Book Review: Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell

Back Cover: Sometimes it is hard to tell if you are the cat or the mouse.

Lady Céline Wexham seems the model British subject. French by birth but enjoying life in 1813 as a widowed English countess, she is in the unique position of being able to help those in need-or to spy for the notorious Napoleon Bonaparte.

When Rees Phillips of the British Foreign Office is sent to pose as the countess’s butler and discover where her true loyalties lie, he is confident he will uncover the truth. But the longer he is in her fashionable townhouse in London’s West End, the more his staunch loyalty to the Crown begins to waver as he falls under Lady Wexham’s spell.

Will he find the proof he needs? And if she is a spy after all, what then will he do?

With sharp wit, fast-paced dialogue, and infectious intrigue, Ruth Axtell deftly creates a world where black and white burst into a confusion of colors-and no one is who they seem.

My Review: Moonlight Masquerade is set in a time when Pride and Prejudice is a new book out on the market. The story is about spying during the war against Napoleon Bonaparte. Falling in love is a dangerous business. I have never read Ruth Axtell's work before, and I'm not sure I will try her again. While this book was not bad, in fact there were a lot of good things about it, I found that it dragged in parts. As a reader, I did not appreciate the information dump that occurred around the 300 page mark. I admit, I actually skimmed most of the section, and I never skim when I'm reading a novel. Up to that point, I would have given this story four stars, because it does have a lot of interesting things happening. Still, the ending, in my opinion, was anti-climatic. I almost feel that the story should have ended fifty pages before it did.

My Rating:

My Recommendation: I recommend this book to readers of regency fiction and fans of Ruth Axtell.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.