The Countess Conspiracy

4.5/5 stars

I've been waiting for Violet and Sebastian's story for a long time, and at last Miss Milan delivered! I can honestly say that the dynamics in this book's relationship surprised me.

Usually the man is the aggressor, the pusher, the one who is more detached. In this case it's Violet who is an impregnable fortress and it's Sebastian, who is under his veneer of a scandalous scientist, still a gentle, kind and loving boy who fell in love with Violet at sixteen.

Sebastian is heartbreaking. He is such a wonderful character, - amiable, charming, the person who will make you laugh to put you at ease.

What Violet asks him to do slowly destroys him from the inside because he can't stand when people hate him. The last straw is when his show more older dying brother refuses to make him a guardian for his son thinking him frivolous and irresponsible. Sebastian decides to change and the biggest thing he can do is to admit that Violet is a genius behind his shocking discoveries on genetics.

This whole book is dedicated to women in science who often hid behind their husbands to force the scientific world accept their work in the past few centuries.

Violet has a brilliant mind, a multifaceted personality and many secrets. She has a formidable mother and selfish sister, so in many ways the only person who understands and supports her is Sebastian. So when he refuses to keep the charade any longer and starts trying to woe her heart, Violet is at loss. She is socially dysfunctional and mentally unprepared to accept that Sebastian's love for her is real even if she secretly desires him.

Oh, this review is such a mess because my feelings towards this book are a mess too! Courtney Milan doesn't write simple historical romances. Ever. There are always so many layers and impossible decisions to make that they leave your brain muddled, but at the same time she is so emotionally rewarding that I recommend her wholeheartedly. Please, read this book, peeps! It's marvelous. show less

How have I never written a review about one of my favourite books ever?

This book rocked my world when I first read it. I'd never before read a historical romance (honestly, I don't think any romance) that dealt with the emotional ramification of infertility, which in Violet's case, has been heightened by the emotional abuse her late husband heaped on her because of it. This causes Violet to become so scared of sensuality and affection that it's rendered her remote. On top of this, Violet is a scientist in a world where a woman's only worth (for her station) is as a wife and mother and women weren't even believed to be capable of scientific reasoning. She's prickly and difficult and lucky that she has her friends to keep her loneliness show more at bay.

Sebastian is amazing in loving her, seeing past her mask. He also wears a mask that only she can see behind. At the beginning of the book, they've had a pact that had Sebastian presenting Violet's findings so that they could live out in the world. Sebastian is tired of taking credit that isn't his and starts the book by saying he's done.

What happens after that is so beautiful and affecting that it moves me every time I read it. show less

Most of the time, I hate the miscommunication plot device. Usually, because it used so stupidly-- if the one or the other character had just put on their big girl pants, acted like an adult, and had a simple conversation, the book would be 100 pages shorter.

So the best possible thing I can say about the Countess Conspiracy is that there is so much damn miscommunication and I totally I loved it. Every abrupt conversation, every word unsaid, every blocked emotion and fearful misunderstanding is so totally within character and within historical context that I actually cried. YES! REAL SALTY TEARS! And even better, these characters learn and grow from their mistakes; they find ways to communicate past their blocks, damaged souls, secret show more pasts, etc. etc. As it turns out, two complex, difficult people can be completely in love with each other and also completely unable to effectively communicate that love in a way that is romantic, interesting, and even affirming (at the end, when they finally figure it out, thank god).

High-five, Courtney Milan. Good job. show less

17 April, 2023

I freaking love these books, as I have noted, repeatedly. This one holds a special place in my heart because it shows data being collected, and more than once demonstrates the necessity of data in science. "Maverick scientist having a moment of genius insight" is a popular trope that subverts the whole point of science, and thus, annoys the hell out of me. Insight is good, but without data to examine, it isn't science, it's snakeoil. Don't buy it.

Yesterday was tax return hell, and I've had less than 4 hours sleep, so I mighty be feeling a bit snippy. Milan isn't snippy, though, so don't let that put you off.

Personal copy

My overall reaction to this book:

I'm DNF-ing this bad boy. Usually, I love Courtney Milan. I have read and enjoyed almost every single one of her books...except this one.

Starting from the top, we have Violet, the widowed Countess of Some Place I've Forgotten, who resides in Victorian-era England. Violet’s a scientific genius doing research on inheritance traits in an age when women were openly discouraged from doing anything worth anything. In order to actually publish her research, she has her childhood friend, Sebastian, Lord of Something, present her controversial research as his own. Sebastian does this because he is kind of in love her and has been since they were children. But, alas, he is growing tired of living a lie and show more having to put up with the growing, verbal discontent that Violet’s research bestirs in the hearts of the religiously inclined. In an effort to accomplish something of his own, and not merely be a tool for Violet, Sebastian tells Violet that he is not going to present her research as his own anymore. Violet, of course, has a massive toddler-style temper tantrum upon hearing this and, thus, a romance is born between the two.

Mmmmm kay. I guess I’ll start with Violet. Good stuff first: I truly admired the scientific aspect of her character. She was a brilliant lady, for sure. The bits about women scientists being forced to hide and minimize their work was also interesting. Anyone who wants to look up a real-life, historical example of this dynamic in action: google ‘Harriet Taylor Mill’ a.k.a. John Stuart Mill’s wife. It truly angered me that a lot of these men were taking credit for things they didn’t do. So, I loved this part of the book; fascinating and enraging stuff. Milan really made me feel for Violet’s situation. Because, can you imagine how difficult that would be? To have found your purpose in life but not be able to openly pursue it because people are sexist jerks? Maddening.

