Review: A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long

Julie Anne Long is one of my favorite, favorite authors. "What I Did for a Duke" is on my Desert Island list. I love that book so much! So I was beyond excited to see her new book available for review. I couldn't wait to get it and when I was approved I was ready to dig in for a long night of reading. Until I realized it was about the vicar and a courtesan. Ugh! I know I am probably coming at this from an entirely different angle than most people but that combination is just not my favorite. I don't like to read about the Clergy being seduced by anyone but a skilled, much wanted, notorious courtesan? 

Oh geez...I wasn't sure I would enjoy it. I guess it's that higher standard thing I have for men of the cloth. Plus, I was really wanting to read a good story about the Everseas and the Redmonds but instead we are treated to a story about the cousin Adam! Which isn't a bad thing. I don't have anything against Adam. I just really wanted to read about Ian or Lyon. Anway, several books back we learn that Adam is eye candy for all the women in Pennyroyal Green but now the recently widowed Countess, Eve, (ex-courtesan) arrives in town in an attempt to try and rebuild her life in relative obscurity. She doesn't fall madly in love with Adam and physical relations between the two of them take a long, long time to ever happen in the book, thankfully for me, but I would have been more comfortable with the "forced into marriage by accident" ploy so that our couple could have had sex within the bounds of marriage since he is clergy. Also, their names are Adam and Eve. I had read half of the book before I realized their names were Biblical references to the first man and woman. Duh.

Julie Anne does a decent job of helping us like the Countess by making her easy to relate to and showing us her painful and checkered past. I don't really blame Eve for the choices she's made but I don't especially like the idea of her with Adam. Neither do the townspeople I might add. Julie Anne really goes the extra mile in this book showing us how Christians can be hypocritical, unfriendly, judging, mean spirited and backbiting. I don't know how some readers will feel about this added bit of sermonizing. As a Christian, I didn't know whether to be offended or agree with her. I've never read a romance novel that include scripture, sermons, and the church alongside courtesans, sexual longing and risque behavior. A little awkward at times. We expect bad behavior from Colin and the Eversea clan, but the dutiful, loved by all pastor Adam seems a stretch to me. At times, I didn't know how to feel about the situation.

As usual, Julie Anne Long has a beautiful way with words and emotions. She brings you right into her novels and paints beautiful word pictures. I really liked this paragraph. “You see, Reverend, you may never know this, but love, real love, the kind that you fall in, isn’t like Corinthians. The “suffereth long” and “is kind” nonsense. It’s like the Song of Solomon. It’s jealousy and fire and floods. It’s everything that consumes. I defy even you to resist it should it visit you in this lifetime, no matter the circumstances, and I don’t know whether I would wish it upon you. It’s a . . . beautiful suffering."

In all of Julie Anne's books we are treated to a hint of what is happening between Olivia and Lyon but this book didn't really add to the story. Instead, it just barely hinted that Olivia was moving on. I don't know. I was confused about that and was hoping for more. 

I love Julie Anne Long's writing and look forward to her future books with baited breathe but this one is not going to go down as one of my favorites. I hate to do it but on a scale from 1 to 10, rating the romances is going to have to give it a 5. The premise and the characters are just not for me.

Notorious Countess Confesses: 5 out of 10