A review by bunny_watson
The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

Filled with suspense and sweeping romance, Bourne's Spymaster series can be read in any order, but I recommend starting with this one. Set during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, you meet spies from all sides of the conflict, and these characters turn up in many of the books in the series. The Forbidden Rose is chronologically the earliest book in the series, and focuses on the aristo Marguerite, smuggling people facing a death sentence at the guillotine out of the country, and William Doyle, a master spy of the British Secret Service. Wit and courage abound in both of them, as well as their allies when they race against time to save Marguerite's network of heroes.