Customer Reviews

The Christmas Countess

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While sorting her father's papers to settle his estate, Rebecca Tremaine learns that the baby she delivered stillborn is actually alive. Her family lied to her about the birth of her baby to spare the family the scandal of her unwed pregnancy. Her Aunt Mildred arranged for her baby to be raised by the Earl of Hampton who had recently lost a baby to miscarraige.

After learning of their parents' duplicity, Daniel Tremaine (Rebecca's brother) arranges to speak with Cameron Sinclair, the Earl of Hampton to discuss a meeting between Rebecca and the Earl's adopted daughter Lily.

Shortly after adopting Rebecca's baby, Cameron's beloved wife died from a long illness. He was forced to raise Lily by himself the past three years. Even though he is angry at Rebecca's intrusion into his life, Cameron decides to invite them to his country home for the Christmas holidays. There are usually thirty guests in his home, and this will give Rebecca time to observe Lily under Cameron's close supervision.

As Rebecca joins the Christmas celebrations, she is able to get to know her daughter. To her dismay, she learns that her daughter is terribly spoiled by her father. Rebecca and Cameron continually disagree about his methods of raising Lily, but their arguments only serve to spark the romance growing between them. Their passionate exchanges lead to a burgeoning love affair surrounded by the joy and celebration of the Christmas season.

Adrienne Basso's THE CHRISTMAS COUNTESS is wonderful! It is passionate and funny while showcasing the best of the Christmas holiday's goodwill. The sprit of the Christmas season comes alive with Cameron and Rebecca's romance in this delightful novel. I read it one sitting, and plan to run out and get the rest of Basso's novels! This is a must for all readers!

Others have summed up the plot so here are a few comments about this story. I've never encountered the author before but somehow came across this title and ordered it to read during the holidays. It had a wonderful atmosphere and the setting at a Christmas house party in early Victorian England was well done. I liked all of the characters and actually enjoyed the secondary romance between Charlotte and Daniel more than the main one. However, Rebecca and Cameron's story was well drawn and moved at exactly the right pace. The fact that Rebecca had anticipated her wedding vows with her first fiance was believeable and I had a real sense of sympathy for her in her sad loss on his death. Cameron, as a widower, has made nearly a full recovery from his loss and now needs to go forward into a new relationship.

Here is what kept this from being a 5 star read: I really did not like Lily - partly her behaviour resulted from her upbringing but I could not warm to her at all. And, secondly, although the sexual scenes between Rebecca and Cameron were well done, I was jerked out of the flow by the use of extremely generic anatomical terms that seemed out of kilter with the sense of love and passion between the main characters and the general tone of the story. I thought this could have been handled better.

Overall, I would recommend this as a very engrossing and rewarding read. I don't rate it as a keeper but I am intrigued to read more by the author.

The story line sounded good, and the book started out fairly well, but by the time I reached the middle everything was totally trite and you knew exactly what would happen next to each character. The author used modern slang in several places to describe Victorian happenings and that broke up the story badly for me. If I hadn't been on a plane with nothing else to read I doubt it I would have finished this.

I would recommend this book for all those who would like to catch a bit of Christmas spirit!!! Wonderful read!!!!

This book was excellent - almost didn't read it because of the cover and title. Rebecca finds out her stillborn daughter is actually alive and living with the Earl of Hampton. She asks her brother to contact the Earl of Hampton and in the end they both get invited for the Christmas holiday. Two romance bloom and wonderful mature story develops, Enjoy!

If you enjoy this genre I would also suggest; The Rogue and the Rival, The Bride Price (Avon Romance) and Compromised (Berkley Sensation).

Rebecca Tremaine has felt too much loss in her young life. When she met and fell in love with Phillip, Rebecca believed she had found her happily ever after. Even after finding out she was pregnant with Phillip's child during their engagement, Rebecca still believed all would be well. But that's when tragedy struck. Twice. Phillip was killed in an accident, and their beloved baby was still born. Now six years later her father, the town vicar, has passed away. While packing up her father's office and preparing to move out of the vicarage, Rebecca comes across a stack of love letters from her mother and her father. Warmed by the thoughts of her parents young and in love, Rebecca carefully hugs the letters to her chest. But the stack of letters slips out of her hands and lands in a scattered mess on the floor. As she is gathering the letters, Rebecca finds one envelope that is not in her mother's handwriting. Filled with intrigue as to why her father would keep another woman's letter, Rebecca opens the letter and reads it. Only to have her world crumbled into pieces yet again. The letter is written by her great aunt and reassures Rebecca's parents that it was for the best for the entire family that Rebecca's precious baby was given to the Earl and Countess of Hampton to raise as their own. Though hurt and heartbroken by her parents' betrayal, Rebecca is ecstatic to know that her little girl is alive and well. Rebecca enlists the help of her brother Daniel in located the Earl and Countess of Hampton in the hopes of seeing and talking with her darling little girl.

