Castaway Dreams

Castaway Dreams (2012/2016) Darlene Marshall

Set in the Atlantic ocean and England in 1817.

Alexander Murray is returning home after serving for years as a naval surgeon.

The war brought advances in surgery and medical techniques, some he’d experienced firsthand, but it was time to catch up on those other innovations uncovered by his brother surgeons.

Unfortunately, this trip has Daphne Farnham, an empty-headed heiress who ends up Alexander’s charge.

“With her reputation in tatters and Tyndale dead, it’s a grand opportunity for me.”

“Her father’s a nabob,” Captain Franklin said repressively, reaching for the plum jam. “He’ll be looking to buy a title for her, boy, not wanting to marry her off to a sailor. There will be some lord with pockets to let or gambling debts who will take her, you mark my words. Farnham’s money can cover all of her sins, especially with her looks!”

A shipwreck forces the doctor and Miss Farnham to work together, at which point Alexander discovers that Daphne isn’t quite as useless as he first thought.

“Your task is to hold the valise.”

“You are putting live crabs in my valise?”

“How hungry are you, Miss Farnham?”

“That is a good point, Dr. Murray,” she acknowledged.

My problem with this story is that I just couldn’t care about Daphne. She wasn’t a bad person, and after the first couple of chapters she wasn’t annoying anymore, but I didn’t get what Alexander saw in her (besides her beauty and their survival and reliance) and I just had a difficult time believing their relationship would last.

I also kinda could have done without the surprise the doctor received when he returned to England. It felt entirely too pat.

To be clear, this wasn’t a bad book, it just didn’t do much for me.

Publisher: Eve D. Ackerman
Rating: 6/10

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