MASQUERADE OF LOVE

Author: Elizabeth Batten-Carew ISBN: TBA 5/2004 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: New Concepts Publishing

Vanessa only made one small mistake. Taking the opportunity to attend a lavish masuerade ball - even if she hadn't been invited - shouldn't cost her job. Still, it had all seemed worth it when Nicholas Powers dragged her into his arms for the most explosive kiss she'd ever experienced. Only now he searched for her with a vengeance - but this Cinderella refused to be found. Nick had never felt such fiery passion as he had when he'd held the dazzling beauty in his arms. She'd aroused him as no other woman could, then she'd run away with his heart. If only the mask hadn't hidden her features. Knowing no other woman could ever make him feel the way she had, he'd sworn to find her and make her his. Why, then, did his little spark of a secretary make his pulse quicken?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Vanessa Graham took the Cinderella costume from her friend, Rachel, and went in disguise to a masked ball. She had never felt so special in her life. The man who had the party ended up kissing her, and made her feel things for him she had never felt before. She wore earrings of little glass slippers and ended up losing one when she left the party.

Nicholas Powers was going crazy searching for the woman that had lost the earring. One kiss with her had brought yearnings he had never known. He had to find her. Then a new temp had filled the place of his pregnant secretary and he started having the same feelings for her. He was totally confused that he could be drawn to two women at the same time.

In MASQUERADE OF LOVE, Ms. Batten-Carew has written a fast paced novel that keeps the reader turning from the first page to the end. The characters are believable and we care about their finding the right to be together. We learn that money and career is not everything without love and caring, a lesson our hero must learn to find happiness. Ms. Batten-Carew writes a good tale and I would recommend her writing to any that likes the romance genre and a happily-ever-after ending.

Mariah LeGrand