A Misguided Devotion, by Rachel Knowles

A Misguided Devotion is a new Regency historical romance (published August 2026) by Rachel Knowles and is mostly set in her home area of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland.

As well as being a Regency romance author, Rachel is one half of the Regency History duo and, with her husband, Andrew, writes a blog and newsletter that is a resource for writers of all things Regency. They also run a Dorset-based writers group that I’m part of, and Rachel has been a mentor in my writing career. Which is all to say that her research is solid and she is an experienced writer (and she and Andrew are fun and knowledgeable – they gave me a lovely tour of Georgian Weymouth last time I visited).

This is the fourth book in the Merry Romances. I’ve only read the first (which I think was Rachel’s first-ever novel, and is written in a slightly different style from the others), but this could be a stand-alone. The hero, William Merry, is hyper-focused on becoming a successful artist. So much so, that his father inheriting a peerage is more a hindrance than good fortune. William makes his way down to Weymouth to persuade his doting grandmama to sponsor his dreams, and there he bumps into a beautiful young woman he is convinced will be the muse that will make those dreams a reality. The only problem is, he has to come up with a ruse to be allowed to paint her portrait. His plan to charm her into the attitude he wants to paint, however, is undermined by her conscientious companion, Kitty.

Kitty Bruce has had her life pulled out from under her after the death of her loving grandfather. Sent to meet a great-aunt she never knew existed, she finds a devastating family secret. Rescued, as she thinks, by Hugh Barrington to be his daughter’s companion, she is nevertheless determined to be faithful and resilient in her new circumstances. However, there are secrets to the Barrington household, and as Kitty and William work together to uncover the mystery, William slowly learns that the direction of his devotions might, indeed, be misguided.

Several points make this romance stand out (though for full disclosure, I’m not a big romance reader, so my experience is limited). For once, both characters are young; there is no large gap between the young heroine and an older, experienced man. In fact, Kitty is a couple of years older than William, who is not even quite of majority (twenty-one). She is also not a conventional beauty, while William is the blonde, good-looking one. At times, the story made me think of Mr Knightly and Emma in reverse, where Kitty is the one who is unafraid to call out William’s less desirable traits, not because she is picking on him but because she senses that deep down, he is a worthier person. One might say that both have an inner beauty the other brings out.

Rachel writes faith-based, closed-door romances (that’s my preferred word to ‘clean’ or ‘no spice’), but that’s not to say there is no passion between the characters in this slow-burn romance. However, it also means there is much more depth (and believability) to the developing relationship. The faith aspect seems more to the fore than the two Women of Weymouth books I have read; I don’t know if that’s true of the Merry Romances in general. Again, I’m happy with that. We often forget that the queen of Regency, Jane Austen, was a woman of deep faith.

If you enjoy this book, there are several others to pick up. William’s parents and two of William’s sisters have their stories in the Merry Romances. If you want to stick to a Dorset theme, there is the prequel novella and first novel in the Women of Weymouth series, which I blogged about here. Rachel has also written two Regency romances as part of multi-author series, Hearts of the Hall and The Cousins of Cavendish Square (I’ve read those as well). Definitely in the ‘books to curl up with’ category.

A Misguided Devotion is available at Amazon and free in Kindle Unlimited. You can find Rachel and Andrew at regencyhistory.net. Rachel’s website is nested under this at regencyhistory.net/rachel-knowles.