Masquerade Book Tour - Guest Post by Gabrielle Bisset

I am so thrilled to be a stop on the "Masquerade" book tour!  Masquerade is a wonderful book by Gabrielle Bisset.  Before I go into my review, I would love for you to read Gabrielle's own words about her fabulous novel! 

Thank you, Karen, for having me here today at Release Notes for Masquerade’s blog tour.  When I began thinking about the last novella I wanted to write for the Victorian Erotic Romance Trilogy, I only knew two things: it would be set in Victorian England, and it would be an historical.  Its sisters in the trilogy, Vampire Dreams and Love’s Master, are also set in that era, but are quite different than Masquerade with one being a paranormal erotic romance and the other being an historical erotic romance with a BDSM theme.  However, for Masquerade, I wanted to stay with a straight historical. 

I’ve long found all things Russian appealing, so I quickly decided the hero of the story would be Russian.  Nikolai came to life easily. Tall, fair, and handsome, he’s confident without being brash. Unlike my other heroes, Nikolai isn’t as Alpha.  Don’t get me wrong.  He’s quite commanding and knows how to take care of business, but because he’s a diplomat, he’s more intelligent than he is Alpha.  So when it came time to give him a heroine, I needed to make sure I wrote a female who could challenge him.  That meant she had to be intelligent. 

Annelisa is nothing if not intelligent.  The problem she faces with Nikolai is that unlike most of the men she’s known in her lifetime, he can match wits with her and outfox her.  The result is that her efforts are quickly undone by him.  Time and again, plans that would have confused other, lesser men are little more than a mild distraction for Nikolai.

Masquerade is the lightest of the three novellas, and much of that feeling comes from the relationship between Nikolai and Annelisa.  At every turn, he is able to match her, which he enjoys and she finds utterly frustrating.  These two emotions create an interplay between the couple that is at times humorous in addition to being quite sexy.  The result is a story that is erotic while at the same time being light and charming. Conveniently enough, that’s exactly how I’d describe Nikolai, and Annelisa would agree.

Contact Links:Website - http://www.gabriellebisset.com/
Blog - http://gbisset.blogspot.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002481284652
Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/gabriellebisset 

Buy Link: Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Masquerade-Victorian-Romance-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005IZAV42/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314279361&sr=1-4

Thanks again to Gabrielle for taking time out of her busy tour schedule to post here!  Now my review of Masquerade is below! 

Masquerade tells the story of Annelisa, a headstrong, intelligent woman, totally wrong for the time period she resides.  She has everything and has never wanted for nothing but her wealthy father wants her to have a title.  He arranges a marriage to a repulsive Lord who insists that Annelisa be a virgin on their wedding night or the deal is off.  Annelisa, determined to marry for love, comes up with her own scheme and seduces the handsome Count Nikolai Shetkolov into taking her virginity.

The story is quick paced and I enjoyed the chemistry between Annelisa and Nikolai.  He is intrigued by the intelligent woman and decides to beat her at her own game.  The sex is hot but not overdone, staying in line with the era.  It's obvious that the author researched the era well and gives the reader a true feel of the time period.  Annelisa's naivety is delightfully refreshing and it also shows that reading doesn't teach everything about sex! 

This is a wonderful read and totally unexpected from Gabrielle's usual offering.  There's not a hint of supernatural, paranormal or BDSM.  Instead, we have an excellent, sexy story with enjoyable characters and a glimpse into the social mores of times past.  You need to read this now!

The next stop on the tour is Romancing the Book at http://www.romancing-the-book.com/.  Make sure you stop by and show Romancing the Book and Gabrielle some love!

Karen @ Release Notes