A Daring Deception

by Cindy Holbrook

A LADY OF MANY DISGUISES
Did she exist, or had he lost all reason? Jason, Earl of Wynhaven, had chanced upon the entrancing, silver-haired minx in a remote forest glen and did not even know her name. Certainly, he never expected to encounter her next amongst the ton at the height of the London season. But the scatter-brained "Miranda" seemed strangely familiar and unquestionably aroused his suspicions. And having survived the war on the continent, he could assuredly unravel the mystery of one uniquely beguiling woman...

A LORD WHO COULD NOT BE DECEIVED
Miss Julia Landreth had precious little time for romance. She could certainly make no attachments when she was constantly hiding her true self behind various disguises, including "Miranda," the skitterwit heiress. But she was decidedly sorry that fealty to her father and the need to clear her family's name required that she deceive the handsome and charming Earl of Wynhaven. Still, something about the way the Earl looked at her made Julia suspect that the game might finally be up. And waltzing with him made her senses reel so alarmingly, so pleasurably, that she almost forgot to maintain her ruse. Perhaps she had met her match at last...

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Regency, Fiction, Traditional Regency, France

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Before becoming a romance novelist, Cindy received a BFA in theater and pursued a career in real estate. She was both a broker and a general contractor and actually began writing to entertain herself while she sat open house as a realtor.

Although born in Wisconsin, Cindy moved to Florida with her family at a young age and has never left. Her home in Fort Walton, on the Emerald coast, provides Cindy with warm weather, beautiful beaches, and magnificent waters. She loves reading, pretending to cook (she says that she reads cookbooks far more often than she actually makes anything), and admiring old cars-especially Mustangs. Cindy is also a devoted dog person who maintains that dogs are actually women's best friend.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to give this book an extra star for consistency. It is horrifyingly cheesy and the men spend most of the book accosting their romantic leads, but it it is so consistently cheesy that I have to say mad respect.
Did this play fast and loose with historical accuracy? Yes. Did it blatantly rip off several Georgette Heyer novels, notably The Masqueraders and These Old Shades? Also yes. Do I have any idea what possessed me to mark this book to-read in the first place? Not a clue!
But I'm tempted to find another book by this author to see if her writing is always this consistently chaotic.

Pre-Review
100% putting on hold because the description uses the word "beguiling."



(GOSH I love that movie.)

[Katherine B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Amy, if you're seeing this, go read the dang book you brought into this house!

I don't even really know where to start with this book. I knew what I was getting into with a historical romance novel written in the 90's, but it was a trainwreck I couldn't look away from.

Let's start at the very beginning, and I am going to tell you the tale so you don't have to read it yourself (Amy, again, go away. You brought this book into the house, you get to read it too).

Once upon a time, there was a very melodramatic duke named Converse (yes, that's his name). He was a traitor to England, and so decided to frame Lord Landreth, also known as the Fox, who was a secret spy (even the spy master didn't know he was a spy. That's how secret) for treason and burn him and his family alive. Unfortunately for poor Converse, his assassins are highly incompetent.

Julia Landreth, some time later, is bathing in a wood and finds herself accosted by a 6 foot 3 inch tall giant of a man who is calling her a sprite. When she (understandably) pulls a gun on him, he decides he's going to be an arse and knocks the gun from her hands and basically tells her she's being a bitch. Then kisses her. She punches him (good), and then Duke Converse's men find her and the giant (Jason. Yes, that's his name) gets shot and she and a guy named John (it is unclear if he is a servant or the Lord John who her dad worked for) carry Jason home with them and patch him up.

Julia decides to gaslight the heck out of Jason because since people want her dead, he can't remember she exists. She disguises herself as an old lady. Except for one point where she was asleep and heard him having a nightmare. He sees her hovering over him, calls her sprite, and makes out with her. Again, against her will. Though she likes it, so I guess it's okay? The best part of all this was when John the next morning is talking to Jason and Jason's like "I made out with a sprite in my dreams last night" and John, knowing full well who the sprite is, goes "KISSING?!?!?!??!?!" and proceeds to tell Jason that kissing sprites, even in his dreams, is dangerous.

John leaves to go find her brother Armand, and Julia's hut gets burned down. Jason finds out she's his sprite, and the two spend two days skulking in the woods together (Jason forcing her to sleep in his arms and kissing her at least once) before Armand shows up (without John, sadly. I liked him) and the siblings run off together.

Next, we see Julia in disguise as the stupid Miranda (the book called her Malinda a few times, so our author couldn't even keep her own character's fake name straight) and she's becoming friends with Jason's fiancée, Chlorinda, who happens to be Converse's niece (bad names run in the family). Her dad is who the Fox worked for. But now he's dead. Because Converse. I can't get over that name. Jason thinks she looks familiar, but isn't sure. It isn't until like two chapters later that he is holding her hand for reasons that are not important and notices a mark where a blister was from her fighting the fire and he realizes that she's his sprite. So yeah, took FOREVER for that drama to start. 😒

Jason starts stalking her and asking her who she is. She won't tell, as the whole of London is looking for her and Armand because it's been announced they're alive and traitors. So, yeah. Makes sense. Jason's not exactly known for being accepting.

