The Runaway Countess by Amanda McCabe

The Runaway Countess Reviews

• 
  Susan

  Pretty good book. Hayden and Jane had married very young. Once they were in London they got caught up in London society and the problems started. After awhile they grew apart and Jane became more and more unhappy. Unable to get Hayden to listen to her concerns she packed up and moved to her childhood home. Three years later Jane has written to Hayden, offering him a divorce if he wants one, so that he can move on with his life. He realizes that all he wants is Jane back and decides to convince her.
  
  Jane had fallen hard for Hayden when she first met him. He was young and handsome and fun. Even after they married everything was great, until they returned to London after their honeymoon. Then Jane realized that she was a countess and there were things that were expected of her, things she had no idea of how to do. She had grown up in the country and had no experience with this kind of lifestyle and she felt completely overwhelmed. And once they were back, Hayden was rarely with her, even when they attended things together. When she became pregnant and miscarried three times the gulf between them got even worse, with Jane feeling like a failure. Finally she told him that she needed to get away for awhile and returned to her childhood home. Three years later, having had no contact with him at all, she wrote to him offering a divorce so he could remarry and get an heir. She didn't expect him to show up at her home a few days later, to let her know there would be no divorce. She realizes that her attraction to him is still there and that she never stopped loving him. She also doesn't want to risk getting caught up in that life again. She doesn't trust that he won't disappear and go back to being the same old Hayden. But the longer he stays the more he becomes like the man she fell in love with. I realize that she has a great deal of trouble trusting him again, but I thought she spent a bit too much time remembering the way he had been and not enough time looking at the ways he had changed. I did like the fact that she had had the strength of will to get out of the bad situation to start with, but I thought she could have been a little more open to seeing the possibilities. I thought for sure she was going to fade back into the background when his friends showed up unexpectedly, and was thrilled when she finally showed the backbone she had developed over the last three years. It took a near disaster for her to realize that not all of the fault had been his.
  
  Hayden had been drawn to Jane the first time he saw her. He was accustomed to getting pretty much anything he wanted and he pursued her as hard as he could. Being with her made him feel things he had never felt before. His parents had been quite cold to him, with his father having unrealistic expectations and his mother being a party animal. He had never been exposed to what a loving marriage was like. While it was just the two of them everything was fine, but when they returned to London he ended up caving in to peer pressure. He could see that things were going badly but he had no idea how to fix it. He was devastated when she left, but not knowing what to do he simply buried himself in activity. When he got Jane's letter he got angry that she would ask for a divorce and rode off to see her. After getting tossed from his horse in a storm and getting hurt, he had to stay with Jane until he was healed. This gave him the opportunity to try to convince her to come back to him. He realized immediately that she was much happier now that she had been before she left him. He was confused as to why since he had only wanted to make her happy before and had given her everything he thought she might like. It took a hard look at what she had in her life now for him to realize that she had never been interested in the things he could give her, that she had wanted him. Now he had to try to show her that he could change. He was doing very well until his friends showed up, and then he started to backslide. Fortunately he had begun to see what he was doing but it was almost too late. He did come through when Jane's sister needed him. My biggest problem with Hayden was how much time he spent beating himself up about how he had treated Jane. It seemed like every single chapter had some variant on that theme. I was glad they both realized they had been at fault and had matured enough to know that they had to work at it to make their marriage work.
• 
  Anissa

  This was a quick read and a bit predictable but I'm still glad that I read it. I always pull for the estranged married couples to work things out and get back together. It was a bit maddening that Hayden was such a wreck as a husband but it did make it totally understandable when Jane left him. I was amazed it took him so long to get off his duff and go after her but at least he finally did. I also liked the relationship between the sisters. I'll likely read the next book.
• 
  Vana

  3.5 stars.
• 
  Christyn

  The Runaway Countess in one sentence was an emotionally charged regency romance of a young newlywed married couple that loved each other but driven apart by their own mistakes find themselves trying to deal with each other/fix things after years of separation. It packs an emotional punch - not very bad in that I go through a box of tissues and have to take repeated breaks - but bad enough that I certainly ached and teared up for the characters. But there were certainly lighter moments in the book that made me smile. This story is told mostly in the "present" setting of the book but there are some flashbacks which add to the story.
  
  Jane and Hayden, the heroine and hero both made their own mistakes and (eventually) faced up to them. The biggest issue with these two was communication, neither of them was able to communicate to the other well enough what they needed/wanted (and/or the other person didn't/wouldn't listen and meet them halfway) that caused some big issues between them. These two each had their own insecurities and fears that simply compounded the problem until their relationship just snapped. It was a ride watching as they slowly began to build it back up again. Made a little lighter by Jane's charming sister Emma (and her dog Murray).
  
  I will say it - Jane and Hayden drove me nuts at times (Hayden in particular, not that Jane was completely blameless). Hayden is one of those brooding, self-punishing kind of heroes who really believes he's undeserving of good things because that's what's been put into his head - he had a crappy childhood with even crappier parents. But at the end of the day - he's genuinely a good guy. Jane while not a particularly stand out, strong or unique character was still wonderful - she was steady, dependable, but with such a goodness and light about her (that was also in her sister) that you can't help but like.
  
  There was no real external plot until near the end with a villain after a "treasure" that was supposedly buried on Barton Park (Emma and Jane's home). It was clear from the get go what he was up to, I didn't fully expect how determined he was but I wasn't surprised to see what happened. It was a little unnecessary but I suppose it could be used as a sort of set up for Emma's story - which will undoubtedly prove interesting (I am still curious as to Mr. Milne and what he did to her).
  
