Daring Masquerade

Rating:
Summary: This novel is surprisingly different than most.
Review: I usually hate reading cheesy romance novels, but this one is really a treat for the reader. It really wasn't a trash novel because it had a more definite plot that actually could have happened. I truly enjoyed it just for the fact that I was not reading just about sex and falling in love...it had sort of a air of mystery to it!!!

Rating:
Summary: Not Balogh's best, but a good read nonetheless
Review: I'm a great fan of Mary Balogh, and I have to say that had this book been written by just about anyone else I probably would have given it five stars. It was really entertaining, gripping in parts, and the heroine and hero(es) were very well drawn and likeable. The plot, too, was plausible and enjoyable.

I didn't even find Kate being taken in by Sir Harry Tate difficult to believe, though maybe once she'd made love to him it strained the credibility a little more. I'm a Superman fan, and if I can accept that Lois Lane could believe that Clark Kent and Superman are two different people, then I suppose Kate could have the same problem.

A book to be recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but a little beyond belief at times
Review: This book seems rather weaker than most of Balogh's - compared to wonderful books such as Longing or Tempting Harriet, this just isn't up to her usual standard. Leaving that aside, however, the story is certainly entertaining.

Katherine, widowed and recovering from a brutal forced marriage, is determined not to be fooled by a man again. However, the circumstances of her marriage are not widely known, which causes Nicholas Seton to approach her very carefully. When he first meets Katherine he's in disguise as a smuggler, but she sees him without his mask. They instantly fall in love, but he is still cautious...

Then Harry Tate arrives on the scene, and despite his unpleasant treatment of her, Katherine finds herself drawn to him also. She therefore believes herself torn between two men, both of whom she loves.

There were aspects of the book which I found difficult to accept: that a virtuous widow would sleep with a man she believed to be a smuggler, and so early in their acquaintance, as well. She is equally free with Harry Tate, making herself appear quite promiscuous. I was also surprised that Katherine did not appear to feel more guilt about being attracted to two men - we may know, after all (from the cover notes and from being privy to Nicholas's thoughts) that Nicholas and Harry are one and the same, but Katherine does not.

Still, an entertaining read, even if it does not possess the haunting qualities of Balogh's better works.