Customer Reviews

Countess of Scandal (The Daughters of Erin)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Set mainly in Kildare, Ireland. When they were children, lady Elizabeth "Eliza" Blacknall and William "Will" Denton were often together. They had been close friends. But in the year 1790, Will purchased his commission in an English regiment and went to England, leaving fifteen-year-old Eliza behind in Kildare.

Seven years have now passed. Eliza is now a widow, Lady Mount Clare. The young Irish countess is still the vibrant, intelligent, and independent lady that Will recalls so well. Will has returned, as an English soldier, to crush the Irish uprising. And it seems that Eliza is in the middle of it all. The last thing he wants is to see her neck in a noose when Lord Lieutenant Camden and his generals unleash their forces. All too soon Ireland is embroiled in bloody conflicts. Will's regiment is ordered to the front lines. Will worries not only about Eliza, but his mother too. Battle lines become blurred and Will must choose between all he cares for and his honor and duty to the king.

**** FOUR STARS! I found this story to have a deep and serious plot, very political. But the romance between Eliza and Will came across to me as unbelievable in the early parts of the tale. After all, early in the story Will admits to Eliza that he is determined to climb high in the English ranks and about how he believes in the Crown. He seemed to truly believe in his English duty. So I found it difficult to accept that he would put it all on the line for a lady from his past, no matter how close they had been. Otherwise, this story is intense, with action and high drama. I proudly recommend it to all fans of Historical Romances, as well as to fans of History. It is MORE than clear to me that the author has done her research and understands this era very well. BRAVA! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

With rebellion and war raging all around them can two lives that have been separated by time and upbringing be brought together again to find the true meaning of love and life? This is absolutely the case with Lady Elizabeth "Eliza" Mount Clare nee Blacknall and Major William Denton. These two people grew up together, explored the innocence of young love and survived being torn away from each other as teenagers when Will went to fulfill his commission as a soldier in the English Army. Yet once they are reunited with the backdrop of chaos and confusion surrounding the Irish Rebellion against England the love between them is still there and longing to be tapped into.

But when they are reunited conflict comes between them as Will is defending England against the Irish rebels that Eliza is fighting to protect and shelter. But it seems that with a quiet whisper and a stolen kiss they can only remember the past and their feelings for one another regardless of the present or who it will affect the future. While they may have been physically apart that was never the case with them emotionally and that their love was forged with such a strong and deep bond that even though they are on different sides their bodies are as one and their heart beats with the same rhythm. But when Will is ordered to return to his childhood home to "spy" on the activities and keep an eye on Eliza it is then he starts to question the decisions he has made and whether everything that seemed so right can now be so clouded with distrust. When Will is seriously injured and it is Eliza's family that cares for him the truth of what has to be done becomes clear and the steps he takes to correct the past misdeeds is forged with danger and despair. But Will knows that with Eliza by his side nothing will be wrong and all he need to is convince her of what has to be done to make them safe and able to forge a life together.

How is it possible to take such a devastating time in history and turn it into a heart-warming, tender love story - good question! The answer it appears is the writing ability of Laurel McKee and the talent to turn what could be seen as only sadness and despair into love and romance. This book gives you a history lesson that makes you understand how personal this fight was and help the reader understand how tragic the circumstance was but yet how two people that really love one another can make the best of the worst times. You have to learn to trust even when the person you love may be the one who is spying on you. Excellent Read!

Mary Gramlich ~ ("The Reading Reviewer") ~ www.marygramlich.com

This was an ok read; the romance between this couple was very exciting and intense, however the main plot of the story dragged on a bit and I found myself skimming through the pages a bit. I felt that this book also lacked a climactic point because it didn't really make sense why our heroine left Dublin because it wasn't safe there anymore and went off to be with her mother and sisters, only to then decide to rally them up and drag them back to Dublin because the uprising in the hometown started to get very heated. Other than our hero getting wounded and nursing him back to health, there really was no suspense at all. Indeed our couple kept their steamy relationship a secret throughout practically the whole book, and that little ingredient may qualify as somewhat of a suspense factor, but it was unrealistic for the author to have us think that our heroine was being followed and labeled a "person to keep watch over" without anyone ever finding out about this relationship. The mother and sisters knew of their long ago love for one another and weren't in the least bit surprised to have these two lovers reconnect to the point of having them always stick together and even sleeping with one another in the same room; this was a bit risqué and disrespectful for the story's time setting and a bit much to muster and swallow when the very same mother made sure these lovers could never have a future with one another. Surely she does have a change of heart, but her "swing vote" on the hero was a bit too much of a turnaround that resulted a bit unrealistic.

