Review: 2 mehhhh stars (Review first published on Goodreads)
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2014
*Received an ARC via Netgalley*The Story:-Once Upon a Masquerade, a housemaid named Rebecca Bailey, decides to impersonate as an heiress, in hopes of scoring a rich man. Nope, she's not whoring herself. She's merely looking for someone who would shower her with some money, so she could pay off her dad's debts, or risk getting killed.Once Upon a Masquerade, a self-made shipping magnate, Christopher Black chanced upon the beautiful Rebecca Bailey. (Honestly, don't you think that girl with that porcelain-like skin on the cover looks beautiful?). There are two reasons why he pursued her: the first reason would obviously be the insta-ttraction, and the second reason is that she's the prime suspect of a murder case.I like the suspense in this one. Unlike my last read, High-heeled Wonder, there was a better buildup of suspense. The shooting, the kidnapping, the dagger-throwing, the running; way better that High-heeled Wonder which focuses too much on the MCs fantasising about each other. However, there were too many lies and misunderstanding which could have easily been sorted out.The CharactersUrghh. Probably my least favourite MCs.Rebecca Bailey:-Where do I begin. I don't condone lying, but if you're gonna do it, it better be done right! It was like as if she had never told a lie before. She should have covered all her bases; if she's gonna lie about her birthplace, she should have picked a city that she knows best or a city that no one knows! If she's gonna act like an heiress, she needs to at least find out more about the bon ton. The hero finds it endearing that she's carefree and vibrant, a contrast to the behaviour of the ton. But it just shows how naive she is. Bahhh."She'd clearly underestimated the knowledge required to blend in with this sort."You don't say! Perhaps she wasn't naive but just plain foolish."Rubbing her temples, she strained to focus. She supposed the easiest path would be to bet one hundred more? That way she'd need to win just one more time. After all, she'd only lost one hand of many."Dear girl. You can't earn money to pay gambling debts by gambling! That's how addiction arises! And to think she'd witnessed the ramification of gambling in her father over the last 10 years! Inconceivable!And just when you think she couldn't get any more foolish than that, she proved you wrong. She tries really hard not to implicate Prince Charming, so she sneaked out behind his back to meet the goons. And guess what she intends to do."If she could talk to him alone, perhaps she could negotiate a deal. Her six hundred dollars if he informed the police of what was happening here. Yes, she'd offer to pay Otto half the money now, and half after the police captured the others."This is sheer stupidity! *face-palm*. Unless you're Katniss Everdeen, Tris Prior, or Penryn, no one (girl) should ever go after goons by herself. Not when Prince Charming already have the police onboard!Christopher Black:-Ahh, the Prince Charming. You ain't Prince Charming if you breathe a sigh of relief after learning that she will be bleeding soon! What a jerk! That's not gentlemanly at all. You should have thought of the possible consequences before bedding a lady. Although I do know the reason why he couldn't marry her, but to feel relieve that she's not pregnant?! Gosh.And then all these business about being a detective and being an inquisitive man; if you're such an inquisitive person, why couldn't you do a Google search of her family, or whatever it is people in the 19th century do to do a quick background check. I mean, why couldn't he get the police team to check up on this? Why let yourself get tangled in this web of lies?!Conclusion: If you can get past the MCs, it's really not that bad a historical romance. Beautiful cover though.