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Cover of Masquerade Marriage

Masquerade Marriage

284 pages

A glamorous, jet-setting 1980s romance where immense wealth collides with rugged, reluctant attraction.

What it feels like

Reading this vintage 1980s romance feels like stepping into a glamorous, high-stakes world where immense wealth offers no protection against betrayal or sudden danger. The narrative moves at a brisk, jet-setting pace, sweeping the reader from sun-drenched Caribbean beaches to elegant European locales. Beneath the glittering surface of heiress lifestyles and equestrian circuits lies a tense, emotionally guarded atmosphere. The core of the experience is the crackling, class-clashing friction of forced proximity, pitting impulsive privilege against rugged, principled reluctance. It delivers the satisfying, slow-burn frustration of mutual attraction denied by pride and circumstance. This is a perfect escape for readers who crave classic category romance textures, dramatic emotional arcs, and the timeless trope of a grumpy protector resisting a vulnerable heroine.

Mood
  • glamorous
  • sun-drenched
  • emotionally guarded
  • tense
Tone
  • dramatic
  • tense
  • romantic
  • cynical
Pace
brisk
Themes
wealth versus worth · forced proximity · class friction · betrayal and trust · reluctant attraction
The writing
Classic 1980s category romance prose that leans into dramatic emotional clashes and the glittering descriptions of jet-set lifestyles.
The arc
The protagonist moves from impulsive naivete and sudden betrayal to navigating a tense, guarded landscape of reluctant mutual attraction.
Who it's for
Readers who love vintage 1980s romance, glamorous international settings, and the classic friction of a grumpy bodyguard protecting a wealthy heiress.
Content notes
  • death of a spouse
  • kidnapping threat
  • deception

About the book

Her money could buy anything - except him.

Oil heiress Carlotta Burr had the money and freedom to do whatever she liked. That included jetting to the Caribbean and Europe, where she met and quickly married horse show champion Kurt Maiden.

The discovery that Kurt was a fortune hunter jolted her. His death was a further shock, as was the news that her father had hired a bodyguard to protect her from kidnappers.

Carlotta had never before met a man like Brad, her bodyguard. Not only did he despise her money and her spoiled, impulsive ways, he made it clear that their mutual attraction would never grow into anything else.

Description from Open Library.

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