Once Upon A Maiden Lane by Elizabeth HoytOnce Upon A Maiden Lane by Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: Maiden Lane #12.5
Published by Forever Yours on November 14, 2017
Genres: Georgian Romance
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
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four-half-stars

Miss Mary Whitsun is far too intelligent to fall for the rakish charms of a handsome aristocrat. But when the gentleman in question approaches her in a bookshop, mistaking her for his fiancée, Lady Johanna Albright, the flirtatious encounter only raises more questions. Could Mary, a servant raised in a St Giles orphanage, actually be Lady Joanna's long-lost twin sister? If so, Mary has been betrothed since birth—to the rakishly handsome artistocrat himself.

Henry Collins, Viscount Blackwell, is far too intrigued by Mary to let her go so easily. He's drawn to her sharp mind, indomitable spirit, and the fiery way in which she dismisses him—ladies simply don't dismiss Lord Blackwell. But as Mary makes her first hesitant steps into society, she can't help but wonder if she truly has a place in Henry's world—or in his heart

This novella is one of the last Maiden Lane books, I’m sad to say. The heroine is Mary Whitsun, who if you’ve read the series you’ll remember her from the very first book as a foundling baby left on a doorstep. And if you haven’t read the series, you won’t be lost.

I really liked this one, and I loved the characters. But I always do with this author.

Mary is a nursery maid to Lady Caire, heroine from Wicked Intentions. She’s using her day off to browse her favorite book shop.

Lord Blackwell sees his fiancee in a book shop dressed as a maid and asks her why she’s playing dress-up? But it isn’t his fiancee, it’s Mary. Who happens to look just like his fiancee. Oh boy.

Everyone knows the story of Lady Joanna and Lady Cecelia, twins who were kidnapped as infants, but only Lady Joanna was found. Her missing twin has been presumed dead. Until the day a viscount sees a girl in a book shop.

As luck would have it, Lady Cecelia was the elder twin, so she was betrothed at birth. Once she was lost, her sister was bumped into her place. Henry and Joanna have grown up together knowing they’d wed, however neither one of them loved the other more than a brother/sister type love. Finding Mary changes everything.

I loved Henry and Mary together. I really enjoyed the way they flirted, the way they treated each other, and the chemistry between them. I wish this book had been longer just because I loved them so much.

However…

This novella has a wonderful first two thirds or so, and then the pacing changes and something out of the blue happens, and something else happens and then I was at the end of the story. Seriously, it was that fast. It isn’t that I didn’t like what happened, but it was just so quick and sort of random.

If you guys want I’ll spoil it in the comments, but as far as my review, it kept it from being a 5 star book. That being said, I did love the book, I loved the characters, and I think if you haven’t picked up a Maiden Lane book, this would be a fun and quick one to start with, even though it’s the last.

***ARC courtesy of Forever Yours via netgalley

four-half-stars