A Dangerous Charade

by Anne Barbour

Alison Fox was the epitome of the lady's companion. Prim, proper, and efficient, no one would suspect that, in her past, she had also been Lissa Reynard, successful gambler and adventuress. She had left that life behind her, but knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be found by the one man she feared the most. The handsome, iron-willed Earl of Marchford, nephew of Alison's employer, had vowed revenge on the notorious card shark who, he believed, had ruined the lives of his brother and his brother's wife. She had eluded him for years, but now he had shown up on his aunt's doorstep, suspicious of the woman who had gained the affection of his beloved—and very wealthy—aunt. How was Alison to prevent the discovery of her previous identity? And even worse, what was she to do about the attraction that had sprung between herself and the earl? An attraction that soon turned to passion, wild as a wind-blown fire.

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

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Anne Barbour developed an affection for the Regency period while living in England. She now lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband, a retired lieutenant colonel. She is the mother of six children, all grown, and she loves to boast of her five grandchildren.

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Ms Barbour’s writing. I have several of her works on my keeper shelves.

This book is not a favorite of mine.

Allison is a companion to a wonderful woman who loves her like a daughter. In the past, doing a favor for a friend, Allison disguised herself, played cards and won a great deal of money for that friend.

The woman who lost the great deal of money took her own life and caused the death of her husband. The brother of her husband is man who is determined to find and punish the car sharp who cheated his late sister-in-law..

So, it appears that terrible event has come back to haunt Allison.

I wanted to like this story, but for some reason it did not completely hold my interest.

The only character I actually loved was the elderly woman who employed Allison.

There are misunderstandings and complications and generally an involved story.

I simply could not get into this one as much as I hoped.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Struggled to get through this and stopped halfway after not being able to bare it any longer. I was expecting an adventurous cat-and-mouse plot but in reality it is a disappointing bore. The promise of an exciting high stakes gambling plot is foiled as Allison's gamester days was four years before the opening of the book and onwards from there is staying as a companion to a lady, Aunt Edith. Her nephew has been hunting a 'mystery villainess' that caused his family grief back then for years. He comes to stay with his aunt for a while, coming in contact with Allsion. Unbeknownst to him, Allison is the one he's looking for and she is now at risk of being found out as he inches closer to uncovering the mystery. She spends half the book in a constant panic and I hardly see how he becomes attracted to her and her to him. Allison is wimpy and insipid. I like my heroines' with strong personalities so was very disappointed she was such a wilt.

The romance is also flat as their conversations don't really sparkle or aren't particularly witty. Allison always has these internal guilt battles that got repetitve real fast. Talk about misleading marketing... Dangerous? This charade definitely is not!

Rating: 1 snoreworthy star
Re-readbility: none.

[Deborah KV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idiotic Heroine

An intelligent woman is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it. An intelligent woman does not repeatedly make the same mistake with respect to someone who doesn't have her best interests at heart. Intelligent women make mistakes, yes, but not over and over again. Too often authors render females to childlike nitwits who are incapable of making logical decisions. Elements of this story were typical for a regency, including the overly naive protaganist.

[Josua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Excellent character development. Comes close to my enjoyment of Georgette Heyer's books.

I enjoyed this book very much. Have been looking for a writer to equal Georgette Heyer. This comes very close to it.

[janet hodgson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from a great author

Secrets and mystery but romance too. Plenty of fun and misery. A delightful romp that we all know will end well for some and the baddies will get their comeuppance.

[Book Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Encounters
We first meet Anthony Brent, the Earl of Marchford, on his way to save his wealthy aunt from her companion who is apparently going to get a sizeable bequest from said aunt. There’s a hint of mystery here – he’s looking for an adventuress (other than the one residing with his aunt); will he find her and why is he looking for her?

Miss Alison Fox makes her way onto the stage when she runs after a dog and nearly ends up under the hooves of Marchford’s horses. (I will never understand how heroines just don’t see massive four legged horses – they’ve always been very obvious to me!)

What did I like about the book?
I liked everything about this book. I could see why Alison let the Misunderstanding go for as long as she did; I could sympathise with her dilemma with the villain; I loved that we got Anthony’s POV and that the women in the book were all supportive of each other – no nasty mothers or spoilt beauties here!

And I liked Anthony’s character growth. Although he’s not a ‘beta’ hero he’s also not your typical ‘alpha/ahole’ – he’s able to acknowledge his errors and learn from them. In fact, just as Alison does.

What did I not like about the book?
This is a really minor thing but there were some spelling errors and typos – probably as a result of the change from print to e-book – which just drew me out of the story on occasion.

How did I feel at the end?
That’s really the important thing isn’t it? Did I feel the HEA was right? Was I left with a warm and fuzzy feeling or wishing I could get my money back?

I was definitely left with a warm and fuzzy feeling here. The HEA was done beautifully in my opinion and I’d definitely re-read.

And in fact, this book is ridiculously cheap at the moment. Depending on what country you’re in it could be less than a dollar! (yep, that’s the case even for us Aussies!). So if you’re looking for a not-too-stupid heroine with a bit of a past and a hero who can learn to forgive, then jump onto your favourite book platform and download A Dangerous Charade today.

(Check out my personal blog for more Traditional Regency Romance reviews)

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alison Fox was just stupid. What is better, allowing yourself to be blackmailed or confessing your past to the hero of the story?

[Spazfungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh


March goes to visit his Aunt Edith to rid her of a scheming adventuress companion Alison Fox, who has "beguiled" Edith to give Alison a substantial bequest. In reality Alison has brought happiness to Edith and wants to use the money to start a school for girls. Alison has another reason to fear March. four years ago she took up the name Lisa Renyolds to gamble and win money to help her friend Beth's husband Jack when he lost heavily. March's sister-in-law lost heavily and blamed Lisa (when in fact Lisa only won 300 pounds from her) and accidentally committed suicide. March's brother died while trying to save her. March has been searching to punish Lisa ever since. Jack turns up and blackmails Alison to help him again, and when she refuses kidnapps March's sister Meg. Alison goes to help but winds up kidnapped herself. March saves her, they plan to marry, HEA

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alison Fox becomes a companion of the Lady Edith, Aunt to Earl of Marchford. Marchford comes into the picture early on the Novel to try to prove to his aunt that her companion is only after her money. Alison is afraid he'll figure out who she really is not that her personality is different but rather that she was the gambler who won against his relatives who ended their own lives after their loses. He has her pegged off as a deceitful person whereas she has a very good reason for her last and that past comes back to threaten her just as they realize they love each other.