A great romp. Jeannie McVinnie decides to impersonate a much older Jeannie McVinnie to get a trip to London. She encounters Captain William Summers, a Navy captain on shore leave. Many sparks fly amid much entertainment. Highly recommended. ( )

I am a huge Carla Kelly fan and was really enjoying Mrs. McVinnie's London Season. It has humorous moments and very tender moments that made me cry. The main problem that I had with this book was its ending. It is a disappointing "happy for now" kind of ending because of the hero being a sea captain. My rating would have been about four plus stars, but instead I give it about 3.5 stars. ( )

The hero of Mrs. McVinnie’s London Season is unusual: a captain of the Royal Navy in active service in 1810. Captain William Summers is shore-bound for the length of the London season because his brother-in-law, First Lord of the Admiralty, does not wish to escort their orphaned niece to all the events of her London come-out season. Summers, however, is not at home on land, is not good at relationships, and has been coerced into being his niece’s escort and fulfilling his duty as guardian of the family. What does he do but immediately issue an SOS to the only person who has the power to help him--his last nanny before he ran off to sea as a youngster, Jeannie McVinnie.

Jeannie McVinnie is a young war widow who shares a home with her former father-in-law. She receives Captain Summer’s desperate plea for help with astonishment as he is quite unknown to her. Ah, but Jeannie is a rather common Scottish name, and she shares her name with her departed-husband’s great aunt: a nanny who has been dead these five years. Due to circumstances at home, this urgent plea provides her with a way out of a bind and off she goes to the Summer’s townhouse in London.

As attraction and attachment grow, Jeannie and William have questions they must resolve. Jeannie has far more to lose if they marry than William does. This is a story of the cost attached to being a military wife. Is she willing to pay the price of loving a navy man? Is he willing to ask it of her?

This novel is full of threads that weave their way through the story until its fabric is full, rich, poignant, and powerful. It grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. ( )