Romance Books Uncategorized

#BookReview – “Once Upon a Masquerade” by Tamara Hughes

Blurb

New York City, 1883

A Prince Charming meets his match…

Self-made shipping magnate Christopher Black first spies Rebecca Bailey at a masquerade ball and is captivated by her refreshing naivete and sparkling beauty. She’s a stark contrast to the hollow behavior of the ton and the guile of his former fiancée, but the closer he gets to her secrets, the further she pushes him away.
 
A Cinderella with a secret…

Rebecca is drawn to the charismatic Christopher from the first, but she cannot risk him discovering that she is really a housemaid impersonating an heiress. Her father’s life depends on it.
 
A Happily Ever After that could never be…

When Christopher’s investigation of the murder of his best friend leads him straight to Rebecca, he fears his ingenue may be a femme fatale in disguise. Now he must decide if he can trust the woman he’s come to love, or if her secrets will be his downfall.

Review

Rebecca Bailey works as a maid in an upstanding New York household. After her father loses a ton of money in gambling and a couple of thugs threaten both him and Rebecca, she takes her fellow maid’s advice to find a rich man, become his mistress, and get the money to save her father. With a borrowed dress and jewelry, Rebecca attends a fabulous masquerade and meets the one man she never wanted to see again.

Christopher Black is searching for the person who killed his friend and for the woman his dying friend had begged Christopher to save. Unfortunately, both he and the police believe the killer and the mystery woman are the same person. He meets Rebecca at the masquerade, not realizing he already knows her as a maid. Though she looks the part of a highbred lady, she doesn’t act like it. He knows she has a secret, and he’s determined to uncover it.

I liked both Rebecca and Christopher. She’s headstrong and stubborn, but foolish when she drinks too much. He’s protective but blind to the way his words and actions hurt her. They lied to each other a lot, and it took a murder attempt for them to finally open up to one another. Their constant distrust became a little tiresome after a while, but it also made sense for the story line. I guessed who the villains were midway through the book, so the ending wasn’t a surprise, but their reasons for why and how they did what they did was definitely a twist.

One thing I really liked was the mention of real people in the book. The masquerade Rebecca and Christopher attended was a real party thrown by the Vanderbilt family in their newly built mansion. The attention to detail was great.

There were a few typos but nothing major. I really enjoyed the story and would love to read more from Ms. Hughes.

4 Stars