Not only was An Heiress at Heart Jennifer Delamere’s debut novel, but it’s a 2013 RITA nominee for Best Inspirational Romance. While on the one hand, the plot relies pretty heavily on cliche to pull everything together, it also manages to feel like a fresh story. The lead characters feel very human, fallible, and likable, and for that reason, I enjoyed the story more than I think I might have otherwise.

At the outset, we learn that Lizzie Poole emigrated to Australia with her brother in the wake of a scandal. This is no mere “caught in a compromising situation at the ball” kind of scandal either. Lizzie traveled to continental Europe to live with a dissolute rich man who seduced her and then deserted her. As a shopkeeper’s daughter, Lizzie certainly didn’t have the financial means to make it on her own, nor did she have any marriage prospects. Australia was her chance for a new start.

While all went well (or at least, well enough) for five years, by 1851 Lizzie’s brother has died, as have Edward and Ria Smythe, the Pooles’ close friends. Ria and Lizzie had not only been very close, but they looked alike. Before her death, Ria begged Lizzie to return to England as Ria and make amends to the family that Ria left behind when she eloped to Australia with her husband. Having few options and also having reasons of her own for wanting to return, Lizzie does so.

It’s all starting to sound a little far-fetched, yes? I know, and I’ve barely gotten started. The plot in this novel is quite convoluted, and I found myself getting sucked into it quickly. I never thought I’d get so engaged in a mistaken identity tale, but this one is well-written enough to suck one in. Once Lizzie/Ria gets to England, Geoffrey Somerville is one of the first people she meets. As it turns out, he is the younger brother of Ria’s late husband, Edward. Geoffrey was a clergyman devoted to helping the poor before unexpectedly inheriting a title. He is instantly drawn to the woman he believes to be his brother’s widow, but also put off by Ria’s past history. We see little of Ria in life, but one gets the impression that she was a feisty, curl-tossing sort of lady before eloping to Australia.

While Geoffrey has insta-attraction to Lizzie, the relationship between them is slow to develop. Frankly, since Geoffrey thinks Lizzie is Ria for much of the story, this makes perfect sense. Lizzie does a respectable job of keeping up her facade, but one still wonders how she managed to fool so many people for so long. Then again, some of the characters, particularly Ria’s grandmother, clearly want to believe Ria has returned home.

This particular inspirational is very light on the preaching, and instead readers receive a story where the actions of the character provide the inspirational message. We see Lizzie going from having been utterly ruined socially to finding love and forgiveness, and we see Geoffrey adjusting to his unwanted position in society and learning how to be more accepting of others along the way.

There’s a villain in the story who’s a bit too eeeevil, and things do trudge a bit slowly at times in the middle, but overall, I enjoyed this one.