Masquerade cover art

Masquerade

Scandalous Ballroom Encounters, Book 1

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Masquerade

By: Victoria Vale
Narrated by: Beatrice Pendergast
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £11.99

Buy Now for £11.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

A sensual, erotic story with the rich texture of Regency romance with the spice of erotica.

Margaret Seymour is bored by the stifling constraints of society dictating her behavior as a debutante in search of a husband. Her prospects are promising by the standards of London society, yet, not one of them causes her heart to flutter, or her head to fill with scintillating, forbidden fantasies. Those feelings are reserved for Camden Rycroft, Duke of Avonleah - a man who isn't even aware of her existence.

While attending a scandalous Vauxhall Gardens masquerade, Margaret finds herself in the duke's arms. His promise of a night of pleasure is tempting, but is it worth it when Avonleah is a known rake notorious for his short attention span and avoidance of marriage?

Camden Rycroft is intrigued by the masked vixen he encounters in the Gardens. After one night with her leaves him hungry for more, his desire for her turns into a fiery obsession. Despite the scandal that could ensue from their affair, he finds himself unable to extract himself from a situation destined to end in pain. When faced with losing Margaret to a potential husband, will he rise to the occasion, or risk living without her?

©2015 Victoria Vale (P)2016 Victoria Vale Romance Marriage

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Shadow Earl cover art
The Duke and the Wallflower cover art
A Beastly Kind of Earl cover art
Surrender to Sin cover art
My Rogue, My Ruin cover art
Tempted by His Kiss cover art
The Perfect Rake cover art
Vivid cover art
As the Devil Dares cover art
The Duke Who Knew Too Much cover art
Beyond Scandal and Desire cover art
Tempted by a Rogue cover art
The Highlander's Improper Wife cover art
Virgins cover art
If the Duke Demands cover art
The Prize cover art
All stars
Most relevant
I always wondered what the difference between erotica and erotic romance was. I think this book answered the question for me. This is what I would call the latter. It has a beautiful romantic story of a woman who dislikes the constraints of her life and is pretending to be something she isn't. She is being pushed towards marriage with a very nice man, but one who would never appreciate her for the person she is. When her dreams come true and she is given the opportunity to have a passionate encounter with a man she has fantasised about for a long time she wants nothing more than to be with him forever. He, on the other hand, doesn't want marriage, he's a known rake and she knows that but it doesn't stop her falling for him. Whether or not he will let her go and marry her 'nice' gentleman is something you will have to find out by listening to or reading the book. The erotic part of the book is really steamy, very much for 18 and over. It is very descriptive but it's not written to shock. It's just perfect and along with the romance of the story, it made for a really great listen.

The narrator did a pretty good job of the various characterisations. My only negative remark would be that at times, especially in the passionate moments the way she would say something isn't the way that I would have read it. For example, she might have voiced the part harshly when the descriptive words said: "he whispered". Or sometimes the male character would sound a little gay when in fact he was supposed to be sexily teasing her. Not huge issues, but just something that stopped me from being able to give a full 5-star rating to Ms Pendergast.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book.

Somebody pass me a fan!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
well written. thank you for this book.
I really enjoyed listening to this book anything Victoria vale puts her hand on is hot,hot. and absolutely fantastic.

steamy romance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked the story, but the narrator was awful and very distracting and unbearable, so I did not enjoy this book. It's a good thing it was a short one as I couldn't bear the narrator for much longer. I actual didn't finish the last 5 minutes. A very false English accent with an American accent. And Camden's voice was awful. And Sheridan's even worse. I had already purchased Book 2 but I think I wil return it. It's the first time i am returning a book since being a member for about 3 years.

very steamy sexy story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narrator was extremely annoying. If rather funny ie. distinguishing her fire instead of extinguishing it. LOL

Good story poor performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A really great story about a young rebellious debutante who feels restricted by society's expectations and restraints. She is expected to select a husband from her suitors but is totally underwhelmed by them all. She has a crush on The Duke of Avonleah, who she secretly lusts after. She manages to 'catch his eye' at a masquerade, one she has been forbidden to attend, held at Vauxhall gardens. Things progress from there.....

This is a really hot read but unfortunately the narrator was poor.
As a British listener the accent was just awful - at times really over the top (in the way Americans think the British speak) and then at others very American - such as the pronunciation of DUTY. Also the narrator sounded like a 90 year old grandma - just all wrong for this type of story. I know that lots of American actors and actresses can successfully undertake an English accent - but this narrator is NOT one of them.

However, I still enjoyed the audiobook - but it could have been so much better.

A steamy story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews