Rhiannon Hughes lives in a colliery town with her miner father, stepmother Nellie and stepsister Mair.  But when things go wrong and she is left with just young Mair in her care, it seems providential when she hears that her aunt is going to be performing in nearby Cardiff.  Florence Desmond is a popular music hall star who normally lives in Paris, and the girls are sucked into the magical, glamorous world of the stage.  But when Nellie comes back into their lives, things start to go wrong... and is the enigmatic but gorgeous master of ceremonies friend or foe?

It is always good to read a novel set in an unfamiliar world, and I certainly enjoyed reading about life in an early 20th century theater.  There could have been even more of this, and I would have enjoyed it all the more. However, this is primarily a romance, so the theater is the backdrop rather than center stage.  Also fascinating is a glimpse of life in a colliery town, with a look at what it was like down the mines and being part of a world where there was one career on offer.  But there is a pacy plot in here as well, and for once I thought that this book was exactly the right length!  I liked the mixture of joy and woe that gave the book a rollercoaster feel and was sorry when the last page had turned.  I’d read more by this author.