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After
running for days, Gabrielle ends up in a castle, where she hopes to
blend
in. After her father perishes, her aunt
is trying to force her to marry someone she does not want at all. Upon her arrival to the castle, she finds
herself
working in the kitchen, but she is too weak and faints.
When Gabrielle wakes up, a small old woman by
the name of Maude greets her, telling Gabrielle that she shouldn't be
afraid. Gabrielle can't tell Maude her
whole story,
but she knows that at least for the time being, she will be safe. Shortly after, she learns that the castle she
is in is a "house of pleasure".
However, Gabrielle soon discovers that this is not
like other houses of
pleasure, it is also a safe haven for runaways, and she stays, helping
with the
resident children.
Laura
James' Secret Illusions is a historical romance set in the late
1700's England.
Without a doubt, the author spent a good deal of
time trying to capture
the atmosphere of the times in which the story takes place. However, I found this book’s pace too slow
for my taste and the hero is not introduced until the fifth chapter. I also found the style to be somewhat
detached and the flow felt a bit awkward.
Although Gabrielle is a character that grows during
the first few
chapters of the book, neither she nor the hero (Lord James Armstrong,
Marquis
of Scarborough) appealed to me. If you
like historical romances like Cheryl Holt’s, I would say Secret
Illusions
would be a good choice for you.
Reviewed by Mireya Orsini
for The
Road to Romance
July 11, 2004
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