Masquerading Mistress

by Sophia James

SURPRISING

The war-scarred Thornton Lindsay, Duke of Penborne, can scarcely believe the news when a beautiful stranger comes to London proclaiming to be his lover.

SECRETIVE

Caroline Anstretton is on the run and desperate. Her gamble that the reclusive duke won't leave the sanctuary of his home is lost when he coolly confronts her.

SENSUAL

Courtesan or charlatan, this mysterious, sensual woman intrigues Thorn. There's a vulnerability beneath her smile and easy laughter. Could she be the one to mend a life he'd thought damaged beyond repair?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Regency, Fiction, Harlequin, Harlequin Historical

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Georgette Heyer novels formed Sophia James' reading tastes as a teenager, but her writing life only started when she was given a pile of Mills & Boons to read after she had had her wisdom teeth extracted! Filled with strong painkillers, she imagined that she could pen one, too. Many drafts later, Sophia thinks she has the perfect job writing for Harlequin Historical, as well as taking art tours to Europe with her husband, who is a painter.

Reviews

[Beanbag Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book because it was on my Kindle recommendations (based on other authors I've bought) and it was a great price. It just didn't make it with me though.

I won't go into too much detail. It starts awkwardly, then gets intriguing for a chapter or two but then strings together so many coincidences it's practically PNR. The heroine is annoying in her expectations (which are really ridiculous considering choices that she has made) and a liar. Sure, she needs to be a liar, but after a while it starts to seem like a habit. How is the hero, someone who's been alone for so long, ever going to trust her? Oh, but he does because he can see it in her eyes or something (I find that device nothing less than insulting at this point).

Then, a second villain appears three quarters into the story. Huh? What?

And then it's all wrapped up with a pointless epilogue.

The sequence that was intriguing was very nice, and it's a shame the rest of the book doesn't measure up at all.

This is my first, and probably last, Sophia James, unless someone can give a recommendation of something better.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gusta la trama, los personajes (principales y secundarios), las historias que cada uno trae de su pasado y el desenlace. Sólo opino que podría haberle sacado mucho más jugo a la historia y contarnos más sin saltar de una escena a otra tan de puntillas.

[Lucimar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tudo começa quando Caroline para fugir de uma situação colocado por seu irmão inventa que é amante Thornton Lindsay, Duke of Penborne, e que vive recluso por conta das cicatrizes que conseguiu quando era espião do governo e perdeu a mulher que amava e desde então se refugiava no campo, se isolando de todos. Ele então vai tomar satisfação porque ela disse isso e ao confrontá-la a deixa numa posição vergonhosa. Ele se sente atraído por ela e lhe propõe que fique com ele uma noite em troca de uma valor altíssimo. Ela aceita porque precisa fugir (aliás está sempre fugindo). Só que, ele pensa que ela é uma cortesã, portanto muito experiente. Ela passa a noite com ele e mesmo assim, o tosco não descobre que ela é virgem, apesar de estranhar um pouco a reação dela. Ela vai embora e ele reencontra-a um ano depois com um filho. Nenhum se esqueceu do outro. Entre mentiras, segredos e vai e vem eles quase sempre se magoam e se reconciliam para que novamente, algum acontecimento desastroso, os separe.
Gostei do livro, apesar de não gostar de algumas atitudes do mocinho: não reconhecer que ela uma virgem foi uma delas e outro no segundo encontro deles em que tiveram relações, ele para manter sua privacidade, a deixa sozinha porque estava com raiva porque ela fugira. e nem da mocinha : porque quando acontecia algo com seu irmão (gêmeo)ela abandonava tudo por causa dele. Um fato que é explicado no final. Uma boa leitura sim, com personagens idem. Em cada situação quando ele a encontrava a mocinha era como uma camaleoa que se transformava: cortesã, rapaz, prostituta, viúva respeitável... e por isso, ele não confiava nela.

