One woman. Three identities. A handsome lord trying to unmask them all. To escape the scandals tied to her name, Lillian Markley has gone by an alias for eight years. It was the only way for her to get a reputable job and save enough money to reunite with her sister in America. But when Lily is suddenly let go just as she’s about to reach her goal, she’s offered a salary she can’t refuse in … she can’t refuse in exchange for the unthinkable:
She must masquerade as an heiress at a country estate for the summer.
Being exposed means facing prison, or worse—never seeing her sister again. Run-ins with kidnappers, a suspicious young boy, and a dangerous gentleman who knows her secret quickly has Lily spouting lies as often as she sips her tea—all while battling her growing feelings for Peter Wycliffe, the smiling host who seems to best her at every turn. Nothing is as simple as it seems. And as the falsehoods begin to mount, Lily must use her arsenal of wits to keep her three facades separate, while preventing Peter—and herself—from discovering the true woman beneath them all.
A Lily in Disguise is a clean and wholesome stand-alone regency romance, complete with witty banter, a mistaken identity, and a happily ever after.
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This was a great book! It had me laughing from the get go! It kept me intrigued to figure out what had all happened in the past and what would happen in the future. It reminded me a bit of Edenbrooke, and that is always a good thing! The main characters were both so likable and witty. They still had their flaws and things to overcome. This is a new author that I will continue to read!
Thank you for an ARC! These are my honest opinions.
WOw just wow! I read this because I wanted a regency but I didn’t give it much chance! Sorry Jessica! The story line sounded ok, I worried a new author would bumble a bit and really, another disguise book. Those never are believable. I was SO wrong!! This was so great!!! Geezzz Lily was amazing!! Or should I say Mary or Julia, I could not believe this was so believable. I could totally see all of this happening and imagined it as a movie! It would be so awesome! Then there was Peter! Gosh what a leading man! The writing was whity, heart tugging, fun and just so good! I didn’t want it to end! But I wanted it to end so Bad! I am so excited to have a new author to follow! Yay!
This was a proper romance with some great tension, swoony moments :}
I really enjoyed this book! It was sad to reach the end, yet wonderful to have the ‘happy ever after’ ending. I laughed, cried, found myself stressed for the characters…so many emotions wrapped up in this book. Well worth the time to read!
I loved, loved, LOVED this story!
The characters are so well developed and so easy to fall in love with. The humor, wit and plot are very enjoyable and this will be one of those stories I reread!
The characters are easy to love or not… as the author intended. It was hard to see the struggles and intrigue that was piling up around the main characters. I cheered and laughed out loud several times throughout the book.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series!!
I cried, I laughed, I loved it so so much!! Be prepared for absolute wit and romance, my favorite!
This was such a fun read! The complexities of Lily’s various personas kept the plot interesting and moving at a steady pace. I loved Peter with his teasing personality and really felt for him as he falls for Lily but is confused by her as well. She is just trying to keep her head above water as she interacts in society and all the complications that arise. There are issues of trust, jealousy, betrayal, and forgiveness, all interwoven with Lily’s ultimate resolve to leave England and these new relationships to join her sister. I enjoyed the characters and the way the author allowed me to connect with their emotions and experiences- the desperation, confusion, attraction, friendship, and romance. The scenes with Lily and Peter’s fun banter were my favorite, especially since there is a strong undercurrent of longing on his part and apprehension on hers. The secondary characters rounded out the story well and I hope the author writes more with them as main characters. I’m excited to read more from this author! Definitely a must read for fans of sweet Regency romance.
(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)
First i was laughing, then my heart was throbbing, and then i was laughing again! It was a very enjoyable book to read. The word battles between Lily and Peter had me giggling the whole way through, and the romantic drama was highly entertaining. 🙂 i read it in only 2 days and was sad when it was over!
I absolutely loved this book. I started it way too late at night and stayed up till 4:00 am to read it. It was THAT good. It had so many clever and unique situations in it. The characters were interesting and believable. I can’t wait to read this authors next book!
I loved the premise of the book, but my favorite thing about it was the battle of wits.
Peter and Lily have incredibly entertaining interactions. I love the back and forth the author brings out in the two characters.
She has fantastic character development. Every interaction brings another layer to not just the backgrounds, but the innermost wants and desires of the two main characters.
As much as I loved the main character, I mush admit William was a secondary character that seemed a bit obscure and not really hollowed out. When I found out he was getting his own story the flatness of his character made much more sense. I look forward to uncovering all of William Bentley’s secrets in A Lord of Many Masks (comes out August 20th).
The author is also very good with the rise and fall of tension and she paints such pretty pictures with her words. I really enjoyed this debut novel and look forward to adding many more of her books to my tbr list.
I was so incredibly and pleasantly surprised with this book! I was looking for something new to read and came upon this one. I read a few of the reviews, and when one person gave an ‘Edenbrooke’ type of comparison, (my favorite book of all time), I decided to take a chance on this new (to me) author.
All I can say is WoW! This is literally one of my new favorite books! In my opinion, A Lily In Disguise is almost every bit as good as Edenbrooke – and if you have read Edenbrooke, and loved it, then you know what I mean when I say – that comparison is a really big deal. It’s not that the story line or characters are similar – because they are not. It is the intense and tender feelings that keep you in suspense and eagerly reading. There are some extremely romantic (clean) scenes between Lily and Peter that are just beautiful.
The characters are exceptionally well written. The story is told in the first person point of view, which I think is hard to pull off. But when an author has the remarkable ability to give the other characters such feeling and spirit, by their dialogue, and describing their facial expressions, and body language, then it works well. And this author delivered on that.
