The Bride Ship

3.5 stars
This is my first Regina Scott, and I did enjoy it a lot. In fact, I probably would have given it four stars if I wasn't in the midst of a streak of new favorites that keep getting five stars. By comparison this is a light read. It is the tale of Allegra, who is determined to be involved in her daughter's life a s areal mother, instead of marrying her late husband's odious cousin and letting governesses have their way in rearing her child. She is desperate enough even to flee to the frontier on Mercer's expedition to Washington.

Well, her childhood sweetheart, the late husband's elder brother, happens to find her just as she boards the ship. Both are determined to go their own way...Allegra by protecting her daughter, Clay by doing his duty to shelter his brother's widow and child from the life Allegra refused before he ventured to the frontier himself. But both have changed, and they will learn surprising things about each other as they journey toward the rugged new town of Seattle.