Review: A Countess for Christmas by Christy McKellen

Print Length: 256 pages

Publisher: Harlequin (October 4, 2016)

From Goodreads.com: The earl's secret bride… 

Emma Carmichael is shocked when she sees who she's waitressing for at a lavish party—Jack Westwood, the new Earl of Redminster. Her new life comes crashing down when Jack announces to the world that they're married! 

Jack has never forgotten his first love despite the tragedy that tore them apart. When the paparazzi cameras intrude, he proposes they live as man and wife until the fuss dies down. Emma feels like Cinderella, masquerading as his countess…only, behind closed doors, their marriage feels tantalizingly real…

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

To be completely honest - this story confused the heck out of me. It felt as though the author was caught in between genres. On one hand you have modern day elements like cell phones and internet paparazzi blogs - and then on the other - you have concerns about the family image, and titles like Earl and Marquess. It was almost as though the author themselves weren't sure what time period they wanted to be in. 

The writing itself wasn't bad, however despite that I couldn't find myself invested in these characters when it takes them until almost the end of the story to finally give in to their mutual attraction. I felt like there was no real character or relationship growth within this story - and that just made it unbelievable to me. After six years - they would be different people. And the author never really seemed to expand upon that. In fact, it was in my opinion, treated like nothing had changed. I would have rather been given a longer book that fully explores them finding their way back to one another rather than the short story that we were given. 

Overall, I do believe that this book may still appeal to some people, and I would give this author another chance. 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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 A Countess for Christmas is available from Amazon.com