The Reluctant Countess

by Clarissa Beauvoir

London, 1835.
When beautiful and well-born Eugenie Palmer's aunt dies unexpectedly, Eugenie has to make a choice: surrender herself to the guardianship of the Earl of Loudoun, or escape to London and use her inheritance to create her own establishment. Entanglements with highwaymen and a handsome stranger make for a fast-paced romantic adventure.

In the tradition of Georgette Heyer and Barbara Cartland...A Clarissa Beauvoir Historical Romance

Genres: Romance

257 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2011

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh! Those dastardly rouge highwaymen! But have no fear, as our heroine Eugenie Palmer (with help) is able to overcome the danger. Clarissa Beauvier’s “The Reluctant Countess” is a delightful read!

Due to the death of her aunt and entailment, Miss Eugenie Palmer is being sent to live with her ward. Miss Palmer has never met the Earl of Loudoun nor set foot on his fine estate, Holdmere. The adventure begins when Eugenie takes matters into her own hands, en route to meet the mysterious Earl.

The main characters are likeable and the details of the clothes are fabulous! Humor is a main part of the plot, with lots of twinkling in various characters eyes. The pacing of the book is done well. Set up of the impending entanglements are excellent, but the actual event was over in a paragraph, or two. I would have liked it if the action were drawn out a bit more. Also, I would have liked to have more background information on two characters, the Beaucamps. Their dogs, "Les enfants", created a fun diversion. References to historical facts are commendable. Enjoyed reading tidbits about Lord Castlereagh. The presentation of Eugenie to court and Queen Adelaide was an interesting side plot.

There are many things about “The Reluctant Countess” that are enjoyable. It is a light read and the ending is perfect. I will not hesitate to read Ms. Beauvier’s next book, “Delphina”.

FYI: The “Reluctant Countess” was won in a contest on www.goodreads.com.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won a free copy of this book from first reads.

Historical romances tend to be my guilty pleasure. It's a problem. I admit it.

This book was a quick, light-hearted read. Sure, it was predictable, but I didn't mind that. I've come to expect that with these types of books. Guilty pleasure, remember? I did like the characters. Any girl that climbs out of windows and carries her own pistol is okay by me. However, I wish there would have been more to the story. It jumped around a lot, I thought, without any indication that it was going to do so.

My main problem with the book is that there were so many errors. There were problems with punctuation and I found typos (like 'and' instead of 'an'). I tried to overlook this. I really did, but it was starting to drive me crazy by the end. I also had the worst time keeping track of which character was speaking and sometimes had to re-read paragraphs to make sure I was getting it right. If not for those problems (hey editor hey), I likely would've given it three stars.

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Reluctant Countess started out witty and fun, then became a little slow and predicable. The ending was good and what you would expect from a romance novle.There was a lot of twist and turns in this story. It was an easy and fast read, it only took me two days to read. 

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, although historical romances aren't my thing. It was a quick fun read.