The Highland Countess

Regency Royal #7

by Helen Crampton (Pseudonym), M.C. Beaton

Morag Fleming, the Countess of Murr, had been bride to the most lecherous lord in Scotland - yet the ravishingly lovely girl had never been touched. So it was that Morag had never borne a child - yet as a young widow, she arrived in London with a fine son in tow. Her background had left her ignorant of the follies and fopperies of fashion - yet soon all of society was at her feet. Most incredible of all, she knew so little about the ways and wiles of love - yet set her heart upon none other than the devastatingly handsome, charming, and wealthy Lord Toby Freemantle, who could have any woman he wanted, and was clearly not interested in her…

Genres: Romance, Regency, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency Romance, Fiction

169 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1981

About the author

Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, M.C. Beaton, Sarah Chester.

Marion Gibbons (née Chesney) was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery novels. Marion wrote her historical romances under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, as well as several pseudonyms ( Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward). Using the pseudonym M.C. Beaton she also wrote many popular mystery novels, most notably the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series. Both of these book series have been adapted for TV. Because of her great success with mystery novels her publishers both in the U.S. and abroad began using the M.C. Beaton pseudonym for all of her novels.

Reviews

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morag is only seventeen and a beauty. She is married to the elderly Earl of Murr but the marriage has never been consummated. She falls in love with a visitor to the castle in which she lives – Lord Toby Freemantle but even though the feeling is mutual there is a misunderstanding and they part. Seven years later they meet again in London when Toby is about to become engaged to someone else and Morag is a widow.

Is it possible that the two star crossed lovers can sort out their differences and find happiness or will everyone around them succeed in putting several spanners in the works? This is an entertaining short read and it kept me amused for a few hours. Morag herself is a sympathetic character but I thought the small boy, Rory, really stole the show. He is a really nasty, spoilt brat at first but he gradually changes.

The interactions between all the characters and Rory are really well done as is Morag’s fraught relationship with Toby. There is more depth to this book than it might appear and it does provide a certain amount of food for thought about human relationships in general.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the best Marion Chesney books I have read thus far. The h was very sheltered when she got married and remained extremely naive afterwards, but she had a really good heart and a lot of feistiness, so she's easy to like. The H is amusing as he repeatedly tries to view the h in the worst light possible, only to completely relent once he's around her. He's definitely going to be a doter as a husband.


This wasn't really a romance as much as it was an entertaining story with a strong romantic component. The pace was brisk, the story interesting and there were some memorable surprises.There were many other interesting characters -- the h's late husband, her son, her butler, etc.

I will definitely re-read this.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it I like so much about Marion Chesney? I think it's that her characters are multi-dimensional. Flawed, often self-deceiving, and willful. But they are passionate, sensual, intelligent grown-ups. And servants are never just walk-ons.

Perhaps most unusually, her children are quite often little beasts: sneaky savages in fact. They are not exactly tamed by the end of the story, but somehow they usually encounter someone(s) they respect and they establish a tentative rapprochement. Seriously, how often does one ever encounter real children in historicals?

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been ages since I read a book in the Romance genre and I used to love the ones by Marion Chesney. This story begins with Morag, what a name!, marrying the Earl of Murr. The narrator did the Scottish accents very well and made the entire story most entertaining. Some parts were hilarious and considering the topic, it was pure fun.

[MissKitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute and somewhat amusing.

Ive read better books by this author, but this is not bad. There is hardly any romance to speak of, the main “love” interests spend such little time w one another… so yes, kind of a bit let down.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Morag Fleming is only seventeen when she is married off to the much older Roderick, Earl of Murr. After unsuccessful attempts to consummate the marriage, Roderick pretty much ignores Morag, only occasionally showing her off to his cronies.

Morag bumps into Lord Toby Freemantle and they are immediately attracted to each other. A misunderstanding gives Lord Toby a disgust of Morag and he leaves without a word.

Some years later, Morag, now a widow, returns to London with a son in tow. She runs into Toby again, but he is now engaged to Henrietta. Will the fates ever allow Morag and Toby to clear up their misunderstanding?

This is a fine story and I recommend it to readers who are looking for "clean" Regency romance.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review - I really loved Rory and his cheeky, mischevious antics. They really enlivened the story, and made me appreciate Toby Freemantle all the more. I loved Morag as a main character with her vivid red hair and her development from frightened girl, to unsure wife, to confident dowager. What did slightly annoy me was that Toby and Morag didn't seem able to understand each other emotionally, or converse with each other.

