Lisa Manuel, Mostly a Lady - In a heavy rainstorm, Lord Dylan Fergusson comes across the disheveled and soaked woman who had remained inside the broken coach for the most part for two days waiting for assistance. She informs her rescuer that she is the wealthy Lady Elizabeth Mendoza de Leone and that her companion and driver, respectively Eliza and Nathan Kent lie dead nearby. The woman feels guilty because she is Eliza, the recently hired help, but she sees this masquerade as her only means to save her life.

Dylan takes Elizabeth to the home of his sister, Charity in nearby Wakefield. There he believes he found the woman he wants to spend his life with in Elizabeth, but though she secretly reciprocates his feelings of love, she refuses his kisses. She knows that she owes him the truth, but that would end his trust of her and ultimately his feelings.

MOSTLY A LADY, the third "mostly" historical romance (see MOSTLY MARRIED and MOSTLY MAYHEM), is a fine tale starring two amiable protagonists and the return of support players from the previous stories like the hero's sister. The concept behind the well written storyline, the masquerade, is two-edged, as it makes for a fine comedy of errors compounded by love, but leaves the reader to wonder too long why Eliza needed to hide behind Elizabeth's identity that kept this reviewer thinking of a nineteenth-century WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. That is minor as sub-genre fans will appreciate this fine courting caper.

Zebra, May 2005, $5.99
ISBN: 0821776495

Harriet Klausner