Review -- My Favorite Countess

My Favorite Countess
By Vanessa Kelly
Publisher: Zebra
Release Date: May 3, 2011







She is difficult, demanding, and at times, quite fierce. And Dr. John Blackmore can't take his eyes off her. The Countess of Randolph is the most striking woman he has ever seen...and the most infuriating patient he has ever tended.

Mired in responsibility, Bathsheba doesn't have time to convalesce in the country. She should be in London, hunting for a wealthy new lover to pay off her late husband's vast debts, not dallying with a devastatingly handsome doctor.

But it is only a matter of time until the good doctor and the obstinate countess will have to contend with the sparks that fly between them. And once their bodies surrender, their hearts may follow…


Bathsheba Compton, Countess of Randolph is an atypical heroine. She's abrasive and rude, and she was the villainess in a previous book (Sex and the Single Earl). Yet for all that, she became a worthy heroine that I ended up liking, and I owe it all to Vanessa Kelly. It's not just anyone who can redeem a very bad girl.

Bathsheba's reason for all of the naughty things she has done boils down to protecting her family. Her late husband, Reggie, left the estate practically penniless and recent crop failures and poor investments have left Bathsheba with no choice but to go to London on a "husband hunt." Before she leaves the estate in Yorkshire, however, she meets Dr. John Blackmore. She is immediately attracted to the handsome, virile physician, but Bathsheba knows that he cannot provide her with what she needs. But time and again, they cross paths, and when Bathsheba falls ill and John is there to care for her, their attraction turns to something deeper.

John Blackmore is not your typical doctor; he's an accoucheur, the 19th century equivalent of an obstetrician, something of an oddity in that time period. He is passionate about his work, treating both women of the upper class at his practice in Mayfair and also caring for the poor women in the rookeries of London---those women who are shunned by many, and in most cases would die without John's care. Even with his medical intervention, he cannot save them all, but he is driven by reasons known only to him. When he meets Bathsheba, he is captivated by her beauty and is determined to bed her. The more time he spends with her, the more John wants her, not just for a moment's pleasure, but for a lifetime.

The road to happily-ever-after for John and Bathsheba is a rough one. They both have demons to overcome, but while the journey is long and difficult, the end is worth the trip, and readers will rejoice in the happiness of these two complex and fascinating characters. Their chemistry is instantaneous and incandescent---enough to have readers breaking out the fan---but there is incredible tenderness, too.

She swallowed hard, looking shy again. But then something shifted in her gaze. That bruised, vulnerable look faded away, and his wicked countess---sultry and knowing---stared back at him.

He laughed softly. "There you are."

She tilted her head and everything changed again. Her eyes grew soft as something elusive and shadowed chased the wickedness away. He looked deep into her secret gaze and knew he was lost. There was no going back, and no possibility that his heart could remain untouched. Desire swamped him, driven by a need to possess---a need he could no longer deny.

John is my kind of doctor: tall, dark, handsome, incredibly virile, and he gives new meaning to "bedside manner." When Vanessa Kelly said that she based him on Dr. McDreamy and Hugh Jackman, I immediately knew why I found him irresistible. And Bathsheba finds him equally hard to resist. Stories of redemption often involve the hero, so it was particularly refreshing---and unusual--- to see if a heroine could go from villainess to a woman who we can sympathize with. I'm happy to say that's the case here, and Ms. Kelly does a remarkable job on all counts.

Fans of Kelly's other books will enjoy appearances by characters from those stories---one of my favorite things about series. My Favorite Countess is an emotional and deeply touching story that will hold you in its grasp from the very first page and won't let go until the last word. It is firmly ensconced on my keeper shelves and is one of my top reads of 2011. Brava to Vanessa Kelly, one of historical romance's shining stars.

~ Gannon


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Vanessa Kelly Winner!