Genre? - Romance / Historical

Characters? - Rory Lord Muir / Morag Lady Muir / Toby Freemantle / Henrietta Samson / Hamish / Lord Freddy / Cosmo / Miss Simpson

Setting? - Edinburgh (Scotland) & London (England)

Series? - Regency Royal #7

Recommend? – Yes

Rating - 16/20

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, this one was a delight and a re-read for me. Just as good the second time around. A young girl of seventeen, Morag Fleming, dutifully obeys her father and weds the much older Earl of Murr. Morag and her husband grow fond of each other despite the fact that their marriage was never properly consummated. With a "son", Rory, Lord Murr's heir apparent in tow, Morag heads for London, seven years after the death of her husband. Though ignorant of the follies and fopperies of fashion, Morag soon has all of society at her feet. But someone is trying to kill her "son", why? Is Rory really the Earl's heir?

[Droewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaton/Chesney's characters tend to the one dimensional: either one is virtuous, intelligent, kind, and lovely, or ugly, fat, sly, stupid, selfish, and evil. I was pleasantly surprised when the lecherous aging husband actually turned out to be a sympathetic character. Likewise Rory, who seemed like he was going to be a case of "bad blood" showing but wound up precocious, bored, and ultimately redeemable. I did want to smack the hero a couple times (THAT HARLOT HOW DARE SHE SLEEP WITH HER HUSBAND), but you can't have everything.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to read Marion Chesney's books all the time. Just felt a little nostalgic today and read something short and sweet. Very little character development. Moves pretty quickly, so nothing fantastic. It's just a very light read.

[Jann · Rating 3 out of 5]

These romances are so fun - I read them on vacation to take a break from the definitely serious Every Man Dies Alone

[Karen Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very good. I enjoyed it.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this one as much as some of her other books, there was nothing wrong with the plot or characters really, but the lack of development frustrated me, what I look for most in books is good development between the couple, while I know the hero and heroine fell in love at first sight but that doesn't make up for lack of scenes, they had very little scenes together and the book was shorter than most regency's so for that I say it was ok, not a bad book but I just wanted more. I have just finished the Viscount's Revenge by this author and I found that much more enjoyable and developed.

[Vera Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marion Chesney [MC Beaton] has been a favourite of mine for escapist reading. I have lately gone off, even though all the kindle books did their job for bedtime reading.
And the majority of her books have been on audio from the library, which again, I enjoyed when going through the first fifteen years of audiobook listening.

[Lilly Hi Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changing Fortunes Indeed!

In this novel Moraq's father gives her in marriage to an elderly count who has long been attracted to servant girls and has several illicit offspring but no genuine heirs. The story gets interesting from there l won't say more so I don't spoil this romantic mystery. Suffice it to say there's a very happy ending!

[Kbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible Romance Package

AUDIOBOOK: read 22 February 2020
5hrs 14min

Narrator: Charlotte Anne Dore is good enough
Liked this story but boy how I hated that kid! and how "his" mom didn't see anything wrong.

[Tinnean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, and the characters weren't too stupid to live. Rory reminded me of Collin from The Secret Garden, and it was good to know he could be redeemed.

Henrietta was a serious PITA, and one can but hope she wound up with someone who would suit her to a T. ;-)

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable little melodrama with fun characters. I would rate it 3.5 stars because it’s not worth buying a physical copy but I would read it again if I was in the mood for something not terribly serious.

[Tria · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Not great; decently written but poorly plotted.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the characters in this one. They are very interesting.

[Oksana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow what a life she got herself into. Good thing Toby was there.

[Ines]

Not the type of romance I'm used to but quite amusing and the audiobook narrator managed to get the humour across well.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this narrator's rendering of a Scottish accent

[Karen Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good.

[Sybil Mcguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

not deep

[Bookish · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3⭐️

[Quinby6696 Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful read. I eat this stuff up!

[Darien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Crampton/ M.C. Beaton, Marion Chesney....all the same author! This very prolific author offers historical Regency stories with well researched descriptions of places, practices and social mores and isn't afraid to include the nasty details of the period. She is also unafraid to make every character in her story unlikeable in some way. This story has wonderful narration and while I did enjoy it overall and it made me laugh out loud at some of the predicaments the characters got into. But it was also hard to find a character to identify with, since they all had numerous flaws and unsavory practices.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

I love all these books by M.C. Beaton. In fact this is the second time I've read this one, or the third. I enjoy the stories and I can usually finish one a day then ill leave them alone for another year. Each one of them have a happy ending so it's great. I always recommend her series. They're terrific