Masquerade Secrets picks up about 3 months after Scandal of Love ends. Although
it is helpful, you don't need to read Book 1 to understand or enjoy Book 2. Lady
Sera and her Earl are off on the Continent enjoying their honeymoon, and Lady
Sera's best friend, Aubrey, is left to handle the social whirl alone. Bradford,
the Duke of Wathersby, has been hiding himself in the country since the
unsuccessful abduction of Lady Sera. Upon his return to society, Aubrey makes an
effort to be nice to him because the Duke was always genuinely nice to Aubrey
when he was courting Lady Sera.
Then, a masquerade ball is held, and
Aubrey shows up in this magical gold dress that has all the men fighting over
her. Of course, there is instant attraction between the Duke and Aubrey, and so
he wins her first dance. He takes a long time to speak, and when he does, she
realizes who he is, and then will not tell him who she is. He is smitten and
declares himself to her, but she doesn't believe that he would still want her if
he knew who she was. She pulls a Cinderella, and runs away at the first
opportunity.
Lady Victoria's brother throws a 2-week house party, and
after a really long time, he figures out that Aubrey is the masquerade woman.
There is a happily ever after for these two, but I won't spoil the story by
telling you how it happens.
This follow up to Scandal of Love is
definitely an improvement in the depth of the characters and the believability
of their interactions and reactions to what life throws their way. We even get
to understand Lady Victoria some more. (It wouldn't suprise me if Book 3 deals
with her story.) Given the leading characters' history, their suddenly
discovered attraction is more understandable. The foundation has been there
since before the time covered by Book 1 - the characters have been acquainted
for years. Also, the drama created by Aubrey's nemesis is much more dramatic and
unsettling than in Book 1. Such a challenge could easily happen in this day and
age, and so it is not a leap that the characters would struggle as they
do.
However, the editing in this book was also poor. Words are clearly
misused - e.g., when a business matter suddenly arises, sometimes you are
unavoidably detained, NOT: "the business matter could not be detained." If you
say, "Nothing can come between us" it means there is nothing separating the two
people, but it was used here to mean that "nothing can come of us" or "nothing
can happen between us." Misuse/mix-up of adjectives and adverbs was also a
problem.
I would give this book a PG-13 rating because the characters'
thoughts about each other are set forth in greater detail, which makes part of
the book more suggestive. I still don't remember any curse words.
