Book Review: Romancing the Countess by Ashley March

At First Sight: Sebastian Madinger, the Earl of Wriothesly thought he had the perfect marriage to the perfect lady... until his beloved wife was found dead next to his best friend.

Leah George had known about the affair between her husband and Lady Wriothersly for almost a year before they were killed in a carriage accident. She had married in love and believed her husband loved her, but finding out about the affair was the death of her marriage when they were still basically newlyweds. 

Leah hated living with the secret and she slowly withdrew from society, her friends and even her family. And upon her husband's death, she decided she was going to live her life anyway she saw fit.

So Leah decides to throw a house party, even though she's only a few months into her mourning period and this would be a huge no-no. Sebastian is none too pleased with this, as he's determined to keep the affair secret so his son's legitimacy is not called into question, so he takes it upon himself to make sure Leah behaves as is proper and in doing so he finally gets to know her as a woman rather than just as Mrs. George, his best friend's wife. 

Second Glance: I was actually quite excited to read Romancing the Countess but it turned out to be a different book than I expected. There were parts that I did like, however. like seeing Sebastian and Leah get to know each other better - as before they only knew each other according to their relationship to the late Mr. George and they sort of assume things about each other than later turn out to be untrue.

But the rest of it was only so-so. I could understand Leah's loneliness and how much she resented her husband but her actions were mostly self-destructive to the point that it made her seem silly. The only parts I liked where when she stood up to her mom because her mom was rather awful.

Sebastian was a bit stuck up and I didn't like him as much. More than than, though, I just never felt the chemistry between them. 

Bottom Line: Maybe I was expecting a lot from this book, but in any case, Romancing the Countess fell a little flat for me. The writing is pretty good though so I might check this author again in the future. 

2/3