The Marriage Masquerade is a readable story with likable characters, but it moved a little slowly and the ending definitely missed.

Lady Lucianne Gordon has a problem. She’s on her fourth Season, and two weeks ago she had a public spat that resulted in the breaking of her long-standing betrothal. Not only is she now in the very center of gossip, it looks like her family is experiencing financial difficulties. So just when she needs to make a good match, her social cachet is all but gone.

Enter the Queen. Lucianne is Queen Charlotte’s goddaughter, and the Queen is not about to let her flounder about and botch up all of her chances. She throws a ball and maneuvers Lucianne into a position of honor so that all the eligible gentlemen there will notice her. But for Lucianne, this plan has undesirable consequences when she is matched up with her brother’s friend, a man whom she believes despises her.

Actually, Victor, Lord Oxenby doesn’t despise Lucy. In fact, he’s always been very attracted to her. But several years ago he was hurt by some insensitive comments she made about scars. Victor is very sensitive about this because as a child he was scarred after having been kicked by a horse. Victor also feels inferior to Lucy because his title is so new. So he would never dream of proposing to her until the Queen’s manipulations give him no choice. And then the two of them must decide what to do about the Queen’s matchmaking.

Both of the characters are likable – Victor in particular. In addition to his scar, the long ago accident left him with a terrific phobia of horses. In fact, he often has anxiety attacks when around them. I enjoyed watching Victor confront his fears and confide his embarrassing secret to Lucy, although he takes such a long time to do so that this Mini Secret damages his growing relationship with her more than once. Eventually, though they do come to trust each other. Unfortunately, most of the learning-to-trust-each-other parts are summed up and not fleshed out, which made it a little hard for me to understand exactly why these two had fallen in love. And that’s even though there is a noticeable sexual tension between them (noticeable given that this is a traditional Regency).

Also, the flow of the narrative was slowed down by lengthy accounts of backstory. Huge chunks of text are devoted to telling us all about what happened to Lucy and Victor up until the story begins. Had this been dribbled out and broken up with dialogue and action, the book would have been much more effective and enjoyable.

The sub-plot concerning Lucy’s former fiancé, Mr. Jerome Holden, could easily have been dispensed with. In fact, had this sub-plot not been included and instead had DesJardien concentrated on the story’s strength, the exploration of love between people who formerly distrusted each other, the story might really have sparkled.

I can almost recommend The Marriage Masquerade. I liked both the leads, and was happy to see them get together. But there was little actual interaction between them, and the ending really clanged. With a little polishing, this could have been a very nice marriage of convenience story – one of my favorite plots. As it is, it’s a miss.