Juliana Gray - How to Master Your Marquis

Of all her sisters, Princess Stefanie is by far the least amenable to law and order, which is why she’s appalled to find herself masquerading as an unbearably drab clerk for the most honorable barrister in England. But her dull disguise turns out to have its privileges: namely, the opportunity to consort unchaperoned with her employer’s exceedingly handsome nephew, James Lambert, the Marquess of Hatherfield.
Hatherfield quickly realizes that his uncle’s spirited new clerk is, in fact, a lovely young woman of daring habits. The outwardly impeccable marquis isn’t about to reveal her deception. After all, he’s hiding a dangerous secret of his own. But when one too many escapades with the madcap princess bring Hatherfield’s troubled past to light, it is only Stefanie’s sharp wits that stand between the marquis and utter disaster, and only Hatherfield’s daring that can save the princess from the shadowy agents bent on finding her.

Comment: This is the second installment in the Princess in Hiding trilogy. I've read the first book last year and was quite pleased with it, and I've decided to finish the trilogy.

In this second book we have the story of the youngest sister, Stefanie, as she and her sisters hide as men in places chosen by their uncle, the duke of Olympia, until their enemies are caught.

Stefanie is an impulsive and vibrant young woman and she feels a little disappointed that she is going to become a clerk with a very boring job. Not everything is bad, though, for she can be around the marquess of Hatherfield and he seems to be a good friend and eventually even her work is being recognized. However, the danger continues and she and Hatherfield seem to get along very well, to the point others start to become suspicions... at the same time, Hatherfield is having some family problems, but can these two join forces to become the romantic pair they are on the path of becoming and to help each other in what they need to accomplish?

As it had happened with the other book, I also found this one to be extremely entertaining. Perhaps the plot might not the cleverest of them all, but it did amuse and entertain me and sometimes that can be a win alone! I think this was a good enough story but I confess a few things did seem easier to follow after having read the first book. Perhaps this isn't as necessary for some readers, but for me it made more sense to have read the first book before.

The story is very unlikely, but it's fun and has fun scenes. This isn't aimed to be a comedy, but I did smile at a few things. Stefanie is a lively and bubbly person but I did struggle to imagine her as a traditional type of aristocracy. I really don't think her actions would be any near what a princess would be like, but part of the fun is precisely that. She was engaging and funny, it was very easy to like her but I must truly suspend my belief in how long was she able to deceive others - not Hatherfield - that she was a man. Nothing in what was described would make it seem that such a mask would last so long.

That aside, I must say I liked the way the story developed, this was not only focused on hiding the princess, the plot also touched interesting themes, such as Stefanie's restlessness, her feeling of not accomplishing much and she discovers that the law and helping people is really something she could be good at; it's not that clear, or I might have missed it, but perhaps she will use these newfound abilities to help others. As for Hatherfield, he is in a tricky situation for most of the book...

The hero is peculiar here, I didn't have the notion he would be one of those larger than life heroes, nor is he really a "beta", so to say, but the fact he isn't all powerful in all fields made him more human, and perhaps easier to think of as a potential suitor for Stefanie. He sees himself in a complicated situation and I thought the author did a good enough job portraying this, I felt the plot had the right amounts of seriousness and details to make it different from the majority of historical romances, but as one would expect, all ends well.

The romance was cute and romantic for the most part, but I was not fully convinced at all times. There were moments in which things felt rushed, in others their dynamic felt too superficial... still, somehow I felt convinced they would be a good couple.

The secondary characters were captivating enough, a few were really there just for fill in the roles needed, not much to them, others actually sounded a bit over the top. As a whole things worked well, but detail by detail some things might not feel as cohesive.

All things considered, like I said, I had a good time reading, I liked the protagonist found happiness and it was fun to see their story was similar enough to the first but, thankfully, also different and helped me be able to distinguish their personalities easily. I hope the last one will be vibrant as well.

Grade: 8/10