The Count

by Helena Dela

Book Overview

Marrying a wealthy hunk, having his baby, and living in luxury as the wife of a count in an ancestral castle kind of appeals to Ella. Who cares about the family curse that says the marriage will be... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061098841
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.0"

Customer Reviews

A very unique and fun read

...Having read a large number of British novels, I can say this author has a sparkling wit--subtle, yes, but sharp. The writing is excellent, the storyline unique and full of surprises. While I agree that it's a little hard to understand why the heroine would fall in love with a hero whose original intent for their marriage was so sinister, I thought there was ample implication that he came to his senses. It's disappointing that there appear to be no other books by Helena Dela.

Outrageously witty!

This light-hearted fairy tale is a delight, largely due to its intriguing premise and the author's fresh and humorous writing style. British author Helen Dela's outrageously witty passages beg to be read out loud and shared. Gothic elements include the labyrinthine untidy castle, several friendly and evil ghosts, a portrait gallery, the unfriendly housekeeper, an enigmatic hero, unrequited love, and threats on the heroine's life. Intrepid Ella's situation and her amusing sense of humor endear her to the reader. Although Rudi's motives may initially put the reader off, he soon develops a sincere attachment to Ella, which the reader will applaud. Snorts of laughter will punctuate the reader's highly entertaining journey from cliffhanger to cliffhanger in this marriage-of-uncommon-convenience tale. Author Helena Dela will definitely develop an eager following in the U.S. if she continues in this vein.

Loved this book!

I loved this book! I have been eagerly searching for any other books Helena Dela may have written. I found this wry, funny, and more adult than most Romances.

a modern fairytale indeed!

I read the book twice and I like it more and more. I like the way the ghostplot is interwoven with the contemporay life of Ella. Never did I think of it as forced or wallpaperlike used, the medieval time docks onto Ella's life naturally. In London Ella worked as a restaurator of old books. After she lost almost everything after her first husbands illness and death, she is offered a deal. How Ella fights her way out of some limbo of grief (over the death of her husband) and defends her newly found luck against curses, ghosts and 'real' threats is funny to read. Coming from Austria I enjoyed her wordplays and observations on culture very much . (" The people who could imagine a whole house made of gingerbread are people who know their cakes.") Thank you for this enchanting book !

Refreshingly different first novel; very European

I found the above reviews rather unfair to a very entertaining fantasy. The heroine was likeable, and the style - which really makes a book stand out from the mass - is personal and original. Of course the fact that it is a very European book, and I am from there, may have affected my attitude. I have frequently noticed how difficult it is for Americans to "get" European humor, in books and films. "The Count" has quite a bit of sly humor. It is obvious that the author knows some German, but there were a lot of mistakes in the German quotes. Maybe the editor or printer was sloppy - with books printed in the U.S. that seems to happen a lot, and I have observed similar problems with Spanish quotes in other books. Anyway, for a first effort "The Count" is more that respectable.