Second Book to the Right: #REVIEW: The Countess Refuses by Katy Walters

Katy Walters is a USA TODAY Best-Selling Author selling thousands of books and pages read, of her work. Her two Regency Romances series, The Lords of Rhonan and the Lords of Sussex proved hugely popular. She also enjoys writing across the genres, Time Travel, Sci Fi and the paranormal.

After her parents' fatal carriage accident, Miss Cassandra Whitney is left to raise her siblings alone. As there was no will and very little funds, the small family are thrown into abject poverty. To Cassandra's horror, their odious landlord, Baron Scudder, threatens to evict them from the Manse, unless her younger sister Belle moves to the Manor House as his mistress.

As the quarrel rages, Cassandra inherits a title, a castle albeit a ruin and a derelict estate. To her joy, she also inherits a generous allowance of £6,000 per annum. The family are now safe, and Belle is free from the lustful demands of the baron. Enter a wily dowager duchess who is desperate for her son the renowned rakehell Maximillian,6th Duke of Taunton to wed a suitable heiress. On hearing of Cassandra's inheritance of a fortune and a castle, she schemes by fair means or foul to manipulate Cassandra into marrying her son, and hence gain complete control of the castle.

Max has no plan to wed, being well satisfied with his single status and his mistresses. However, on their first meeting, Max, mesmerised with Cassandra's beauty and character, plans to seduce her, making her his favorite mistress. Cassandra at first rejects the Duke's ardent advances, but is soon fighting an overwhelming passion for him. The more she resists him, the more her desire rises for this devil-may-care rogue.

Max's ardour flares into love, as he wishes to own not only her body but her heart. However, marriage is not an option.

Meanwhile, Belle meets an enthralling Marquess who is enchanted with her loveliness and sweet nature. But, she harbours a secret; one which if revealed could ruin their budding relationship.The lovers are unaware of the vicious plans of the licentious baron who dogs their path.

Can Cassandra outwit the wily dowager? Will she succumb to Max's passion? Will Belle fall into the baron's foul clutches?

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I found this book to be easy to read, and fun. It is a very light read, nothing too heavy, and the story line went quickly. On the other hand, I'm not sure it was well done overall. On the surface, the storyline is about a young woman, raising her sisters and brother, and coming into an enormous fortune. She meets the duke, who of course is expected to find a wife, marry and produce the heir and the spare. Romance ensues, and the storyline goes on with the typical HEA.
Digging a little deeper though, and there are things that don't quite add up in the details. The Regency timeline doesn't feel quite authentic. The idea that a young woman would be brought into this massive fortune but that they live hand to mouth in a castle that is falling down around them with lands that haven't been taken care of for years, it just makes any of the story kind of tangle in on itself.
The best part of the entire book though was a side plot line that happened with the main character's sister. That ended up well, though I'm not quite sure how believable it is historically.
As long as you don't look into the details, the story is a great, quick enjoyable read.

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About the author:

My main loves are writing, painting and singing. I began work as a PA but to my joy was spotted by an agent in London and had an exciting career as a singer, meeting and singing with some wonderful people. Singing meant a lot of travelling both in the UK and abroad. At one time, I toured Germany and Turkey singing for the American troops, which was a fantastic experience. But then, my husband and I wanted a family, so I said good-bye to the singing career, although I did the occasional gig. Having children is such a precious time, and I would say to anyone, treasure it, it goes so quickly and before you know it, you’re waving them off to Uni or pursuing their own dreams and their own homes. I have always had a deep interest in psychology for various reasons, and especially the area of neurosis arising from abuse. Later, I was to study how we could use our body, mind and spirit to relieve pain and overcome some life-threatening diseases. One important thing here is, I always told my patients to continue with medical treatment along with the complementary and spiritual methods, for I believe medical research and medication is also a gift from God, Spirit or the Universe, as each of us wishes to name it. I have loved writing from a child and during the years of study, research and treating some wonderful people, whom I called my friends, I would write at night, mainly short stories, and reams of poetry. I wanted to learn how to write self-help books for my clients, so I took creative writing courses at university, which led to writing a novel. So self-help novels turned to fiction but even so, I hope the novels help the reader through their own challenges, as the characters experience love, loss, passion, jealousy, illness, joy and conflict, even the threat of death.