Rating: ★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 312 pages
Author: Jessica Scarlett
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: July 4th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads
BOOK SUMMARY:
One woman.
Three identities.
A handsome lord trying to unmask them all.
To escape the scandals tied to her name, Lillian Markley has gone by an alias for eight years. It was the only way for her to get a reputable job and save enough money to reunite with her sister in America. But when Lily is suddenly let go just as she’s about to reach her goal, she’s offered a salary she can’t refuse in exchange for the unthinkable:
She must masquerade as an heiress at a country estate for the summer.
Being exposed means facing prison, or worse—never seeing her sister again. Run-ins with kidnappers, a suspicious young boy, and a dangerous gentleman who knows her secret quickly has Lily spouting lies as often as she sips her tea—all while battling her growing feelings for Peter Wycliffe, the smiling host who seems to best her at every turn.
Nothing is as simple as it seems. And as the falsehoods begin to mount, Lily must use her arsenal of wits to keep her three facades separate, while preventing Peter—and herself—from discovering the true woman beneath them all.
MOSTLY OKAY.
I am obsessed with book three in this series, A Lady on the Chase. And seriously go read it. This one…not my favorite, but I still plan to read the second book.
There’s a lot of potential here and I did enjoy plenty of moments between Peter and Lily. I thought things got off a bit too quickly on the romance side and it took me awhile to catch up. Some of those swoony ending scenes with confessions of love though? Those were fantastic and I adored everything about them.
I felt like too much was trying to happen in 300 pages. There’s the history behind why Lily goes by a different name. Multiple suitors. Highwaymen attacks. An estranged half-brother and more. Amidst this were fluff scenes of party games, etc. where I felt the pacing was a bit all over the place.
It’s a good book and maybe most of this is attributed to wrong time picking it up scenario. I would still recommend this easily as the writing is enjoyable and the slow burn is impeccable.
Overall audience notes:
- Regency Romance
- Language: none
- Romance: Kisses
- Violence: low
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, attempted kidnapping, brief weapons violence, domestic abuse
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