THE COUNTESS – Lynsay Sands
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-196304-9
February 2011
Historical Romance

London – 1800's

Christiana married Dicky, Lord Radnor, to settle her father's gambling debts.  He had seemed so charming when he was courting her, but she has found him to be an angry, cruel man.  Had he known about the money that would come to her from her grandfather at her marriage?  Her sisters, Suzette and Lisa, are horrified to find that their sister is living under the thumb of such a monster.  And now, their father has again gambled a small fortune away which he doesn't have after Dicky took him to a gaming hell.  Suzette is desperate to have a season and find a man to marry.  She asks Christiana to sponsor her.  Christiana confronts Dicky to ask his permission only to find him in his chair, dead.  Knowing there will be two balls in the next two nights, Suzette and Lisa beg Christiana to pretend Dicky is ill for two days so they can attend the balls.  They manage to put him in his bed covered with ice.

Richard Fairgrave, Earl of Radnor, enters the ball.  He has recently returned from America .  Thinking he is her husband, Christiana is horrified to see him.  How can it be?  Richard believes that his twin brother, George, who supposedly died in a fire, has taken over his life and married the young woman.  He tries to talk to Christiana, but she is shocked and refuses to talk with him.  In desperation, he takes her onto the dance floor and, as they waltz, they feel a mutual attraction.  Christiana doesn't know what to make of it.  Why is Dicky being so kind, and why is she so attracted to him?  She dances with her friend, Robert Langley.  He suspects the man Christiana married is George, not Richard.  They had gone to school together, and he never liked George.  He tells her that Richard has a birthmark on his buttocks and encourages Christiana to find out if her husband is Richard or George.

In a quandary about what to do, Richard and his friend, Daniel, decide to go to the Radnor estate and see if George is alive or dead.  If he is dead, they will take the body for a few days until they decide what to do.  In the meantime, Richard will take his place and find out what George had been planning and who could have killed him.  Will he be able to resist the charms of Christiana?

Suzette is bold, Lisa is sweet and romantic, and Christiana is just trying to see her husband's bottom to see if he is George or Richard.  All the while, Richard and Daniel are trying to move the stiff body in or out of the house and hide it without running into the women or the servants.  THE COUNTESS has many laugh-aloud moments as all the participants try to figure out what is going on.  There is a sizzling romance as well as suspense as Christiana and Richard get to know each other, and as Richard tries to figure out who could have killed George and why.  Well written and engaging, readers will have to suspend disbelief, but are sure to enjoy this comical, entertaining, and appealing story.

Marilyn Heyman