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I Love a Masquerade
 By Joanne Rock Last night I watched my neighborhood transform into Ghost Fest 2007. Streetwalkers hoofed it past the house arm in arm with generic gory ghouls and Harry Potter look-alikes. Maybe it was the amarettos over ice I was consuming, but it made me think about how much we like to see a good masquerade story in romance. Think about it. Starting with Cinderella, we’ve really dug stories where the characters hide their identity for a chance to be someone else. The masquerade allows us to do this. Remember the movie Shakespeare in Love where Gwyneth pretends to be a man? It all made for a sexy unveiling. Cyrano de Bergerac sort of counts, since he sent in a double to court Roxanne through poetry. And in straight up romance, role-playing is a convention we’d probably call cliché even though we love to see a fresh spin on this old favorite. I wrote a short for eHarlequin called “Manhunting Masquerade” to throw two unlikely characters together. Judith Ivory’s Beast takes a deformed hero and casts him into the dark every time he meets the heroine so she can know him before seeing his flaws. I’ll bet you can think of a historical or two where the characters donned masks at some elegant country home and thought they were meeting someone other than who they were. It’s not just romance novels that love a good masquerade. How many times have you seen a chick magazine recommend role-playing as a way to spice up your sex life? You know, pretend to meet your significant other for the first time at a bar. Make like you’re total strangers. Or surprise your husband by showing up in the grocery store dressed in nothing but a trench coat. There’s an air of mystery in dressing up and a hint of danger in masquerading as someone you’re not. Which makes me think that’s why a quarter of the people I saw on my street last night were grown ups. Halloween is a popular holiday not just for the candy. It’s all about the day to play dress up and the thrill we get from walking in someone else’s shoes for the night. Hope your Halloween was a happy one! Two questions for you to consider—first, read any great masquerade stories or mistaken identity books? Second, what’s the coolest thing/character you’ve ever dressed up as for Halloween? ***Giveaway*** Visit with Joanne on the boards for a chance to win a copy of her holiday anthology, A BLAZING LITTLE CHRISTMAS, featuring stories from Jacquie D’Alessandro, Kathleen O’Reilly and Joanne. Winner chosen at random from all posters on Sunday. 27 Responses to “I Love a Masquerade” |
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November 1st, 2007 at 7:33 am
I just finished “Secrets of a Proper Lady” by Victoria Alexander. It was a very good historical and the entire premise was about a mistaken idenity.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:41 am
I immediately thought of the children’s classic “The Prince & the Pauper”.
As for a romance… I remember a book made into a TV movie …Twins: sexy, glamorous Sabrina & homemaker/mother Samantha switch roles . Sabrina falls in love with her sister’s husband and the mother role, while her sister goes crazy with her freedom in Italy and ends up dying. There’s a masqurade party and a boat blows up. I’m trying to remember the name and author???? Janet Dailey, Jackie Collins , Sidney Sheldon????I have to go & check it out. Does anyone else remember this one??
Costumes: Kermit the Frog My sister inlaw made me the cutest Kermit head and green jumpsuit. I kid you not!!
November 1st, 2007 at 8:45 am
I haven’t read any books about mistaken idenity. But it sounds intriguing.
I can’t really remember ever dressing up for Halloween, best I’ve ever did was sweats and a decorated shirt.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:50 am
I found the name of the movie “Deceptions” with Stephanie Powers playing both Samantha & Sabrina’s roles. 1985 made for TV
November 1st, 2007 at 8:54 am
Sorry my dial up disconnected me. Based on a book by Judith Michaels. Made for TV movie Deceptions.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:32 am
I have read a few of those, but I just can’t remember the authors or the titles of the books.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:56 am
Well, I guess it’s related. . . ;) I love the few stories I’ve read where, for whatever reason, a titled/in the ton person (usually the hero) goes undercover as the heroine’s servant, butler or the like. I love that! :)
Lois
November 1st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
i did like my she ra costume
leslie kellly blaze overexposed. good girl by day and stripper by nite, so hot. everyone run at get the book.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:09 pm
“An Offer From a Gentleman” by Julia Quinn is a good one. Dressing up as a Catholic School girl is not an original costume, but it is one of my favorites.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I usually dressed a a pirate on Halloween. Have read several books where twins swapped identies. Can’t remem ber the manes of the books.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Pam Rosenthal’s Almost A Gentleman has a heroine who disguises herself as a man and when she meets the hero he at first thinks she’s a man.
