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Romancing The Countess (2011)

by Ashley March(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0451234510 (ISBN13: 9780451234513)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Signet Eclipse

series

Romancing

review 1: I love goodreads. I found so many great reads from following some of the reviews of other goodreads' members. My deepest gratitude for all your wonderful reviews. This book was one of them. The plot synopsis grabbed my attention. Two people who were betrayed by the people they trusted and loved the most, but reacted differently to the death of those people. Though the plot is quite simple, Ms. March managed to show real depth to the main characters. I could feel the sadness, pain, hurt and agony of the heroine throughout the book. Well done, Ms. Ashley March.
review 2: I found "Courting the Countess" by Ashley March to have a unique premise. Leah George and Sebastian, Earl of Wriothesly have been acquaintances for several years. Leah has known her of husband's ... moreinfidelity of a number of months now while Sebastian has remained blissfully unaware of his wife's infidelity. That all changes when both receive news of their deaths. They were in a carriage together when it turned over and everyone inside was killed. While Leah is a bit saddened over the news, she views it as an opportunity to live her life aware from the shadow of her husband. Sebastian however is completed blindsided by his wife's and best friend's betrayal. He's completely hurt and angry at the both of them. He confronts Leah, he wants to know why she never told him about his wife. He's also angry and how relatively unaffected she seems by all of this. He's ashamed he never knew, he wants to avoid scandal by all means for his own and for the sake of his son. Leah loved her husband and she thought he loved her, so when she was blindsided herself by finding the couple in the throes of passion she tried to remain polite and distant from him. But whenever he came to her bed out of guilt, passion, friendship, duty, Leah couldn't help but fall for him despite his infidelity. When Leah decides to throw a house party despite it not being the proper thing to do, Sebastian is outraged because he think she's going against her word in keeping their secret. But when he really looks at her, he sees a lonely young woman. He realizes she's not trying to court scandal, but she just wants friends. Leah misses her husband, but she doesn't want to wallow anymore, she wants to live. She also wants to help Sebastian and she can relate to all that he went through. In some way, they have a secret bond. Leah realizes that he's the only will that could and will understand what she's going through. Even though they initially don't really like each other, she realizes she could have a friend out of him. And equally he can talk to her about his feelings without Society's shame wrecking havoc on him. But little by little, they are attracted to one another. Leah never imagined she could feel attracted to someone else, after her marriage to Ian. Perhaps, if he were out rightly bad to her she wouldn't have any misgivings, but Ian treated her well despite his infidelity. But when she thinks perhaps she could give into desire she flees. I always love it when the hero falls in love first and Sebastian has to hold his feelings in check because he doesn't want to ruin what he's attained. I would of liked had Leah been older. She's only 20 and married to Ian I believe for a year or so. She says she discovered their affair 4 months after they were married and she's been holding onto he secret for a year. In a way, I think it makes sense for her to be that young become how long could this affair have been without mentally destroying her? Or she could have married older. Anyway, despite that I think Leah should of been a little older and we never learn Sebastian's age. For all we know, he could be just as young as Leah or double her age.I do wonder about the historical accuracy of the book. While hosting a house party in the country is relatively scandalous, Leah insists the party is in Ian's honor. What better way to honor his memory than by hosting activities he enjoyed when in actuality it's all the things Leah would like to do with company. When she decides to throw a dance party at the end, she decides to wear an amazing gown and wants to dance. When Sebastian warns her this will be the end and he'll be the first to give her the cut direct, all hell breaks loose. I understand widows were meant to remain relatively anonymous and unseen for a year, but I wonder if the extent of the Leah's scandal is accurate. You want to bash Sebastian over the head when he basically announces that she's dead to him. But on the other hand, he wants to protect the paternity of his son. And when he tells her to never contact him if she needs help, as men often do, they wait to see if they really will contact them for help. So when she doesn't (because he was very blunt when he told her), she becomes even more ingrained in Sebastian's subconscious. The events of the book take place over a number of months. In the second half, the two are separated for 2 months or so and as they say "separation makes the heart grow fonder."There aren't too many outside conflicts in this book - meaning kidnappings, a villain, etc. Instead it's really about two characters coming to terms with the infidelity of their spouses in the strictures of Victorian society and the idea of forbidden love. The whole scene when Sebastian is dancing with Leah and he's telling her do not do this was so powerful. And subsequent scenes when he's watching her with his son. They both hold their feelings in check because of the fear of rejection and you just want to bash them in the head for doing so.It looked like this might be the start of a series and I'm surprised their haven't been subsequent books either in this series or stand alones. March has another book, but just reading the premise I'm not sure if I could deal with it. less

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