The Great Gatsby parties plus The Picture of Dorian Gray and a heroine who is determined to be the sole owner of her destiny
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Unity is a hardworking woman, resource seeker and knows how to assert herself despite people who stop at her skin color or gender. Employed as a disguise master makeup artist in a theatre, she hears about the success of Duke masquerade parties where any guest is considered royalty and can be whoever they want for just one night
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Tempted to find out what's behind the curtain and mimic this perfect event, Unity explores different avenues to gain the trust of the mysterious Duke full of rules, but she may end up with something much more than she bargained for.
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Unity is an amazing character and when it comes to speaking for her she is the best. Julián is a meticulous, orderly and perfectionist; order gives him the necessary security to maintain his image in front of everyone. Of course everything starts to change when they both cross paths
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I enjoyed this reading very much and love the amazing dialogues
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Thanks to Erica Ridley for give me this great reading in exchange for my honest opinion

Lord of the Masquerade
Rogues to Riches #7 by Erica Ridley

Duke of Langley is extremely wealthy and throws scandalous masquerade balls where all attendees are secret except to him. Unity Thorne is a of lower class and penniless but extremely clever and wants to be the owner of a masquerade club so must try to arrange entry into the duke’s ball. Which is by exclusive invitation. She tried numerous times before she does gain entry . Sparks fly between the pair as they agree a business partnership. As she deems she can improve his ‘perfect masquerade ball’. Follow the journey the pair make.

There is humour and a little sadness and of course very enjoyable read.

Another Erica Ridley book which does not disappoint

4.5/5

Duke of Lambley's parties we learn about from the start in this series. But you could read this as a stanealone - but where is the fun in that! We get one determined lady that will improve just about anything up against a control freak. There is chemistry from the start for these two- with a slow burn. Love the white banter, sexy nights, and the falling in love Duke.

The side characters from the previous books are always fun to have, along with the places for the setting make it all the more fun.

4 stars
3 steam

This is amusing, intriguing and romantic. Unity and Julian are interesting characters who clash at every turn, to very amusing results. While Unity is amassing enough money to start her own masquerade club, she sort of bully's her way into Julian's life, wanting to learn everything about his balls what exactly makes them so popular. Julian is just humoring her as they argue over every aspect of the balls. Until he isn't. A shocking discovery changes everything between them, except their banter. It's a wonderful story that I enjoyed reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. This is my honest and voluntary opinion of it.

Unity is a hardworking low class woman with a talent for business. Julian is the Duke that host the most scandalous and exclusive masquerades of the ton. They are as unlikely as perfect as a couple. Where he's a control freak that need everything done his way, she's a free spirit that longs for true independence.
Their business relationship quickly becomes a friendship but their mutual attraction is undeniable and inconvenient.
I loved Unity, her strong personality, and how she complemented and compromised with Julian. She's fierce and she's an awesome main character. I didn't fall in love for Julian, but I absolutely understood when Unity does. He's not my type of guy, but he's perfect for our female lead.
I adored how it was inclusive and realistic and open-minded. I really enjoyed reading a less whitewashed version of Regency.
Erica Ridley, as usual, doesn't disappoint. She becomes more and more my favorite HR author with every book of hers I read.

I received a copy from NetGalley via the author; this is my honest review
-I have to say that it's worth the 5 stars but the last book in the series was in 2018 and I didn't see the point of adding to the series after so much time had passed.
-Fun, funny, poignant at times, always with a great ending and many happy tears.
-So many details you could practically think you were among the people at the balls eating and drinking with the best of them.

Tragedy results in the Duke of Lambley becoming a control freak and a recluse. Enter Unity who turns his world upside down.

This is a very entertaining story that will keep you interested from the first to the very last page. Full of wonderful characters, a very well written story which is interspersed with humor and you have a winner. Oh, and of course, there's romance. Highly recommended.

Lord of the Masquerade is the seventh in the Rogues to Riches series. It can be a stand alone book. but if you haven't read any of the preceding you should make every effort. These are wonderful escapes into the past with strong characters that keep you turning the page wanting more.

Unity Thorne is a strong willed and capable businesswoman. She had helped create and turn around two struggling businesses and make them successful.. The businesses did not belong to her and the men running them weren’t inclined to share the profits. Unity has heard of the masquerades that Julian holds and decides that she can make them better, but she will have to get inside as well as observe to come up with ideas on how to improve them. Julian, however is very determined not to change a thing. He has exhaused every possible idea to come up with the proper placement of food, furniture, and placement for the best party. Unity and Julian will fight for control of each other and ideas, but will they find that each has met their match and who will be the first to surrender to the other.

Julian, Duke of Lambley holds himself above his notorious masquerade balls while Unity Thorne is trying to make her own way in the world, free from managing men. Her plan to use Lambley's masquerades as a model for the rest of London sparks an unusual partnership. Building on her past successes improving gambling clubs, Unity thinks she can offer improvements to the already incredibly precise and tested masquerades.

Of course, in addition to butting heads and sniping at one another, Unity warms Lambley to the idea of love and Lambley shows Unity what a partnership can be. Their chemistry is present from the beginning, but they are slow to act on it, less from prejudices and more from maintaining their own interests and what they think they want from life.

The lack of serious, deep conflict does not detract from the story and rather allows the alliance, and then love, build without nearly the strife that seems to be typical in most romances. Yes, there are definitely arguments and miscommunication, but not to the degree where the story derails and major groveling and reconciliation is required.

Julian and Unity play well off each other- their very opposite lives and ideas actually make the story more full and enjoyable. The issue of race (Unity is biracial) is handled in a way that is somewhat realistic and not hidden, but addressed head on. How accurate is it? I can't say, but it is nice to see more characters of color in historical romance novels.

