The Good Fortune of Miss Robbins

Dickerson follows up Lady of Disguise with a charming rags-to-riches Regency romance. Charlotte Robbins, 25, lives in a small English village but dreams of traveling the world and writing novels. When a governess position at Lowndesbury House becomes available, she’s excited to take it; she’s even more thrilled to discover that the mansion’s owner, the handsome but purportedly cold Earl of Brookhaven, is actually a sensitive, faithful man disillusioned by the superficiality of his social circle. As their friendship deepens, Charlotte is thrust into high society when she inherits a fortune from a mysterious uncle and must contend with hordes of eager suitors who seem more enchanted with her money than her heart. She pines for Lord Brookhaven but worries she’s mistaken his kindness for something more, while Brookhaven, haunted by a former fiancée’s betrayal, hesitates to open his heart again. Dickerson injects fresh life into this riff on the “Cinderella” story by setting it against a richly detailed 19th-century British backdrop rife with class tensions. Fans of Julie Klassen will want to dive in. (Mar.)