New Review: Cynthia Wright’s CAROLINE – Great Post Revolutionary War Romance and a Wonderful Beginning to the Beauvisage Series

Cynthia Wright launched her career in 1977 with the publication of CAROLINE when she was just twenty-three. First in her Beauvisage series, this one is set in 1783, just after the Revolutionary War.

Alexandre (“Sacha”) Beauvisage is returning from the war (where he has been a spy and a privateer) when he discovers a young woman in the Connecticut woods dressed as a boy. She has fallen off her horse and has no memory of her past, so she takes the name Caroline (“Caro”). It seems quite clear she is an innocent (she giggles). Alec, a womanizer, thinks he’d best take the beautiful young woman to his home in Philadelphia. On the way, he takes her innocence, then tells her to “forget it happened,” assuring her she’ll find a nice young man who will never know (Alec is definitely not an honorable man). In Philadelphia, Caro falls in love with Alec’s family and with him, but he continues to enjoy his mistresses and tries to hold her at a distance while her dangerous past finally becomes known.

Wright pays close attention to historical detail and incorporates real historical figures into her story like George Washington. The descriptions of Colonial Philadelphia will have you feeling like you’ve lived there. She brings to life the period of American history just after the War of Independence with a tale that has many twists and turns. In fact, all of her novels in this and the Raveneau series will take you deep into American history and the politics of the era. I recommend them. On my website, look for the Amazon widget with her bundled eBooks--a great value!

Here is the Beauvisage series:

CAROLINE
TOUCH THE SUN
SPRING FIRES
NATALYA

But if you like reading a series in time order, as I do, here are the books in
both of Wright’s intertwined Raveneau and Beauvisage series, in chronological order:

1780 - SILVER STORM (also reviewed on my blog and it’s on my American Patriotic Romanceslist, too—it’s my favorite of Wright’s novels)
1783 - CAROLINE
1789 - TOUCH THE SUN
1793 - SPRING FIRES
1812 - SURRENDER THE STARS
1814 - NATALYA
1818 - SILVER SEA (originally BARBADOS)

and TEMPEST (expected to be released in 2012)