"Charming Billy," is an historical military romance set in Great Britain during the Battle of Britain, 1940. Billy Brand is a Canadian/American from Nebraska who, after completing his Master's Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, joins the Royal Air Force. He quickly becomes an ace and fights many realistic battles in his Spitfire against the Germans attempting to invade Britain. Billy becomes a great hero and is awarded the Victoria Cross all while falling in love with Moira Sinclair, heiress to the Sinclair House and estate. Moria's father, the Earl of Sinclair, insists she cannot marry Billy because she needs to marry a wealthy aristocrat to save the family titles and prevent the estate's bankruptcy. Billy acquiesces to the father's wishes and leaves Britain at the end of the war. He does not know Moira is pregnant with his child before he leaves.
Billy suffers from PTSD due to his many scrapes with death and by 1977 is about to commit suicide. His wife of thirty years has just passed away and he has only his son and daughter for company. His daughter, a psychologist, advises him to return to Britain to face his demons and attempt to re-unite with his old love. Moira has in the meantime been forced to marry the Earl Lewis, who's estate is just down the road from Sinclair. He is a homosexual and adopts Moira's child as his own in order to retain his title. By the time Billy returns, Moira is the Countess of both Sinclair and Lewis estates. She does not know it, but a cabal of anti-aristocracy men, posing as trustees of her estate, are trying to bankrupt her and force her to sell of her land. Billy discovers the plot and with his own son, an agronomist, must figure out how to save her from the conspiracy.
Charming Billy is Gerald Lane Summers' fourth book. His first, Mobley's Law, is highly rated with over a hundred twenty five star reviews.