What do you think?
Rate this book
Midnight Masque
Deception...and desire
With the murder of a reclusive tycoon, Midnight, Maine's Halloween curse was once again resurrected. A fact that spooked Des Jones, for the curse promised death to the legendary Masque Factory's new heir--the person he was impersonating.
Under a cloak of disguise, Des arrived in Midnight only to find that his life-threatening challenge was made deliciously sweeter when the beautiful Rowen Hunter became his fiancee in deception.
Rowen was promised to another--the man paying Des for a job well done--but he wanted her...no matter what the cost.
But to have her, Des had to unmask a killer determined to make theirs a deadly affair.
With the murder of a reclusive tycoon, Midnight, Maine's Halloween curse was once again resurrected. A fact that spooked Des Jones, for the curse promised death to the legendary Masque Factory's new heir--the person he was impersonating.
Under a cloak of disguise, Des arrived in Midnight only to find that his life-threatening challenge was made deliciously sweeter when the beautiful Rowen Hunter became his fiancee in deception.
Rowen was promised to another--the man paying Des for a job well done--but he wanted her...no matter what the cost.
But to have her, Des had to unmask a killer determined to make theirs a deadly affair.
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1993
18 people want to read
About the author
Jenna Ryan
105 books129 followersJenna Ryan was born in Victoria, British Columbia. After long stints in different cities across Canada, she returned home to Vancouver Island where she has lived ever since. She has had thirty-one books published in the Harlequin Intrigue series. Her ideas come from real life, and she is helped in her writing by her sister Kathy.
She enjoys reading and is a big fan of women's fiction, psychological suspense and mystery novels. She also enjoys watching classic suspense movies. She loves strong heroines, heroes with character, romance stories and a good whodunit by the fire on a rainy night.
Her heritage is a blend of English and Irish — which is probably where the gift of blarney comes from. She is unmarried, but involved with a wonderful man. She also has a little white cat named Sheena.
Whenever she is not writing, she travels as much as time and finances will allow. After North America, Europe is her favorite continent to explore, because it was in those countries that many of the myths and legends she drew upon in her early years of writing were born.
Growing up, she considered various careers and dabbled in several of them, including, after university, the travel industry, tourism, sales and modeling. Work in the fashion industry in Toronto and Montreal gave her an interesting peek into various aspects of that world. She learned that where money, power and people come together, there will always be unpredictability — an element she feels is essential to a strong mystery. Add a healthy measure of personal conflict, an intriguing setting and a spicy romance into the mix, and you have the ingredients for what she believes to be the best of all possible stories — a great romantic suspense.
She enjoys reading and is a big fan of women's fiction, psychological suspense and mystery novels. She also enjoys watching classic suspense movies. She loves strong heroines, heroes with character, romance stories and a good whodunit by the fire on a rainy night.
Her heritage is a blend of English and Irish — which is probably where the gift of blarney comes from. She is unmarried, but involved with a wonderful man. She also has a little white cat named Sheena.
Whenever she is not writing, she travels as much as time and finances will allow. After North America, Europe is her favorite continent to explore, because it was in those countries that many of the myths and legends she drew upon in her early years of writing were born.
Growing up, she considered various careers and dabbled in several of them, including, after university, the travel industry, tourism, sales and modeling. Work in the fashion industry in Toronto and Montreal gave her an interesting peek into various aspects of that world. She learned that where money, power and people come together, there will always be unpredictability — an element she feels is essential to a strong mystery. Add a healthy measure of personal conflict, an intriguing setting and a spicy romance into the mix, and you have the ingredients for what she believes to be the best of all possible stories — a great romantic suspense.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 14, 2013
Enjoyable Intrigue set around Halloween. It had more suspense than romance but I didn't mind thanks to the interesting and strange cast of characters/suspects.”
April 25, 2012
You know those beautiful autumn nights around the end of October where the air is crisp, the leaves crunch under your feet when you walk to your car, and candle-lit pumpkins pop up on every porch in the neighborhood? That's the kind of night you want when you're reading Midnight Masque.
Compared to other stories by Ryan, this one's more of a slow burn. Rather than starting with a bang and only getting wilder from there the way that, say, Dakota Marshal does, Masque takes its time. It simmers. It locks in the juices. Ryan teases us for a while, getting us acclimated to the fog-enshrouded coastal Maine town of Midnight as she introduces all the players. Those who have read her before know her penchant for quirky secondary characters, and there's a bevy of them here.
Being an Intrigue, it's more suspense than romance. There's talk of a family curse, several murders, and a list of suspicious characters a mile long. So, who wants Reggie Forbes, heir to the bulk of fortune left behind by the late Harold Forbes, dead? The estranged family members have all gathered together in Harold's house to await the reading of the will (as soon as the lawyer can find it), and as gorgeous female lead Rowen Hunter (Reggie's girl-of-the-moment) discovers, every last one of them has something to gain if Reggie's out of the picture.
