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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Definitely one that pissed me off a little. But also good as well
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture
For me this worked better just as a book and spy story than as a romance. I thought Annique was a well formed character and Joanna Bourne certainly gets extra points for making her language and thought process very French without making her from the Pepe LePew/Maurice Chevalier school of French speaking. I think this works as Annique's story and that's what gets the 4 stars. I don't believe you ever really get to know Grey and there isn't a lot of the book from his point of view. I kind of knew that going in so I ended up really liking the book and Annique's story. I think if I had picked it up expecting a really Romantic type story I would have been disappointed as I like to see both characters thoughts and feelings as they fall in love when I'm reading a Romance.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is not for me. I'm all for a romantic lead who comes off like a bit of an asshole at first, but I do not want to read attempted rape from inside the head of the rapist trying to justify it. I'm sure other people would enjoy this but I just feel so gross and upset now and I wish I had known it was going to be like this because I would have passed.
Okay now I want to read more books about spies and the Napoleonic Wars. The setting intrigues me beyond belief. Different than most regency spy thrillers, the story takes place in both France and England. Not to mention, both the hero and the heroine are spies. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The Spymaster's Lady was about trust, conspiracies, love, passion, and truth. I fell in love with the prose which I think bothered other readers. However, it made sense to me that Bourne wrote the prose the way she did because Annique is French. So, she's going to think like a Frenchwoman. Thus, the prose is going to be reminiscent of the French language and still be accessible to readers. While reading this book, I thought the author brought a new and innovative type of historical romance. I've never read one like it before now. I want more regency spy thrillers. Publishers, authors make. this. happen.
Agree totally with Julia Quinn and Diana Gabaldon's reviews of this book. Devoured it in a day and will promptly pounce on each new book Ms Bourne publishes!
(My first review!)
This was my first spy book, though from reading other reviews I'm getting the impression it's a big subgenre I somehow never stumbled across in my years of reading Historical Romance.
I was intrigued at first, especially because it was a new idea for the story (for me), and I really appreciated that the heroine was a spy, and a competent one, and not just some damsel in distress the Spymaster has to save over and over again...
...until the second half of the book when that's all she is.
Other reviews have said it, so I'm glad it wasn't just me. I read the first half happily for the characters and their interactions (though agree that Grey's methods and actions were ethically questionable, especially as time went on). I kept reading the second half because of the plot twists, but that was really all.
The competent heroine in the first half that was believable as a master spy made you wonder how she ever managed to live into adulthood in the second half. I shouldn't be rooting for the heroine in a ROMANCE novel to not fall in love, since she seemed to become more and more incompetent the further she fell.
For (a non-spoiler) example, one of the things she did in the first few chapters, as a skill she had used many times as a spy, was call up another character inside herself to play to match the situation. Annique, the virginal young girl, might be scared shitless, but could settle into a character of a wanton woman of experience, push her own emotions aside, and act appropriately to lure the lusting man in close enough to konk on the head.
It made sense, showed how the heroine could have pulled off some of the spy situations she had in her backstory, and I loved how she was able to still have appropriate emotions of being frightened and worried. It was a good balance of being competent in the situation but still being human.
Too bad she forgets that's a skill she has, because she doesn't do in the latter two-thirds of the book, even though many situations would have called for it. In fact, she's so upset so often in the end, different men keep suggesting she go elsewhere to calm down while she's simpering on the hero's chest.
That's why the two stars - the first half would have gotten you a three, maybe a four, but she turned into the useless, typical damsel in distress the second half and that knocked it down. I'll give the author another shot, but probably just one.
This was my first spy book, though from reading other reviews I'm getting the impression it's a big subgenre I somehow never stumbled across in my years of reading Historical Romance.
I was intrigued at first, especially because it was a new idea for the story (for me), and I really appreciated that the heroine was a spy, and a competent one, and not just some damsel in distress the Spymaster has to save over and over again...
...until the second half of the book when that's all she is.
Other reviews have said it, so I'm glad it wasn't just me. I read the first half happily for the characters and their interactions (though agree that Grey's methods and actions were ethically questionable, especially as time went on). I kept reading the second half because of the plot twists, but that was really all.
The competent heroine in the first half that was believable as a master spy made you wonder how she ever managed to live into adulthood in the second half. I shouldn't be rooting for the heroine in a ROMANCE novel to not fall in love, since she seemed to become more and more incompetent the further she fell.
For (a non-spoiler) example, one of the things she did in the first few chapters, as a skill she had used many times as a spy, was call up another character inside herself to play to match the situation. Annique, the virginal young girl, might be scared shitless, but could settle into a character of a wanton woman of experience, push her own emotions aside, and act appropriately to lure the lusting man in close enough to konk on the head.
It made sense, showed how the heroine could have pulled off some of the spy situations she had in her backstory, and I loved how she was able to still have appropriate emotions of being frightened and worried. It was a good balance of being competent in the situation but still being human.
Too bad she forgets that's a skill she has, because she doesn't do in the latter two-thirds of the book, even though many situations would have called for it. In fact, she's so upset so often in the end, different men keep suggesting she go elsewhere to calm down while she's simpering on the hero's chest.
That's why the two stars - the first half would have gotten you a three, maybe a four, but she turned into the useless, typical damsel in distress the second half and that knocked it down. I'll give the author another shot, but probably just one.