Despite my not having read any of the previous Lost Lords series, I very much enjoyed Never Less Than a Lady and found it easy to follow. Our hero, Major Alexander Randall, sells out from the army in order to find a wife and settle down when he unexpectedly becomes the heir to an earldom. He just needs to find the right wife.

Alexander has to come to the rescue of midwife Julia Bancroft, a woman he met a year and to whom he feels an unexpected attraction. There’s much more to Julia than meets the eye, and he quickly decides they should marry. But Julia’s past marriage threatens their happiness, as do the people who seem to be trying to kill her. Can she and Randall find some sort of balance in their life?

The author had a good grasp of the historical setting (she does make one rather amusing mistake, saying that someone had a ‘slice of shepherd’s pie’ when shepherd’s pie isn’t something with pastry but is minced lamb with mashed potato on the top, not something one can slice but which has to be served with a spoon). A few Americanisms slip in, but overall the setting feels realistic and the characters true to their time.

Both Randall and Julia are engaging characters, people who think about others rather than being the selfish aristocrats that one so often reads about. In one slightly irritating plot thread, Randall worries that Julia doesn’t want to remain married to him, for which there is no apparent evidence in her behavior following their marriage. Overall, though, the story is well- written. I will enjoy reading other books in this series.