Meanwhile, we have this side plot where the Fox is alive and harassing a French widow. The widow of the French spy who had the papers saying he was a traitor. They fall in love, by the way. Harassment is an effective policy in this book. 👍

Oh yeah, and we can't forget the other side plot, where Armand (disguised as Lord Horace) falls in love with Chlorinda, who he thinks betrayed her own father to Converse. He starts breaking into her room at night to demand she answer questions. Because he also takes care of another guy who was harassing her (stealing several of Sir Percy Blakeney's lines in the process), she likes it. Again, harassment works. 👍

Oh, by the way, she didn't betray her dad. Converse is just evil. So Armand is very happy.

Sir Horace and Miranda get engaged (ew 🤢), and shortly after, Jason sees a portrait of Julia and realizes who she is. He calls her all sorts of names and refuses to believe she's innocent, but promises not to tell Converse who she is. Unfortunately for them, Converse figures it out and goes after her and Armand. Armand is caught and Julia escapes to yell at Jason, who is confused but mad that she would dare say he betrayed her.

Armand is helped escape by Chlorinda, and then the Fox goes to Jason, asking for his help. They set up a meeting with the spymaster, Castlereigh, and there the Fox says "here, have my kids as hostages while we prove that Converse is evil." Jason is upset by this, understandably, but Julia and Armand are like "meh. We've been through worse." Fox-man is not getting father of the year award in my book.

The Fox infiltrates Converse's home and challenges him to a duel, even though the stupid Converse immediately blabs everything he knows (and we all know Castlereigh is listening in). The Fox kills him in the duel and Catlereigh is like 👍 "You're good. I believe everything now."

Meanwhile, Julia and Armand are in court being tried as traitors. It is announced that, oh, by the way, the Landreth family are innocent, and the wicked scheme to frame them was discovered by Converse, who died in the line of duty. All of London instantly believes this wholeheartedly, and YAY! THE DAY IS SAVED! 🎉🎉🎉

We then jump to a ball, where the Fox proposes to the French widow lady. Meanwhile, Chlorinda and Jason talk about their broken engagement, and then both go and tell their respective love interests. Armand makes out with Chlorinda (until his dad shows up and is like "all good here, kids?"). Then Julia finds Jason in a room with rose petals, a bottle of champagne, and two glasses (very Regency. Not anachronistic at all, my dear madame). He proposes and then basically eats her face off. They're stopped by her dad (like the one time this was fully consensual, sir!), her soon-to-be step-mom, and her brother (Chlorinda didn't get the invite, I guess). For some reason, the invading family members also brought glasses, and the book ends with all of them toasting their survival and the mischief they'll get up to next. 🥂

Besides the absolutely dreadful prose in this book (I tried to read the first few pages aloud, and it was incredibly cringy), it was very clearly ripping off several stories. One is The Scarlet Pimpernel with its sneaky spy characters, the small villain, the duel (come on, the duel was basically the duel from the 80's movie), and several of Armand's lines while he was in disguise as the foppish Sir Horace (my housemates can attest that I was very upset by this). Ms. Holbrook is also clearly a Georgette Heyer fan, and the ways that this book is a copy of The Masqueraders are endless. A few would be the tall love interest being call "A mountain" by the brother, the brother and sister in disguise because treason reasons, the sweet but stupid love interest for the brother that he saves from a kidnapper and also appears to in disguise, making her fall in love with him, and the less-than-honest father figure.

Another point of ew for me with this book was the very blatant sexual assault committed by the Landreth men and by Jason. Armand at one point was literally like "I said I wouldn't take advantage of you. So therefore, now it is time for me to put my mouth on yours." I'm not joking. At least none of these scenes went beyond kissing. The thought of any of those men being in a room with me made me want to go to His Grace, Duke Converse, and ask him to kill them all.

Oh yeah, and the fact that the SIBLINGS got engaged at one point. I KNOW it's because Jason and Chlorinda walked in on them alone in a room hugging, but like, still. At least the Fox was disturbed by it. Someone had to be. We really just brushed past that..

I have so many more thoughts, but I think this is already long enough. Rant review over!

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

So, I liked this one. I think I enjoyed the first half a bit more than the last half though. Julia was a likable heroine. She has been raised to be a spy since she was three years old, and is very good at what she does. Her family has been accused of being traitors though and she is now in hiding. It is while she is in hiding that she meets Jason, Lord Wynhaven. I liked that throughout the course of the book Julia continues to cross paths with Jason and each time he is drawn to her, despite her different disguises. I think their relationship kind of felt underdeveloped the second half. Soon, Julia’s brother and father enter the story and they each have their own love interests. So, it got to the point where it was switching around from couple to couple and it felt a bit much. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had focused on Jason and Julia a bit more, I love the parts when they are the main focus. Overall, I still enjoyed the story. Holbrook has a fun writing style that sucks you in and is a great story teller.

