Book Review with Giveaway: Desperately Seeking Suzanna by Elizabeth Michels

This is a fun historical romance with nice characters.

Desperately Seeking Suzanna
by Elizabeth Michels

• Series: Tricks of the Ton
• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (March 4, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-1402286025

Genre: Historical Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Her Cinderella Moment
Sue Green just wanted one night to be the pretty one. But a few glasses of champagne and one wild disguise later, she's in some serious trouble. Who knew the devastatingly handsome face of Lord Holden Ellis would get in the way of her foot?  And how exactly did all that high-kick dancing start in the first place? At least she blamed it all on her new persona--Suzanna. So Society's most eligible bachelor will never find out the truth.

All Holden wants is the truth. Who was that vixen who seduced him so thoroughly, then disappeared? The only one who seems to have any answers about Suzanna is Miss Sue Green. She's promised to help him find his mystery woman, but in truth she's not being all that helpful. And in truth, the more time Holden spends with Sue--witty, pretty, and disarmingly honest--the more he realizes he may have found exactly what he's been looking for all along...

Review:
Sue Green has been told all her life that she is the short, plain daughter. Her mother has disdained and discouraged Sue’s interest in painting so Sue has sold her works in secret. Four seasons without a serious beau seem to have proven her mother’s comments true. Sue’s younger sister, Evangeline, is the beauty who is about to have her first season.

Evangeline and their cousins convince Sue to sneak into a neighborhood masquerade ball since no one will know who they are. They sneak into a room and find champagne. After a glass or so Sue has loosened up and they modify her dress to be a little more brazen to fit with her chosen name, “Suzanna”. She leads the girls down a fancy stairway with a bit of a frisky kick. As she nears the bottom she kicks out and catches a man in the face causing a bloody nose. The handsome Lord Holden Ellis is immediately attracted to the feisty burnished haired vixen. He takes her upstairs to his room while he cleans up and they have an interesting encounter until they are interrupted. Sue barely escapes the temptation of Holden’s seduction, but while she is seeking her sister and cousins she is caught by her mother who is livid.

Sue is informed that if she hasn’t landed a husband by the end of this season she will be sent to live with her reclusive aunt in Scotland. Meanwhile her mother is planning to introduce Evangeline to Holden in hopes of making a good match.

Holden is eager to find Suzanna and continue what they started but he is led on a chase by the neighbors, Sue’s cousins. He meets Sue and is drawn in by her humor and her apparent refusal to fall under his charms. Although he continues to search for Suzanna he begins to enjoy his encounters with Sue until one day he uncovers her secret. He isn’t happy with her keeping secrets but then he has even bigger secrets of his own.

There are mixed messages between the two that frustrate their attraction. Sue is about to capitulate to Holden’s advances when she realizes he is not offering marriage. Holden wants Sue but he doesn’t think he can offer marriage because of the secrets he is hiding. He is all set to leave town again when his past comes back to put Sue in danger. Can he save her and make her trust him for a future?

Sue and Holden are fun characters with great rapport. I was a little annoyed by the game playing and mixed messages but I had to keep in mind the setting. There was sensuality without graphic sex. This was an easy read and all in all fun entertainment.

I received this book for review from Sourcebooks.

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