Almira, the vampy (literally) housekeeper stands to inherit Harold's mansion if Reggie's not around to live in it. Harold's business partner Lester will gain sole, controlling stake in the mask production facility. There's an assortment of cousins and other family relations who will see their fortunes greatly enhanced if Reggie's haul gets divided between all of them. All Reggie needs to do is survive any attempts on his life and evade the curse of Jonah Blackstone, which makes an occasional habit of claiming the lives of members of the Forbes clan on Halloween nights. What's a fearful, pragmatic man to do?
Hire a replacement, of course, which is where Desmond Jones comes in. Reggie's cousin is something of a bohemian who enjoys cigarettes and booze a bit too much and who has had more than one run-in with the law, but with a little haircut and wardrobe enhancement he's the spitting image of Reggie. For a mere hundred grand, he's willing to put his life on the line, become Reggie Forbes, and travel with Rowen to Midnight while Reggie himself bunkers down in Boston.
It's a simple idea we've seen done a hundred times before, but as always, Jenna Ryan has her own fun take on things and gives a story that tips its hat merrily to the likes of Christie's "And Then There Were None..." and the classic "Vault of Horror" comics published by EC. The reveal of who's behind the attempts on Reggie's life will take all but the most strident observer by surprise and actually made me read through the story again to see if I could have caught it the first time around (Ryan doesn't cheat--it's quite possible).
Read "Midnight Masque" first and foremost for the atmosphere. Ms. Ryan does a beautiful job filling your head with images of dark cliffsides, those terrifying October thunderstorms that swoop in without warning to soak you to the bone, and chasing shadows through the cemetery. Rowen's relationship with Des unfolds slowly and in a believable way, so there's none of that "Well, we just had sex, so it must be loooooove!" silliness (a plus in my book).
So wait for October. Curl up under the blankets with a nice mug of tea or hot chocolate. Prop up the pillows, open the windows, let the breeze blow in and feel those lovely little shivers. Then open "Midnight Masque" because the time will be just right.
Compared to other stories by Ryan, this one's more of a slow burn. Rather than starting with a bang and only getting wilder from there the way that, say, Dakota Marshal does, Masque takes its time. It simmers. It locks in the juices. Ryan teases us for a while, getting us acclimated to the fog-enshrouded coastal Maine town of Midnight as she introduces all the players. Those who have read her before know her penchant for quirky secondary characters, and there's a bevy of them here.
Being an Intrigue, it's more suspense than romance. There's talk of a family curse, several murders, and a list of suspicious characters a mile long. So, who wants Reggie Forbes, heir to the bulk of fortune left behind by the late Harold Forbes, dead? The estranged family members have all gathered together in Harold's house to await the reading of the will (as soon as the lawyer can find it), and as gorgeous female lead Rowen Hunter (Reggie's girl-of-the-moment) discovers, every last one of them has something to gain if Reggie's out of the picture.
Almira, the vampy (literally) housekeeper stands to inherit Harold's mansion if Reggie's not around to live in it. Harold's business partner Lester will gain sole, controlling stake in the mask production facility. There's an assortment of cousins and other family relations who will see their fortunes greatly enhanced if Reggie's haul gets divided between all of them. All Reggie needs to do is survive any attempts on his life and evade the curse of Jonah Blackstone, which makes an occasional habit of claiming the lives of members of the Forbes clan on Halloween nights. What's a fearful, pragmatic man to do?
Hire a replacement, of course, which is where Desmond Jones comes in. Reggie's cousin is something of a bohemian who enjoys cigarettes and booze a bit too much and who has had more than one run-in with the law, but with a little haircut and wardrobe enhancement he's the spitting image of Reggie. For a mere hundred grand, he's willing to put his life on the line, become Reggie Forbes, and travel with Rowen to Midnight while Reggie himself bunkers down in Boston.
It's a simple idea we've seen done a hundred times before, but as always, Jenna Ryan has her own fun take on things and gives a story that tips its hat merrily to the likes of Christie's "And Then There Were None..." and the classic "Vault of Horror" comics published by EC. The reveal of who's behind the attempts on Reggie's life will take all but the most strident observer by surprise and actually made me read through the story again to see if I could have caught it the first time around (Ryan doesn't cheat--it's quite possible).
Read "Midnight Masque" first and foremost for the atmosphere. Ms. Ryan does a beautiful job filling your head with images of dark cliffsides, those terrifying October thunderstorms that swoop in without warning to soak you to the bone, and chasing shadows through the cemetery. Rowen's relationship with Des unfolds slowly and in a believable way, so there's none of that "Well, we just had sex, so it must be loooooove!" silliness (a plus in my book).
So wait for October. Curl up under the blankets with a nice mug of tea or hot chocolate. Prop up the pillows, open the windows, let the breeze blow in and feel those lovely little shivers. Then open "Midnight Masque" because the time will be just right.
October 22, 2014
HA! I do remember this one as I think I actually wanted to read it with its Halloween theme.
It was cheesy and campy but in a way most like your favorite Halloween film. I am pretty sure that I checked to see if anyone had more of Ryan's and/or the halloween-themed books.
It was cheesy and campy but in a way most like your favorite Halloween film. I am pretty sure that I checked to see if anyone had more of Ryan's and/or the halloween-themed books.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews