The Countess (The Madison Sisters, 1)

If a romance novel makes me burst into authentic laughter, I almost always rate it 4 stars or higher based on that alone. It's not easy to charm me and make me laugh. This novel did, in fact, do that, so it's with a bit of guilt that I'm rating it at 3 stars.

This novel had a fun premise, sorta. I could never quite decide how I felt about the premise. Without giving away too much that hasn't already been revealed, this novel does indeed involve a corpse of the heroine's husband being carted about. And, yes, it's kinda comical in a "Weekend at Bernie's" way. But overall it left me feeling a little ick.

Also, and perhaps I cannot broadcast this enough.... I have this huge pet-peeve when the blurb on the back of the book doesn't match the story. It's like buying a book under false pretense. Doesn't the author or editor have say in what's presented on the book as a "hook"?? The blurb on this book says: "Richard must now deal with a maddening desire for his ravishing inherited "wife"-- certainly a gold digger and possibly a murderess." So I was expecting a novel that had to do with some mystery between the hero and heroine. That she would have to prove herself innocent of the murder and of being a gold digger and it would cause some *much needed* obstacles for the two to overcome. Nope. Didn't happen. The hero pretty much decides this woman is worth protecting and saving because she's "an innocent" before he even finishes his first dance with her within moments of meeting her.

Issues- perhaps some ***SPOILERS***:

Why didn't anyone in this novel think to question the most obvious person in relation to this death? The man's valet, which we know in Regency Romance, is usually the closest "friend" a man could have and always seems to "know everything." Yet this idea doesn't occur to everyone, conveniently, till the end. (I guess because he was "sick" in bed and they just... forgot about him?)The ending was so see-through. I had the murderer and the blackmailer figured out the instant they were even introduced as a plot device.

The main characters (and there are six adult people here involved) just all seem so ditsy. They fumble about and make very strange decisions that, to the reader, seem so asinine. The easy answer was clear the entire time but yet these people cart this corpse around for seemingly no reason. The constant shuffling about just seemed a reason to extend the story unnecessarily.

Why is it that so many people were just ok with this body being carted about? One by one each character finds out about the corpse and just accepts it with no issue whatsoever because George (the dead man) was unsavory as a character. Even the priest accepts it with a grain of salt! In the end, the "secret corpse" is practically a newspaper headline. There are a dozen people involved with it and it just seems glazed over.

Ok people, leaving the window open to "chill" a corpse just doesn't seem right. This man would have smelled. The part where the hero and heroine fall on the bed (and land on the corpse) and are about to make love just was... ick.

Towards the end there were so many plot holes and asinine decisions I wouldn't bore you to list them. Ok, but here's a good one worth mentioning: in an effort to attack a blackmailer.... one of the male characters who is supposed to be "hiding" from site seals himself by accident into a hole where he cannot get out because "there weren't that many places to hide" therefore making himself unavailable to actually help the situation. He's stuck in this hole behind a chair and has to ask for help to get out long after the blackmailer is apprehended. Seriously? The author presents these people as far less than even reasonably intelligent.

Generally speaking, it takes all six of them to figure out even the mildest plot mysteries.

Moving past the spoilers. I thought this novel had a lot of potential and, in my imagination, I made it far better.

My version of "The Countess" includes:

The hero's POV starting on the farm in America, where he has toiled and slaved, when Daniel comes to rescue him. He is truly anguished and tortured and set on revenge against his brother who has been so cruel and tried to murder him. His need for revenge and his anger would have been amplified times ten (instead of the mild version of it we're presented with).

The heroine has been abused (amplified by ten) by her fiend of a husband. This torture would have made it OK for everyone to really dislike the corpse and accept his demise. The marriage WAS consummated somehow (I don't care how), because George wasn't stupid and he would have realized that without this crucial detail he could have lost the marriage to an annulment. Because of all of this abuse, the heroine is not only emotionally beaten but terrified of intimacy as well. The hero must "save" her and help her heal... and one of the obstacles is that he looks just like the man who tortured her.

When the hero first finds the corpse and his "wife" he does indeed suspect her of foul play. Why else would she leave the corpse hidden and whisk off to a ball to have fun and dance? So, yes, of course she's guilty and at first, the hero takes out his unrequited revenge on her and suspects her of sin. However, he soon realizes she's innocent when she quakes in fear and spends the rest of the novel making it up to her.

I would have taken Daniel and Suzette and moved them completely to novel two- The Heiress- and given them their own unique story. As much as I liked them as characters- I felt they simply worked to distract the actual hero and heroine from having a good story of their own.

I definitely would have heightened the murderer/ blackmail plot line and turned into something above a simple scandal. Life-threatening and suspenseful would have been nice.

I would have altered the ending and made the murderer, yes, about saving the heroine. But for a reason, not just because. (Perhaps the poison was meant for her and he meant to murder her that very night... but the butler, being aware of this, secretly switches the glasses and thus out-wits the fiend and murders the murderer...)

