they make me laugh. And then there are the good yarns. Some, I fall in love with the characters, usually the men. If I'm lucky, I learn something. With Carla Kelly's book, I receive all four experiences, plus, I become a better person.
I love her heroes: they are truly honorable men, making and acting upon the hard choices, often when they don't want to, except they NEVER hesitate, NEVER even consider "staying in bed." I never doubt, when they have given their hearts away, that they will remain faithful and loving to the end of their lives. For once, the heroines equal the heroes' characters, minds, spirits, and souls. Although young, they have great common sense. This seems like a limp compliment, but it isn't. Common sense, like truth, wears well. Contrary to its name, it is uncommon. Although young and often naive, Kelly's heroines clearly see themselves (especially their liabilities and faults), their obligations and choices, and respond with unfailing integrity and courage. But it's her humanity and truthfulness in those books that make us better people when we read them. Carla Kelly repeatedly shows people who have been tested, and sometimes bested by life. In her novels, life is hard, but because (to judge by her books), she is an optimist, people rise to fight selfishness, loneliness, malice, pain, and violence. They triumph by doing what is right, what is honorable, sensible, and loving. Amazingly, she does so by creating people we love, people of substance, in plots that keep us reading.
If you want a book that gives you a glimpse of the horrors of war (without being sadistic in doing so), creates a couple that you love more and more as the book goes on, a book that is unique, one you won't forget for a long time, go buy "Marrying the Marine."
There are books I read because they make me laugh. And then there are the good yarns. Some, I fall in love with the characters, usually the men. If I'm lucky, I learn something. With Carla Kelly's book, I receive all four experiences, plus, I become a better person.
I love her heroes: they are truly honorable men, making and acting upon the hard choices, often when they don't want to, except they NEVER hesitate, NEVER even consider "staying in bed." I never doubt, when they have given their hearts away, that they will remain faithful and loving to the end of their lives. For once, the heroines equal the heroes' characters, minds, spirits, and souls. Although young, they have great common sense. This seems like a limp compliment, but it isn't. Common sense, like truth, wears well. Contrary to its name, it is uncommon. Although young and often naive, Kelly's heroines clearly see themselves (especially their liabilities and faults), their obligations and choices, and respond with unfailing integrity and courage. But it's her humanity and truthfulness in those books that make us better people when we read them. Carla Kelly repeatedly shows people who have been tested, and sometimes bested by life. In her novels, life is hard, but because (to judge by her books), she is an optimist, people rise to fight selfishness, loneliness, malice, pain, and violence. They triumph by doing what is right, what is honorable, sensible, and loving. Amazingly, she does so by creating people we love, people of substance, in plots that keep us reading.
If you want a book that gives you a glimpse of the horrors of war (without being sadistic in doing so), creates a couple that you love more and more as the book goes on, a book that is unique, one you won't forget for a long time, go buy "Marrying the Marine."
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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