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A review by bandherbooks
Counting on a Countess by Eva Leigh
4.0
In order to inherit the massive amount of money his friend and fellow Napoleonic War veteran left him, Christopher “Kit” Ellingsworth and recent Earl of Blakemere must wed.
Within a month. Aghast he must put aside his libertine ways but also desperate to secure the money so he can fund his secret dream project, Kit luckily finds a most willing bride, one Miss Tamsyn Pearce. Tamsyn is also desperate to wed as she needs both money and a husband to ensure she can carry on with her illegal smuggling business, buy her crumbling family estate, and keep her Welsh townspeople fed and in work.
Quick marriage complete, they find out there is another stipulation in the will. Tamsyn, as Kit's new wife, has been given total control of the funds! Kit can't even buy his new wife a piece of jewelery without her written permission, throwing a huge wrench in his plans.
It doesn't help Tamsyn is for all rights and purposes is a penny-pinching saver, so Kit believes he must seduce and make his wife fall in love with him before he can ask her to fund his project, a Pleasure Garden he is sure will help heal his broken spirit, so damaged after the horrors of the war he so recently fought.
Secrets, misunderstandings, and love lead to a lovely romance with a hard-won but totally fulfilling HEA.
I especially enjoyed this tale because of the very dear way the love scenes were handled. Kit is very patient with Tamsyn, who comes to the marriage a virgin, and does not force her or coerce her into immediately consummating the marriage. He talks to Tamsyn, and they discuss their wants and desires. This leads to an excellent slow-burn seduction between both characters, and I ate up every minute of it...until a scene leading up them FINALLY boning that I felt was really bonkers! I'm assuming this scene is the set-up for the next story in this series.
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There are also fun secondary characters, especially Tamsyn's maid, and gosh darn I love Wales. I will definitely be reading the other books in this series!
Spoiler alert!!
Within a month. Aghast he must put aside his libertine ways but also desperate to secure the money so he can fund his secret dream project, Kit luckily finds a most willing bride, one Miss Tamsyn Pearce. Tamsyn is also desperate to wed as she needs both money and a husband to ensure she can carry on with her illegal smuggling business, buy her crumbling family estate, and keep her Welsh townspeople fed and in work.
Quick marriage complete, they find out there is another stipulation in the will. Tamsyn, as Kit's new wife, has been given total control of the funds! Kit can't even buy his new wife a piece of jewelery without her written permission, throwing a huge wrench in his plans.
It doesn't help Tamsyn is for all rights and purposes is a penny-pinching saver, so Kit believes he must seduce and make his wife fall in love with him before he can ask her to fund his project, a Pleasure Garden he is sure will help heal his broken spirit, so damaged after the horrors of the war he so recently fought.
Secrets, misunderstandings, and love lead to a lovely romance with a hard-won but totally fulfilling HEA.
I especially enjoyed this tale because of the very dear way the love scenes were handled. Kit is very patient with Tamsyn, who comes to the marriage a virgin, and does not force her or coerce her into immediately consummating the marriage. He talks to Tamsyn, and they discuss their wants and desires. This leads to an excellent slow-burn seduction between both characters, and I ate up every minute of it...until a scene leading up them FINALLY boning that I felt was really bonkers! I'm assuming this scene is the set-up for the next story in this series.
Spoiler
Kit and Tamsyn finally decide to have sex! Yes! Everything is going smoothly until Tamsyn again expresses nervousness. Instead of talking about things and slowing down a bit, Kit decides this moment would be an excellent time to take Tamsyn to a sex club with his buddy. Whut. So, virginal Tamsyn who was so nervous is taken to an exhibitionist spectacle which makes her super horny and they finally go home and bonk. I'm totally fine with this, it just seemed sudden and a little out of character for the way their relationship had progressed up to this pointThere are also fun secondary characters, especially Tamsyn's maid, and gosh darn I love Wales. I will definitely be reading the other books in this series!
Spoiler alert!!