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The Accidental Countess

by Michelle Willingham

reviewed by Valarie Pelissero

February 2010, 288 pages, Publisher: Harlequin, ISBN: 0373295812

I wasn't quite sure why this book was called The Accidental Countess, As far as I could tell Stephen had intended to marry Emily even if he did lose his memory of the event. When our story opens Emily is nursing her husband back to health. She is angry with him for leaving her a week after their wedding with no word, and when he finally does return three months later he is wounded and an amnesiac. Stephen remembers Emily from when they grew up together, but he doesn't remember marrying her or becoming guardian to her niece and nephew. This naturally has Emily quite upset.

Emily is even more upset when Stephen leaves her again when he's feeling better to search out the mystery of his disappearance. His only clue is a strange tattoo on the back of his neck. Emily is content to stay in the country, for despite being a Baron's daughter, she has never had the education necessary to move in society easily since both her father and her brother were inveterate gamblers. Emily also knows that Stephen's father, the Marquess, will not welcome her as his daughter-in-law. But when she is attacked at home and her brother's children are threatened Emily heads to London seeking her husband. When she arrives the Marquess throws her out into the street, but our plucky heroine knows there is more than one way to thwart a Marquess so she sneaks in the back way.

The story takes off when Emily gets to London, but it also took a strange turn that I wasn't expecting. Not only were Stephen's parents not happy to see Emily in London claiming her rights as Stephen's wife, but Stephen wasn't happy to see her either. Stephen keeps saying that he just wants to protect Emily because someone is trying to kill him and he doesn't want to make Emily a target for his enemy, but his actions really ticked me off. He ignores her at the one social event she is brave enough to attend and dances attendance on the woman his parents wanted him to marry. We read all the time about how harsh society was in Regency England to outsiders, yet it's still just this kind of vague reference. But in The Accidental Countess Michelle Willingham doesn't pull any punches showing us how spiteful society can be. High school mean girls have nothing on the ton. I had a lot of respect for Emily for fighting for Stephen, even when he didn't deserve it.

I enjoyed Stephen and Emily's story but I always felt I was missing some vital piece of information because there was no backstory for these two. We learn that Stephen and Emily grew up together and he gave Emily her first kiss, but that is all. Personally, I needed more info to connect to these characters. It turns out that there is a prequel story that I did not know about. Note to authors: separate prequels are great, but don't think that all your readers will have read that story, so include some of that backstory into the present story to help fill in the blanks. Thanks.

There were some plot holes which were never fully explained, but all in all The Accidental Countess was an enjoyable story even if the dialogue was a bit stilted. The mystery surrounding Stephen's disappearance and the death of Emily's brother was done well enough that it kept me turning the pages.