Review: Loved it. Edgy, enchanting and full of twists
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 21, 2014
I love starting out my reviews with confessions, so here goes; Historical Romance use to be one of my least favorite genres. Ever. No particular reason why, per se, I just didn’t care for em. But over the years, our taste change and we grow as readers, and for me– it has become one of my *new* favorite genres to read. So when I got the invite to join the tour, I jumped right on it. Plus, hello pretty cover with a mask.Once Upon a Masquerade was so much more than I was expecting. Sure, there’s obviously a mystery from the synopsis and since the tag line speaks for itself, I had it in my head which way the book was going to go. Well, I was wrong. This totally surpassed my expectations.This is a very well written, fast paced mystery that had me enraptured from page one. I loved how smooth the story flowed and everything intricately weaved itself together. Told in dual POV with Rebecca and Christopher, we get to see both sides of what it going on and that definitely made things more interesting. I was really shocked at the all the twist and turns, not even figuring out everything until almost the end.As far as our main characters go, we have Rebecca; a housemaid impersonating an heiress to save her father; and Christopher, a self-sufficient wealthy man, on a mission to find his best friends murderer. I really liked Rebecca. I loved how loyal she was to her father, although personally, I would have held a stronger grudge. Having once been apart of Society, her father had gambled everything away, leaving her to care for herself and him. Which goes to show how loving she is. She had her times of “damsel in distress”, but overall, I thought she did pretty well holding her own. She’s a very strong, brave woman and I admired that about her. She was a little daft at times, but her heart was in the right place.Now Christopher. Whew, this man gets a lot of conflicting emotions from me. On one hand, I admired his drive to find the person who killed his friend. He is determined, resourceful and loyal as well; but man this guy was a pompous ass. He was so hot and cold with Rebecca, it drove me mad. In the same token, from where he started and where he ended up, he grew a lot–more than Rebecca, in my eyes– and redeemed himself in the end. Their relationship was very sweet and passionate. I loved how they got to know each other– albeit with a few lies between them– and their connection developed slowly as the story progressed.My Peeve- The world building was really good. I thought she did a great job capturing the beauty of the Era, but I wanted more. This doesn’t hinder my thoughts of the story overall, just something I wished I got more of. Have I mentioned I can be picky?!Overall- Loved it. Edgy, enchanting and full of twists, Once Upon a Masquerade is a must read for all romance and mystery fans! Highly recommend!