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webbsusa's review
1.0
I love Mary Balogh. I haven't read everything she's ever written, but I have read most of her work. I have never read anything by her that I didn't like--until now. I just could not get into this book. I was so excited to read it initially, because it had so many elements I really enjoy in romance (spies, the Peninsular War), but this book was a struggle. Neither the hero nor heroine were all that likable; I am not usually that demanding of a reader when it comes to likability, but I just didn't really care about these two. Worse, the further I got into the book, the more of a chore it became to finish. I think this was because the payoff was delayed until almost the very end. I kept waiting for the hero to have it out with the heroine over the events of their youth, and it never happened. I feel like much of the forward momentum of the plot was lost due to this delay. The fact that the heroine also did not tell the hero what she was really up to in the later chapters also drove me nuts. Even when she told him, it was done in such a way that she wasn't believed, which just added to my frustration. I can only take so many "big misunderstanding" plot devices, and in this one we had multiple cases of that. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Very different from the usual Balogh story, with a heroine who is far less amiable than her typical nice girl. And it's set in Portugal and Spain during the Peninsular War. And it's about spying! The book's prologue shows the adolescent daughter of a French nobleman falling in love with the bastard son of an English marquess while she and her father are visiting the marquess's estate. But when her father discovers that she's been kissing the bastard son, he tells her that the boy has been bragging about his "conquest," and turns her against him. Before they leave, she insults him in return.
Flash forward, and that young girl, now called Joana, is the widow of a Portuguese nobleman, and a spy for Wellington. The bastard son, Robert, is a Captain in the army, and also a Wellington spy. Robert doesn't know Joana is on his side, although she knows he's on hers; Robert knows that she's the same girl he once loved, but she doesn't recognize him.
Wellington asks Robert to carry false defensive plans across enemy lines and deliberately get captured, not telling him that he's actually carrying real plans, and that Joana will discredit him, thus convincing the French that the plans are false (yeah, a bit complex, all the spins and turns). Capture, escape, flight across Spain and Portugal together, and sexy times but without much trust on Robert's part, ensue.
Fun to read Balogh writing a femme fatale, even if said femme is really a good girl in disguise. Joana's refusal to disabuse Robert of his belief in her guilt, even when she has the opportunity several times during the second half of the book, is a bit hard to fathom, though.
Flash forward, and that young girl, now called Joana, is the widow of a Portuguese nobleman, and a spy for Wellington. The bastard son, Robert, is a Captain in the army, and also a Wellington spy. Robert doesn't know Joana is on his side, although she knows he's on hers; Robert knows that she's the same girl he once loved, but she doesn't recognize him.
Wellington asks Robert to carry false defensive plans across enemy lines and deliberately get captured, not telling him that he's actually carrying real plans, and that Joana will discredit him, thus convincing the French that the plans are false (yeah, a bit complex, all the spins and turns). Capture, escape, flight across Spain and Portugal together, and sexy times but without much trust on Robert's part, ensue.
Fun to read Balogh writing a femme fatale, even if said femme is really a good girl in disguise. Joana's refusal to disabuse Robert of his belief in her guilt, even when she has the opportunity several times during the second half of the book, is a bit hard to fathom, though.
stephshoff88's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
reading_historical_romance's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Sexual content, Physical abuse, War, Classism, and Rape
ithiliens's review against another edition
This was a very interesting read and unlike any of Mary Balogh's other books I've read so far (including another early one I forget the name of now!) It occupies an unusual space of being heavy on the historical side without really sacrificing any of the Romance genre conventions. I found the pacing a bit off at times and I think the back 20% could have been condensed or rearranged somehow-- after an important reveal and an amazing climactic moment the momentum fizzled out for me, but I did still finish so that must say something. Overall I enjoyed this. It had a lot more bite than I've found elsewhere thus far in spy/hidden identity romances.
whalesounds's review
slow-paced
3.0
Idk who said this was their favorite MB book, the heroine is painful
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
eak1013's review against another edition
2.0
Points to Balogh for making me buy into and even root for a relationship dynamic I generally loooooathe. This is all I-hate-you-so-much-I-love-you, except when it's I-love-you-so-much-I-hate-you, and I genuinely believe that the protagonists enjoy (get off on?) angering each other, at least for the first chunk of the book. I mean, it's sort of dynamic I find personally abhorrent (and have a hard time reading sometimes), but Balogh sells it.
It makes for a snappy read, right up until the heroine stops walking the line between crazy-like-a-fox and too-stupid-to-live and jumps right on over into the land of unforgivably, self-centeredly dumb. I mean, I do enjoy when a historical heroine rails against the restrictions placed on her by virtue of her gender, but when that railing takes the form of, well, I'm outtie.
