Diane Gaston’s The Lady Behind the Masquerade is book two in her A Family of Scandals series, but I don’t think it’s necessary to have read the previous book in order to get to grips with this one. It’s the story of a young woman who has to call on every bit of her grit, determination and resourcefulness to get herself out of a very difficult (and potentially dangerous) situation, and make a new life for herself. I’ll say now that if deception isn’t something you care for in a romance, this may not be the book for you, but the author does a good job of revealing why the heroine acts as she does and evokes the reader’s sympathy for her.

Having accompanied a friend to a Parisian gaming club one evening, diplomat Marcus Wolfdon finds himself quietly watching a most intriguing young woman playing at vingt-et-un. Her beauty, together with the indefinable air of mystery that surrounds her, have him captivated, but he’s also sure she’s counting cards, which won’t go well for her if the house finds out. When she leaves the table, clearly bothered by her losses, Wolf approaches her to commiserate; he knows the house was cheating as well as she does, and offers to see her home. The young woman, who gives her name only as Fleur, accepts his offer, and then invites him in when they arrive. This hadn’t been Wolf’s intention when he had offered his escort, but he can’t deny he’d hoped for the invitation. When he awakens next morning, not only is the lovely Fleur gone, so is his purse. Damn. It’s the oldest trick in the book, and he still managed to fall for it.

Several months later, Wolf, who has not set foot in England for a decade, has returned in response to a summons from his sister telling him that their father’s health is precarious. When Wolf gets home, it’s to find Sir John somewhat improved, and the family poised to repair to Brighton where they’ve been advised that the sea air will be beneficial. That the town is highly fashionable thanks to its association with the Prince Regent is its primary attraction, however. As soon as they arrive, his mother insists they need to go to the Circulating Library in order to leave their names for the Master of Ceremonies (the man who arranges invitations to the Assemblies and other Brighton entertainments); whilst there she spies two ladies, one of whom she’s acquainted with, the other she is not. Wolf later recognises the former as Lady Ashcroft, who is accompanied by her husband, the Earl, both good friends of the family. The other, who is introduced as the countess’ cousin, Juliana Walsh, is none other than the woman Wolf had known only as Fleur, who made love to him like a dream – and then robbed him while he was asleep.

Juliana can’t believe her bad luck. She had thought, with regret, never to see her handsome Englishman again, yet here he is, standing in right front of her, face like a thundercloud. Thinking quickly, Juliana excuses herself but signals for Wolf to follow her outside; in a secluded alcove she explains that she’d been abandoned in Paris by her father, who had died leaving her entirely without the means to return to England. Wolf is sceptical, but agrees to keep her secret while thinking to himself that he’ll keep a careful watch on her… and not just because he’s as beguiled by her now as he was in Paris.

It is quickly apparent that this secret is just one of many Juliana is keeping, and that she has to decide very carefully how much she can reveal to Wolf without continuing to arouse his suspicions. I admired her for her ingenuity and determination to keep herself safe – both from the man she holds ultimately responsible for her father’s fate, and also to keep herself from destitution. Yes, she’s practicing a deception upon some very good people, and I did think that perhaps she should have trusted them earlier than she does, but on the other hand, a lone woman in the nineteenth century had very few options, and for Juliana it was a case of telling a few falsehoods – with no ulterior motive than to keep a roof over her head – or starve on the streets.

Wolf is a strong, sexy romantic hero, and is clearly completely smitten with Juliana from the start, but his infatuation doesn’t blind him to the fact that she’s not quite what she seems and he becomes determined to find out exactly what she’s hiding. They have strong chemistry, and despite Wolf’s mistrust and Juliana’s fears of exposure, the pull they feel towards each other is impossible to ignore, and they embark on a passionate affair, even though they both know it’s a very bad idea. But I was irritated by the number of times they take several steps backward; Wolf will just have decided to trust Juliana, then something happens to show him she’s still not being completely truthful, and he goes back to growly, suspicious mode. It’s repetitive and it got old quickly.

There’s an interesting secondary plotline involving Wolf’s parents, the Ashcrofts and a French gentleman named Gravier, who is drumming up investors for a scheme to find sunken treasure off the coast of Malta. The reader will quickly develop suspicions about the man and the scheme, and I liked the way the storyline sheds a bit more light on Wolf’s relationship with his parents, who I can only describe as rather flighty and irresponsible. His father’s tendency to make bad investments has seen Wolf’s brother-in-law, the Marquess of Hale, take over the family purse-strings, purely to prevent their ruin, but Gravier’s scheme calls to Sir John like a siren song, and Wolf knows he needs to act quickly to prevent the Ashcrofts being drawn in also.

The other big problem I had with the story is with the resolution to this plotline. A blast from Juliana’s past turns up like the proverbial bad penny, which raises the stakes considerably, but the convoluted plan that Wolf, Hale and their friends come up with to foil the villain’s schemes is utterly ludicrous – and they’re all surprised when it doesn’t work! It is, of course, left up to Juliana to save the day in an equally unlikely way, thus proving once and for all that she’s not one of the Bad Guys. But it’s a let-down, and I’ve amended my final grade downwards accordingly.

I was surprised when Ms. Gaston casually mentions that both Lady Ashcroft and Juliana have/could inherit titles owing to the deaths of their father/brother – an author who has written over thirty UK-set historical romances should know better. There are, it is true, a very small number of English titles that can pass through the female line, (and more Scottish ones) but despite the change, in 2013, of the rule for the Royal succession, there has been NO change in the laws of primogeniture relating to peerages. I realise this isn’t something that will bother most readers, but it bothered me and took me out of the story each time it was mentioned.

The Lady Behind the Masquerade is a well-written and enjoyable read, but the poorly thought-out (and silly) plot resolution and the too-frequent ‘I can trust you now – oh, wait – no, I can’t’ between Wolf and Juliana leave me at a middling grade overall and a qualified recommendation.