I give this book a 4-Star rating because at least we have a sexy couple that matched one another and never wasted their opportunities in being together. I am looking forward to the next installment of this series and hopefully this author would give us a bit more excitement in that read.

This book was more about the war in Irland than romance between the characters. Once I realized how this book was turning out,it was never ending. The ending of this book was weird as well. Now, I will debate on getting the next installment. I rather read about the characters involvement with each other than their freedom belief. Down load the sample and maybe you will understand what I'm trying to say, unfortunally I didn't. For the price its a long book, so maybe its worth it for you. Good reading!!!

I haven't read an historical novel like this in quite some time and don't really know where to begin. There were two interesting storylines going on - Eliza and Will's romance, and Eliza's efforts to help the Irish escape English rule. I have a only general understanding of the history of The Troubles in Ireland; I do not know the specific battles and such. This book takes place during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. I do think it's an interesting subject to work into a Romance novel.


As the book opens, Lady Eliza Blacknall has just escaped her parent's party in County Kildare to meet with her sweetheart, Will Denton. They are childhood friends and sweethearts, although their parents don't approve. As they talk, Eliza suddenly realizes Will is wearing a Red Coat - he's purchased his commission and is now part of an English Regiment! Eliza cannot bear it; although she is Protestant, she considers herself a true Irishwoman and feels like Will has betrayed her and their homes.


We pick back up again seven years later: Eliza is now a young widow living in Dublin. She is very active in the secret societies of the United Irishmen, writing pamphlets and hiding accused sympathizers. Will has come back to Ireland as a Major in the army and is staying in Dublin. Of course they hit it off immediately, and start having nightly trysts in her bedroom after dark. Eliza had been in a loveless marriage, and the things she experiences in the bedroom with Will surprise and delight her. She knows she still loves him, but cannot accept that he is in the English army - it goes against everything she believes in. Will knows he loves Eliza and tries to keep her out of trouble; he knows she's under suspicion for treason and helps her out of a sticky spot a time or two. He wants her to give up her subversive activities and leave Ireland until things settle down.


There were so many tender, sensual scenes between Eliza and Will; it was obvious they were very much in love. Through most of the book, however, I just couldn't see how Ms. McKee was going to be able to reconcile their love for each other against their differing political views. When Will left Dublin my heart broke for both of them. Even when they were reunited it still seemed to be a case of star-crossed lovers.


There were, of course, some dangerous scenes that Will and Eliza had to face together; her family was no longer safe on their land and needed to escape to Dublin. I liked that Eliza was a smart, opinionated heroine but not obnoxious or TSTL. She was very careful in her clandestine involvement with the United Irishmen. When she assisted Will through some dangerous situations later in the book, she took calculated chances and did not rush into things trying to be a hero. Will was a good hero in that he never talked down or humored Eliza, and while he did try to persuade her to give up her involvement in the illegal organization, he did not try to change her political views on the subject.


The ending of the book was a bit abrubpt, I don't know that Will's decisions would have been accepted as easily as it appeared to in the book, nor do I think Eliza would have accepted the decision she and Will made together. Her convictions seemed to be too strong to go along with that course of action.


All in all, this was an interesting read. I liked the set-up for the next book, which will feature Eliza's sister Anna. I give Countess of Scandal 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

It's the end of the 18th century and Eliza, recently widowed, is an Irish countess devoted to the Irish Rebellion. Though her status demands she remain proper and stay in the place of a woman, Eliza secretly supports her political views, all while maintaining her good name and household according to social expectations. Her whole life plan is thrown into disarray when Will, her childhood sweetheart, returns. The two parted ways when Will decided to join the English Army and Eliza chose to support Ireland at all costs. The two have to face the decisions between right and wrong, and decided whether duty and honour are more important than love and family.

Countess of Scandal (The Daughters of Erin) is not my usual read. I will declare that outright, but I won it from a fellow blogger, and I thought it sounded promising. This book features an extremely strong heroine, and you get to know Eliza almost immediately, seeing into her mind and understanding what drives her actions. She's endearing, almost to a fault, but you get a strong sense of self from her that helps drive the plot and her relationship with Will.

