Blog Tour/Giveaway: Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee

Title: Countess of Scandal
Author: Laurel McKee
Published: February 2010 by Forever
Pages: 326 pgs, Mass Market Paperback

Reason for reading: Participating in Blog Tour/Giveaway courtesy of Hatchette Book Group: Forever.

Synopsis: As children, Eliza Blacknall and William Denton ran wild over the fields of southern Ireland and swore they would be friends forever. Then fate took Will away to England, while Eliza stayed behind to become a proper Irish countess.

Years later, Will finally makes his way home-as an English soldier sent to crush the Irish uprising. When he spies the lovely Eliza, he is captivated by the passionate woman she has become. But Eliza's passions have led her to join the Irish rebel cause, and Will and Eliza now find themselves on opposite sides of a dangerous conflict.

When Ireland explodes in bloody rebellion, Will's regiment is ordered to the front lines, and he is forced to choose between his duty to the English king and his love for Eliza and their Irish homeland.

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Isalys's Review:
Eliza is an Irish girl through and through...which made it particularly difficult for her to accept Will's decision to become an English soldier (even more so because his decision was more practical than heartfelt). Hoping to free her people from English rule, she [secretly] dedicates her life to the Irish cause. After many years apart, Will returns to his homeland when his regiment is assigned to squash the Irish uprising. What he certainly didn't expect was to find that Eliza got herself tangled up in it.

Eliza and Will always loved each other, but they didn't anticipate how deeply that love ran or how affected they would each be by it. And to make matters worse...they are now fighting on opposite sides of what's becoming a very ugly and bloody battle!

I loved that Eliza & Will's love story was so obvious yet so complicated at the same time. From the get-go, it was understood that these two people loved each other so you didn't have to go through the whole song & dance about how they hated then grew to love each other - they just did! However, it wasn't quite so easy for them. She was an Irish Countess suspected of rebellion and he was an English soldier who by duty could have had her executed for her treason.

By day, they were the Countess and the Soldier - no one suspecting that by night, they were just a boy & a girl having a passionate love affair! In the darkness of her bedchamber, titles flew out the window along with their clothes and inhibitions. Eliza was all proper in formal company, but she was a fiery little minx when she was alone with Will.

This story was full of passion - passion between a man & a woman, passion between a soldier & rebellious countess, passion for their own causes, passion for each others safety. Definitely no shortage of passion here! I appreciated how dearly they loved each other and how much they loved being together, but also how important the greater cause was...they weren't entirely selfish which I thought was admirable!

The reason I gave it 4 ♥ instead of 5 is because I really thought the story could have continued. It was almost as if the solution to their situation had been there all along and they simply hadn't grasped it until that moment. Another thing that I found odd was that they never actually said 'I love you' to each other. As I mentioned earlier, it was understood and they thought it to themselves - but they never quite expressed it verbally to each other. This didn't hurt the story, I just thought it seemed a bit weird!

All in all, I did enjoy it and would recommend it to those of you who love historical romances as much as I do.

I give this book ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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Giveaway
February 10 - February 17
{We have 5 Copies Available}

FILL OUT THIS FORM TO ENTER!

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