This book was so much fun - what a great idea, to have a female 'detective' (Ellie) pose as two different characters to solve a case involving silver thefts in Arizona. The switches between conservative middle-aged Lavinia and thoroughly modern Jessie are smooth, but I love that we keep in touch with how Ellie thinks and feels. The humor is mostly funny because we know the truth, and it's great to have the 'inside scoop' and be able to laugh because we know more that they do. The hero, Steven. is adorable, and makes fast friends with Lavinia well before becoming infatuated with Jessie. The ending is very satisfying, making the whole book and all-round great read.

I thought this was a very good book and held my attention.

Every book I buy from this book store is great.

Every bit as wonderful as I hoped it would be!

Ellie Moore is an aspiring actress on the verge of poverty, so when she overhears two Pinkerton agents talking about their need for a woman to do a job in Arizona, Ellie knows that this might be the chance of a lifetime.

Stephen Pierce is the owner of a potential rich silver mine, in Arizona. He would be well on his way to success if only robbers wouldn't take every shipment...

Can Ellie catch the theives without blowing her cover?

Snagging my full attention from the first page, I knew from the first sentence that I was going to love this book. And boy, did I ever!

I really liked Ellie as a leading lady, she was determined, and likable who had a resourcefulness about her. The perfect heroine, who had me cheering for her from the first. In fact all of the characters were well written, and very full. And I loved "observing" them and trying to figure out who were the bad guys. I really liked how when Ms. Cox wrote bits about the bad guys, that she kept their identities secret, which I believe is totally the way to do it. I have never liked knowing who was evil before the heroes did. So bravo, Ms. Cox, for keeping me in suspense!

The story moved rapidly, and I was easily engaged, even when my brother was blaring rap music in the car on the way home. I loved how the pages turned rapidly by, and how I was quickly consumed in the tale. This book had it all, a good mystery, romance, and some great humor!

Overall, I loved this book and it was every bit as wonderful as I had been hearing from all of my wonderful friends :) I loved the plot the characters...Everything! A book that I heartily recommend :)

Shakespeare said, "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women are merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts..."

These words explain the premise of this book perfectly. In enters main character Ellie Moore a starlet wannabee, who is a wardrobe, make-up and hair stylist person in the theatre for a well known actress. Ellie takes her job seriously and watches the leading ladies so she can learn to be the best when it was her turn to be on stage.

Well Ellie gets that big break but it's not exactly the part of her dreams. Her break comes to her in the most bizarre way and she uses the world as her stage literally. She needed a job and she would make this part work, even if it killed her. It just might! Ellie was a gal that could think on her feet — she learned this from her years in "live" theater when the unexpected happened all the time.

I was thankful for the review copy of this book that introduced me to Carol Cox. I hadn't read a book by her before. This book was a fun, suspenseful, mystery story I adored. It was a refreshing female lead with an interesting plot and lots of unexpected twists.

Since my husband and I were around theater for years it was interesting to read that some things never change and how things were done in the 1880's with live theater. If your looking for a fun summer read, a historical suspense story with a little romance this is the book for you. If you are looking for your next book club pick, look no further. Love In Disguise will bring about great discussion and lots of laughs. I highly recommend this novel for a great summer read and a featured book club selection.

Nora St.Laurent

The Book Club Network

www.bookfun.org

Just who has Ellie Moore become? Even now, looking back she can't remember, but God can. Now that she has given up the life of an actress in Chicago and trying to find a way to make a living, she overhears a conversation between two men looking for a woman for hire. They are Pinkerton's and were hoping to locate a woman to send along with a younger one to find out who's been stealing silver from the mines in Arizona.

When Ellie applies for the job with little more than being aware of other's conversations as her only experience for the job, they look at her plain, young looks and politely decline to hire her. What they were looking for, was an older woman to accompany the young Norma Moore as an elderly escort to Arizona. Thinking back to her theater experience in Chicago, she quickly changes into a disguise as an elderly woman called Lavina Stewart, wearing a grey wig and elderly clothing. When she returns to the agency, neither man can recognize her and are ready to hire her, when she reveals who she is, begging them to give her a chance. Seeing no other options, they offer to send her along with Norma, an experienced field agent to Arizona.

However, when she meets up with Norma and learns she has no intention on going to Arizona now that she has fallen in love and gotten married, Ellie, heads off on her own, hoping to come up with a plan before she arrives in Arizona. Her only hope lies in the costume trunk she was left with from her previous work with the Chicago theater.

Steven Pierce is finding it hard to keep his silver mine going with the recent thefts. He agrees with the other silver mine owners to hire the Pinkerton's to help since they aren't sure their local Marshall isn't part of the recent string of silver thefts. He sure doesn't seem to want to do anything to bring anyone to justice. Now if only he can keep his head above water before his mining operations going under with this bank account become thinner and thinner. When Mrs. Lavina Stewart arrives to meet with him, he feels God has answered his prayer in finding a way to keep his mining operations afloat as an investment. If only he knew behind that wig and costume lies the help he was asking for in a different way.

In the novel, Love in Disguise by Carol Cox, Ellie Moore will have to use everything in her bag of tricks to deceive not only all the residents on the town of Pickford, Arizona to keep not only the disguise of Lavina Stewart up, but to answer for the missing niece the Pinkerton's have hired with Ms. Moore, whom she hasn't explained isn't there. Lucky for her, she has another wig in her costume trunk to play the parts of two women while questioning the town for clues to the silver mine thefts.

I received Love in Disguise compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to say this one was interesting in a variety of ways. First introducing not only the Pinkerton's into a historical fiction, but making her a woman character as well. Add to that mix, a woman who must master the art of deception and disguise while solving a crime. If she can do it, she knows it will secure her a job with the detective agency once this case is over. The character Ellie portrays is definitely believable and I can see how hard it would be to keep track of what towns person has told which character what information, as she switches between the two woman. Will anyone catch on why the two are never seen together? You'll have to read this one and find out. I personally rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for more from Carol Cox in the future.