I have steered clear of romance novels as I thought they wouldn't be a genre I would enjoy. When I read some reviews for this novel I thought I'd give it a try; as it turns out, romance is definitely not for me.

In all honesty, if you took out the HUGE amount of material related to sex, I would probably have given this a 3/5. All of the sex stuff just made it so corny and smutty. Some of the talk seemed so out of place for the period it was set in ('you are so sexy' and 'she's a good f**k' etc). I just felt like everything had to lead back to sex, it didn't feel organic or natural at all.

What probably turned me off the most was Brent's use of the term, 'little one' in sexual scenarios (I use that exact term when speaking to young children or small animals, which is why it made me ill to hear it used after phrases such as 'I want to taste your nipples, little one' - yuck.

As I haven't read any other romance novels I have nothing to compare it to, and as it would be a decent story without the 'romance' then perhaps this is in fact a good romance novel. So if you like romance, give it a go I guess. ( )

This historical romance had some different and heart warming aspects but I skimmed a bit and I didn't like hero's action near the end so my rating is 3.5* Botanist Lady Caroline and war hero Brent, Earl of Weymerth are forced into marriage.
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I am torn about this book. I really liked the characters. The story was interesting. BUT sometimes the flow just didn't make sense and I thought that the ending was rather ridiculous (the way everything worked out). Good writing, but I had trouble with the plot. ( )

A thinking woman's historical romance. It makes you think and the plot was complex. At times, I thought it was a bit too coincidental or convoluted, but by the end, it all made sense and it was a perfect epilogue. I loved this book!

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-darling-caroline-by-adele-ashworth.html ( )

From BackCover:
A Lifelong Dream

Lady Caroline Grayson had always wanted to study botany-and had already bred a rare lavender rose-but as a woman in nineteenth-century England, her intelligence and talents were ignored. Caroline was determined to see her dream become a reality-even if it meant masquerading as a man to be accepted at a university. But when her father arranged for her to marry, she agreed-knowing she could not become a conventional wife…

A Flourishing Love

Yet marriage wasn't what she thought it would be. Her attractive new husband gave her the freedom she never expected-and the respect she had always deserved. At first she tried to resist his admiration, his love... and especially his touch. But soon she was surprised and overcome by her husband's-and her own-passion. Now Caroline might have to make the most difficult choice of all-between her lifelong dream and the depth of her love for an extraordinary man...

Awards:
1998 RITA -- First Book
A TRR 5 Heart Keeper ( )