I could go on and on but let's just say I would have made the novel much, much darker and more suspenseful. Why, you ask? Because it's about a CORPSE. If you're going to write a gothic Regency Romance than do it properly! If you're going to introduce murder, intrigue, abuse and scandal, go all the way...... you know? This novel tried to hard to stay on the light fluffy side of murder and abuse and so failed to be taken seriously.

Thankfully I heard about this story on a forum here, and purchased it.
I awakened hubby by laughing while reading this story in bed last night, which is my favorite reading time, no TV, no phones, nothing but beautiful silence usually, which was true until I started reading this book.
The plot has been discussed, and after the beginning real death and *resurrection* the laughter never ends.
This story is a farce, ridiculously funny with almost slap-stick humor following the loss of life and then the body of the faux Earl.
It is a 3 ring circus as the body is moved while trying to avoid a houseful of women and servants who for some reason are also running up and down the halls in the middle of the night. I finally wondered if anyone ever slept in that mansion with all the shenanigans occurring, along with a body eventually being dumped out of a 2nd story window.
The plot thickens as the real Earl assumes his rightful place and his still Virgin wife has to be won over..
But: Who killed the faux Earl?
The story is fun, full of humor, and just delightful as long as you do not feel too squeamish about a body that does not stay put!
If you can't afford to purchase this book, please order it from your library.
It is a delightful story.

Christiana has been married to who she thought was Richard Fairgrave, the Earl of Radnor for the past year. The year has been filled with so much emotional abuse that she is just a shell of the free spirit she once was. One day her sisters show up and tell her that their father has once again gambled away all their money and that Suzette needs to find a husband quick so that she can tap into her dower to save them from ruin. Unfortunately, Richard dies (poisoned by someone) before they can put in motion any plans. Now the sisters have to try and hide the body so that they don't have to go into mourning for a year. I never laughed so hard!

Now enter the real Richard Fairgrave! His twin brother, George, had thought he killed him and then he took over his life. Richard escaped and now has returned to seek his revenge...only to find out George is dead! Kind of puts a crimp in his revenge plans. He also finds out that he is married to Christiana. Bonus! Richard's best friend Daniel convinces him to just step into George's shoes to avoid scandal on Christiana and her sisters. Now it is their turn to figure out what to do with the body!

When the real Richard Fairgrave shows up at the ball that the girls are attending, they are besides themselves thinking he has come back from the dead! Early on Richard reveals to Christiana who he really is and together they try to figure out how to avoid scandal and find out who has killed George. At the same time, they are growing closer to each other and eventually give into their own temptation...:)

This book had me laughing out loud many times! I have been a fan of Lynsay Sands for a long time and have enjoyed her Argeneau and Rogue Hunter series immensely. Her historical romance books are just as good. There are several things going on at once in this book and the interactions between the characters are wicked fun! Even to just read this book to see how many times George's body is moved is worth it! It also sets up for Ms. Sands next book The Heiress which features Richard's friend Daniel and Christiana's sister Suzette. Can't wait!

Oh, my heavens!!!So funny!!! I've never laughed so hard on a romance novel. Just wonderful. Bravo!!

Lady Christiana once believed in fairy tales and happily ever after. That is until she kissed the handsome prince and he turned into a toad...warts and all. A year of having yourself esteem stripped has left the young beauty on tender-hooks whenever her husband is near. Secretly wanting the man who had wooed her making her heart skip has been replaced with a cold and unfeelingly cruel tyrant; taking everything from her barely letting Christiana have contact with her father and beloved younger sisters. Her sisters appear at her door worried over their father and his sudden downward spiral into gambling. A plan ensues but before Christiana can speak to her husband they come across his prone body lying cold and lifeless on the floor. The girls decide to make the best out of an "awkward" situation. The sister decide to place the lord on ice for the season until the second oldest sister, Suzette has acquired herself a desperate lord of her own in need of funds. Off they go to a ball with their plan in hand only to have it go up in flames.

Richard, Lord Fairgrave has just returned having been attacked and left for dead in the Americas. Only to come home to find his unscrupulous and murderous twin has taken his and place, and that he is married to the most beguiling beauty he has ever seen. But he can't quite be sure if she and her sister didn't have a hand in murdering his brother. Richard waste not time in unraveling the charade that transpired in his absents. Richard comes to the conclusions that lead him to believe that his lovely Christiana is as much a victim of his twin's dastardly deeds as he. Together with the help of friends and family will uncover his brother's malicious lies and reveal a blackmailer and utmost likely culprit of murder.

ALCCOLADE:

New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands has hit a grand slam with THE COUNTESS; which is a romantically witty read that engages the readers with her charismatic characters. An erotically spicy dynamic prose that titillates and strokes the reader's imagination with its sensual chemistry between two lusciously rich protagonists that grab a reader from the moment they step on the page. Surrounded with a plush cast of supporting characters that will have readers laughing and shouting out loud as they try to help--in their comical way. THE COUNTESS is a definite TBR must for any lover of romance.