[Karen Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is too much going on in this book and I didn't even make it to the half way point. The hero is scarred up, the heroin and her brother are on the run, the hero thinks the heroin is a whore, he pays her for one night of sex, she gets pregnant, her and her brother runs away, she has a baby, the hero finds her, her brother goes missing, she goes looking for him, the hero follows her, the hero and the heroin ends up having sex again, the brother shows up and on and on it goes. I quit reading. Just too much for me.

[hani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been in a reading slump this past month and this book just pulled me out of it. I liked it well enough. In fact, I liked it more than the other book I've read by this author. It had an interesting story and I loved Caroline. The reason I'm giving this book a 3.5/5 🌟 is because Caroline did become rather annoyingly sappy towards the end. I just don't appreciate heroines who cry all the time. I also didn't appreciate the constant kidnapping and attempted murders. Like really? Once was enough. But overall, I enjoyed this book and would totally read another book by this author in the future.

[Sick Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caroline para evitar los avances de un hombre miente que después de ser amante de un tal duque que está escondido del ojo de la sociedad londinense desde que volvió de la guerra ya nada puede satisfacerla.
Él se entera y viaja a londres para enfrentarla y retarla a no jugar con él.

Nadismo puro.

Ambos personajes protagonistas bien, pero ella me sacaba un poco de quicio con las vueltas que daba.

La relación de los hermanos tenía vibras hermosas. Su hermano era tipo "te voy a seguir hasta el fin del mundo". Amo. ❤️‍🩹

[pj · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started very interesting and then slowed down and never picks up, too many miscommunication that are resolved in a weird manner, some are never resolved and then the reveal feels rushed and it feels too convenient, the FMC keeps lying too and then gets sad when the MMC does not like her back like they are too confusing to me I was dragging my feet to finish this

[Anorhi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright, but towards the end the constant back and forth between serious topics and giggly sex flirting was a bit much, not even a couple sentences to let the feelings breathe in a lot of cases.

[Desi · Rating 4 out of 5]

leído en Febrero 2013

Me gustó lo suficiente como pa darle casi 4 estrellas

Me pareció buena trama

[Laura San Martín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente

Muy buena, tiene de todo lo que a mi me gusta , misterio , suspenso, amor y pasión, una muy bella historia. Totalmente recomendada.

[Jodie Portugal · Rating 2 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIo3V...

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It jumps opportunities to explain things more in depth but not surprising for this type of book. Great writing though, had me turning pages and wanting to know what was happening.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caroline and her twin brother are survivors, running from their past and will do anything to make sure the other is safe. So when Lindsay gets the opportunity, she sells her virginity to Thornton Lindsay for fifty guineas. Only she's not just doing it for the money, but also because she's wildly attracted to him. But it's clear all he wants is the one night, so after they have the money, she and her brother continue in a new identity somewhere else. Only he can't forget her and when he finds her again and he decides that she'll be his mistress, since she's not of suitable station to be a Duke's wife. But their past is catching up with them and someone is trying to kill them, which makes Thorn realize how valuable she actually is to him.

Angsty and soap opera-ish. At times I was fascinated, and yet at others I was frustrated with the characters. I liked the fact that it was angsty and had loads of romance cliches. This book definitely kept me reading. I wasn't bored.

Caroline and Thomas were definitely interesting. Their loyalty to one another and their close relationship was heart warming. They also happen to be charlatans and consummate actors. They have so many identities and tell so many lies it's hard to know who they really are. So it was very difficult to say whether something was out of character for our heroine, because she could be anyone A true chameleon. It also made her expectations that Thorn should fall in love with her, trust her or even one to marry her completely ridiculous. As much as I hated his treatment of her at times, I honestly could understand it. Why should he treat her like a lady when he thinks she's a whore? Why should he be nice to her or even trust her with his own secrets when EVERY time he turns around she's lied to him again? I just couldn't envision much of a happy ending for these two given her habits and lies. Especially the biggest one of all. I mean, she didn't tell him about his son. And later, when she confronts him, she refuses to let him see his son and even lies to him about whether or not it's his...because she's offended that he had to ask if it could be anyone else's. Well, he did honestly think she was a courtesan, so the question shouldn't be offensive. And it's not like he knew her well enough to believe any differently.

