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illona_loves_reading's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Loved this one!
Fun, entertaining, and engaging, with a little bit of mystery.
Fun, entertaining, and engaging, with a little bit of mystery.
joth's review
5.0
What a fantastic book! It had me hooked from the start; I couldn't put it down and ended up reading into the early hours to finish it. Although the book was hot, it was appropriate to the storyline and not excessive. 'The Lady's Secret' has a brilliant story and excellent, loveable characters. I have added the book to my 'all time favourites' list, and I look forward to more books by Joanna Chambers.
Historical romance at its best!
Historical romance at its best!
msmattoon's review
3.0
For some reason I like historicals where the heroine pretends to be a young man. This one was interesting.
cadiva's review
5.0
Another one where my review vanished.
Fabulous 'heroine disguised as a man' romance with wonderfully drawn characters and a solid setting which convinces.
Fabulous 'heroine disguised as a man' romance with wonderfully drawn characters and a solid setting which convinces.
ctsquirrel's review
5.0
Re-read 5/17 because I was interested in some of Chambers' MM novels and wanted to get reacquainted with her style.
vasha's review
This was a rare case of a book that actually enraged me. The basic scenario is that Georgy, an actress, needs to sneak into a country house and does it by getting hired, in male garb, as a valet to one of the guests. She's fascinating, with her infectious joy at the masquerade; but unfortunately her employer Harcourt, the hero, is an absolutely horrid alphole.
Harcourt finds out both Georgy's disguise and the fact that she's sneaking around, though not why, and uses it to blackmail her into kissing him and attempts to control her every move. He does what considers "flirting" by pestering her with intrusive questions in a skin-crawlingly condescending manner; he says he intends to seduce her but he wouldn't want an "unwilling conquest" -- clearly not aware that the power he's exercising is already way on the wrong side of the consent line.
What made me abruptly delete the book (the electronic equivalent of throwing it across the room) halfway through was the scene where Harcourt orders Georgy to dine with him, even though she's very uncomfortable about it, and serves the food; she gives a dry answer to something he says and the author writes, "He rewarded her for her cheek by putting an extra dumpling on her plate." and I was all "NOPE" and chucked the book. Controlling what somebody eats is a terrible abuse warning.
Harcourt finds out both Georgy's disguise and the fact that she's sneaking around, though not why, and uses it to blackmail her into kissing him and attempts to control her every move. He does what considers "flirting" by pestering her with intrusive questions in a skin-crawlingly condescending manner; he says he intends to seduce her but he wouldn't want an "unwilling conquest" -- clearly not aware that the power he's exercising is already way on the wrong side of the consent line.
What made me abruptly delete the book (the electronic equivalent of throwing it across the room) halfway through was the scene where Harcourt orders Georgy to dine with him, even though she's very uncomfortable about it, and serves the food; she gives a dry answer to something he says and the author writes, "He rewarded her for her cheek by putting an extra dumpling on her plate." and I was all "NOPE" and chucked the book. Controlling what somebody eats is a terrible abuse warning.
withfeathers's review
3.0
I remain torn on this one. Lots of it works - especially Georgie, who is a great, layered character. Woman-dressing-as-a-man is a trope I love that can go very wrong and Joanna Chambers pulls it off with great aplomb. The scenes where Georgie contemplates the new freedom of her role are among the best of the book. It’s also great that Nathan does act terribly betrayed, just intrigued by finding out her secret and I also like that he has no desire to see her behave like a ~proper woman~. The sexual tension and developing relationship between them is real and complicated and interesting.
But in the end I was rather frustrated with Nathan. As a character he feels somewhat flat - we know he likes nice clothes and feels stifled by his obligations but that doesn’t really make for a sufficiently rich characterization. And in terms of behaviour, I was ready to clobber him over the head plenty of times for being a dick and I feel like he never sufficiently groveled or made up for his mistakes. I picked this up because I greatly enjoyed Joanna Chamber’s Enlightenment series and especially in comparison it’s quite evident that this an early book - full of potential, but still struggling with the execution at times.
But in the end I was rather frustrated with Nathan. As a character he feels somewhat flat - we know he likes nice clothes and feels stifled by his obligations but that doesn’t really make for a sufficiently rich characterization. And in terms of behaviour, I was ready to clobber him over the head plenty of times for being a dick and I feel like he never sufficiently groveled or made up for his mistakes. I picked this up because I greatly enjoyed Joanna Chamber’s Enlightenment series and especially in comparison it’s quite evident that this an early book - full of potential, but still struggling with the execution at times.
cass_jo's review
3.0
Cute story. Would have been better if Georgy's secret had been kept longer. Don't like the completely inexperienced and dependant vs. the experienced and free.
threerings's review
4.0
It's rare to find m/f romance I'll take a chance on. In this case it's because I've read the author's m/m romance. I wasn't disappointed. This has the rather delightful setup of having a woman dressing as a man to become a valet to an aristocrat in order to uncover secrets from one of his friends. So it's a romance between a man and his valet, who he isn't at first aware is actually a woman. Fun, not overly heavy.
barefootamy's review
4.0
Fun 3.5+ star read from a new-to-me author. Thoughtful look at the differences in classes and sexes between major and minor characters.