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The Masquerade

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Overview

On the evening of her first masquerade, shy Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald is stunned by Tyrell de Warenne's whispered suggestion of a midnight rendezvous in the gardens. Lizzie has secretly worshiped the unattainable lord for years. When fortune takes a maddening turn, she is prevented from meeting Tyrell. But Lizzie cannot foresee that that night is only the beginning.

Editorial Reviews

The chunky second volume in bestseller Joyce's de Warenne Dynasty series (after The Prize) dances on slippered feet, belying its heft with spellbinding dips, spins and twists. Jane Austen aficionados will delve happily into heroine Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fitzgerald's family, with its three sisters, socially obsessed mama and indulgent father. Lizzie has long loved Tyrell de Warenne, heir of the local earl, but never suspects he knows of her existence until he arranges a rendezvous with her at a masquerade. A switch in costumes sets Lizzie's loose sister in Tyrell's arms instead, resulting in a baby boy. When Lizzie claims the child as her own to save her sister's reputation, she again puts herself in Tyrell's sights. Joyce's tale of the dangers and delights of passion fulfilled will enchant those who like their reads long and rich, though some may find the secondary characters more compelling personalities than the somewhat conventional protagonists. Agent, Aaron Priest. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Brenda Joyce

Brenda Joyce is the bestselling author of over thirty novels and four novellas. She wrote her first novella when she was sixteen years old, her first novel when she was twenty-five, and was published shortly thereafter. She has won many awards, and her very first novel, Innocent Fire, won a Best Western Romance award. She has also won the highly coveted Best Historical Romance award for Splendor and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews. There are over twelve million copies of her novels in print and she is published in over a dozen foreign countries. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Deadly series, which is set in turn-of-the-century New York and features amateur sleuth Francesca Cahill. Currently Brenda is focused on the de Warenne Dynasty series about one sprawling family set in historic England and Ireland, and the Masters of Time, a paranormal series set in the medieval Highlands about supernatural warriors saving mankind. A native New Yorker, she now lives in southern Arizona with her husband, son, dogs, cat and numerous Arabian and half-Arabian reining horses. Brenda divides her time between her twin passions--writing powerful love stories and competing with her horses at regional and national levels. For more information about Brenda and her upcoming novels, please visit her Web sites: www.brendajoyce.com, www.thedewarennedynasty.com and www.mastersoftimebooks.com.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Harlequin Enterprises

Filesize

1.30 MB

Number of Pages

560

eBook ISBN

1552543528

Excerpt from: The Masquerade by Brenda Joyce

1
A Fateful Encounter
Elizabeth Anne Fitzgerald stared at the novel in her hands but not a single word made sense. In fact, the letters on the page were blurred as badly as if she was not wearing her reading glasses. Perhaps that was for the best; Mama hated it when she read at the table, and she had sat down for breakfast with her romance novel some time ago, the food in front of her now long forgotten. Lizzie sighed and closed the book. She was so excited about tomorrow she would never be able to concentrate, she decided.

Excited, and afraid.

Papa sat at the head of the small table with a copy of yesterday's Dublin Times. He rattled the page as he reached for his cup of tea, engrossed in some article about the war. Upstairs, the household was in a state of hysteria. Lizzie could hear her two older sisters and her mother racing about the bedrooms, back and forth, back and forth, heels clicking wildly, just as she could also hear Anna's wails and Georgie's brisk, sensible tones. Mama was barking commands like a soldier. Papa did not seem to notice, but such chaos was fairly usual in the Fitzgerald home.

Lizzie stared at him, hoping he would glance up. She wanted to talk but was not sure she could confide in anyone.

"You're staring," he said, not looking up. "What is it, Lizzie?"

She hesitated. "Is it usual, to be so nervous?"

Papa gazed past his newspaper at her. His smile was kind. "It's only a ball," he said. "It may be your first, but it will not be your last." He was a short man with prematurely white hair, gray whiskers and a perpetually kind expression. Like Lizzie, he wore rimmed spectacles, but not merely for reading; if Lizzie had any regrets, it was that she had inherited her poor eyesight from such a wonderful father.

Lizzie felt herself flush. She quickly avoided her father's benign gaze, not wanting him to guess how apprehensive she was. After all, she was sixteen years old now, a grown woman, or practically so. She did not want anyone in her family to suspect that she still harbored the most childish fantasies except that, in the darkest hours of the night, they weren't childish at all.

The heat in her cheeks increased.

Beneath the table, a stray, crippled cat she had rescued and adopted the previous year rubbed against her ankles, purring.

But Papa was wise to her now, and he set his paper down and studied her closely. "Lizzie, it is only a ball. And you have been up to the house before." He was referring to the earl of Adare's home. "You know, my dear, we have all noticed how oddly you have been behaving these past few days. Why, you have even lost your appetite and we all know how much you love to eat! What is worrying you, dear?"