Tuesday

To Charm a Naughty Countess by Theresa Romain

August 5, 2014

A bit of role reversal...

http://theresaromain.com/ To Charm a Naughty Countess is the first Theresa Romain book I've read. I tried to read this story a few months ago, but must not have been in the right mood, so I set it aside. Usually when I set aside a book, I have a tendency to forget about it; however, in this case I decided to open it back up and I'm glad I did.


Now for the story. This one has a bit of a twist to it. There is a widow, Caroline, who has a stereotypical male attitude when it comes to her sexual partners. She chooses them for her pleasure, doesn't become too emotionally involved with them, and feels no compunction when saying goodbye. In fact, I would say she's a bit of a rake. Because of her emotional disconnect, I had a hard time liking her - she was a different type of heroine for me.

Let's move on to the hero, Michael, or Mad Michael, as he is called. Michael is a virgin. He's eccentric. He is what one might call "focused" - really focused. He has no social graces, and he's honest - and I mean really honest. One of those men who would answer yes to the question, does this dress make my butt look big? I found his honesty amusing. I especially found his dismantling of a lamp at a party to be funny. Then I found out he had an anxiety issue - really bad panic attacks - and I felt bad for laughing at him earlier in the book.

Michael's personality reminded me of Data from Star Trek. I just wish Michael's personality had been written strictly for laughs without the more serious issues that plagued him. I didn't know whether I was supposed to laugh or not.

You might think I didn't like the book, but I did! Even though I found my inability to decipher the hero disturbing, I did like him and I found him to be a fascinating character with many facets. When it came to the character of Caroline, I thought having her as the rake in the story was an interesting twist, however I'm not sure it worked. Caroline was too cold-blooded, too detached and it took too long for her to become someone with feelings.

Even though I have my doubts about Caroline's portrayal and my own not knowing if I should laugh at Michael or not, I found the entire story an entertaining and fulfilling experience and I do recommend it!

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Hot

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