Welcome to the second discussion of Kissing the Captain by Kianna Alexander. This week Jacilyn and Michaela will be discussing Chapters 8-14.
Spoiler Warning! This post will contain spoilers for Kissing the Captain by Kianna Alexander.
Jacilyn: This week, we are discussing chapters 8-14 of Kissing the Captain, a historical romance written by Kianna Alexander. At the end of chapter 7 last week, Lilly gets angry at Ricardo after finding him in the company of two sex workers at a “frolic” in her barn. The next morning, Lilly is preparing beans on the porch with Aunt Phyllis, who suggests that Lilly’s anger may be motivated more by jealousy than by the potential embarrassment of Ricardo’s actions. What say you to this, my friend?
Michaela: I would say Aunt Phyllis is not entirely wrong, Lilly is probably a little bit jealous and she even says as much later on, however, I also think it would be embarrassing for her during this time period. Lilly has only known Ricardo for a short time and his actions in this moment would solidify all the things she feared would happen, that the man she is being forced to marry isn’t a total gentleman and does not consider her in his decisions. Today, I feel that many couples discuss what they would do during a bachelor/bachelorette party so it wouldn’t have been a big deal, at least not to me. I think Lilly is totally justified in feeling embarrassed because it was disrespectful to do that on her land without her permission. Also, though I disagree with Lilly’s bias towards sex workers, this type of behavior, the “frolic”, is something she grew up looking down on.
Jacilyn: Aunt Phyllis was right in regards to Lilly feeling jealous, but I definitely don’t agree with Phyllis encouraging her to basically just get over it. Ricardo won’t apologize, because he feels he did nothing wrong, and continues to refer to Lilly as “sour-faced” and “disagreeable.” Lilly has every right to be angry when her husband-to-be refuses to respect her and her feelings. Ricardo ends up comforting Lilly as she grieves her father while they are planting seeds, and obviously doesn’t want to see her upset, but I don’t think that is enough evidence of him truly caring for her as a person, who is more than just a beautiful woman.
Michaela: Aunt Phyllis is definitely being unfair to Lilly by saying she should just let it go because “he made a mistake, and so will you if you live long enough”. He should still be expected to apologize for that mistake because it is the respectful and caring thing to do. Ricardo shows that he does care for Lilly in different conversations and actions that take place in the book, but it often seems like a shallow feeling. During the wedding he knows that the sex worker being there will bother Lilly but he only sends the worker away “to prove something to his men”, not because he cares for Lilly’s feelings. It can be said that they haven’t really known each other long enough to have super deep feelings for one another but I think they are both a little slow on the communication front which causes them to have more disagreements.
Jacilyn: Well, it’s unfortunate that the communication is lacking because now they’re married! I know, I know, that was the whole point of this stipulation in the will - a quick wedding. But I can’t help but doubt Lilly’s father’s intuition when it comes to men. Ricardo sees Lilly as a conquest (“virgin bride”? yuck), and he wants a pleasant life, so of course he wants to see Lilly happy. But he wants to see her happy on his terms. Even when he defends her and the farm against Martindale the day after the frolic, it seems as if his behavior was motivated not by love, but by masculinity. Ricardo is described as being “..in the grips of his male anger” after the encounter, which was an interesting descriptive choice.
Michaela: I feel like they are both still working on some maturing aspects because Ricardo describes Lilly as “pouting like a little girl” while Lilly describes Ricardo as “looking like a child scolded by his mother”. They are both still quite young and have been relying on their father’s for approval and survival for their entire lives.
Also, they both suffer from gender bias right now. Neither of them have much experience actually being in a relationship with the opposite sex. Lilly just assumes Ricardo had sexual relations with the sex workers because “That’s usually what men do, isn’t it?”. Then Ricardo just assumes that Lilly should be totally willing to just dedicate her entire life to taking care of him and bearing children with no other interests.
