Marrying the Royal Marine

Others have touched upon the storyline, so I won't rehash it here. As usual, Kelly's main characters are better than your average human beings. Not perfect but definitely the type of people who get waved through the pearly gates. If you like characters that stick in your mind long after you close the cover, you'll really enjoy this book. I've added it to my Keeper pile, so I can visit them again some day.

Carla Kelly packs so much in this relatively short book. There is the beautiful love story of Polly and Hugh. Polly, at only 18, feels she is too young for the handsome and worldly Hugh. Hugh, at 35, feels he is too old for Polly, and is warned off by her older sister who senses his interest. They are very attracted to each other, and miserable apart. Circumstances bring Hugh back to town, and he goes along with Polly on one her missions, as he feels very uneasy about it. SPOILER AHEAD: Here is where they are captured and we get to see them fall deeply in love as they are held as prisoners of war. They don't know if they are going to survive. Here, Carla Kelly delves into the minds of those on both sides of the battle. You get to see that even the enemy is a person. Wonderful, heartwarming story. Highly recommended.

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."

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?

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!