The Countess by Lynsay Sands

Title/Author: The Countess by Lynsay Sands
Publisher/Date published: January 25th 2011 by HarperCollins
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Why I read this book: I love historical romances.

Married life hasn't been what Christiana expected of it. Her husband, Dicky, was really sweet during their short courtship but after the vowels were exchanged that all went away. So after he drops dead, Christiana doesn't really mind and since one of her sisters needs to find a husband, the sisters decide to put him on ice and go to the ball that evening as planned. The only problem: Dicky shows up at the ball, all alive and well. Only this time it's the real Dicky, or rather Richard as he prefers being called. Christiana's husband was his twin and impersonated him after trying to murder him, to get at Richard's name and title.
Now these two are stuck together and must try and work it out or risk causing a huge scandal.

The whole idea of this novel is a bit outrageous. I mean, who would put their husband on ice in one of the rooms of his own home and hope for the best? And the whole towing around with a dead body, which happens more than one time, is a bit absurd. But after getting over this, I really enjoyed the book.

Christiana is a likeable character, in the past she wasn't one to be quiet and do as she was told and be a proper lady. But Dicky has managed to lower her selfconfidence so much with his remarks and behaviour that she starts to believe the things he says. I think this goes to show that verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse. I really enjoyed seeing her starting to get back to her former self.

I did however have a 'oh COME ON!' moment when she didn't figure out that Richard was not the man she married. I mean, sure, twins can look scarily alike, but when you've lived with someone for a whole year, you should be able to tell the difference. Especially with the completely different personalities.
And it shocks me again how clueless women were of the goings on in the marital bed, I don't know it it's an accurate portrayal of this, but imagine not knowing what's going to happen!

Richard was a good male main character and seemed really sweet and caring, though he doesn't necessarily make the right choices when faced with a problem. I also really liked Christiana's sisters and look forward to reading about them in the other books in the series.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read, though I think the 3 or 4 days the book spans is an awfully short time to fall deeply in love with someone.

My rating: 3.5 stars