Book Reviews | The Counterfeit Countess
The Counterfeit Countess, by Cheryl Bolen
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ISBN: 0821777890
Publisher: Zebra Historical
Release Date: Jan 2005
List Price: $5.99
Reviewed by Judy Gechman
T
he stunningly beautiful Maggie Henshaw doesn't do anything in half measures. She invades Lord Edward Warwick's house with her full entourage - sister, maid, cat and fourteen trunks. She is spitting out orders to his servants when he storms out of his bedroom, chest bare, to locate the source of the commotion. And the sizzle begins. He freezes momentarily as he lays eyes on the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
Maggie believes herself to be the Countess of Warwick due to the deception of her recently deceased husband, "The Scoundrel," Lawrence Henshaw. Sadly, Maggie learns that she is not the Countess of Warwick and that The Scoundrel was an impostor who passed himself off as the Earl of Warwick.
Edward wants to be rid of Maggie and her entourage, but, faced with her tears and her beauty, he is unable to turn her out once she tells him she has no money. Edward works for the Foreign Office and knows that Henshaw was a traitor. When he arrives at his office the next day, he reports her arrival. As a result, three people besides him know about her presence in his house. Sharing Edward's suspicions about Maggie's involvement in her husband's traitorous activities, Edward's superior officer, Lord Carrington, orders Edward to keep Maggie in his house until they can learn the truth.
Maggie had requested Edward's help in launching her younger sister into society so that she could find a husband and solve their financial woes and to advise her as to the character of the men that might wish to court either one of them. Because Maggie is so vibrant, voluptuous and beautiful, several men court her. Maggie is falling in love with Edward, but he is pledged to the serene and slender Lady Fiona. He denies his growing affection for Maggie, but he finds fault with each of her suitors.
Meanwhile, the intrigue begins in earnest. Her second night in London , someone breaks into Warwick House while they are out, steals all of The Scoundrel's effects obviously searching for something important of his.
After several more incidents, it becomes clear that Maggie's life is danger. The threats against Maggie trigger Edward's protective instincts and draw him to her all the more. Plot twists keep the reader guessing right up until the end.
I enjoyed Maggie, a bigger than life character who blurts out her thoughts with refreshing, if unintended, candor, and who knows she's beautiful, but has no pretensions. She fills the pages with the drama of her personality. She is everything that Edward's almost-betrothed Lady Fiona is not, everything that he thought he did not want or need.
What fun to watch Ed ward struggle with himself and his denial of his true feelings! Once Maggie enters his well-ordered world, his life will never be the same again.
As with Cheryl Bolen's Brides of Bath series, I found this book impossible to put down. The mystery kept my mind engaged, while the romance kept my heart engaged. Best of all, Cheryl's characters are fully developed, complex and delightful. It is no wonder that Cheryl's Regency romances get rave reviews.