And once she's done that, for me all the other dumbass things she's done in service of her revenge quest, which I was able to buy when I was enjoying the chemistry between the protags, to look like time after time, the heroine made the choice to do things for the lulz, rather than in service to that quest, her ostensible motivation for pages and pages. Then my enjoyment of the chemistry between the two fades entirely when the heroine articulates how much pleasure she takes, not just in arguing with the hero, but in his misery. She demands things of the hero without ever considering the situation from his perspective and shows little inclination to change. This would be an excellent opportunity for the rare heroine grovel, but she explicitly won't do that, because reasons. (Gender-based oppression is real, particularly in historical settings, but inconsiderate dickbags can be *any* gender.) This particular happy ending makes sense with how Balogh structured everything, but they better hope they continue to want to bone each other senseless for a long, long time, because I am *highly* dubious about the domestic felicity they will find in their particular brand of sparring.
Saved from a one star by the intriguing setting.
It makes for a snappy read, right up until the heroine stops walking the line between crazy-like-a-fox and too-stupid-to-live and jumps right on over into the land of unforgivably, self-centeredly dumb. I mean, I do enjoy when a historical heroine rails against the restrictions placed on her by virtue of her gender, but when that railing takes the form of
Spoiler
placing herself in the middle of a battle, where she has no real means of defending herself, despite stealing a gun, showing complete lack of awareness of how she is needlessly endangering people - yes, men - who have been ordered to ensure her safety, just because she would - and. I. quote. - "die of boredom" if she couldn't see what was happening in the battle firsthandAnd once she's done that, for me all the other dumbass things she's done in service of her revenge quest, which I was able to buy when I was enjoying the chemistry between the protags, to look like time after time, the heroine made the choice to do things for the lulz, rather than in service to that quest, her ostensible motivation for pages and pages. Then my enjoyment of the chemistry between the two fades entirely when the heroine articulates how much pleasure she takes, not just in arguing with the hero, but in his misery. She demands things of the hero without ever considering the situation from his perspective and shows little inclination to change. This would be an excellent opportunity for the rare heroine grovel, but she explicitly won't do that, because reasons. (Gender-based oppression is real, particularly in historical settings, but inconsiderate dickbags can be *any* gender.) This particular happy ending makes sense with how Balogh structured everything, but they better hope they continue to want to bone each other senseless for a long, long time, because I am *highly* dubious about the domestic felicity they will find in their particular brand of sparring.
Saved from a one star by the intriguing setting.
cdb393's review
2.0
I enjoyed the setting and the war/espionage elements of this book. Pretty much everything else was either meh or I actively disliked. I really disliked the heroine. I can buy having to lie and deceive when she was acting as a spy but she continued to do so basically out of spite and stupidity long after. All the bad aspects of her character are set-up as part of her spy disguise but then she also talks about how she actually enjoys a lot of the flirting and controlling men. As for Robert, he was fine but nothing super interesting. There was a lot of repetition in the book as well. Robert is constantly stating about how if he's not careful he'll fall under Jeanne's spell just like so many others. Often the way he states this is exactly the same. I will admit that I love so many of Balogh's books that perhaps my standards are set higher for her books than others. Overall, this is one of my least favorites of her books.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
4.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/02/2015-book-42.html
've enjoyed the other Balogh books I've read, so figured I'd check out this one--a recent reissue of a book originally written in the 90s. And I'm so glad I did, because it was awesome! It centers on a couple who meet and fall for each other as teenagers--only her father is VERY disapproving, because her love interest is the illegitimate son of a nobleman, and not a proper heir, and she's the daughter of a (French) count. Ten years later, they encounter each other again, in Portugal, during the Napoleonic War, and he recognizes her immediately--but doesn't realize that she's a SPY!! (He is also sort of a spy.) And not only is she a spy, but she has a vendetta for a mysterious French officer who brutally murdered a bunch of her relatives. Things are super action-packed and intense and GREAT and they just spend one hundred percent of their time bickering and I love it. I wish more romance novels were like this. A-.
've enjoyed the other Balogh books I've read, so figured I'd check out this one--a recent reissue of a book originally written in the 90s. And I'm so glad I did, because it was awesome! It centers on a couple who meet and fall for each other as teenagers--only her father is VERY disapproving, because her love interest is the illegitimate son of a nobleman, and not a proper heir, and she's the daughter of a (French) count. Ten years later, they encounter each other again, in Portugal, during the Napoleonic War, and he recognizes her immediately--but doesn't realize that she's a SPY!! (He is also sort of a spy.) And not only is she a spy, but she has a vendetta for a mysterious French officer who brutally murdered a bunch of her relatives. Things are super action-packed and intense and GREAT and they just spend one hundred percent of their time bickering and I love it. I wish more romance novels were like this. A-.