The Duke's Masquerade - bookrastinating.com

Published April 28, 2023 by Dragonblade Publishing.

ISBN:: 0420202312

Tate faces a nefarious criminal in the fight for his love and his estate.

A duke fighting to keep his estate. A lady intent on discovering what the man she loves hides from her. In disguise, beneath the very noses of the curious ton, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey, works to solve a mystery and get the better of a villain intent on stealing all that he holds dear.

At the death of his father, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey’s safe world, turns upside down. His historic estate, Cloudhill, is soon to be snatched away. Tate must go undercover to discover why his father, who never gambled, lost the family fortune, and he has little time to do it. And worse, he must face the possibility the woman he loves will marry another man before the spring Season has ended. But when Tate’s carriage …

Tate faces a nefarious criminal in the fight for his love and his estate.

A duke fighting to keep his estate. A lady intent on discovering what the man she loves hides from her. In disguise, beneath the very noses of the curious ton, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey, works to solve a mystery and get the better of a villain intent on stealing all that he holds dear.

At the death of his father, His Grace Tarleton Fanshawe, Duke of Lindsey’s safe world, turns upside down. His historic estate, Cloudhill, is soon to be snatched away. Tate must go undercover to discover why his father, who never gambled, lost the family fortune, and he has little time to do it. And worse, he must face the possibility the woman he loves will marry another man before the spring Season has ended. But when Tate’s carriage stops in a village on the way to London, he meets a man with a remarkable likeness to him, and an idea is formed.

Lady Ianthe Granville has loved Tate since she was in the schoolroom, and believed they would someday marry. She is shocked when he not only fails to propose, he seems to accept he will lose her to another. Her come-out is a bitter disappointment, and as her father is intent on marrying her to a man she does not love, Ianthe takes it upon herself to discover just what it is that has caused this change in Tate, and why he has adopted an extraordinary disguise.

1 edition

lastblossom reviewed The Duke's Masquerade by Maggi Andersen (Improper Lords, #1)

A fairly fast-paced read featuring several interwoven plots and a lot of pining. The secondary couple is very endearing.

No rating

About Duke Tarleton Fanshawe (Tate) is in trouble. His father gambled away the family estate right before his death - at least, that's what the debtors claim. Tate isn't so sure, but he has no way to prove it. Meanwhile, the love of his life, Ianthe, might be married to another if he can't get his estate back. A chance meeting with a lookalike gives Tate an opportunity: Send the lookalike to London in his stead while he goes undercover to learn the truth about his father's dying words.

Thoughts One of my favorite tropes (swapping places) meets one of my least favorite tropes (lack of communication), which puts this book squarely down the middle for me. I don't mind a little pining, but the fact that Tate wouldn't explain to Ianthe what was going on is... a struggle. The story got much more interesting once she was actively …

About Duke Tarleton Fanshawe (Tate) is in trouble. His father gambled away the family estate right before his death - at least, that's what the debtors claim. Tate isn't so sure, but he has no way to prove it. Meanwhile, the love of his life, Ianthe, might be married to another if he can't get his estate back. A chance meeting with a lookalike gives Tate an opportunity: Send the lookalike to London in his stead while he goes undercover to learn the truth about his father's dying words.

Thoughts One of my favorite tropes (swapping places) meets one of my least favorite tropes (lack of communication), which puts this book squarely down the middle for me. I don't mind a little pining, but the fact that Tate wouldn't explain to Ianthe what was going on is... a struggle. The story got much more interesting once she was actively involved in it. As for the story, there's a lot in here - more than you might expect in most regency romances. Several plot threads are moving at once, with interconnected complications and a handful of mysteries along the way, all pushed along at a brisk pace by straightforward writing. Aside from the main couple, there are a few other romances going on as well, all very sweet, so if you love a story with many happy endings, this will probably be a bonus.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for a review copy! All thoughts in this review are my own.