SOLVED. historical romance (which happens in the early 1800) about a shapeshifting woman which gets hired by a nobleman, then helps him to resolve a mystery thanks to her power - i read it about two years ago [s]

[phosphorechanteur]

Hello,
I am looking for a historical romance, I am not sure when the action takes place but I think it is late 1800 and early 1900. The heroine has the power to transform into another human or into an animal. Her power of shapeshifting are given to her by a fairy who grants a wish to each woman in her family when they come of age. The heroine decides to run away from her home and manages to get hired by a noble as a valet (under a false male identity). Then, she helps him to solve a mystery (I think it's a theft or degradation made to his domain) thanks to her power which allows her to transform into small animals and to follow the culprits.
At this point in the story, her boss (the nobleman) still does not know that she is in reality a woman and only knows her as a man.
Under her female identity, she claims to have informations that she will only release to him (I am not sure about this part) if he agrees to sleep with her. They do it (always without making the connection between the two identities of the heroine). The hero offers the heroine to make her his mistress, but she refuses. Eventually (I can't remember how) he makes the connection between his valet and the woman he slept with. They end up getting married.

(I am really sorry for all the mistakes in English that I made, it is not my native language)

[Capn]

Did you read this book in English or another language? (If it was translated, sometimes that helps narrow it down)

[phosphorechanteur]

I read it in French but I'm sure it was a translation from English

[Becca]

Unmasking Miss Appleby by Emily Larkin? The French translation is Les Aventures de Charlotte.

[phosphorechanteur]

Yes, that is the title ! Thank you so much !

[phosphorechanteur]

SOLVED - Unmasking Miss Appleby