Abigail Halsey is in a dreadful predicament. She has been sent quietly to a convent by her father, to escape scandal resulting from her actions. In 1865, society will not forgive her, and the nobleman who caused her downfall cannot countenance being ruined. SLIGHTLY NOBLE has a really unusual start and takes us places where most historical romances never tread.

Captain Jack Norton has come home from America to inherit a crumbling ruin as Viscount. There is also a better estate, but this will pass to a relative unless he weds and produces an heir when he turns thirty-five, in five months' time. As this is not possible, he resigns himself to losing it. That's before he meets a carriage on the road with a couple of women in need of aid.

We learn about midwifery at the time, the modern regulations applying to hasty marriages and inheritance of titles. Jack has been in America for twenty years, so he has progressive ideas, and he finds much in England has changed from his perceptions. His staunch friend Quentin explains that if Jack weds Abby and she gives him an heir - a boy - his problems are solved. But she may not agree to wed a total stranger, and she might have a daughter. Jack was coldly treated by his own father, and he is determined not to be that kind of parent. If he goes into this bargain he'll make the best of it for everyone.

I found one incidental detail fascinating - Jack lived in Charleston and backed the losing side in the American war, so apart from his ship he has nothing to return to. Inheriting his title and lands is a drawn-out affair, full of red tape as we'd now call it. We also see shipboard life, and the harrowing truth about 'baby farmers'. Abby has learnt some of the jewellery trade; the middle classes are starting to have money but snobs still keep them out of society. Once I started reading SLIGHTLY NOBLE I was hooked, and I suggest anyone looking for an out of the ordinary romance could do no better.

SLIGHTLY NOBLE by Lilly Gayle presents a young woman who can't trust men, even her new husband who, after all, married her for his own advantage. Abby will steal your heart just as she quickly steals Jack's, when all she wants is safety for her child. Family drama and changing fortunes with a chilling conclusion make the excellent SLIGHTLY NOBLE a story you will certainly remember.