Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell (A Regency Romance)

What an intriguing book Moonlight Masquerade turned out to be! I am not sure if it is the way that Ruth Axtell writes, or just the plot in this book that got my attention. Of course, I am a bit fond of the Masquerade idea, and it was worked so very nicely into this book! Moonlight Masquerade is about a woman named Celine. Her forced marriage to an elderly earl left her with financial freedom, but no children, a mean sister-in-law, and an over all unhappy life. Celine decides to spice up her life a bit by being a low key spy. She really more fancied herself doing something to keep her from being so board, when suddenly she is sent a new Butler that is surely working for the Brits! One problem - she is drawn to him, a lowly grey eyed butler, a servant in her household! Ress AKA Mr. MacKinnon, is at odds with himself. He has a country to protect, a woman he is falling for who has many great qualities but he isn't at all sure she isn't a French spy, and he is overwhelmingly drawn to figure this out and to protect her. However, there are costs on all sides involved, and does the Lady Wexham even know the God who Ress serves?

A fun book to read,well set in the time period with lots of interaction with many servants. A few characters that were able to keep me wondering about their true motives until close to the end. Well done!

Carol :)

  About The Book:

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.


"Intrigue, romance, a clandestine kiss . . . all cast in a Regency setting so magnificently detailed I could see the fabrics and feel the glow of another era. A wonderfully romantic and memorable read!"--Maureen Lang, author of Bees in the Butterfly Garden

"The first paragraph drew me into the story, and the next twist held me there to the end."--Laurie Alice Eakes, author of A Flight of Fancy

"A wonderful romance, graced with expert detail of the Regency period, as well as with Ruth Axtell's usual flair for intensely romantic situations between characters so real I couldn't stop thinking about them."--Melanie Dickerson, two-time Christy Award finalist and author of The Healer's Apprentice and The Merchant's Daughter

  About the Author

Ruth Axtell is the author of thirteen novels, including Wild Rose, one of Booklist's Top Ten in Christian Fiction. Currently a resident of Downeast Maine, Axtell has lived in the Canary Islands, Miami, and the Netherlands.

Her Website: http://ruthaxtell.com/

The Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-Masquerade-A-Regency-Romance/dp/080072089X

Available March 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group! :)