Title: The Captain and the Cavalry Trooper
Series: Captivating Captains: Book One
Authors: Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Length: 211 Pages
Category: Historical
At a Glance: I absolutely Recommend, with a capital R, this book for anyone who loves historical romance!
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: As the Great War tears Europe apart, two men from different worlds find sanctuary in each other’s arms.
Captain Robert Thorne is the fiercest officer in the regiment. Awaiting the command to go to the front, he has no time for simpering, comely lads. That’s until one summer day in 1917, when his dark, flashing eye falls upon the newest recruit at Chateau de Desgravier, a fresh-faced farmer’s boy with little experience of life and a wealth of poetry in his heart.
Trooper Jack Woodvine has a way with strong, difficult stallions, and whispers them to his gentle will. Yet even he has never tamed a creature like Captain Thorne.
With the shadow of the Great War and the scheming of enemies closer to home threatening their fleeting chance at happiness, can the captain and the cavalry trooper make it home safely? More importantly, will they see peacetime together?
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence, some of which is homophobic, and a brief scene of sexual assault.
Review: As the Great War is roaring, we peel back the curtain on the almost idyllic French countryside location of Chateau de Desgravier. The Chateau is home to a varied motley contingent of English soldiers, all at a way point just miles from the front line with Germany. It’s a pocket of loveliness, a setting made up of horses, streams, paddocks of green and the smell of hay. But all around it men are dying, and the men who live in it are all too aware of their own breaths and how tomorrow may bring their last.
I love historical novels, all kinds of historicals, and the premise for this series really caught my attention. There are all kinds of Captains out there in our world, not just pirate captains, and this series is an exploration of those men in all their forms. Up first is Captain Robert Thorne, a fierce captain who has been to the front, managed to survive—at least physically—and now resides at the Chateau, helping run the war from a more strategic viewpoint. War has changed Robert Thorne from the once naïve man who went to war riding his great brave steed. There is a melancholy now underneath the gruff exterior, and a new certainty that he will probably not make it out of this alive. His biggest regret is the sacrifice of Apollo; he could die in service to his country much easier if he knew Apollo was still in England, free. Unfortunately the horse is not, and has quite the reputation for being a cantankerous beast. Running off grooms seems to be how the horse likes to pass his days. Thorne never expected to find such a hidden gem in this strange in-between place, in the form of a new groom for his horse, but the quiet, shy, lanky boy with freckles on his nose and poetry in his gaze throws him and makes him wish for anything but the circumstances in which they meet.
Jack Thorne always does what is right; he’s a true lad just wanting to do his bit for king, country, and the Empire. Breaking his shoulder right before enlisting didn’t help him any, nor did the whispers of impropriety from his last assignment. He’s been sent to the Chateau because he has a way with horses, all animals, really, except the human kind. Jack may appear to be a pushover, but he has a backbone when needed and strong character underneath his shy exterior. Fitting in with his fellow cast of grooms means that he has to have a thick skin and an easygoing personality. The almost fairytale romance that he creates in his imagination, juxtaposed with the real-life situation that he and Robert find themselves in, leaves Jack wishing for his farm and a time when life didn’t have to be so complicated.
The romance in this book is off-the-charts and yes, it tends towards a purple prose at times, but the story is a sweet one underneath the realities of war, and I totally enjoyed it. Did I wish that the other LGBTQ characters in the book were not such over the top characterizations of awfulness? Yes. Did I think some of the story was pure fantasy and stretched the realm of probability? Yes. But that did not detract from the story as a whole. Curzon and Harkstead have created a poignant romance with a very satisfying HEA for our heroes. This is a writing duo who are very familiar with historical romances, and that come through loud and clear in this book. I will absolutely be reading The Captain and the Cricketer, which is next in line, and probably any more after that. I absolutely Recommend, with a capital R, this book for anyone who loves historical romance!
You can buy The Captain and the Cavalry Trooper here:
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