Morgan Capell’s life is falling apart by small degrees—his father’s dead, his boyfriend dumped him, and his mother’s in the grip of dementia. His state of mind isn’t helped by his all-too-real recurring nightmare of the wreck of the Troilus, a two-hundred-year-old ship he’s been dreaming about since his teenage years. The story of the Troilus is interwoven with the Capell family history. When amateur historian Dominic Watson inveigles himself into seeing the ship’s timbers which make up part of Morgan’s home, they form a tentative but prickly friendship that keeps threatening to spark into something more romantic. Unexpectedly, Dominic discovers that one of the Troilus’s midshipman was rescued but subsequently might have been murdered, and persuades Morgan to help him establish the truth. But the more they dig, the more vivid Morgan’s nightmares become, until he’s convinced he’s showing the first signs of dementia. It takes as much patience as Dominic possesses—and a fortuitous discovery in a loft—to bring light out of the darkness.
Featured Series
9 primary booksPorthkennack is a 9-book series with 9 primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by Joanna Chambers, J.L. Merrow, and 3 others.
Reviews with the most likes.
I didn't love Broke Deep, but I liked it better than many GR readers apparently. Is it exciting and action-packed and full of angsty passion? No, but that's not why I read Charlie Cochrane and that's not why I love her Cambridge Fellows series. I like her subtle, slyly clever, British approach to romance in which two people gradually glow closer as they find comfort and joy in each other's arms. Morgan and Dominic may not be able to hold a candle to the beloved Jonty and Orlando from Lessons in Love et al but they are still a sweet couple with a promising future.
Having said that, I do agree with several reviewers who complained that the mysteries about Morgan's dreams and the the sailor who may have survived the wreck of the Troilus were not resolved very satisfactorily, and in fact were not very engaging parts of the plot. However, I was happy to hang out with Morgan and Dominic as they took endless pots of tea together and walked the beaches of the fictional but lovely Porthkennack.