The winner of a copy of My Favorite Countess by Vanessa Kelly is


Sheree



Congratulations, Sheree! Please send your full name and mailing address to us at


theromancedishATgmailDOTcom


I will forward your information to Vanessa so she can send your book to you.

Today's Special -- Vanessa Kelly

We are so happy to have Vanessa Kelly with us again today. Vanessa is not only a fantastic author, but a delightful person as well, as all the Dishes can attest to---one of the highlights of RWA is seeing our "old" friends and meeting new ones. Her third full length historical novel, My Favorite Countess was released on May 3rd. I'm reading it right now, and it is fantastic! Stay tuned for my review on May 9th. Please join me in welcoming Vanessa back to The Romance Dish. She's going to tell us all about her "bad girl" heroine, Bathsheba.

Redeeming The Bad Girl

Hi everybody! It’s great to be back with the gals who dish and I want to thank all of you for having me on. I’m so excited to be here because my latest Regency-set historical romance, My Favorite Countess, hit the shelves on Tuesday. And I’ll be honest with you—I lurve this book. It was so much fun to write, partly because the hero was so dreamy but also because the heroine presented me with a real challenge.

Bathsheba, my heroine, is a bad girl. Sometimes she can be a very bad girl, and that makes life interesting for the romance writer. We’re used to bad boy heroes. The reformed rake, the former delinquent who ends up as either a cop or a soldier, the vampire who falls in love and regains his soul, that’s something we’re all familiar with. And we love it, because a man like that is a four-square hero but he also brings a dark and dangerous vibe that usually works out pretty well for the heroine—especially in bed!

Nothing is more satisfying to a reader than to see a man who formerly walked on the wild side transform through the love of a good woman.

But reforming a bad girl? It’s not done very often, at least not in historical romance.

I didn’t deliberately set out to create a redemption story for the heroine of this book. It was Bathsheba herself who drove the narrative. For those of you who read my previous book, Sex and The Single Earl, you’ll remember that Bathsheba was the villainess of the piece. She was very nasty to the heroine, even going so far as to attempt to destroy Sophie’s reputation. That book needed a villainess and Bathsheba filled the role very well.

So how crazy was it that I decided to make Bathsheba the heroine of my next book? Real crazy, but even as far back as Sex And The Single Earl I could envision her backstory and the motivations that drove her to act like such a vixen. Those motivations had to be rock solid if I had any chance of redeeming Bathsheba, because who the heck wants to read about a beautiful but viper-tongued countess who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake?

Um, actually, I did! So I set myself the task of redeeming her. I gave her a compelling reason why she had to be so ruthless, and I made it one that would be sure to engender sympathy in the reader. Bathsheba has a great deal of courage in her own right, and she’s been forced into choices she never wanted to make. She also takes responsibility for her bad behaviour and doesn’t make excuses. I really like that about her. She does what she does because she believes it’s the right thing to do, and she’ll suffer the consequences if she has to.

And I do make her suffer the consequences. Bathsheba must tread a pretty steep path to redemption, but it’s the only way a reader could ever accept and forgive her past behaviour. Of course, I also made sure to give her a hero who could prod her to make that journey—Dr. John Blackmore, crusading slum doctor and all around good guy. He’s the exact opposite of everything Bathsheba though she ever wanted in a man, and he’ll force her to see that sometimes you have to make the truly right and good choice, even if it hurts.

Redemption is a classic and much-loved theme in romance novels, and I’d love to see more bad girls take that path. After all, why should guys have all the fun?

What about you, readers? Can you think of any other novels where the heroine must be redeemed from a path of wickedness, or at least naughtiness? Do you like that kind of story, or do you prefer your heroines to be as pure as the driven snow? One commenter will win a copy of My Favorite Countess.

Vanessa Kelly writes Regency-set historical romance for Kensington Zebra, and was named by Booklist as one of the new stars of historical romance. She also writes contemporary romance with her husband under the pen name of VK Sykes. You can visit her on the web at: http://www.vanessakellyauthor.com