Lily struggles with who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be. She is good at heart, intelligent, and very witty. Peter is a tenderly swoony, yet strong hunky guy, who is able to match her wit for wit. In fact, their witty banter is some of the BEST I have ever read. It’s not just sarcastic comments or observations, but actual intelligent exchanges that becomes a game to see who wins the victory point at each encounter. Again, it is just REALLY well written. They are instantly attracted to each other, and the games begin. The romance is clean, and there is no bad language.
There are some other very interesting supporting characters. I love Eliza! So perky and fun! And Matthew is a clever and amusing addition. And then there’s William… I hated him, then loved him, then hated him again. It will be awesome to see how he turns out in the next book of this series! I’m really looking forward to it!
For a fairly new author, her talent is just stellar. I highly recommend this book!
I needed a fun read and I got it with this book. I adore books with banter and this one had wit on ever page, what with characters keeping score on verbal matches. Peter was such a great hero and just…happy sigh….yeah. Great writing. Good pacing. I’m a happy bibliophile.
I love the back-and-forth between the main characters! Plus, it is told only in the heroine’s point of view which leaves you guessing! Very entertaining 🙂
“Because one thought kept recurring so vividly: that he and I were the same after all.”
This book is just amazing! It is romantic, witty, heartwarming, moving, and so much more! Whenever I picked up “A Lily in Disguise”, I was whisked back in time, and went on an incredible journey with this story.
This is the first book in Jessica Scarlett’s “Wycliffe Family” series, and I hope there will be many more! WOW does she know how to write characters who are incredibly real, and who have so much heart you can’t help but want the best for them. She truly knows how to bring the world of her story to life, and I was drawn in from the first moment to the very last.
Lily, whose name has been slandered in society, has had to pretend to be someone else for many years. She accepts the position to pose as the wealthy Mary Raynsford in order to earn enough money to travel to America to be with her (Lily’s) sister. What could possibly go wrong? And, even so, what could possibly go absolutely right?
(Possible Spoilers!)
I found myself rooting for Lily and Peter from the very first moment. Their witty banter back and forth is such a joy to read, and you can feel their chemistry and pull toward one another right away. And, may I just say, their initial meeting had me laughing out loud, I just loved it! Both have pain in their past, and yet, something about them being together allows them to see happiness again, and seeing this develop was beautiful.
If you enjoy historical romance, I highly recommend this book! I could not put it down, and could not wait to see what happened chapter after chapter. There were quite a few twists as well that I absolutely was not expecting, and two big moments near the end…I don’t want to spoil anything, but, they had my heart pounding for very different reasons.
Thank you so much to the author, Jessica Scarlett, for sending me an ARC of this novel, I so enjoyed it! All opinions expressed in this review are my own!
A Lily in Disguise was a fun Regency romance and a great debut from new author Jessica Scarlett. I enjoyed the great buildup of romantic chemistry between Lily and Peter that kept me anxiously awaiting that moment they would finally kiss! The intrigue that made up Lily’s backstory also kept my attention and I enjoyed the wonderful secondary characters throughout the story. The humor was really well done and I felt like the author has a unique voice I look forward to reading more of her books.
Content is clean with sweet swoon worthy moments.
4.5 stars
This book was positively charming! There is a fair amount of suspense/uncomfortableness due to the plot—I think I was experiencing sympathy emotions for Lily/Julia/Mary because my heart would race every time I thought her cover would be blown. I even put it away for a couple of days because I couldn’t handle it! The storyline is unique, the characters are likable and developed well, and I got completely pulled into the story. I highly recommend this book!
Lily is so witty and clever, from the very beginning it’s nearly impossible not to like her. I love her loyalty to her sister as well as her ability to maintain her cover and come up with quick responses to keep her identity a secret.
It took me a little bit to trust Peter. The constant teasing put me on guard with him at first, but I warmed up quickly enough. He has an amazing character and I loved watching his curiosity blossom with Lily throughout the story, as well as the ways he would defend her and seem to know her thoughts.
Eliza, Matthew, and Lady Wycliffe are all fantastic. I especially love Matthew. He’s too smart!
I just have a hard time liking William. He’s a little vindictive for the emotions he claims and I don’t trust him at all. The second book in the series is supposed to be about him and I am anxious to read it to see if he can possibly redeem himself in my estimation.
This really is a fantastic book (and Jessica has some beautiful descriptive language, just the right touch to be explanatory enough without being overly flowery; I highlighted some of the phrases because they were so lovely). Go check it out!
(Side note: its a fun coincidence that not only do Jessica and I share a name but our husbands do as well.)
This was such a fun, sweet regency romance! Lily has been living under the name Julia Smith for years in order to escape her past. In order to earn enough money to join her sister in America, she agrees to pretend to be her employer Mary at house party. She expects it to be hard to remember her gentile upbringing, but she does not expect to fall in love while pretending to be someone else.
I absolutely loved the banter and “points” between Lily and Peter as well as the slow burn romance. I loved Eliza’s character and hope that we get to see her tory. The resolution to Lily’s situation was a little too easy and simple for being such a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, but I do always love a happy ending. 🙂
4.5 stars for this debut novel. Can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
I thought this was such a cute storyline! Lily has to do what she can to survive but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a little fun along the way. I loved this sweet romance.
I could say a lot, but I’ll start with perhaps the most prominent point I want to make: Peter is *everything*.
Now that we’ve established that . . . I adored this book. I’m still a little blown away that it’s a debut, to be honest. For me, characters can make or break a book. And thankfully, Scarlett gets the characters right. Whether you love them, hate them, or aren’t quite sure how you feel about them, these characters stick with you.
The chemistry between Lily and Peter was magnificent and their banter was top-notch, but it’s the heart of the story that truly brings it home. I can’t wait to read the next one in the series! I highly recommend.
I received a complimentary copy of this book courtesy of the author. All expressed opinions belong to me.
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I received an arc in exchange of an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own. 🙂