BOOK REVIEW- A Noble Masquerade - Lady Miranda Hawthorne acts every inch the lady, but inside she longs to be bold and carefree. Approaching spinsterhood in the eyes of society, she pours her innermost feelings out not in a diary but in letters to her brother's old school friend, the Duke of Marshington. Since she's never actually met the man she has no intention of ever sending the letters and is mortified when her brother's mysterious new valet, Marlow, mistakenly mails one of the letters to the unsuspecting duke.
Shockingly, this breach of etiquette results in a reply from the duke that soon leads to a lively correspondence. Insecurity about her previous lack of suitors soon becomes confusion as Miranda finds herself equally intrigued by Marlow, a man she has come to depend upon but whose behavior grows more suspicious by the day. As the secret goings-on at her family's estate come to light, one thing is certain: Miranda's heart is far from all that's at risk for the Hawthornes and those they love. AMAZON I gave it a 5 Star Rating.
What a great story. Adventure mystery, humor and romance. Spies, twist and turns and a beautiful but bratty sister (Miranda's). I totally fell in love with both of the main characters. They sent sparks off of each other and truly valued who each other was; as they got to know each other. Miranda's brothers Griffith and Trent were interesting people too and added some smiles to the story. Especially Trent when he was whooping with laughter at some of the situations that Miranda found herself in. In fact, not only the brothers caused me to smile. There were plenty of other times where that happened too. There were plenty of other interesting people that surrounded Marlow.
Those letters that Miranda wrote on the (in)famous blue paper were a nice touch. She poured out her heart on them, never intending anyone to every see them. Often writing to her secret friend Marsh, especially after her mother scolded her once again for her unladylike behavior. I remember reading that her first sit down scold started at 5 years old. Poor kid. Her mother pretty much suffocated her natural exhuberance with her sermons of, "A Lady never does this..". But the real Miranda was still there, just contained. A Lady never shows her anger...wel Marlow pretty much lit the fuse to her anger and the real Miranda started surfacing. It sounds like her "angelic? sister could have used a few lessons like these.
In the end all the villians are rounded up; the ones that had been striking from their different positions.
All in all, what a great romp.
I received a ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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