Joan Smith: Delsie

Delsie by Joan Smith was published for Fawcett's Coventry Romance line in January 1982. This series ran from 1979-1982 and mostly featured regency stories, but had a few Edwardian and Victorian ones too. Smith is a prolific writer who has also published a lot of historical romances.

Delsie is a teacher who married a dying man and inherited his house and daughter! Now she just has to deal with new brother in law! This book is reminiscent of Georgette Heyer's The Reluctant Widow.

Allan Kass illustrates a favorite cover here. We see a typically Kass hero comforting one of his beautiful heroines. Everything about her is exquisite: her hair, her gown, her jewelry, and her accessories. The room they stand in is almost too cluttered with the delft tiles to the stained glass.