‘Cause Earl Had to Die

The Countess


Written by: Lynsay Sands

Released: January 25, 2011 by Avon

Summary: The fairy tale courtship did not turn into a happily-ever-after . . .

Not until her husband dropped dead, that is. He had been horrible enough to Christiana during their short marriage, and she was not going to allow the traditional period of mourning to ruin her sisters' debuts as well. So she decides to put him on ice and go on as if nothing's happened . . .

Until the real earl appears. Richard Fairgrave had every intention of confronting his villainous twin who had robbed him of his name and title . . . only to discover that he had died. Quietly assuming his identity, Richard must now deal with a maddening desire for his ravishing inherited "wife"— certainly a gold digger and possibly a murderess. And Christiana must deal with an unwanted new "husband" . . . and they both must figure out what to do before the ice melts!

Meh, this book just didn’t do it for me. I love Lynsay Sands’ Argeneau series and it seemed as though this book was lacking what they all seem to have – and I’m not talking about the vampires.

I think that it was because everything was incredibly rushed. Now, I’m not sure if that was because scenes were missing from my copy – Goodreads states that the book was over 300 pages and my copy was just a little over 200 – or what, but it was all ‘boom, boom, boom, ending’ with this one. It was like you never got a chance to catch your breath until after you were finished reading the very last page.

However, the hanky panky in this book was great and I did enjoy the slight mystery that the plot was shrouded in. The classic mistake of identity was well done and very fun to read.

In the end, though, this just wasn’t fully it – it was missing the je ne sais quois. All the pieces were there but it still seemed as though something was absent. It is a fun, short read that promises the typical Lynsay Sands smut-tastic romance and I would recommend it if you’re looking for a spring break beach read. I give it a 6/10.



Many thanks to netGalley and Avon for allowing me the chance to read this e-book edition.