This blurb is just irritating as well as deceiving. It leads me to believe that Richard has assumed the dead brother's place without Christiana knowing it, and he believes her a "gold digger". WRONG! But I am way ahead of myself.

First, I never read any of Linsay's Vampire books. I sort of lost interest in those after Ann Rice's Vampire series, but I have read her two Historical Romances, "The Switch" and "Love is Blind" which I liked a lot. I do like the humor and wit she weaves through her stories. It truly is Laugh-Out-Loud reading.

With this story, Linsay is introducing us to three sisters who were left a dower from their Grandmother, and this book displays the same charm, humor and wit I've come to expect of her. Still, it was a bit disappointing. I can't put my finger on it but there you have it. It was too simple, too predicting and just too lighthearted. Our Heroine was too meek and she let her husband mentally abuse her for the past year of their marriage. He kept all of her friends and family away from her and slowly subdued her will and her spirit. In my opinion the Author didn't take this story far enough for me. Maybe that's why I just didn't connect with Christiasna. Later on, once she gets her back bone, we're even more confused about why she just gave up on herself for a year.

On the other hand we have Richard, Earl of Radnor, the REAL one, who was a straight forward chap and knew where he's going and what he's about. He was a total opposite of the "pretender". He was patient, kind, passionate and his concern for Christiana's well-being and for her reputation was genuine. I liked him very much. We also get to meet his friends and I'm really looking forward to their story.

Now we come to the plot: Who killed the "pretender"? Richard figured out quite quickly that it wasn't Christiana, and while they all are surprised by the big "reveal", we are not. Well, I wasn't, but I won't tell you. Suffice it to say it was revealed by a whimper and not a bang...

I have to say that the most fun I had reading this book was when Richard discovers the body of his brother and tries to smuggle it out and then in the house. It truly was "Weekend at Bernie's" Regency Style!
To recommend this book or not? Hmmmm.....Yes, I'll recommend it, if for nothing else, but for those LOL scenes and I have to say that Suzette's story has intrigued me. "The Heiress" will be coming out February 22nd, and I will buy it.

Hold the presses my husband is still alive? What a question for a wife who thinks she is a widow to ask, but for Christiana it is a reasonable one since her husband went from a sensitive, caring beau to a controlling, ogre of a husband all of which she thought was dead. Who wouldn't want to be rid of that nightmare unless the nightmare came back to life, or did he?

So many questions and very few answers but the man who seems to know what is going on is the one presently kissing the complete sense out of Christiana and she is really enjoying it. But how could that be possible when she hated her supposed dead husband who is still alive and more passionate than any man should be. But before the night is over Christiana finds out the man she thought was Richard Fairgrave, The Earl of Radnor was really his twin brother and that horrid man she married attempted to murder the man she is now married to, or maybe she is but she is not sure since she married the other twin. Oh goodness what a mess and the scandal that would go along with it would cripple her younger sister's ability to find a good match. But if this man would just keep kissing her maybe she could forget for one minute anything but his tender touch and warm caresses.

The true Richard is not a horrible man; he is kind and concerned for Christiana's wellbeing and cares for her reputation. Richard offers to marry her, again as the real Earl and no one would be the wiser and this would have been a great plan but Christiana can't keep a secret and before long everyone and her sister knows what is what and who is dead and who is still alive. The problem is someone already knew the little trick they are all playing and that the body they are moving around is the imposter but who could it be and can they stop that person before Christiana becomes a widow again? Lots of suspects with no answers and too many attempts on Richard's life make him say enough of this game and he is tired of trying to find a place to hide his twin so the mystery has to be solved.

What Richard did discover is one redeeming factor in his twin in that he had excellent taste in wives. Richard finds too many other horrible things about him to dismiss and the deceit with which he tricked Christiana into marriage is so shameful but in the end when they are snuggled under the covers Richard realizes that there are some good things that don't leave you.

This book is so lovely and romantic you forget that there is blackmail, murder and assorted other crimes going on. The story with Richard and Christiana as well as her sister's is so full of happy thoughts you just know something wonderful has to happen as these women deserve it.

I am madly in love with Lynsay Sands' vampire series, but I have been disappointed in the past with some of my favorite supernatural romance authors trying to break into the regency romance field and failing miserably. With this in mind, there was no little trepidation going into this book. Upon completion, I have realized that my fears were for naught. Sands pulled what could have been a cheesy story off beautifully! There were laugh-out-loud moments reminiscent of the play/movie "Arsonic and Old Lace". With various parties hauling around a dead body in a rug, and the proper English butler offering to help thinking it is only a rug. The story itself is marvelously written and I highly recommend it even if you have not read any of her supernatural novels.

Excellent

great book can not wait for the next on