Book Review: The Christmas Countess

Author: Adrienne Basso
Title: The Christmas Countess
Publisher: Zebra
Publish Date: Oct 1, 2008
Buy: Amazon
Book Blurb:  Rebecca Tremaine’s family told her that her baby was stillborn, and that it was for the best, since her fiancé had tragically died. While going through her recently deceased father’s papers, Rebecca discovers that her daughter lived and was given to Cameron Sinclair, the Earl of Hampton, and his wife. When Rebecca insists on meeting with her daughter, Cameron reluctantly invites her to spend the holidays with his family, never expecting that she could help him forget the loss of his wife. Love, family, and the magic of the holiday season bring two different couples together in Basso’s latest richly emotional and elegantly written Victorian historical romance.

Review: This was an interesting plot for a Christmas romance. Usually these are light fluffy reads, and though there is still some holiday fluff, there is also the heartbreak of Rebecca finding out the child she believed born stillborn, was given away without her consent at childbirth.

That's pretty deep for a romance and it really doesn't seem plausible that the actions of characters in this book could have happened, but then again, the things that happened in the film Titanic probably couldn't have happened either and everyone and their grandmother loved that film. (Except me).

In the case of this book, I actually enjoyed it. However, I enjoyed the subplot best of all. There are actually two romances going on in this book. Rebecca and the Earl and Daniel and the Earl's sister Charlotte. For some reason I loved Daniel and Charlotte best of all.  I think it was because Daniel fell in love with her inspite of her infirmity (which is one leg shorter than the other). The scenes between those two were so much more romantic.

Rebecca and Cameron had too many inner struggles to make their romance easy to take. For one, Lily, was the child born of her love for her fiancee who happened to die before they married, so that allows you to believe that though she's a free thinking woman, she's also free with her favors, and that doesn't quite sit right with a woman who is a vicar's daughter. She is also very prim and proper in a lot of her doings with Lily.

Overall both romances worked for me in the long haul. I was happy that everyone was matched up in the end. I only wish that in the epilogue there could have been something to show readers how Daniel and Charlotte were doing.

Rating: 4 flowers