Courting the Countess

Rating:
Summary: perhaps a change of title is in order?
Review: After her husband almost ended her life ("A Gentleman at Heart"), Brook Meylan, Lady A'Court, left London and retired to the wilds of Cornwall in order to avoid the cruel speculation of Society. Here, she's exsisted, warding off the well meaning intentions of her family to get her return to London and to remarry. But all this changes when Mallory Claeg, artist and notorious libertine moves into the neighbourhood. From the very first, Mallory is fascinated by the quiet countess, and sets out to charm her. And while Brook knows full well what a man of his reputation wants from her, she finds herself strangely tempted by rakish Mallory. Should she give into the temptation? And what of the price this madness would entail...

While it is easy to empathise with and like both Brook and Morgan, much of "Courting the Countess" suffers from having a much used plot premise with very little variation. Both Brook and Morgan are suffering from past experiences -- she, from the sadistic cruelty of an obviously deranged husband, and he from his wife's untimely death. Morgan falls rather hard for Brook's fragile beauty and her air of sadness and vulnerability; and being the hard-living, notorious libertine that he is, decides to try and seduce into having an affair with him. Somewhere along the way, everything changes for him, and he decides that he would actually like to marry Brook and spend the rest of his life with her. But does he change the manner of his "courtship?" Of course not. Fumbling about in secluded places in order to have a few highly charged sexual moments is what every woman is looking for in a mate! As for Brook, while it is so very easy to wholly sympathise and understand her actions and her motivation, I did long for her to stand up, just once, for herself to her family comprehensively. Ultimately, though "Courting the Countess" is a competently written novel, that is more about how two characters overcome their past histories and so attain happiness with each other. The historical aspect may be paper thin (if it were not for a mention of Almacks and a description of the clothes, I doubt if I would have guessed that it took place in the Regency period -- aside from the careful dating at the beginning of the book). It was nice to catch up with characters from previous novels. And on the whole, this was a quick and pleasant read. It's just that it really did pale when compared to "A Lady's Mischief" & "A Gentleman at Heart." All in all, this was a nice 3 star read. Though I would have perhaps changed the title to "Seducing the Countess" or "Pleasuring the Countess" since the word "courting" seems to suggest a more tender and romantic way to woo a lady's heart and esteem, and that's not exactly how Morgan goes about trying to snare Brook!

Rating:
Summary: The title doesn't fit
Review: I liked Brook a lot, and Mallory was much more appealing than I had expected from earlier novels in the series. He came into his own here. The new Lord A'Court was creepy but had no real teeth. The true villain didn't work well. The plot was weak, sketchy. Brook's mom was certainly odd. The author did an excellent job of bringing others, especially Tipton, back into this book; it was nice to catch up with them.

I liked the book fairly well, but it wasn't as good as the rest of ther series. I'm giving it two & 1/2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: fine Bedegraynes Regency romance
Review: In 1810, Lady Brook Meylan has remained in exile rusticating since her spouse and child died two years ago. Most people assume she mourns the loss of her husband, but she hated him for physically and mentally abusing her; she grieves for her child. She vows never again will a male freely do whatever he wants to do to her under the label marriage. To enforce her edict, Brook only shows up at family events hosted by her blood family and only when they really pressure and coax her.

Artist Mallory Claeg is known as a womanizer who knows how to treat a lady with respect especially in his portraits and his bed. When he meets Brook at a family event, he offers the widow pleasure, but she aloofly rejects his advances though this man is tempting to her. This is a unique experience for a man hitting a home run every time he swings his bat (the anachronism fits). Stunned and already half in love, Mallory begins COURTING THE COUNTESS.

Though on the surface, Barbara Pierce's latest Bedegraynes Regency romance seems similar to many of the sub-genre offerings, the author provides her tale a lift due to the wonderful likable lead characters, who quickly have readers wanting the best for them. Mallory is a delightful rogue who uses his painting reputation to sham an interest in the Cornwell landscape so that he can court the woman who heats his blood with an icy look that would freeze a penguin. Their relationship makes for a fun time for fans.

Harriet Klausner