Customer Reviews

The Impostor (The Liars Club, Book 2)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sir Thorogood, the lampoonist, has been ruffling the feathers of the corrupt and the powerful (even as he's been entertaining everyone else) for quite a while now. So that Dalton Montmorency, Lord Etheridge, is rather surprised when Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, 'requests' that the Liars discover who Lord Thorogood is and arrest him. Because there is really no one else he can send out on this particular mission, Montmorency decides to undertake the mission himself. And in order to do so, he decides to pretend to be Lord Thorogood (albeit a very foppish Lord Thorogood) in order to flush the lampoonist out. Instead of which he finds himself being hunted by one particularly foolish and brainless widow...

Mrs. Clara Simpson knows that Dalton Montmorency cannot be Lord Thorogood because she's Lord Thorogood! How dare the foolish fribble try to steal her thunder. Clara has been secretly drawing cartoons as Lord Thorogood in order to expose the rich and powerful for the corrupt monsters that they are, and also because she wanted to earn enough money so that she needn't live as a poor relation with her in-laws any more. All was going well until this false Lord Thorogood turned up and starting receiving the accolades that were her due. Now Clara is determined to unmask the rogue -- except that in order to do so she'll have to shed her quiet widow's weeds and her refined manners and pursue the man. Is Clara up to the job? Dalton Montmorency is about to discover that dodging assassins is nothing compared to trying to elude a single-minded and angry young lady resolved to have her pound of flesh...

While "The Impostor" is in many ways a worthy sequel to "The Pretender," I did think that in this novel the spy/intrigue subplot did take a bit of a back seat to the romance subplot. However, Celeste Bradley did such a magnificent job of developing the romance that blossoms between Clara and Dalton, that this slight 'flaw' didn't really matter all that much. As usual the character portrayals were really good, as was the storyline and the manner in which the authour allowed for the story to unfold. If I had any criticism, it was the that things took unnecessarily long for Dalton and Clara to achieve their happily ever-after ending (a whole extra chapter in fact). But (again) this is a very minor quibble, not worth mentioning. All in all, a magnificent 4 star read.

Once again - Bradley gets it right! I absolutely LOVED this novel and it's my favorite out of the Liar's Club series so far. The love scenes are the best and the hero is neither arrogant/brooding/tortured but he's a gentleman rather reserved and somewhat lonely now that it's up to him to manage the Liar's Club. Reading "Imposter" after "Pretender" was sheer delight!

Favorite scenes include: the corset incident at the ball, the cupboard scene, meeting Lord Reardon, the fog on the bridge (VERY GOOD SCENE!!!! action+romance!) the attic scenes, and all the scenes w/ James, plus more. . . . . . ok the whole frickin' book.

Celeste Bradley has become one of my favorite authors. The Impostor definitely does not disappoint. Once again she has taken the reader into the world of the Liars Club (and the Quatre Royale) with beautifully written characters that draw you in and make you feel as if they are treasured friends, or bitter enemies. This is a must read series for anyone who enjoys Historical Romance combined with the twists and turns of a mystery. And last, but not least, the love scenes are nothing short of inspirational. An exceptional read by an author who can make me laugh, cry, and feel the full gambit of emotions.

Sometimes an author and a reader meet on the same surface. In THE IMPOSTOR, Bradley's keen sense of style and her glorious humor definitely met with this reader's blessings.

Dalton Montmorency, Lord Etheridge, is the spymaster of the Liar's Club. The Liar's Club is a motley crew of thieves and misfits operating undercover for the Crown and the English government. Montmorency gained the position when Simon Raines (THE PRETENDER) retired. However, the men, he now commands, hold him in suspicion. He is a lord of the realm; a haughty gentleman who didn't earn the spymaster position; NOW they will force him to earn their loyalty. He vows to take on the very next mission himself, he will prove to his men that he is one of them and that he is damn good at his job! The next mission: to ferret out the notorious Sir Thorogood, the political caricaturist. The drawings are a thorn in the government's side.

So who is Sir Thorogood and who wants him dead? Hence, Celeste Bradley introduces gentle intrigue.

Mrs. Clara Simpson is Sir Thorogood! This gently-bred widow secretly pens the cartoons. Her mission: to earn enough money to find a new home and rid herself of her overbearing in-laws. So when a pompous impostor adopts the role of Sir Thorogood, Clara is determined to betray the flamboyant fraud! But first Clara Simpson must camouflage her own appearance.

Aye, there's the rub! Which character is the true impostor? Both! And that is the story's essence. A story that is lusty, humorous, and charming. Furthermore, Celeste Bradley's secondary characters are well drawn and only enhance the book's surroundings.

However, in my mind, Bradley's THE PRETENDER and THE IMPOSTOR run side by side. The storylines are fundamentally cloned. Although I liked both books very much, they are essentially the same. Perhaps, if I had NOT read them back to back . . . Nevertheless, on its own, THE IMPOSTOR is still great fun!
Grade: A-

MaryGrace Meloche.

This book was just plain GOOD!!! After having read the latest historicals (which were dissapointing); Celeste Bradley's "The Impostor" was a much needed treat.
It was fun, romantic, intriguing...
Dalton Montmorency, is on his first Liar's mission. Having been a spy for the British government before, this is nothing new to him, but if he wants to be included in the Liar's circle, he's better not botch it. Masquerading as foppish (Sir Thorogood), the manly Marquess, plans to bring the cartoonist out of hiding. He never planned on meeting "air-head" widow Clara Simpson, nor falling for the misterious maid Rose.
This book is full of surprises, and both characters are extremely likable and real.
DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!!!!

