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Calliope Minton has a secret that only a select few know about – she’s the popular new caricaturist everyone’s been talking about. No one can figure out how this caricaturist is getting the best gossip. What they don’t know is Calliope has become adept at donning disguises and posing as a part of society.
James Trenton, the Marquess of Angelford, is intrigued by Calliope. He knows she’s hiding something, and when he recognizes her through her disguise, he’s determined to discover her secrets and fulfill his desires at the same time. Calliope is determined to keep him at arms length, despite her growing attraction towards the dashing Marquess. However, danger lurks, seeking to harm a mutual friend and the two adversaries must join together to find their friend and keep themselves out of harm’s way.
I enjoyed the writing style and the dialogue of this book. The story starts off as a simple romance, but then mystery, action, and adventure is added to the mix. These added elements give the reader a well-rounded story with a good balance of romantic and non-romantic elements.
I did find one minor inconsistency; on page 305, Calliope runs downstairs to retrieve some clothing, but gets distracted by an overheard conversation. The story moves on from there, but the misplaced clothing never gets mentioned again. It’s not a big issue and it certainly does not affect the storyline, but it did make me pause and backtrack to see what happened to the clothes.
This was a promising debut by a first time author. I look forward to seeing what Anne Mallory comes up with next!
Reviewed by S. Khaw
for The Road to Romance
December 31, 2004
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