The Captain’s Midwinter Bride

I’ve been loving Liana De la Rosa‘s books the past few years, so I’ve been eager to dive into her back catalogue. With Christmas upon us, it was the perfect time to read her holiday novella, The Captain’s Midwinter Bride. Set in December 1852, we get to see newly retired navy captain Phillip Dalton connect with his wife of nearly 25 years, Annalise. Their 19-year-old daughter is about to get married, though neither parent approves of the match. This opens the door for Phillip and Annalise to finally come to terms with their own marriage of convenience, what’s happened in their decades mostly spent apart, and where they stand as husband and wife now.

What I Liked:

• An older couple. They’re in their 40s, so hardly old, but they’re certainly more mature than the couples in most romances I’ve read. It’s a nice change of pace to see people falling in love a bit later in life, even if it is to their spouse of two decades!
• Falling in love 25 years later. This is one of only a few books I’ve ever read about a married couple getting to know each other and falling in love years after the wedding… and the only one that shows the couple decades after the wedding. Despite two grown children and a quarter century together, Phillip and Annalise barely know each other. Now that he’s retired, it’s high time that this couple gets to know each other on a deeper level. This romance plays out so differently than nearly every other I’ve read!

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Very conversation heavy. I’m not sure what the genre is exactly, but The Captain’s Midwinter Bride reads like a certain kind of movie I’ve seen a few times, in which the entire plot centers on two people having lengthy discussions about the past, beliefs, and so on. This book is very character-focused, and nearly all of the plot is devoted to their dialogue and inner thoughts. It’s reflective, slowly revealing the life that led to where Phillip and Annalise are now. It’s well done, but not necessarily a writing style I enjoy all that much.

Final Thoughts

The Captain’s Midwinter Bride is a short and sweet novella about family, overdue love, and righting past wrongs. It’s not overtly festive, but it does have a subtle Christmastime setting well suited to this time of year. This is the first on the Daltons series, and I will be reading it’s sequel, On a Midsummer Night, in the coming months. I also look forward to Liana De la Rosa’s upcoming contemporary romance, Mutual Discord, out in 2026.

Get the Book

You can buy The Captain’s Midwinter Bride here – it’s available as an ebook.

The Captain’s Midwinter Bride by Liana De la Rosa
Series	The Daltons (#1)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Romance
Setting	England
Number of Pages	114
Format I Read	Ebook
Original Publication Date	November 12, 2020
Publisher	Self-published

Official Summary

Is the bride he left behind ready to be his wife?

Life at sea sharpened Captain Phillip Dalton into a shrewd and strategic military man…yet none of those skills prepared him for the intricacies of planning his daughter’s upcoming Christmas wedding. His family, most especially his wife, are all but strangers to him thanks to his service to the Crown. But if Phillip finds himself bewitched by his practical, charming, and guileless wife, he does his best to hide his struggles.

Annalise Dalton raised two children and built a comfortable life for herself while her husband of convenience provided for them from afar. But now Phillip’s home to stay, and she finds it impossible to ignore his gruff manner, brilliant blue eyes, or the gentle way he looks after her needs. And if Annalise is unnerved by the budding feelings her husband inspires in her, she does her best to hide how they unsettle her.

When past secrets and misunderstandings threaten the tenuous steps they’ve taken to create a real and loving marriage, can Phillip and Annalise overcome the years they spent apart to forge a happy future together, and for every Christmas to come?