SOLVED. Romance (M&B) about girl who wears a disguise to hide her appearance from her employer because he dislikes pretty women. [s]

[Kavita]

It was a mills and boon romance paperback that I read when I was around 15 (15 years ago). It was pretty old by then already, something my mother had read when she was young. It had a orange-ish cover with the word “Devil” somewhere in the title. Book was the standard ~180 pages, typical of those types of books I think.

It was set around the time was written, though it was vague about the year I think (1960s?). It still read as modern to me, as in it didn’t seem very outdated. The main character (MC) is a female who’s pretty and has an English lit degree, but can’t find a job. She manages to get a job with Owen who makes his dislike for pretty girls very obvious so she takes an effort to look older than her age. Owen has a daughter and they eventually bond. Owen and MC fall in love after he “peels back her layers like onions” (paraphrased) because she’d lied heavily to get the job.

There is this poem the MC and Owen quote to each other from time to time, I believe it’s this-
“Thou art my life, my love, my heart, the very eyes of me, And hast command of every part to live and die for thee”

My mom and I discussed the book at the time, so It holds a lot of dear memories for me. We had a library but the books were either sold or given away. Would really appreciate any help finding it so I can read it and reconnect with mom again.

Thank you!!

[Zenta]

It sounds like Gone Before Morning by Lilian Peake

[Kavita]

Omg that’s it!!! Thank you!!! :)

[Kavita]

Can someone mark this as solved? I’m on my mobile. Thank you :)