Content: Clean. No bedroom scenes, but does contain innuendo. Mild language and violence.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel worked for me. It had wit, light humor, and intrigue. The Landreth family have been framed for treason and is on the run while trying to find evidence to prove their innocence. Jason Stanton, The Earl of Wynhaven stumbles upon Julia Landreth and then is attacked by killers who sent to dispatch her. She saves his life and nurses him back to health before joining her brother, Armand to infiltrate the Ton in London and prove their family's innocence. Oh, the other complication is that Stanton is engaged to Chlorinda Everleigh, the niece of Rendon but fortunately, their engagement has yet to be announced yet.

There are many elements to the story that might have you rolling your eyes. However, Holbrook manages the tone skillfully by having well placed light moments as well as focussing on the intrigue. She also weaves the right amount of character development as well as story development. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it was refreshing in that it was also a very clean book. It doesn't rely on any salaciousness to fill the pages or pad the story.

[Marita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will always remember this book, simply because it was one of the first historical romances I ever read, having found it in the library waaay back in high school. I loved it then, and even though my tastes and HR knowledge have changed since, this book is still comforting to go back and re-read.

The story goes through several couples' HEAs but you never feel like there's too much going on or that that the story gets too complicated. The pacing is good, the back-and-forth dialogue between all the couples is delightful and you just end up with a warm, fuzzy feeling at the end of it. I genuinely love the Landreths and how individually and collectively talented, and loving, and loyal, and briliant they are; most of all I love that they all end up happy not just as the family they are but also with all the family they pick up by the end-and it's lovely to see all the couples are so well-matched :)

[Adelais · Rating 3 out of 5]

Наполеонівські війни, ситуація на першій сторінці наступна: палає будинок, всі навколо бігають і суєтяться. Врешті хтось каже, що лис помер у норі, і ми розуміємо, що далі про помсту.
Головних героїв у нас одразу три, тобто ціле сімейство: татко-лорд і за сумісництвом шпигун у Франції (як завжди у лордів буває), і його діти Джулія і Арман, які теж підпрацьовують на благо батьківщини. У всієї родини надзвичайного відтінку сріблясте волосся, і добре, що вони вміють маскуватися, а то й цього б вистачило.
Татка підставляють вороги, всі зображають померлих і ховаються в глушині, поки там абсолютно випадково не проїжджає такий собі мужній граф, а Джулія рятує його від смерті. Ну всі ми часом когось зненацька на болоті рятуємо, буває. Спочатку герцог думає, що це йому фейрі привиділись, потім і не знає, що думати, а потім після кількох поцілунків Джулія тікає. В неї своя місія – разом з братом пробратися у світське товариство і вивести на чисте герцога-зрадника, який замовив таткове вбивство і тримає майже в заручниках рідну небогу. Але є одна проблема, світське товариство таке маленьке село, що і на графа за пів години можна наштовхнутися. Тому Джулія вдягає парик і зображує з себе безнадійну дурепу, а Арманд наносить мейкап і традиційно вдає з себе піжона. Однак від кохання і біганини це їх не врятує.
Власне, це класичний історичний любовний роман, дуже милий і написаний за всіма законами жанру. Правда, одразу три любовні лінії авторка не завжди втримувала докупи (бо татко теж закохався в удову свого агента після того, як вона йому в голову кинула паляницею). Ну й найзахопливіші були не любовні страждання, а самі пригоди з інтригами. Скажу крамольне для жанру – всім цим парочкам набагато краще пасувало б залишитися друзями і в такому стані захищати батьківщину, але тоді це вже був би не любовний роман. Поза тим, читається легко і приємно.

[Rebecca Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep throwing out my romance novels and then I have to buy this one again. Something about the humor and the clueless hero just gets me laughing.

I've given up romance novels for the fourth and final time, but if there was one that could tempt me back, it's this one. Just for the pure light hearted fun of it.

18+
If I remember right there is a sex scene though it is tame by today's standards

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many parallels to Charade (Audrey Hepburn/Cary Grant) and just as funny. When I run out of Cindy Holbrook books I will be a very sad girl. Her characters are amazing and the easy chemistry she creates is perfection. Doesn't hurt that there are usually multiple couples in her stories so it feels like you're getting more bang for your buck (Armand could have had his own story, I just loved his casually bad-ass fop character).

I'm going to need these books in ebook format so I can take them with me everywhere.

[Mary - Buried Under Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very engaging story with really fun characters and some identity deception - the heroine masquerades as an old lady, a witless heiress, etc., with the story dragged with three lovelines.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was light & silly, & it had a very happy & romantic ending.

Rated 2.5 - 5/10 at http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2....