Cameron Sinclair, the Earl of Hampton, is no stranger to loss. He too has felt the biting sting of death. His beloved Countess, Christina, has been gone for three years. Three very long years. Watching the disease take his vibrant wife was difficult for Cameron to bear. The one saving grace he could hold on to was their beautiful little daughter Lily. Cameron and Christina had tried having a child of their own, but Christina's body would not carry a child to full term. So when they received a letter from a distance family member describing a woman in need of giving away her child, Cameron and Christina gladly accepted the babe as their own. Lily brought such joy to their lives. But now that joy is at jeopardy. After being cornered by Daniel Tremaine in a London club, Cameron learns that Daniel's sister Rebecca is Lily's biological mother and that she hopes for the chance to see and talk with her daughter. After much thought and deliberation, Cameron decides to invite Daniel and Rebecca to Windmere, his country estate in Kent, for the Christmas celebrations. Cameron figures this way Rebecca can be introduced to Lily in a confined area with limited spectators. Definitely a better place to keep his eye on her and his lovely daughter. But once encased in the beautiful setting of Windmere, Cameron realizes Rebecca is more than Lily's biological mother. She may very well be his second chance at love and happiness.

This is a beautiful story full of second chances. I just love when a book surprises you with its sweetness and tenderness, without causes a toothache. I was quite surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I was not sure how the author could bring together two people who have both lost loves in their lives and make the reader hope for a happily ever after and believe it. But Ms. Basso does a supreme job achieving this goal. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the relationship between Cameron and Rebecca bloomed from nonexistent to friendship to love and passion. Ms. Basso's writing shows this progression in the relationship in such an effortless manner. I was equally enchanted by the secondary romance between Rebecca's brother Daniel and Cameron's slightly disabled sister Charlotte. This is a beautiful book that should be enjoyed during the holiday season as it will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling. So get comfy on the sofa, throw a blanket over your legs, and enjoy this novel!

Grade: 4.50 stars

I enjoyed reading this story and although it started out with some edge to it (unwed Rebecca and her brother Daniel confront Cameron about his `daughter' Lily, who is actually Rebecca's biological daughter thought to be still born), about half way through it turned into more a pastoral romance then what I was expecting. I was waiting for more intrigue and conflict with Rebecca's secret of being Lily's real mother. I was looking for a villain or source of external tension, but what I read was the budding romance of Rebecca and Cameron, and her growing relationship with Lily. I was able to relate to her frustration and fears about continuing a relationship with Lily as well as her growing love for Cameron. It was a VERY pleasant read. I also enjoyed the secondary story of Rebecca's brother, Daniel, and his romance with Charlotte. I thought the scene between Daniel and Cameron as Daniel asks for Charlotte's hand was beautifully written and had a lot of charm and humor.

This story wasn't what I expected but I will be reading many more of Ms. Basso's work!

I highly recommend this book. I read it right after Christmas, and enjoyed it very much. My first read by this author, but certainly not my last. I can't say I found any flaws in the story. Add to your collection:)

Instead of grieving her father's death, Rebecca Tremaine is irate to discover the lie he perpetrated on her even if logically she knows he did it for her own good and that of her child. She thought her daughter died, but instead learns that the Earl of Hampton and his wife adopted her six years ago.

Widower Cameron Sinclair has loved his little Lily from the moment he first held her. He wants to tell Rebecca she can't see her daughter because Lily comes first and he fears the harm the biological mother could do to his beloved spoiled daughter. However, he end up reluctantly agreeing.. To his shock, Rebecca brings an upbeat positive light to the household although she is concerned about Lily's impish behavior; the child is a handful as she has her daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers. As she and Cameron fall in love, each believes this may prove the greatest Christmas of them all; but both understand Lily comes first.

This is an engaging historical holiday romance with an upbeat tone to the plot. The three prime players come across as genuine with the adults needing to move beyond their respective ghosts of Christmas past if they are to share the joys of Christmas future with the rascally matchmaking Lily.

Harriet Klausner

THE CHRISTMAS COUNTESS bears a passing resemblance to the romantic movie "Firelight", in that the heroine has a child she's never seen, who was given to another family to raise.

Unfortunately, unlike the intelligent, proactive and thoughtful heroine of "Firelight", Rebecca Tremaine seems only to exist to have a lush figure and sudden determination to see her child. There is very little else to Rebecca. At first, I thought it was promising that Rebecca was determined to see her lost child because she's the sole remainder of the loving relationship she had with the child's dead father. Rebecca hopes the child bears a resemblance to her dead lover, yet when she does see the little girl, the author has Rebecca see only her own smile/mouth in the girl's features. I comment on this because I thought it was very odd. Usually when a person sees someone who's related to them, the first thing they note are resemblances to persons OTHER than themselves.

The attraction between Rebecca and the child's adoptive father, the Earl of Hampton, is a foregone conclusion from the minute they meet. It only remains to be seen- veeeeery slooooooowly -when they will act on the attraction. Lily, the little girl they both love, wobbles between brattiness and creepy Demon Seed-style behavior. She's not just a spoiled child, she's a manipulating liar, and somewhat evil with it.

Will Rebecca be able to convince the widowed Earl that the child needs a mother (even if the child never knows that Rebecca's her real mother?) Will the Earl's spinster-ish and lame (in more than one sense) sister Charlotte have a successful romance with Rebecca's brother Daniel? Do I care? No, not really.

2 stars may actually be a little harsh toward this inoffensive romance novel, yet its total lack of sexual tension; zesty romantic conflict and page-turning readability certainly didn't hold my interest.