The author, Laurel McKee definitely did her research for Countess of Scandal. I can honestly say I knew nothing very little about Ireland before this. That said, I'm not entirely sure that was the point of the novel. While I felt the plot of the book was strong, I often felt it was a tad overshadowed by facts and the descriptions of Ireland.

Either way, it was beautifully written, and Laurel McKee is a great writer. Countess of Scandal is the first book in the Daughters of Erin trilogy. While I'm not sure this is the type of book for me, it was an entertaining and sweeping read. I give it a fairly strong 3.5 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys period romances.

I picked up this book on a whim one day and I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the fact that I am a total sucker for the hero and heroine to be good friends before their romance, I was a little unsure at first. I'm not huge on political books and I was worried that I just wouldn't enjoy it if the political plot overshadowed the romantic one. That, however, was not the case. I was very interested int he political plot, as well as the romantic one. Characterization was excellent and I quickly became a huge fan of Will. I devoured this book in a matter of hours and I am definitely looking forward to future books written by Laurel McKee. Highly recommended.

Eliza is an Irish girl through and through...which made it particularly difficult for her to accept Will's decision to become an English soldier (even more so because his decision was more practical than heartfelt). Hoping to free her people from English rule, she [secretly:] dedicates her life to the Irish cause. After many years apart, Will returns to his homeland when his regiment is assigned to squash the Irish uprising. What he certainly didn't expect was to find that Eliza got herself tangled up in it.

Eliza and Will always loved each other, but they didn't anticipate how deeply that love ran or how affected they would each be by it. And to make matters worse...they are now fighting on opposite sides of what's becoming a very ugly and bloody battle!

I loved that Eliza & Will's love story was so obvious yet so complicated at the same time. From the get-go, it was understood that these two people loved each other so you didn't have to go through the whole song & dance about how they hated then grew to love each other - they just did! However, it wasn't quite so easy for them. She was an Irish Countess suspected of rebellion and he was an English soldier who by duty could have had her executed for her treason.

By day, they were the Countess and the Soldier - no one suspecting that by night, they were just a boy & a girl having a passionate love affair! In the darkness of her bedchamber, titles flew out the window along with their clothes and inhibitions. Eliza was all proper in formal company, but she was a fiery little minx when she was alone with Will.

This story was full of passion - passion between a man & a woman, passion between a soldier & rebellious countess, passion for their own causes, passion for each others safety. Definitely no shortage of passion here! I appreciated how dearly they loved each other and how much they loved being together, but also how important the greater cause was...they weren't entirely selfish which I thought was admirable!

The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I really thought the story could have continued. It was almost as if the solution to their situation had been there all along and they simply hadn't grasped it until that moment. Another thing that I found odd was that they never actually said 'I love you' to each other. As I mentioned earlier, it was understood and they thought it to themselves - but they never quite expressed it verbally to each other. This didn't hurt the story, I just thought it seemed a bit weird!

All in all, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to those of you who love historical romances as much as I do.

COUNTESS OF SCANDAL by Laurel McKee is a wonderful, delightful historical romance set in Ireland. It is well written with depth and details. It is written during the conflict between Ireland and England. The characters are well engaged in the conflict with the hero being an English soldier and the heroine being passionate about the Irish uprising. There is romance, tradedy, sensuality, trumiph, family, friendship, a true love story, and love of country and family. This is a must read. If you enjoy romance, and love of country and family you will enjoy this love story.

Countess of Scandal is a historical romance set in Ireland during a period of political upheaval. The rebellion against Britain brings out Countess Eliza Mont Clair's idealism and nationalism and adds tension and excitement to the plot. I hadn't read anything that captures this time in Irish history and enjoyed this aspect of the book.

I found the love story thoroughly engaging as well. Countess Eliza Mont Clair is daring, smart, and strong willed, and when she comes across Major Denton, we're immediately aware that their old attraction hasn't faded. Major Denton is honorable, thoroughly in love with Eliza, and faces some difficult choices. While Eliza and William are on different sides of the rebellion, they learn to balance their love for each other with the loyalty that they owe to Ireland and the Crown. Countess of Scandal is romantic, fun, and satisfying!

ISBN-10: 0446544787 - Mass Market Paperback $6.99
Publisher: Forever; Original edition (February 1, 2010), 368 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.