The Duke’s Masquerade
Maggi Andersen
Historical Regency
Tate faces a nefarious criminal in the fight for his love and his estate.
A duke fighting to keep his estate. A lady intent on discovering what the man she loves hides from her. In disguise, beneath the very noses of the curious ton, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey, works to solve a mystery and get the better of a villain intent on stealing all that he holds dear.
At the death of his father, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey’s safe world, turns upside down. His historic estate, Cloudhill, is soon to be snatched away. Tate must go undercover to discover why his father, who never gambled, lost the family fortune, and he has little time to do it. And worse, he must face the possibility the woman he loves will marry another man before the spring Season has ended. But when Tate’s carriage stops in a village on the way to London, he meets a man with a remarkable likeness to him, and an idea is formed.
Lady Ianthe Granville has loved Tate since she was in the schoolroom, and believed they would someday marry. She is shocked when he not only fails to propose, he seems to accept he will lose her to another. Her come-out is a bitter disappointment, and as her father is intent on marrying her to a man she does not love, Ianthe takes it upon herself to discover just what it is that has caused this change in Tate, and why he has adopted an extraordinary disguise.
Uncaged Review: All the elements for a good historical romance is here in this book. We have a slow burn romance, deception, danger and a mystery. Tate’s father died before he could tell him that he’d been taken by a con man and with Tate inheriting the Dukedom and facing to have everything taken away from him by a criminal who had almost the classic mob boss mentality. Donovan who owns several gambling hells has Tate concealing his identity to infiltrate the gambling hells and find a way to get the paperwork that he knows his father never signed to prove innocence. On the way, he runs into Brett, a man that looks very similar to Tate, so the two of them set up a deception so Brett will take Tate’s place in the tons season, and Tate will be free to investigate. During this time, the women that Tate loves is being courted by a different man, and Tate is losing hope that he’ll be able to finish in time.
This is a good story, with good secondary characters. I wasn’t all that attached to Ianthe, but I liked her well enough. It’s not that she did anything wrong, just seemed immature. All in all, this is a fast paced historical and fun to read, but pay attention as the story jumps from chapter to chapter. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 1/2 Stars