November 1st, 2007 at 5:02 pm
East by Edith Pattou is a wonderful Young Adult novel in which the hero, a young man cursed with form of a polar bear during the day and considered dangerous by the locals, can only reveal his true self in the darkness until the curse can be lifted with the heroine’s help. One of my favourite retellings of a classic. Perhaps not exactly a traditional mistaken identity… more of a “appearances can be deceiving…”?
November 1st, 2007 at 6:05 pm
One year a few of us dressed up as the group ‘Kiss”; it was hilarious, especially putting on the make-up and we had the wigs and everything. The hardest part was getting all the make-up off afterwards…not a fun time.
I love stories where someone masquerades as someone else or where twins are involved and are mistaken for each other. I also enjoyed the movie “Victor/Victoria” where a woman plays a man playing a woman…very funny.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:29 pm
ive dressed up as a biker chick and a pregnant bride
lol i loveeeeee halloween, espcecailly before i had kidslol
November 1st, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Back in the day, a guy friend and I were Jim and Tammy Faye Baker formerly of the PTL club. Spent a fortune on make-up and hair-spray!
Then the next year we were Angel and Devil.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I, too, have read stories where twins exchanged places with each other to fool family and friends or boyfriends.
My neatest costume was a Hawaiian dancer with hula skirt made from binder twine and a blouse and a big flower in my hair.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:36 am
Me and my friend always dress up every Halloween and hand out candy on my front porch. Her husband takes the kids around trick or treating. This year we dressed up as a couple of nerds had great fun and looking forward to it again next year.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:26 am
A couple of my favorite masquerade type books are THE TAMING OF THE DUKE by Eloisa James and A ROSE IN WINTER by Kathleen Woodiwiss.
I love Halloween! One year I dressed as an angel and my friend dressed like the devil. That was fun. I was a retro waitress this year. I try to get my husband to dress up with me and the kids, but he has not given in yet. There is always next year though lol.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I liked one by Nance Warren called Underneath It All (Harelequin Temptation). Where the guy turns himself into a nerd and tries to hide out from much unwanted attention after being named Bachelor of the Year for a magazine.
I don’t usually dress up for halloween. A friend has a mystery party around this time of year that I do dress up for depending on the character I play. It’s lots of fun.
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I am definitely giving away my age when I say that I read and saw the movie The Prisoner of Zenda. Where a man takes the place of a kidnapped prince.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:53 am
In Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s First Lady, Nealy( Cornelia Chase) the former First Lady escapes from Washington DC and her former political life, after her husband, The President has been asassinated. She becomes ordinary Nell Kelly and gets as far as Iowa where her car is stolen with everything and her adventure takes off.
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:20 am
My fav masquerade book was a Paid Companion by Amanda Quick… and I do not do costume dressing at Hallowen!
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:34 am
I loved Virginia Henley’s Seduced where the girl dresses up as her lost brother to keep their inheritance.
Halloween… I was studying at home!
November 4th, 2007 at 10:17 am
I remember loving Ashes in the Wind by Woodiwiss… I love all stories where a girl diguises herself as a boy… I think I should go get myself analysed!
Halloween… nothing!
November 4th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Nathalie, I’m sorry you were studying hard during Halloween! Laura, I must have missed that one by Nancy Warren… I do love her stories. :grin:
***Winner*** Congratulations to Joyce, winner of the thread giveaway. Thanks to everyone for the great book suggestions and costume ideas!
November 4th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
wtg joyce
November 5th, 2007 at 4:49 am
CONGRATS JOYCE!!!