What Ales the Earl

In MacKenzie’s improbable but fun Regency-era series launch, a respectable young woman’s scandalous past catches up with her when her onetime lover reappears after many years. Penelope Barnes was the daughter of a tenant farmer when she fell in love with Harry Graham, a member of the aristocracy. After Harry left to fight Napoleon, Pen, pregnant, was repudiated by her strict father. Posing as a married woman, she found refuge—and discovered lucrative beer-making skills—in a home for women, where she has brought up her daughter, Harriet. Ten years later, Harry, now Lord Darrow, arrives in Little Puddleton on an errand just as Pen is unmasked humiliatingly as an unwed mother. Harry is supposed to propose to an eligible young lady, but he finds Pen as passionate as ever and is delighted to have a daughter. He invites Pen to be his mistress, forcing her to decide whether that is enough for her. The plot is awash in convenient coincidences, but the Cinderella elements and quirky characters keep it afloat. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds. (Aug.)