[Kelly_Instalove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade: C+

One night. All night. The clouds and the moon and the darkness rolled into one and the clenching want made her shake, made her sweat, made her say his name in the wildness of passion.

The happy couple....

Thornton Lindsay is a scarred, reclusive war hero – and also a Reluctant Duke. Caroline Anstretton is a desperate runaway who tells a London ballroom that the duke is her lover.

The set-up....

When the duke hears of Caroline’s outrageous claim, he propositions her, and naturally she accepts, gets pregnant and runs away again.

The conflicts....

Caroline has a Tragic Past, and she’s also trying to keep her younger brother away from the gaming hells. The duke is a grumpy loner who’s mistrustful of everyone.

The romance....

There’s chemistry, but unfortunately our happy couple is separated for much of the book – and when they’re finally reunited, some rather strange war-related intrigue gets the duke all mistrustful again. Fortunately, the Revealing of the Tragic Past works its usual wonders and all is forgiven.

The recommendation....

Better pacing and characterization than Fallen Angel, but the unnecessary suspense stuff relies on more than a few Very Convenient Coincidences.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a mess. I bought it at the library's used book sale after it had been discarded from the collection, and it's no wonder it ended up there. The heroine is a virgin masquerading as a courtesan. She lies about having slept with the hero, a war-scarred reclusive Duke - I never really did figure out the point of the lie - and he buys her services for a night for 50 guineas. He doesn't realize she was a virgin - and, wait, why did she agree to this again? She gets pregnant and he continues to think she is a loose woman, now posing as an artist and widow. When they are caught together, she "loses" her widowly reputation and he takes her in as his mistress. And I'm supposed to buy that even though she is an illegitimate nobody he is going to marry her and make her a duchess in the end? Then there are the "running away from a crime we committed in France" and "someone is trying to kill us" subplots with her twin brother to follow. A mess.

[July C. B · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,25 estrellas.

Una historia corta y medianamente entretenida que por el comienzo prometía más, pero que terminó convirtiéndose en una secuencia de hechos confusos y sin mucho sentido. Podría habérsele sacado más jugo al romance, aunque al final quedó en poco.

[Christine Strowbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yup, I rather liked this one as well, I just didn't like how it ended. She's in a bed after having been drugged almost raped and they are telling her "hey here's your dad" and "my cousin did it". That was kind of stupid. Could it have waited until they had her safely somewhere? lol Oh, well. The rest of the book up to that point was pretty interesting.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read, I really enjoyed this book.

The love story is good, the intrigue is interesting and kept me entralled. I loved the characters Caroline Anstretton/Weatherby/St Claire and Thornton Lindsay, Duke of Penborne.

I found it well written and I Sophia James has other books that are just as good as this one.

[Drisana Levitzke-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off slow (though it was rushed through and felt a bit uncomfortable), the storyline piqued my interest halfway through and I enjoyed this light reading, finished it in two sittings in a day. Lovely summer reading.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

ehhh

[Readitnweep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Library archive.

[Trewen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 star

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started 3/22/11 & quite good. Scarred hero

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow in spots, but an interesting premise, and a fun read. Good vacation fair.

[delica. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, but nothing special, everything happened really fast, but characters were good so it wasn't that much of a waste to read this book.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

not your usual historical, it had a few extra twists and i really enjoyed it.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too long. Too much detail and then not enough detail in places.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not my favorite novel by Sophia James. But I liked it enough to finish it. The characters were okay. Mostly what kept me going was her writing style, which I've always enjoyed.

[BJ Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

see my Amazon review

[Krita · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5