I enjoyed this book tremendously! I don't remember ever laughing so much! Poor Dalton's costume was hilarious, and that was only one of many things. Celeste Bradley certainly has a talent for comedy. And I'm not really a big fan of "funny" romantic novels, I'm more the sentimental type, but the good thing is that this book has a lot of feeling too, and both things complement each other so nicely that I could barely put it down.

The main characters-Dalton and Clara- are fabulous. Who would have thought that the cool and composed Lord Etheridge from "The Pretender" was so romantic and passionate inside. Clara was a surprise too. The quiet, self effacing widow was a reckless, corageous, impulsive, passionate and rather wild woman.

The reason I did not give this book 5 stars, despite having enjoyed it so much is because there were several things that did not make much sense. For example, why did Clara run away in panic when she found out that "Monty" was the same man that was posing as Sir Thorogood? I don't think her reasoning is very well explained or justified in the book. Also, as other reviewer mentioned, there were some loose ends regarding the spionage plot. Why was Lord Reardon following Dalton? Was he the one trying to kill him? Moreover, there was a very obvious chronological mistake. In 1813, the year this story takes place, the Prince Regent was 51 years old, having been born in 1762. The age of the Liars and Lord Reardon is never stated clearly, but one is given to understand that they are somewhere between late twenties-early thirties. If Lord Reardon was already born and at least 5 years of age when the Prince was 16, then he would be at least 40 at the time of this book, which would make Simon a little older than that, but that is not possible because I remember Simon saying in the previous book "The Pretender", which take place in the same year as this one, that he hadn't been a boy for 15 years. If he were in his early forties, that would mean he was a boy until his late twenties, and that doesn't make sense. I don't know if I'm making myself clear, but I can't say much without giving away the story. If you have read this book and "The Pretender", you probably know what I'm talking about.

I think the editors, and the authors as well, should be more careful about this kind of mistakes. Sometimes I wonder why some really boring books are considered great literature, while the romance novels, which are much more entertaining and obviously take talent to write too, are looked down upon. And I think this is part of the reason. I understand this genre is mostly commercial, and there are deadlines to meet, but the quality should not be sacrificed.

That said, I really think the book was very entertainning and will make you have a great time reading it. I certainly did.

In 1813 Liar's Club agent Dalton Montgomery pretends to be a dandy as he poses as popular satirical cartoonist Sir Thorogood. Dalton wants to expose the real artist whose works scorn the country's aristocracy especially the leaders, drawing caricatures that make them look inane. Clara Simpson takes exception with Dalton masquerading as the popular Sir Thorogood since she knows that she is the genuine article.

Clara decides to "expose" the impostor by trapping him into displaying his talent. She follows him everywhere and he believes she's a lovesick fruitcake. As Dalton doubts the assignment as being overkill, he begins to fall in love with his shadow. However, he remains unaware that if he unmasks Sir Thorogood he will jeopardize his talented beloved.

THE IMPOSTOR is a fun action packed romantic suspense with agent vs. amateur counter agent as the prime plot. The battle to expose one another takes the audience on a wild ride as each one trumps the other though Dalton is ignorant that it is Clara he is chasing (in love too). Celeste Bradley pens a charming Regency tale that will prove to fans that this author is the real thing.

Harriet Klausner

this is book number two and it is true to form to the first book. strong women + strong men (all with something to hide) = good 'lite' reading

CB is one of my favorite authors. This is a great follow up to The Pretender. I have read all of her books so far and I would reccomend all of them. The other Liar's Club books that follow are just as good and enjoyable. I would also recommend her first book of The Royal Four, it was entertaining and I was glad to see Lord Treason come out on top for once. His treatment in this book broke my heart. I can't wait to read more of her writing, she is a great story teller.

Dalton Montmorency, Lord Etheridge (we were introduced to him in The Pretender) is the new head of the Liar's Club and is out to prove himself to his men by unmasking 'Sir Thorogood', the political cartoonist who has been lampooning government figures. So he masquerades as the artist, hoping this will anger the real Sir Thorogood and draw him out of hiding. Little does he know that the artist is really a woman. Suddenly Dalton's very ordered life is filled with disorder and chaos, as the real Sir Thorogood plots revenge against this gaudy impostor. This is intolerable to Dalton, or at least he thinks it is - until he meets his 'attic rose' while spying in the house of a businessman who has appeared prominently in the political cartoons. Dalton has no idea that his Rose is really Clara, the Widow Simpson whose tittering drives him crazy, nor does he know that she is really Sir Thorogood. Rose has no idea that her 'Monty' is the fake Sir Thorogood, and knows nothing of Dalton and the Liar's Club. Then the attacks on Dalton spill over on to Clara, and when the unmasking begins, all sorts of things are set in motion, and it is difficult to know who is friend or foe.

This was a much better spy/intrigue plot than that in The Pretender. Humorous vignettes were well-placed and not overdone: the too-tight corset and its consequences, the 'monster' cat that terrorized Dalton's household, the embarrassingly colorful & gaudy outfits created by an insulted valet. Good secondary characters and the light intrigue made this a quick and interesting read.