Title: Captain Corcoran's Hoyden Bride

Author: Annie Burrrows

Published: February 2011

Genre: Historical Romance

SPOILER ALERT

Here is my second summary of the book. Actually my best friend helpfully suggested me to give some opinions on the book as a third party but I have no notion what I am going to commend so I will let it be until I find out what bases an opinion on.

Aimee Peters had derived to live in respectable manner from her mother. Her mother was from a respectable and deified family until Aimee’s grandfather, the Earl of Caxton banished her mom because she had married a gambling drunkard man. Aimee’s family since had always run from one place to another to avoid her father’s creditors. What was worse, her father’s gambling habit had severely aggravated since her mother’s demise. Aimee fled from her father and took enormous coin from a servant of one of the gentlemen joining the auction when her friend informed her that her father was holding a scandalous auction for her virginity with gentlemen to clear his debts.

One day Aimee read an advertisement for being a governess, she immediately provided requested fake references despite her inexperienced occupation background along with letter of acceptance which were most likely criminal after having got interviewed. One cloudy day she was requested to wait in an inn until a carriage came to fetch her to the employer but she was so impatient to have an honest job, eschew society and never look back and decided to walk to the employer’s house in the middle of raining. When she was walking and soaked, a carriage came after her and asked her to get on, there she met her interviewer and an angry footman wearing eye patch. During the trip she got scolded regarding her impulsive act by the footman. When she arrived, she was serviced by three unlikely good-looking servants. In bewilderment, she followed whatever the instructions requested to her until dinnertime, she was absolutely astonished that the advertisement was to look for a bride and provide an heir for a wrecked face Earl; Captain Septimus Corcoran, the angry footman. She had to decide until tomorrow morning regarding the loveless marriage. Septimus was a widowed with no child. He was betrayed by his unfaithful wife during his naval duty and she left him because he was fatally injured on face and got an empty eye socket. He was nursed by his three loyal servants and since did not believe in women. He heard that his wife, Miranda died and he was inclined to not marry for love again.

In the bedchamber at night, Aimee was terrified that these men would bear her malice particularly after what her father did to her. Regardless whatever Septimus offered, she followed her impulsive act to flee at that time. When she was running, the men included Septimus run after her, Aimee accidentally fell down into a small cliff and hurt her ankle badly. Septimus took Aimee back to the house and nursed Aimee in anger. After having heard Septimus’s reason and intention, Aimee decided to marry him for protection and honest life and shortly they got married.

The next day, Septimus informed Aimee that that house was rented thus they ought to go to Bowdon Manor because he had to do his duty as an Earl of Bowdon and in the middle of the journey they would visit the Dowager of Bowdon (a distant relative but not his mother) as well. During the journey, Septimus found out that Aimee was poor and skittish around men but she had enormous coin lurked within her dress however he would never ask until Aimee revealed it herself. Settling in the Dowager’s house, Aimee was acquainted with Dowager’s daughter, Lady Fenella. The Dowager implicitly accused Aimee of deceiving Septimus regarding her background from Caxton family despite having never met the Earl,

Several days passed, Aimee went to hill to overcome her boredom while staying in Dowager’s house, then came back to be informed that the Dowager was taking somebody at home to humiliate her. In her horror, Aimee went to her bedchamber to pack her belongings and escape from the unknown visitor whom she suspected as Lord Matthinson and to save Septimu’s reputation that Septimus was deceived and did not know about Aimee’s whereabouts. When she almost reached the gate, Septimus grabbed Aimee and demanded her to reveal all her secrets and so she chronologically did in tears. He told her that everything was not her fault because she only wanted to preserve her innocence, he also begged her not to escape again and together deal with whomever the visitor because he had fallen in love with her and so had Aimee.

Surprisingly, the visitor was Aimee’s grandfather. The Earl of Caxton acknowledged Aimee as her granddaughter and apologized to her because he had abandoned her and her mother even when her mother died. The Dowager was shocked then she withdrew herself from Aimee and Septimus. To erase his wife’s horror regarding the Lord Mtthinson’s coin, Septimus went to meet the gentleman and confronted him to take his money back and never revealed whatever happened in the past to society but Lord Matthinson told him that he deliberately sent the servant with the coin to help Aimee, he felt disgusted with Aimee’s father whom wanted to sell his daughter. Apparently Lord Matthinson had happily married to a woman as introvert as Aimee. Septimus wanted Aimee to befriend with the woman so that she gradually could join into society and they lived happily after.

Rate: 4.5 of 5