Georgana's Secret

1811, HMS Deborah

A Regency romance on the high seas.

As a young girl, Georgana Woodall dreamed of beautiful dresses, fancy balls, and falling in love. However, when her mother dies, she cannot face a future under the guardianship of her abusive grandmother and instead chooses to join her father on his ship disguised as his cabin boy, “George.”

Lieutenant Dominic Peyton has no time in his life for love, not with his dedication to His Majesty’s Royal Navy claiming his full attention. Determined to prove himself to his new captain, he strives to be an exemplary officer and leader. When he sees the captain’s cabin boy being harassed by the crew, he immediately puts a stop to it and takes the “boy” under his wing. After discovering a number of clues, Dominic deduces that George is really a woman. Knowing that revealing the cabin boy’s secret would put her in serious danger from the rowdy crew, Dominic keeps silent and hides his growing affection for her.

Georgana is quickly losing her heart to Dominic’s compassion and care but is convinced nothing can come of her affection. She cannot continue to live her life on the sea, and having already missed too many seasons in London, her chances of being welcomed back into polite society and finding a suitable husband have slipped away.

Georgana’s Secret is about two hearts yearning to find a safe harbor, and possibly, a lasting love.

My Review: 5/10

I appreciated some of the unique aspects of this story, but struggled to find others believable. Abuse makes people react in different ways; some retreat within themselves, some learn to fight. But from the very beginning of the story, I didn't really understand why this was the best situation they could think up for Georgana. Her father couldn't actually send her away to a school, concealing the name and location? Lying about it outright seemed to work just fine. So everything built on that seemed unnecessary.

I liked that the book didn't pull any punches about the realities of life at sea during that time - the roughness, the threats, the motivations. But it was also frustrating to see certain characters turning a blind eye toward mounting tension and dangerous insubordination. I struggled to respect them. I did like Georgana's kill-em-with-kindness attitude toward certain individuals and the way that things played out - that particular story line was pretty cool. But on the whole, this book was a mixed bag for me.