I really don’t like mean heroines. (I don’t like mean heroes, either, but that’s for another review.) And for much of the book, the heroine of My Favorite Countess was, well, sort of a bitch. She eventually redeemed herself, but I never really warmed to her.

Our countess, Bathsheba Compton, is the widow of the Earl of Randolph, a man who may not have physically abused her but still left scars. Upon his death, Bathsheba and her late husband’s cousin and heir discover that he has left them in enormous debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. To support their own lifestyles as well as Rachel, Bathsheba’s sister who has been left an invalid due to childhood fever, Bathsheba decides she will marry a wealthy man. Why this hypothetical man would be willing to spend his money to support his wife’s dead husband’s cousin isn’t necessarily addressed.

But after caring for her sister during a vicious infection, Bathsheba herself succumbs to it and falls very ill. Doctor John Blackstone is called to her side, a man who had met Bathsheba briefly and found himself intrigued by her sharp tongue. During her feverish mumblings, though, he realizes that the charmed life of Lady Randolph may not have been so charmed after all. Her armor of biting sarcasm and set-downs thus pierced, the two feel drawn to each other -but must reconcile each other’s very different lives and expectations.

I enjoyed having a gentleman doctor for a hero. It was a bit different and put a new spin on the problems faced in an aristocratic relationship. He was also a good man, which is why I initially doubted his attraction to Bathsheba. His first interaction with her came when she was at her meanest. And by “mean” I don’t just mean sassy or that she doesn’t mince words. In this particular scene, she’s downright cruel. She has an explanation (stress, migraines, a hardness to shield her secrets), but it didn’t pan out for me. Snarkiness and bluntness are one thing; needless, undeserved insults are another.

Once she mellows out, though, the book improves. Bathsheba eventually becomes moderately likeable, if not endearing, and grows as a character. I just wish the relationship between her and John didn’t circle quite as much as it did. We spent a lot of time going over familiar ground and rehashing the same problems, the same questions. The conflict between them at the end is a very realistic one, though, and one in which both points of view are understandable if not right. However, I didn’t feel like the point of contention actually got resolved; it just went away.

My Favorite Countess is not bad by any means. I have to commend the author for writing somewhat risky characters and for all its flaws, the book did have some freshness to it.