Book Review: The Impostor - by Celeste Bradley

The Impostor is the 2nd novel in the Liar's Club series of regency romances by Celeste Bradley. We met both Dalton and Clara in the first book in this series, The Pretender. I was very interested in Dalton and was pleased that his story was next.

Synopsis: Dalton Montmorency has a secret identity: he is the new leader of a group of spies known as the Liar's Club. His mission: to ferret out the mysterious cartoonist, Sir Thorogood, before his cartoons can cause any more political havoc. In an effort to flush the man out, Dalton puts on his tackiest waistcoat and his highest heels and enters society claiming to be the cartoonist himself. The widow Clara Simpson also has a secret identity: she is the real Sir Thorogood. And she's mightily annoyed at the dandified impostor. Pretending to be an uncouth simpering bimbo, she sets out to unmask him and prove him for a fraud.

This book is chock full of secret identities. Both hero and heroine assume many different identities as they make their way through the puzzling plot to find the truth. I think the author sets these multiple roles up as a way to allow the characters to display their many facets. Dalton is one of my favorite kinds of hero: very driven and completely emotionally closed off. But when he is posing as a common thief, he can open up a little and let himself express his feelings. Clara also experiences a kind of freedom when posing as a ballsy housemaid. She is free to explore the daring, passionate woman inside. It is when they are in these roles that they allow themselves to explore their feelings for one another. And when their myriad identities are at last revealed, each of them must reconcile these different facets with themselves and with the person they fell in love with.

Favorite Part: It's not so much a particular scene, but I loved how Clara kept drawing and doodling Dalton over and over, sort of as a compulsion.

I gave this book 5 stars in my LibraryThing catalog.