Synopsis
After losing her childhood sweetheart to another woman, Isabelle Englewood is heartsick. But then something remarkable happens: Upon arriving at Doyle's Grange, her new home, she meets Ralston Fitzwilliam, who looks almost exactly like the man she cannot have. Come late at night, she tells him, so I can make love to you pretending that you are the one I love.
Little does she realize what she is about to unleash.
This novella was previously featured in the anthology "Midnight Scandals".
Review
A Sherry Thomas story of any length is pure literary joy, so on reading A Dance in Moonlight, just like another of her novellas, Claiming the Duchess, we are sure to be in for a fun read. The similarities between the two are great, because each focuses on a small set of characters.
This is part of the Fitzhugh series of books, so reading Beguiling the Beauty, Ravishing the Heiress and Tempting the Bride are essential reads.
"She (Sherry Thomas) is an author par excellence, and I simply love reading her tales."
This novella sits between books two and three. And don't be put off by its relative short length - there's plenty of story as our heroine Isabelle (initially) does a dumb thing, kissing a man she has only just met, under the illusion that he is, in fact, the man she was in love with from the previous story (Ravishing the Heiress). At this early point I was thinking 'come on, Isabelle, check who you're kissing!'...but she makes an honest mistake. Indeed Ralston does bear a strong similarity to her former love. Perhaps if we had lost someone in real life, only to see someone else looking very much like them, wouldn't we be forgiven for the error?
Fortunately Ralston acts the gentleman without lapsing into caricature, and Isabelle redeems her earlier forward actions as the story progresses.
To say more is to reveal a little too much. My advice is to read the books in order, and the enjoyment is all the better for it.
Books are meant to educate, regardless of the subject matter or genre. I always come away from a Sherry Thomas book thinking 'I must look that up' if I don't know the meaning of a word. She is an author par excellence, and I simply love reading her tales.
