As Regency Romances go, The Misfit Marquess is itself somewhat of a misfit. It’s not really a comedy of manners with a cast of dozens, but it’s not a dramatic, heart-wrenching tale either. Rather, it’s a quiet story that is very nearly a cabin romance, with a hero who is closeted in his home with the wounded heroine – and some interesting servants for company. While it has some flaws, it is a pleasant read with an interesting hero and heroine.

Elizabeth Hatton has eloped with a young man whom she believed loved her – only to find out that her marriage was not even a genuine one. Now she is running from her “husband” with only a saddleless horse, a purse full of jewels, and the clothes on her back. Just when she is most fatigued, she sees a large home that seems to have lights burning in every window. By the time she realizes those lights are actually a raging fire, she is being attacked by a man who injures her, steals her horse, and leaves her for dead.

It turns out that the burning structure was the local asylum, and when Lord Gideon Grayleigh discovers Elizabeth’s body in a ditch, he assumes she is an escaped inmate. Elizabeth is afraid that the truth about her identity would cause a scandal and ruin her family, so at first she pretends to be mad, figuring it’s as good a cover as any. During the attack she sustained an injury on her heel, and the surgeon informs her she cannot travel for at least two weeks. Elizabeth doesn’t want to be a burden, so she plans to leave as soon as possible, sell her jewels to support herself, and stay in some isolated hamlet until the scandal dies down.

Elizabeth actually stops pretending to be mad pretty early on in the book, but Gideon in still unconvinced of her sanity. Gideon has “issues” with insanity anyway, because his mother was insane and he was the one who spent much of his time caring for her. Gideon’s an interesting character; he’s somewhat of a recluse who has dedicated his life to helping the unfortunate. He has an army of servants who have all been rescued from difficult situations, but he still feels unhappy and knows something is missing from his life. We all know the “something missing” is Elizabeth, but it takes him a while to figure that out.

Elizabeth is also a thoughtful, introspective character. Her elopement and subsequent introduction to sex has made her more aware of men, and she feels guilty about that. With all of her carnal thoughts, I kept expecting a love scene, but the two kisses the couple share are so disappointingly brief that they could easily be missed. Indeed, I had to double check to make sure that they happened and that this book even deserved the sensuality rating of “kisses.”

I definitely enjoyed these characters – both of whom spent much of the book examining their lives, actions, and motives – but the interaction between them was not as compelling. The problem was that Gideon spent so much of the book believing that Elizabeth was mad (in spite of all evidence to the contrary) that he couldn’t form a meaningful connection with her until the end of the book. Even after she told him the whole truth, he persisted in his belief that she could be lying. When they finally got together, I wanted to read a whole new story about them getting to know each other without the madness issue getting in the way.

The only other problem I had with the book was that the end featured a coincidence that was just too much too believe. It seemed to be straight out of a nineteenth century novel – if you’ve read enough of those then you know what I mean. But although this book was flawed it did have some aspects that I really enjoyed. If you like Regencies but avoid the “comedy of manners” variety, then you might want to give The Misfit Marquess a chance.