I voluntarily read an advanced review copy of this book

Miss Unity Thorne was tired of helping everyone find their success but never finding success of her own. To figure out just what she needs to do to start out on her own business she decides to learn from the best around the Duke of Lambley.

The Duke of Lambley’s invitations to his masquerades are highly favored and just as hard to come by. He loves to keep everything in order and in its place because he knows exactly what he wants until.....he encounters the beautiful Unity Thorne.

Can Unity Thorne help the Duke of Lambley see that being imperfectly perfect can bring just as much fun to the party? Read and find out!

I loved this book and I couldn't help but love Unity Throne. She refused to let her gender or the color of her skin stop her from living her dreams. Instead it fueled her to be better and strive for more. The Duke of Lambley was everything she needed and she was everything he didn't know he wanted!

Overall this book is giving everything a historical romance needs...Loved it!

I've only read one or two Erica Ridley books in the past but have quite enjoyed them. I really liked this book and greatly enjoyed watching Lambley and Unity discover each other and who they could be together. I'm very excited to go back and read Erica Ridley's backlog.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

Author Erica Ridley brings you a witty, rags to riches, saved by love, Cinderella style story that will quickly grab your attention and have you reading as fast as you can. I have not read any other books in this series and it did not take away from my enjoyment while reading.

The MC in this story are Julian Newcombe-Ives, the sixth Duke of Lambley — and Miss Unity Thorne. Julian is calculating, tenacious, pretentious, egotistical, hedonistic, perfectionist—he makes his own rules and to the devil with those who don’t approve. Unity is a very strong female in a time where feminism didn’t exist and women were men’s property. She is also very driven and doesn’t mind hard work to succeed. Now if she can just convince Julian to provide a little bit of insight into the world of masquerade and not lose her heart to the sexy rogue. I loved the chemistry between these two — they are unrepentant in their pursuits — it becomes a game of cat & mouse.

A few of my favorite things about this story.
✔️ Sexy Rogue
✔️ Independent female
✔️ Aristocrat falls for commoner
✔️ Scorching hot chemistry
✔️ The give and take between the MCs
✔️ Beauty tames the beast
✔️ No regrets between our MCs

I don’t want to say much more because I hate to spoil the story. I definitely plan to go back and read books 1-6 in this series.

5 Stars ⭐️ | 4 Flames 🔥 | Definitely Recommend

Was I hooked by that book? Yes! Fun, romantic, steamy, interesting characters, and an intriguing plot. Don't miss it.

Unity Thorne is smart and resourceful, and she has helped at least two gentlemen rise above their debts and become successful. But she is tired of being relegated to the shadows and wants to make her own fortune for a change. The Duke of Lambley hosts wildly successful masquerades every week and Unity finagled herself an invitation so that she can learn the secrets of his success.

I very much enjoyed reading about Julian's controversial masquerades. They do seem like a whole lot of fun. Julian takes his responsibilities as the host extremely seriously. He is super anal about every little detail, and he has no intentions of taking Unity's advice at all. But she stealthily sneaks past all his defenses and soon Julian started looking forward to her unsolicited advice.

It was a lot of fun reading this book. I laughed every time Julian thought, "only until he finds the perfect bride." Unity showed Julian that it was okay to not be in control all the time and Julian appreciated and came to love Unity for who she is.

Another gem of a quote is when Unity says to Julian, "How can you be friends with thousands of people and still not know anything about women? Do you honestly believe the only flavors we come in are 'whore' and 'virgin'?"

All in all, a great read. I haven't read any of the other books in the Rogues to Riches series yet, but I'm going to. Seems it's not necessary to read them in order. I can recommend any Erica Ridley book to readers of historical romance who enjoy a lot of steaminess thrown in.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was everything that l expected from the author. A good storyline.,great characters and plenty of drama. I am looking forward to the next book. Thank you.

This book was just ok for me. I have enjoyed other books in this series more than this one. I will look forward to next book.

This book tackled a number of historical issues relating to social class and then ethnicity, compounded by gender.
That is, a black woman from trade or the lower classes would be considered as of negligible interest to a person of the ton. In fact, they would only be noticed if they brought themselves forward as does our heroine.
She demonstrates that managing clubs and parties are a skill that women used to managing households, especially large ones, can excel at. A good hostess knows their guest's foibles and habits and provides for them, in the same way that a club owner should should know his patrons.
Thus we get a partnership that surprises out hero, who thought he was destined to marry for social position.
Nicely written as always by this author, with enough humour ànd heat to be appropriate for the genre.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review, so....what did I think?

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I am extremely glad I requested it. A superbly, eloquently written historical novel, .that captivated me from start to finish.

An amazing storyline that flows easily and is well written and edited, beautifully detailed , smart witty dialogue, humorous , powerful characters that connect together effortlessly. A really enjoyable read, I would definitely recommend this book. A MUST read. Thank You ER

3.5 stars *may change

this was nice? it’s pretty short so i wouldn’t except any amazing story but the main characters were cute-ish together and i enjoyed it lol

THE CHARACTERS AND THE CHEMISTRY CARRY THE BOOK THROUGH

If you love character driven historical romance with strong, well-crafted characters and a sizzling chemistry, this book is definitely for you!

👍 What I Liked 👍

Lambley: Lambley, our male MC, was such a clear-cut character. I never had a moment of doubt as to who he was, why he did the things he did or what his motivations were. It was so nice to have such a crystal clear character.

Chemistry: There was no denying the chemistry between Lambley and Unity. It was obvious that they both complemented and challenged each other. They were so compatible in such a profound way that I shipped them right from the start.

A really good interracial regency story with a controlling Duke and a strong woman who have been shaped by their upbringing. Great interaction between them both as they each learn from the other, and I liked the theatrical references that Unity refers to, looking forward to another book by this author.