They are both honestly infuriating right now. I am definitely proud of Lilly for standing up for what she wants in life, it's very progressive for the time. I really think Lilly’s father just assumed that Ricardo would be like him and accept Lilly right away but he was so wrong. Lilly’s father raised her to be able to care and provide for herself but then makes her get married after he dies, that’s just a little too backwards for me. Like did her father not actually believe in her? Did he think she needed a man for safety reasons? Maybe he was scared she’d be forced into a marriage with someone like Martindale?
Jacilyn: I think they’re both immature and mature in different ways. Lilly has a trade, savings, and the ability to work with money, but she is naive, and has relied on her father (who has kept her shielded from much of life and love) and others for much of the farm. Ricardo has been the captain of his own ship for some time, from the sounds of it, and has plenty of experience in the ways of lust, leadership, and aggression, but he also has the emotional range of a teaspoon and is incredibly shallow. They both have a lot to learn about each other, that’s for sure. I had hope that after Lilly let down her guard enough to have sex with him, that he might have a bit of a change of heart and start seeing her differently. Unfortunately, like you said, Ricardo immediately assumes that Lilly is going to be the doting wife who takes care of him and a whole gaggle of children, so that hope was crushed.
You know, that may very well be a possibility. Lilly does say that Martindale has been proposing to her for some time, and he is obviously not afraid to be forceful. I wonder if her father could anticipate the potential violence towards Lilly brewing, and wanted someone there to protect her. That makes more sense to me than raising Lilly to be strong and independent and self-sufficient and then marrying her off to some stranger right off the bat just for funsies. I’m sure that once Lilly’s father passed, the protection that she had from him was gone, and he recognized that. As much as he raised Lilly to be independent, he really did instill a lot of naivety in her. That is a hallmark of the times that this book takes place in also, though.
Michaela: I think we’re both struggling with accepting the normalities of the time period while reading this book. Ricardo was super respectful to Lilly during the sex scene and I’m glad for it, I did not want Lilly to feel pressured by him. I think she may have pressured herself a little bit but I think Ricardo was very kind and was willing to explain things to her as much as she needed and go as slow as she needed.
From what Lilly has said about her father I’m inclined to believe that he just wanted to have protection for her. Ricardo has definitely proved that he will protect Lilly, especially from Martindale, who he immediately kicks off their land. Then at the end of chapter 14 he protects her once again and this time in a much more serious confrontation.
Jacilyn: I have to say, I really wasn’t expecting Ricardo to come out at the losing end of the fight. When Lilly heard footsteps while hiding in the cupboard, I was expecting Ricardo to bend down and help her out. Once I realized the other two men were still alive, I knew something bad had happened to Ricardo. Also, I knew something was up when Martindale’s cronies left Lilly alone. I was expecting them to forcibly take her to Martindale, but instead we find that they laid a trap for Lilly. After finding Ricardo wounded, unconscious from what I can tell, Lilly rushes outside to find that most of her horses were cut loose, and she notices missing animals as she makes her way to the barn as well. Lilly has to ride a horse miles into town in order to help Ricardo, and as she takes off she runs into Martindale on the dark road. I wasn’t expecting this kind of intensity from this book, and the end of the last chapter definitely left me anxious for Lilly.
Michaela: The ending of this last chapter really threw me for a loop, I was not expecting such a serious thing to happen in this book. The intensity of the whole scene from Lilly’s point of view was very interesting to read. I actually didn’t know it was Martindale’s men, I was really surprised by Lilly running into him on the road. I was totally expecting it to be hustlers or something like that. Lilly was a badass in this scene, she grabbed her father’s gun from under the seat cushion, knew the perfect way to hide so they wouldn’t find her, reacted calmly and swiftly with Ricardo, and was ready to ride all the way to town to get help. Ricardo was also a badass in this scene and I really hope he gets help soon.
I’m anxious to keep reading to see what happens to Ricardo, what Martindale has planned, and how Lilly will get away from him to get help for Ricardo.
What were your thoughts on Lilly’s reaction to Ricardo’s “frolic”? How do you feel about Ricardo’s familial expectations of Lilly? What is Martindale planning? Let us know in the comments below!
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