An Unlikely Countess A Novel of the Malloren World

Prudence Youlgrove grew up in a manor house as the librarian's daughter, but when her father's employer lost all properties because of gaming Prudence and her family were turned out as well. After her father's death Prudence and her mother lived in deep poverty to save every penny to afford a lawyer's education for her brother Aaron. But now that her mother has died as well and Aaron is supposed to take care of his sister, he hardly sends her money at all. Fuming about his latest letter of denial, Prudence goes for a walk in the middle of the night - only to be accosted by villains....... and to be saved by Catesby Burgoyne, second son and former army officer, who is deeply in his cups after a quarrel with his older brother. Catesby accompanies Prudence home and learns about her miserable situation. But having run out of money himself, there is nothing he can do for her - except of taking her in his arms and console her. The next day he is gone, looking for a rich merchant's daughter to marry and Prudence tries to get her brother and sister-in-law to help her to find a suitable husband to better her situation. But all of a sudden Catesby's brother dies, turning Catesby into the Earl of Malzard and heir to all the family possessions, a position he never aspired to and which is not easy for him to fulfill. And now his mother keeps vexing him to choose a wife and sire an heir. He doesn't like all the prosperous heiresses his mother throws his way, but there is one woman he can't forget: Prudence. So when he tries to find out what has become of her, he finds her in front of an altar, ready to marry. But she does not seem happy - so he prevents the wedding, only to marry her himself the next day. But will she ever be able to become a proper countess? Another well crafted, entertaining historical romance by one of my favorite authors. There's affection, love (although mostly only kisses - if you're looking for saucy sex scenes you better look elsewhere), hate, jealousy, attempted assassination, and lots of suspense - everything that makes a book worth reading. I enjoyed it tremendously.