Book Review / Masquerade by Joanna Taylor

A street-girl and a lord? London is poised for scandal ... Bestselling author Joanna Taylor delivers captivating historical romance.

Can a street-girl fool Regency London?

Lizzy Ward never meant to end up working the streets of Piccadilly. So when a mysterious lord pursues her, it seems her fortunes are changing.
But Lord Hays wants feisty Lizzy for more than a night. He needs her to masquerade as his companion.

So can a street-girl navigate the fashion and faux pas of London society? And will Lizzy’s wild heart be too much temptation for Lord Hays?

Published:     2005
Publisher:  Piatkus
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

First off, I am just going to say that this is is a book that is completely out of my comfort zone.  I definitely do not like or tend to pick up erotic/over romancy type stories and my first reaction was that this was one of those. It just goes to show that I should never judge a book by its cover because I loved this story.  I am quite fussy when it comes to giving books a 5 star rating; they only get this if it is a book that I know I will read over and over again.  This is definitely one of those books. 

Let's talk about characters...  Lizzy Ward is the main character in this story and is someone who we see at the beginning very down in her luck, working in Piccadilly as a 'self-employed prostitute' formerly a prostitute that used to work under a madam in another house in London.  Right from the start I could sense that there was something different about this character that made her feel like more than just a prostitute.  As the story progresses, I liked how even though her circumstances changed her basic principles stayed the same and she stayed true to herself.   Another character that I particularly enjoyed reading was Lord Hays who is the wealthy gentleman who pays for Lizzy's time for a week.  Just the same as with Lizzie, I could tell that this was not an ordinary pompous gentleman in London society.  He seemed different from the rest.  Because of that with the two main characters, Lizzie and Lord Hayes, I could see that this was going to be a very interesting reading experience and these characters deserved each other - I was definitely routing for that!!!

Let's talk about the plot...  This story is based in olden day London.  I am not entirely sure what time period but I felt it was around 1900s but could be wrong about that.  Although the plot in this story was somewhat predictable that was what I enjoyed about it.  I had a feeling of what was coming next and was looking forward to it.  The part that I enjoyed the most was in the middle of the book where you have Lizzie living with Lord Hays and you start to see that something might (or might not) happen...

Would I recommend this book...  Absolutely yes.  For someone who doesn't usually read this type of story to love it I would highly recommend even to those who are not sure if this is their style of story.  Give it a go, you never know....   I am glad I gave this a try!