Now, for the bad stuff. Violet is highly annoying. She’s selfish to the point where she remorselessly badgers Sebastian to continue their charade, even when she sees AND acknowledges the adverse mental/physical strain it is taking on him. Because who cares about the health of good friends when knowledge is at stake, amirite???! Violet is also prickly, but highly defensive about it -- she will freely admit, in thoughts, that she is difficult to get along with, but any time someone (rightfully) calls her out on her crap, she flies into angry fits of hysterical lashing out -- without fail. In keeping with the hypocrite theme, Violet is also super self-righteous with others; she gets irritatingly smug and angry at people for being flawed. People she does this to? Well: the hero, her sister (who she had some really judge-y and vile thoughts about), her friends, her mother, list goes on... These issues combine into a character that had all of these off-putting flaws, yet no real positives besides the genius thing.


JFC, Violet. Basically what I was thinking during all of her POV scenes.

Violet is also the possessor of a TERRIBLE SECRET OF SHAMEFULNESS. During the time I was reading, this secret was not revealed, but vaguely alluded to as being something so awful that Violet cannot bear to feel emotions anymore. It’s a secret that is so secret that Violet cannot even openly contemplate it in her thoughts, but she wishes repeatedly that she was a machine so that she wouldn't be able to FEEL THESE TORTUROUS FEELINGS anymore! Because she is no longer fit for love or passion, NO -- it’s just not for women like her! Because of the mystery thing that happened! That was awful! Woe unto Violet!



I’m sure Violet’s secret is probably pretty bad, but I hate Big Secrets. I just can’t take any of the wah-wah-wangsting seriously if I don’t know the depth of secret I’m dealing with.

As for Violet’s hero, Sebastian... He’s a generic rake of the handsome variety. Except for the part on page 10 where he tells Violet to go F herself (a truly WTF moment), he appears to like Violet. For sure, he spends an inordinate amount of his time coaxing Violet out of her shell with the infinite, inhuman patience of a manic pixie dream guy. For what purpose, I have no idea. I didn’t find a whole lot of nuance in his character; he is just basically the human heat lamp that melts Violet’s icy reserve.


The realization that we all pray Sebastian comes to someday.

I think I was at page 100-ish around the point I formed these opinions...AND I was spending less time reading and more time staring at the ceiling, contemplating my growing hatred of the characters. The Big Secret! Violet’s rage-inducing persona! Sebastian’s boringness!

So, for my sanity, I knew it was time to call it a day. ALAS, I will never know Violet's terrible secret. Or discover how Sebastian finally manages to insert himself into Violet’s grinch-like heart. To be honest, I don’t even know why this book make me so angry. I think that it just pushed all of my “hate” buttons: emotionally unavailable protagonist who is rude and adverse to love? Check. Big secrets and misunderstandings? Double check. A romantic pairing with zero chemistry? YUP, I’m done and out. show less

...the many shades of Violet. A definite winner!

Over the years childhood friends Violet and Sebastian, have become co-conspirators in deceiving the scientific community of the day. The year is 1867 and it is believed by all that the groundbreaking work done by Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, in the field of the Inheritance of Traits, is the work of Sebastian Malheur, rake and loyal friend.
Not only does this book explore the acceptability of women as scientific thinkers in the late 1800's, it also explores what forms love takes and is, and of course, acceptance. Through Violet and Sebastian's eyes, Milan comments on societal expectations of the times, on scandal and rumour and the expectations of love.
All is of show more course not plain sailing in either their relationship or Violet's scientific research. Sebastian's, or rather Violet's work, is thought by much of the general public to be lewd and unacceptable. Sebastian has loved Violet for years. Violet is reclusive and untrusting of all but a very few. Her marriage hid despair and regret. Mostly her fear is for her own disappearance. Violet has no voice outside of her work, which is secret. Her voice comes through her work and through her relationship with Sebastian. Violet believes she is invisible and unloveable. 'I'm a cold, dark blacksmith's puzzle,' she says to Sebastian. 'If I let you in I'll cut us both to shreds.' Sebastian's fight to help her see herself as worthy as he does is touching. To him she is many Violets, 'Beautiful,' 'lovely,' 'resilient!'
The bone deep sadness that exists between these two is exhausting. The promise of what love could be...is exhilarating! Their friendship is breathtakingly beautiful. So tender and fierce at one and the same time.
I read on regardless of everyone's hunger pangs. The family could have takeout. I hungered for the next, and the next page.
Wonderful!

A NetGalley ARC show less

If you asked me to describe Courtney Milan's writing style, I would say that it's like someone wrote out a period drama mini series. The socio-economic commentary is there. The physical level of the relationship is delayed until the end, so Milan heightens it with all this tension and charged air. Sometimes this doesn't work (see The Duchess War, but here it does.

Violet and Sebastian engaged in science's dirty little secret: the woman is the brilliant one while the man is her assistant, but only the man gets the credit. It's a fascinating premise, and snapdragons have never been so sexy. The conflict comes when Sebastian tries to stop lying for the sake of his dying brother while Violet grapples with this secret alone, or so she show more thinks.

The coming together of the relationship between Violet and Sebastian is very believable, as the story spans almost a year. For a woman who is terrified of intimate relations thanks to a horrible first marriage, she eventually comes around in a satisfying way.

That said, it simultaneously takes too long for anything to happen. The first 120 pages of this book was incredibly slow and boring. This is the downside of Milan's writing style, I think. These scenes would be far more interesting to watch than to read about because the tension is palpable when the characters are standing right next to each other. It's very difficult to communicate with just words. And, even after their relationship gets a firm kick forward, it still takes the two forever to even come to an understanding that, yes, you like-like this person and no, the world will not instantaneously combust when you admit it.

Overall, this is a fun, insightful read, and Sebastian is definitely the most romantic male lead we've had in this series thus far. Highly recommend sticking out those first 120 pages. show less