Courting the Countess by Jenny Frame

Courting the Countess
by Jenny Frame
Pages: 240
Date: September 13 2016
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Series: None

Review
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0
Read: August 28 to 29 2016

*I received this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in return for a fair review.*

The characters, to me personally, felt quite alive to me. At least Harry, Annie and, to a certain lesser extent Riley. At least they did up to about 87%. I had the thought, at that point that the book was shaping up to be a good decent 4.3 star book. At which point my connection to the characters seemed to have lessened, the ending was kind of rushed, and there seemed to be an added layer of angst/conflict for the sake of angst/conflict. But still, despite that thought there at the end, the book was still quite enjoyable.

The book stars one Henrietta ‘Harry’ Knight, who has just become Countess of Axedale (in, apparently, Kent England), though also Dr. Knight. She prefers Dr. Knight. She’s the head of her department, presumably related to Archeology, at Cambridge University - - something she ‘made’ on her own – as in getting the degrees, doing the digs, being respected for her merits – as opposed to being Countess, which she got because someone died (that someone being her father – a real asshole of a man). She’s a player and hates when things are out of her control.

Also in a starring role is one Annie Brannigan, mother of Riley Brannigan, and newly hired housekeeper for the house in Axedale that belongs to the Countess of Axedale. She’s bound and determined to give her daughter a better life than any she ever had, and does so by doing a good job in good neighborhoods – though that also involves moving a lot – uprooting her daughter seemingly yearly, right when she had settled down and made one or two friends. Kind of makes someone give up on attempting to make friends.

Harry and Annie’s initial meeting go poorly – Harry wants nothing to do with the Brannigans now that she realizes that her housekeeper came with family. But Harry’s attempts to get rid of the family fail when the agency that sent the Brannigans point out that it will take 6 to 8 weeks for a new housekeeper to appear.

Harry has rough edges that Annie works on attempting to smooth. Meanwhile Riley, having a deep interest in books, history, and the Romans, bounces around the lands having fun and exploring. Even finding some Roman ruins. And yes, I mention that part because some of the sections are from Riley’s point of view. Rare though those sections might be.

Two things I should mention before I end – 1) I know some mentioned how Frame, the author, appears to follow a certain pattern (or something like that) – well, I haven’t read her before so if that is the case, I was not adversely impacted by that issue; 2) Harry is described as being super bitchy and really unlikable – something I knew going in so I was prepared to meet such a character.

In the end, I’d probably rate this book somewhere around 4.25 stars.

Oh wait – the one thing I knew I was going to include in this review I forgot to include. One of the good things a book can do is to create a desire in the reader to continue reading, too long for the ability to get back to the book in those moments between readings. Well, that feeling was there with this book. I wanted to read it. While reading it, and in between reading sessions. So – that’s good.

August 29 2016