The Masquerade

The Masquerade, By Brenda Joyce

Published by Mira September 2005
Grade: B-

Back cover reads:

As a child, shy, bookish Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald loses her heart to the dashing young Lord Tyrell de Warenne. Although she is well aware that he is the heir to an earldom and utterly unattainable, Lizzie secretly worships him for years. On the night of her first masquerade ball, she is stunned when he suggests that they rendevous at midnight. But then fortune takes a maddening turn and Lizzie is thwarted from ever meeting Tyrell. Lizzie is certain such an opportunity will never arise again, but that night is only the beginning . . .

Tyrell de Warenne is shocked when, two years later, Lizzie arrives on his doorstep with a child that she claims is his. He remembers her well -- and knows that it is impossible that he is the boy's father. What is this game she is playing . . . and why? Is Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald a woman of vast experience, or the gentle innocent he had believed her to be? Tyrell quickly decides he will play her game, and he claims the child as his own, determined to uncover Lizzie's lies. But neither scandal, deception nor pride can thwart a love too grand and passionate to ever be denied

Brenda Joyce never disappoints me. She writes with such passion. I love it.

In this novel we meet Lizzie, who has been in love with Tyrell since she was 10 years old after he saved her from drowning. She kept an eye on his for years, but knew that they could never be together. Not only is he a much higher rank than her, but she is kinda plump and compared to her skinny and beautiful sisters, she is also plain.

At the age of 16 Lizzie and Tyrell have their second encounter when he once again saves her life. He flirts with her a tiny bit and she gets super excited about it, except when she tells her sisters about it they discourage her from playing too much into it. They remind her that she is too far below the rank ladder for a marriage to happen.

Something happens at a ball between Tyrell and Annie, who is one of Lizzie's sisters. Anne gets knocked up and together, Lizzie and Annie decide to go into seclusion and have the baby. Lizzie supports her sister and convinces an aunt to help them send the baby to a good family. Shortly before the birth Annie admits that Tyrell is the father. Lizzie is devastated, but since she is a nice person, she sticks by her sister.

After the birth, Annie goes off and marries her beau. Lizzie had fallen in love with the baby (Ned) and decides to raise the baby as her own. Lizzie swears to never tell anyone that Annie is the real mother.

When Lizzie goes back home and her family sees that she has a child they are really upset. They treat her like crap and want to know who the father is so that she can marry him. Lizzie refuses to tell who the father is.

Lizzie's aunt tells the family who the father is, and they all go to Tyrell and demand he marry Lizzie.

A few problems though..Tyrell knows he has never had sex with Lizzie, plus he is set to marry someone else.

Tyrell and Lizzie come to an understanding...He will claim the baby as his own and give Ned a good life, but Lizzie has to become his mistress.

Tyrell and Lizzie move in together, and for a few months everything is great. They act just like a married couple, expect they are not.

Then Lizzie's father confronts Lizzie and tells her that he has disowned her. It;s wrong to be a mistress out in the open like this, and he wont stand for it. He and his wife are suffering because Lizzie is acting like a harlot.

Lizzie also has a meeting with the father of Tyrell's fiancee. He convinces Lizzie to leave Tyrell, and she does. She leaves Ned behind, because Tyrell can give Ned a life that she cannot.

Months go by and both Lizzie and Tyrell are miserables, because they love each other.

Tyrell finally decades to break things off with his fiancee and goes after Lizzie. The truth finally comes out about Ned, and our couple Finlay gets the chance to be together for good because they get married.

I would have liked to have seen more of Annie. After the took off to get married we only saw a few letters from her. How could a woman just birth a child and forget about him? I understand that mothers tended to be rather cold hearted back then-Most of them didn't even nurse their own babies-they hired a wet nurse!

I liked Tyrell a whole lot. Sure, he was an ass by making her be his mistress, but once he fell in love with her he really let it shine through. He begged, and I mean BEGGED her not to leave him. It was a nice treat to see the hero go through the emotional roller coaster that this type of story causes. We always feel what the woman is going through, but rarely do we get so deep inside the hero's mind.

I still would have liked to have seen Annie pay for what she did. Lizzie was way too nice about it.

Annie slept with the man her sisters loves, she cast away her bay without a second though. She needs to own up to these things.

The Masquerade was a great read. I stayed up till 2:30 am finishing it.