The premise for this book is what caught my attention but the story itself disappointed, especially as a huge J. Deveraux fan. I liked Nicole's character and the contrasting view of the very bloody French revolution with 18th century revolutionary America and, because of it, I think this story could have been something so much more... but the character development and the relationship development was uneven AND voluminous... sometimes less is more.

Maybe it's just me but doesn't the main character lack any heroic qualities whatsoever. I never fell for this guy. He was weak and kinda sick in the head. This weird fixation (Bianca) on the image of his past weird fixation (brother's wife) really seemed on the verge of insanity. The only one who I was endeared to was Nicole. She stayed strong and in most cases wore the pants in this book.

I truly felt sorry for the spoiled, Bianca. Nobody deserves to be treated so nasty but most especially it should not be made out to be a good thing to call people some pretty aweful names. In the beginning of the book she was just a spoiled, pampered brat but after being ridiculed and verbally abused. Even the children were allowed to treat her badly.

I just didn't care much for this book. I can honestly say it was not a bad read but I felt I was disagreeing with the author the entire time.

Nicole Courtalain is the daughter of a French aristocrat who is forced to flee France to escape the French Revolution. She is all alone. Her family, as far as she knows, has all been killed. An English gentleman and his daughter, Bianca, take in Nicole to serve as Bianca's maid. Bianca is a spoiled, self-centered girl who is engaged to an American, Clayton Armstrong. Despite Clay's pleas for Bianca to travel to America so they can be married, Bianca offers excuse after excuse to delay her travel plans. He finally hires men to kidnap her but the kidnapping plans go awry. Instead of Bianca, Nicole is taken. She is put on a ship sailing for America and also forced to marry Clay by proxy. Once Clay discovers the mistake, he, of course, initiates plans to have the marriage annulled. There are some twists to the plot that will delay the annulment plans, but by that time, Nicole is more than willing to put the marriage behind her and forget about Clay.

This was such an excruciating book to get through. Clay and Nicole go through such a difficult time that I was hard-pressed to rush through the book and get to the end. Bianca is a memorable villain. She is clever, manipulative and conniving and there is no end to the lengths she will go to in order to keep Clay and Nicole apart. The story is beautifully woven but I didn't like the ending. Because of the intensity of the story, I would've preferred a gradual winding down to the end. Instead, the ending was abrupt, a lot like watching a movie at the height of its climactic intensity and then suddenly the electricity goes out.

I have mixed feelings about Counterfeit Lady -- the first installment in the James River trilogy. On one hand, this novel is very emotionally moving with lots of twists and turns coupled with beautiful descriptions of late eighteenth century Virginia. On the other hand, the hero got on my nerves and Jude Deveraux throws political correctness out the window big time here. But more on that later. The year is 1794. Plantation owner Clayton Armstrong is madly in love with an English young woman called Bianca Maleson. Tired of her excuses for not marrying him, he hires men to kidnap her and arranges a marriage by proxy during the long voyage to America. Imagine his surprise when instead of getting plump, blue-eyed blond Bianca he gets a petite, beautiful and exotic Frenchwoman named Nicole Courtalain. Clayton is outraged when he learns that she was forced to marry him during the voyage and he agrees with Nicole to have the marriage annulled as soon as possible. It appears that his men kidnapped the wrong woman. A refugee from her homeland during the French Revolution and daughter of aristocrats, Nicole was Bianca's personal maid before she was kidnapped and brought to America. Her attraction and feelings for Clayton grow deep in a matter of days and she hopes that he will soon see her as more than just a second choice. But Clayton's feelings for Bianca run deep, for she reminds him of an old unrequited love. However, he may be in for a very rude awakening. There are many twists throughout the novel.

As said earlier, I have mixed feelings about this first installment of the series. The story is riveting and moved me to the core. I felt Nicole's sorrow of having endured the pain of losing her family during the Revolution and then trying to pick up the pieces in England. I also felt her pain when her love for Clayton wasn't reciprocated. Clayton irritated me big time. As other reviewers had stated, he was too stupid to live at times. How could he "love" a spiteful, hateful creature like Bianca? He makes Nicole miserable whenever she witnesses his blind, undying devotion to Bianca. I wanted to strangle him at times. He reminded me of Gavin Montgomery from The Velvet Promise, for he also fancied himself in love with another woman. I know that is the whole point of the novel and that this is the central plot and intrigue, but I must say that it is my least favorite. Anyway, one thing I loved about this novel was the backdrop of late eighteenth century south. I pictured the beautiful plantations, the clean air, the high-waist dresses and parasols, and all of the other wonderful descriptions Deveraux provided for us. This is a beautiful time period and I look forward to reading more novels set during this period. One thing I found unnecessary and no doubt offensive to many readers was the emphasis on Bianca's weight. For a while I thought, "Okay, she's fat, I get it. Now let's move on." I thought Bianca was a horrible, spoiled, self-centered, unredeemable villainess and I hated her. Her hefty figure was the least of my problems with her. I appreciate any author's attempt at realism (because making fun of a fat person, regardless of his or her personality, is an unfortunate common thing), and Deveraux does have a wonderful sense of humor, but not when it's gratuitous, and I thought it was definitely gratuitous here, not to mention excessive. And so, I give Counterfeit Lady three stars. I both loved and hated this novel as I read it. Novels that move me while reading it is definitely a good thing, but I nevertheless cannot overlook the faults in this effort enough to give it a higher star rating.

I read this book years ago. It had a great plot but it got a bit silly in parts. Read it if you don't have anything better on hand. It was okay.