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Life hasn’t been the easiest for Rebecca and her family over the last decade. She lost her beloved Mother and watched her Father fall into depression, gambling and drinking. Leaving her to fend for herself, she’s taken a position with the wealthy family in hopes of helping her Father climb out of debt. Unfortunately, Rebecca isn’t prepared for everything that comes along with her Father’s issues – including someone trying to kill her.

In a desperate act, she dresses as a debutante and attends a masked costume ball in hopes of finding help with her predicament. Her friend and fellow maid Mary convinces her that getting a wealthy protector to pay off the debt is the only way to save her Father.

Mr. Black is intrigued by the young woman he meets at the ball, but something about her seem familiar and he can tell she’s keeping something from him. He decides to find out more about Miss Bailey, but manages to get himself pulled into her problems.

This was an interesting twist on the traditional “Cinderella” story, but with a bit of mystery, intrigue and murder thrown in for good measure. Miss Endicott plays the roll of the ‘evil’ step sisters; bossing and bullying Rebecca. Mary plays the pseudo roll of the ‘fairy godmother’ helping find a dress and means to the ball to meet Prince Charming.

I liked that Rebecca was willing to do whatever she could to help her Father, who has lost his way after the death of his wife. I felt for her, she loved him so much and was going to give herself away to get enough money to pay off the debt. Christopher isn’t the typical Prince Charming type hero, but was there to help Rebecca – despite his misgivings. These two manage to get into piles of trouble, almost get themselves killed and… well you’ll have to read the book to find out more!

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed Tamara’s take on Cinderella and her great characters. I wonder what happened to Miss Endicott though and Mr. Henley – who I found very funny! I was hooked from the beginning until the very last page; devoured the book in a matter of hours. Would I read more by this author? Yes, I look forward to seeing what Tamara comes up with next.