Miss Grimsley’s Oxford Career

Miss Grimsley’s Oxford Career (2012) Carla Kelly

Set in England, indeterminate time during the Napoleonic wars.

Ellen Grimsley is frustrated–she would love to study at Oxford, but instead her brother Gordon is sent, and he wants nothing to do with Oxford but wants instead to be fighting in Spain.

James Gatewood, Lord Chesney, is expected to fulfill his familial duty and provide his mother with a grandchild as soon as possible. He has wrangled a final year at Oxford, but then he must find a wife and sire an heir.

To be clear, in this story Miss Grimsley doesn’t enroll in Oxford, even under false pretenses, but she does get to go onto the campus under false pretenses.

“Oh, Becky, I cannot begin to walk like a man.”
“Turn your toes out more,” suggested the maid. “Let your arms swing.”
“I look like Jack Tar!” Ellen protested after several more trips up and down the small chamber.
Becky shrugged. “Better that than a schoolroom miss. Now throw out your chest. No, no, you had better not do that, Miss Grimsley!”

I think that’s actually better than my expectation that she would pretend to be a boy to take classes, as it is hard to believe a well-raised young lady could pull that off.

We are well aware from the prologue that James Gatewood is Lord Chesney, which I think makes his deceptions with Ellen more interesting.

This was also another occasion where reading on the kindle and not paying attention to the percent completely allowed me to be surprised by the story. Once Ellen discovers who James Gatewood really was, I expected the story to end immediately, but was pleasantly surprised to discover there was another quarter of the book to go, and that Ellen and James were allowed to come to realizations about what they wanted and needed.

I quite enjoyed this story AND it was boink free, which was another pleasant surprise.
Rating: 8.5/10

Published by Cedar Fort, Inc

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