Countess of Scandal Review

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.
Taken from GoodReads.

It's the end of the 18th century and Eliza, recently widowed, is an Irish countess devoted to the Irish Rebellion. Though her status demands she remain proper and stay in the place of a woman, Eliza secretly supports her political views, all while maintaining her good name and household according to social expectations. Her whole life plan is thrown into disarray when Will, her childhood sweetheart, returns. The two parted ways when Will decided to join the English Army and Eliza chose to support Ireland at all costs. The two have to face the decisions between right and wrong, and decided whether duty and honour are more important than love and family.

Countess of Scandal (The Daughters of Erin) is not my usual read. I will declare that outright, but I won it from a fellow blogger, and I thought it sounded promising. This book features an extremely strong heroine, and you get to know Eliza almost immediately, seeing into her mind and understanding what drives her actions. She's endearing, almost to a fault, but you get a strong sense of self from her that helps drive the plot and her relationship with Will.

The author, Laurel McKee definitely did her research for Countess of Scandal. I can honestly say I knew nothing very little about Ireland before this. That said, I'm not entirely sure that was the point of the novel. While I felt the plot of the book was strong, I often felt it was a tad overshadowed by facts and the descriptions of Ireland.

Either way, it was beautifully written, and Laurel McKee is a great writer. Countess of Scandal is the first book in the Daughters of Erin trilogy. While I'm not sure this is the type of book for me, it was an entertaining and sweeping read. I give it a fairly strong 3.5 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys period romances.