Her Midnight Sin by Sofie Darling

The Devalued Dowager Viscountess and the Captain

The book opens as Captain Jake is supervising the unloading of his ship in London. He is to meet with his good friend, Viscount St. Albans. The nobleman intends to give the captain one of his properties. Unfortunately, that property is currently under the care of the Dowager Viscountess St. Albans. During her marriage and since the death of her husband, the Grange has been her project. She’s brought it back into the black, and it is her life. She asked the current viscount to give her a month to gather the funds to purchase the Grange outright. While she is visiting, Jake shows up and has a malarial relapse. The viscount convinces her to take him back to the Grange to convalesce in the country.

Will the viscountess be successful in gaining the land she’s worked so hard for? Or will it become Jake’s? What will she have to do to get the kind of money needed to purchase such a large estate?

I was very nearly put off this book at the very beginning as I found the part about Jake at the docks to be uninteresting. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, as it has turned out to be a much better read than I first thought. Callie, the viscountess, can be very humorous— intentionally and not—and it’s amusing to watch her try to make her way in a world that seems set against her. The story is also sometimes poignant, like when Jake believe that Callie is prejudiced against him because she can sense that he doesn’t belong in their world—not that she sees herself in competition with him to get the place that she believes he deserves.

This book takes place in the post-Regency, pre-Victorian era, and I found it to be a surprisingly good read with lots of twists and turns to the plot, some of which you won’t see coming but will enjoy.