Jillian Chantal

Stephanie Burkhart’s novel, The Count’s Lair, which releases on February 1, 2011 from Desert Breeze Publishing,  is a wonderful tale of the early twentieth century.  It takes place in Budapest, Hungary. It’s the story of Anton, Count Varga, and Amelia, a British concert pianist.  The Count finds himself attracted to Amelia but he has a huge secret that he thinks may keep them apart.  As he courts her, he offers to give her three clues to guess his secret.

The story plays out over the Christmas season in 1901. It’s a lovely story and the two sides of the city, Buda and Pest,  are almost characters in and of themselves.  There is romance, mystery and excitement in the story. A well rounded cast of minor characters add color to the tale.

This is part two of a series and although I hadn’t previously read the first one, called The Hungarian, I was able to read this one with no issue. It’s a complete story in and of itself.

I recommend this one.  Enjoy.    You can order it on Feb. 1, 2011 here: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/StoreFront.bok