  Overall it was a very good read for me since I was in the right mood. This is a good one when your in the mood for something more emotional (but not overly dark), or a love story about second chances. 4 stars.
• 
  Cruth

  Author:
  Amanda McCabe
  First published: 2013
  Length: 3304 kindle locations
  Setting: Regency Rural England.
  Sex: Explicit. Frequent.
  Hero: Earl.
  Heroine: Countess.
  Trigger: Heroine has multiple miscarriages before the book begins.
  
  Simple, straightforward M&B, with a twist.
  
  Our h & H are already married, but have been separated for 3 years. Jane has had multiple miscarriages, Hayden is an unreformed rake, and they can’t find a way to move forward. But they finally start to give the marriage another chance. For the more contemporary reader tastes with strong (almost bluestocking) heroine who is willing to fight for her rights and thoroughly enjoys the marital bed and a beta hero (difficult childhood, needs to be healed).
  
  A bittersweet but ultimately light second-chance romance.
  
  Enjoyable.
  
  Note: picked up because of this thread :
  https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
  
  Bancrofts of Barton Park:
  Book 1
  The Runaway Countess - Hayden Fitzwalter, Earl of Ramsay and Jane Bancroft
  Book 2
  Running from Scandal - Emma Bancroft and David Marton
  Book 3
  Running Into Temptation - Miss Melanie Harding and Philip Carrington
  
  (ISBN 9781488780066)
  
  -CR-
• 
  Karine Darnessy

  Premier livre de l'auteure que je lis et j'ai passé un bon moment.
  
  Le thème abordé ici est assez simple, Jane jeune comtesse et épouse aimante se lasse de la vie Londonienne et des abus de son mari( alcool, club, bals...) Cette vie ne lui convient pas et un soir n'en pouvant plus elle décide de partir et de se réfugier au domaine où elle a grandi avec sa sœur.
  
  J'ai bien aimé la façon dont le personnage d'Hayden se remet en cause après le coup de massue que lui assène la lettre de Jane. Il se rend compte qu'il n'a pas été un bon mari pour elle et refusant de se séparer définitivement d'elle par sur le champs la rejoindre pour tenter quelque chose pour la récupérer.
  Jane n'est pas en reste malgré tout , elle garde un infime espoir que son mari change et qu'il redevienne celui qu'elle a côtoyé au tout début de leur mariage.
  Le personnage d'Emma n'est pas en reste car elle ferait tout pour aider sa sœur à restaurer la demeure familiale et à réconcilier nos deux époux.
  
  Le seul point négatif du récit sera l'impression que nos deux protagoniste se lamente sans cesse sur le passé et les erreurs qu'ils ont commises.
  Malgré tout ce fut une agréable lecture, même si elle ne restera pas gravée dans ma mémoire sur le long terme.
• 
  Limau Nipis

  This one is not as good as the second book in the series.
  
  However, I love the sweetness of the story. Hayden and Jane, both seem estranged for years, as husband and wife, living apart but trying hard to rediscover their love.
  
  Hence the 3-star from me. I love that both hero and heroine are realistic persons. Clearly,
  Amanda McCabe has a penchant of developing well rounded personalities in her writings. There is no need for damsel in distress or a knight in armor in sight (thank you for that!)
  
  I applaud and appreciate that!
• 
  Rebekah

  I found this very refreshing. It had some typical regency romance tropes, but the characters also had a bit of sparkle to them. They were not simply card board puppets in a romance pantomime. My library did not carry the story featuring Emma so I purchased it and look forward to sharing that review eventually as well.
• 
  Rebecca

  The key to any relationship? Communication. I just want to take these characters and lock them in a room until the fight, scream, or cry out all of the miscommunications between them. Sigh. But oh, how I loved Hayden and Jane. So perfect together. I am looking forward to reading about Emma next.
• 
  Captmashpea

  It was cute but a little lame. I just felt like there's something missing. I like how their marriage wasn't perfect but the way that they got through everything seemed a little forced and there wasn't one moment where I saw it really coming together. Interesting but definitely not my favorite.
  (hard copy).
• 
  Carolina

  The story is cute, its a light, fun read about growing up and making thing work, because the reality of life is that there is more to a fairy tale than just they got married and lived happily ever after.
  
  
• 
  Lyuda

  This was a boring, bland and predictable story. The hero was too beta character to keep my interest and I had no idea why the heroine find him worth of love. The only character in the story who interested me was the heroine's sister, Emma - the main character of the second book in the series.
• 
  Hasnamezied

  
  Alovely novel. Usually I read a novel which ends happily ever after and I wonder if its really happily ever after. This novels talks about two lovers after marriage under the stress of the life of the ton . Really lovely and different.
• 
  Harlequin Books

  Bancrafts of Barton Park series starter!
• 
  Harlequin Historical

  Miniseries: Bancrofts of Barton Park
  Category: Historical Romance
  
• 
  Ren Thompson

  3.5 stars actually. Too much whining on Jane's part, too much self-berating on Hayden's part. I'm hoping the sequel will be better.
• 
  Kelly H. Pruitt

  Simply written, and a decent read.
• 
  Elaine

  Nice story. Liked this a lot.
• 
  Ginny Rodenberg

  Hayden and Jane married young and fell into the rat race when they returned to London after their honeymoon. After being separated for 3 years Jane decides it's time to settle their marriage.
• 
  Annie

  3.5 ish