Convincing the Countess

Alina K. Field

Feb 2021 · The Upstart Christmas Brides Book 2 · Havenlock Press

About this eBook

A penniless widowed countess with trade in her blood descends upon the country manor of her sons’ negligent guardian, intent on confronting him about her boys’ futures. Instead, she finds his younger brother, a business-minded aristocrat with a penchant for widows and a distaste for emotional entanglements. A man who once witnessed her greatest humiliation. A man offering enticing distractions that threaten to derail all her plans.

Called home at Christmas to bring his older brother to heel and sort out the family finances, a baron’s younger brother wishes nothing more than to finish the task and return to his railway project. But when he finds his mother entertaining a fetching widow he met many years earlier as the unfortunate bride of a ne’er-do-well earl, temptation steers him along a different track, one that may derail all his plans.

Can he convince the reluctant countess to set a course for her future that includes him? 

Previously published in the Mistletoe & Mayhem Regency Holiday Romance Anthology

Ratings and reviews

Penniless Countess and Industrialist Aristocrat I loved the heroine in this book. Life had dealt her a tough hand when an unscrupulous earl compromised her to get her large dowry. The first scene shows us her very public humiliation as he talks about her and his mistress with his friends… when she is pregnant and has just found out her beloved father has passed away. Yet, as we meet her 10 years later, we find her to be an excellent mother to her two young boys, doing her best when they’ve been left penniless after the earl’s death. I love how all the children in the book were portrayed, her eldest more like a little gentleman compared to her host’s youngest two boys and their rapscallion ways. She is firm yet loving with them, even engaging in an impromptu snowball fight. I liked how she didn’t lose touch with her trade roots, encouraging her young earl son in his interest in iron. The hero is a younger son in a noble family, and he has a great interest in industry… not the done thing for a gentleman! His current plan is a railway scheme. As often happens in romance, these two had instant chemistry, though she especially fought it because she didn't want to marry again or be a man's mistress. The book has some low-level suspense about why the earl (the hero's older brother and guardian to the heroine’s children) ignores her letters, won't talk to her when she shows up at his mother's house, and in fact, runs away to a hunting party after she arrives. This is a novella, and I found it so enjoyable that I wish the author had written a proper novel so the romance would have had time to really evolve. It felt a little rushed for the scope of the story. But, all in all, I found this to be a thoroughly engaging story with believable and likable characters. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

Charlotte, Lady Glanford, is desperate to speak to her boys guardian. As a widow with no money, taking care of her sons is her first priority. Showing up at their guardian's home at Christmas, she hopes to pin him down for a conversation. He's avoiding her. His level headed and charming brother George steps in to help her. When push comes to shove, he wants to marry her himself. He will have to maneuver his way to win her hand with honesty. A short, passionate holiday romance. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A great ending. When I first read this in Mistletoe & Mayhem Regency Holiday Romance Anthology I did not do a review but I am pleased to do one now. Sophie Halverton Clark needs help, a widow with two sons she is penniless due to her late husband's ways. Going to the boy’s guardian’s home she hopes to receive the aid she needs. I am not sure if I like either George or Fritz and I can understand why Sophie does not see them as gentlemen. The characters did have a depth to them and I liked how the author portrayed them. I loved Willa and George gets a whole lot better. This was a really good story that I highly recommend. I did receive a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.