What’s a story that you’ve been gripped by recently?

[petra]

Whether it's something that you heard about that really happened or a piece of fiction, what's spoken to you lately?

Comments

[althea_valara]

Oh this is an easy one! The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. Here's the review I posted in my journal:

I am pleased to say that I finished reading The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan last night, finishing it just a few hours before my loan expired, oops. But yeah, I finished it!

Folks, it is brilliant. Utterly brilliant, and perfect, and just wonderful.

I've been reading romance novels since I was a teenager. In the past I read a lot by Johanna Lindsey. I loved them at the time. But she's pretty predictable: hero and heroine meet and fall instantly in lust but dance around each other for a time until they finally come together. There is a lot of banter and fun conversations, but usually the hero denies his feelings for her (sometimes the heroine is in denial, too, but usually it's the hero.) Then the damsel gets in distress and shoot, the hero realizes how much he loves her and rescues her and they live happily ever after, the end.

They're fun for escapism, but I don't think I could really tolerate them today, mostly because of the damsel in distress trope. But also: there is nothing in the books to really convince me that the couple is in love with each other, other than the author says they are.

Contrast that with Courtney Milan's books. The Countess Conspiracy is a romance novel, so yes there is a certain amount of sexy stuff going on, but it's really a book about love. Halfway through the book I was thinking, "Of course he loves her, look at all he's done for her! Look at how she sees him. I would be in love, too, if someone saw me the way she saw him." And the same goes for the heroine, who has her own reasons to love him that are just as believable.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I'd suggest reading the other books in the series first: there's a pre-quel novella I haven't read, but book 1 is The Duchess War and book 2 is The Heiress Effect. Both are also great reads, though I had some problems with first one (there were times it felt like the heroine knew stuff the reader didn't know. Also, the hero's name was too close to the name of one of my exes, which was awkward.) But The Heiress Effect is super fun and I loved it for its nuanced characters (and what a cast of characters it has!). And I didn't think it possible, but The Countess Conspiracy got even BETTER.

I really do recommend reading the first two books before reading The Countess Conspiracy, because the latter opens with a bombshell that I didn't foresee coming, and I don't think it would have heard same effect of I hadn't met the characters in the previous novels.

[petra]

This is a great recommendation! I keep meaning to look into Milan's work and I think you've tipped me over the edge to actually do it. Thank you.