Charity Church had attended university as Robert Selby, with
the latter's blessing, and when he died two years ago, Charity
assumed his identity until a suitable husband could be found
for his sister Louisa, then Charity would disappear forever.
Since she will not find a good match in their village, Charity
and Louisa set off for London. Charity uses a little creativity
to gain access to a ball held by Alistair de Lacey, Marquess of
Pembroke, thus introduce Louisa to society. Alistair is
instantly smitten with Robert, but he soon finds out Robert's
true gender. Alistair is not a man to be messed with, and he
sees in Robert/Charity the perfect solution to his own problem:
Robert will help him to have the Ton accept Amelia, the
daughter of his father's mistress.
Having read and loved Cat Sebastian's m/m novels before, I was
intrigued by this most unusual premise. UNMASKED BY THE
MARQUESS is not your typical female donning a man's disguise
for some farfetched purpose. Here we have a person truly living
as a member of the opposite sex. To be politically correct, I
will from now on refer to Robert/Charity as Robin -- as it was
later on the character's chosen name -- and using "they" as a
pronoun, since it is the desired terminology. I must admit that
I am not too familiar with how this all works, so please do
excuse any sorry mistakes I might make hereon. And this is
where I will probably put my foot in it: I wasn't entirely
convinced that Robin needed to be male. It seemed to
me that Robin had decided that it was simpler, a way to acquire
an education in Regency England, and a more comfortable way of
dressing, as opposed to a visceral need. I have really no idea,
I might be completely off the mark, but that's how I perceived
it.
Robin is a born charmer, they radiate light and joy, while
Alistair is not the most likeable man. While he may be fluid in
his relationships -- he is bisexual -- he is not the most
flexible when it comes to people. I always seem to like to
complicate things, but I couldn't help thinking about what
would have happened had Alistair been only interested in men,
but I digress. He just recently restored his estate to its
former glory, and he must avoid scandal, and a relationship
with Robin is socially dangerous. Their attraction cannot be
denied, but there are more pitfalls than one dares imagine.
Cat Sebastian demonstrates her audaciousness in writing
UNMASKED BY THE MARQUESS, with its unique premise and gender
fluid characters, but I still wished for a little bit more.
Maybe it was because I felt some details were missing, some
pertaining to Robin's childhood and some about the "real"
Robert.
Or maybe it was the fact that Robin had not needed to bind
their breasts
when at university posing as Robert, but whose breasts ever so
slightly increased in size when having sex with Alistair. Being
flat-chested and having very small breasts are two entirely
different things. Those are tiny things -- no pun intended
-- but
a touch distracting. I also thought that Robin, at the end,
could have of their own volition, given Alistair the ultimate
token of Robin's love and trust, given all that Alistair was
risking. Still, it is the Cat Sebastian we love, with her lush
and luminous prose, stellar dialogues, charismatic lead
characters and wonderful secondary characters, and her
unmistakable storytelling skills. I can hardly wait to see what
Cat Sebastian has in store for us in her next installment of
the new Regency
Impostors series.
Robert Selby is
determined to see his sister make an advantageous match. But
he has two problems: the Selbys have no connections or money
and Robert is really a housemaid named Charity Church. She’s
enjoyed every minute of her masquerade over the past six
years, but she knows her pretense is nearing an end. Charity
needs to see her beloved friend married well and then Robert
Selby will disappear…forever.
May not be who you
think…
Alistair, Marquess of Pembroke, has spent
years repairing the estate ruined by his wastrel father, and
nothing is more important than protecting his fortune and
name. He shouldn’t be so beguiled by the charming young man
who shows up on his doorstep asking for favors. And he
certainly shouldn’t be thinking of all the disreputable
things he’d like to do to the impertinent
scamp.
But is who you need…
When
Charity’s true nature is revealed, Alistair knows he can’t
marry a scandalous woman in breeches, and Charity isn’t
about to lace herself into a corset and play a respectable
miss. Can these stubborn souls learn to sacrifice what
they’ve always wanted for a love that is more than they
could have imagined?
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