The Countess (1978) – Catherine Coulter Free Audiobook

Written by Catherine Coulter
Read by Anne Flosnik
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Release date: 11-24-15
Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Catherine Coulter’s revamped (1999) first novel—a gothic regency romance. Originally titled The Autumn Countess.

Andrea Jameson is a headstrong heiress who has been indulged by her grandfather after she became estranged from her father. She falls for a young man named John but finds herself afraid of him. After her grandfather’s death she decides to marry a safer option – the much older Earl of Devbridge. The Earl has promised Andrea that he will not bed her because she does not want intimacy due to the memory of her father philandering and her mother’s heartache. Unfortunately, this older man is the uncle to John.

Awkwardness abounds as Andy finds herself living in the same house with both John, her husband Lawrence as well as John’s brother Thomas and his wife Amelia who is the daughter of Lawrence’s previous wife. The previous wife committed suicide by jumping out from one of the windows…Have I lost you yet?

It is an understatement to say the relationships between these various family members are complex and fraught with rivalries. Plus, there’s a mystery surrounding Lawrence’s previous wife’s death. Especially since several attempts are made on Andrea ‘s own life.

Catharine Coulter’s Regencies are far from her best books but reviewers liked this re-written book. It had been years since I read it. I need to reread it.

I have two different reading of the book and will put up both.