Book: The Countess by Lynsay Sands

Published January 2011 by HarperCollins|224 pages

Where I Got It: nook store

Series: Madison Sisters #1

Genre: Adult Historical Romance

You can find The Countess on goodreads & Lynsay Sands on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

The fairy tale courtship did not turn into a happily-ever-after…

Not until her husband dropped dead, that is. He had been horrible enough to Christiana during their short marriage, and she was not going to allow the traditional period of mourning to ruin her sisters’ debuts as well. So she decides to put him on ice and go on as if nothing’s happened…

Until the real earl appears. Richard Fairgrave had every intention of confronting his villainous twin who had robbed him of his name and title…only to discover that he had died. Quietly assuming his identity, Richard must now deal with a maddening desire for his ravishing inherited “wife”— certainly a gold digger and possibly a murderess. And Christiana must deal with an unwanted new “husband”…and they both must figure out what to do before the ice melts!

What I Thought: 

I don’t read a lot of romance (at least in terms of adults) but every single time I do, i’m reminded of how much I actually like the genre!

The Countess is definitely a lot of fun, and it was absolutely hysterical at times.  I didn’t expect it to be funny, but it definitely was refreshing, because historical romance usually doesn’t result in me laughing frequently. It’s definitely light-hearted and silly and so much fun.  It does start off serious, but it’s not long before it becomes less serious.

I was so glad to finally George go, because he really is a horrible, horrible person.  And I loved Richard and Christiana, and how they have to deal with everything that happened between Christiana and George.  I also liked the relationship she had with her sisters, and even though this is a romance novel, I kind of wanted more scenes with her sisters.

I like Richard and Christiana as a couple, but I wasn’t completely convinced of their relationship- maybe it’s because of how easily Christiana and Richard fell for each other, and how horrible George was.  Still, they are cute and I like that Richard is a good guy who sees Christiana as an equal.

I’m normally not one who cares much about historical accuracy in any sort of historical fiction, but…I kind of forgot that this book was set in Regency England at times, even though there are mentions of carriages and dowries and such.  Still, it didn’t bother me much, but if you are someone who cares about historical accuracy, keep that in mind if you decide to pick up this book!

Let’s Rate It: 

The Countess is definitely entertaining, and different than the other (few) historical romances I’ve read.  It’s silly and light-hearted while also dealing with some serious stuff.  The Countess gets 3 stars.