REVIEW: Lieutenant Mayhew’s Catastrophes by Emily Larkin
Take one dashing lieutenant, one adventurous young lady, and two mischievous kittens … and what do you have? A recipe for disaster! Or perhaps for love…
When Lieutenant Mayhew boards the stagecoach bound for Southampton he anticipates an uneventful journey. True, he’s carrying kittens, but it’s only eighty miles. What could possibly go wrong?
He’s not expecting to meet the enchanting Miss Willemina Culpepper. Nor is he expecting the kittens to be quite so good at vanishing.
Mayhew has faced many challenges in his career as a soldier. Traveling from London to Southampton should not be a challenge. Except that it is.
Dear Ms. Larkin,
What an adorable novella! I had a wonderful time reading it. One of my adult cats reminds me a bit of Scout, the little female kitten. My girl is as fearless as Scout and while the other cats run from the evil vacuum cleaner, she stands her ground and faces it off. She might even have swatted it a time or two. I just wish that the cover showed Mayhew in his green Rifles jacket and Willie in a traveling dress.
This is a fairly short novella yet by the end, I am as convinced as Willie and Will are about their “meant to be-ness.” I especially admire that the story has them act appropriately for the time even as they are faced with a plethora of events that would try the patience of many. But both are used to Army life and take things in stride. They are also essentially decent people as well who say thank you to those who help them, laugh as yet another thing happens, shrug off riding in a cart with pigs in the back and later a converted dung cart. Plus they take great care of the kittens Scout and Mr. Bellyrub. I don’t even care that Willie thinks of an anachronistic phrase to describe answering the call of nature.
Most of the people they meet along the journey are downhome decent folk who are more than willing to lend a hand. When the villain appears, Will defends his lady fair and then endears himself to me (and Willie, I think) even more when he asks her what she wants to do and have him do rather than just make all the decisions himself.
I can see them laughing and entertaining fellow soldiers, wives, and family for years with the story of how they met as they sit near comfy fires with Stardust on their laps. And I’m not going to reveal Lieutenant Mayhew’s pun. It’s too good. A
~Jayne
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This does sound like a fun read, Jayne. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
@Kareni: I can’t even remember how it ended up on my book wishlist but I’m delighted with it and planning on reading more of this author’s books.