tita_noir's review against another edition
4.0
The Spy, His Wife, The Widow, Her lover...
I am finding that I really, really like Emma Wildes' voice. She has taken a trope that I despise with the fury of 1,000 fists -- the spying Duke/Earl/Marquess -- and made it not only palatable but very interesting.
Michael Hepburn, the new Marques of Longhaven is a spy for the Crown. He was merely a younger son until his older brother died suddenly. To help his parents through their grief he agreed to marry the young woman his brother was promised to from almost the cradle.
Julianne Sutton is the beautiful daughter of the Hepburns' best friends. She had been used to the idea of marrying the laughing affable Harry. But the quieter, more enigmatic Michael is a different prospect altogether. But marry they do and immediately Julianne is confronted with her husband's mysterious silences and even more mysterious various knife and bullet wounds he sports when he comes home.
Michael is still on the trail of an elusive French spy name Roget and thinks he can hide that side of his life from his wife. But Julianne is not the naive, sheltered woman Michael thinks she is. She is observant and intuits much more than Michael realizes much to his chagrin. She also has her own secrets which makes Michael underestimate her a bit.
Helping Michael is the sultry widow Lady Antonia Taylor. An ex-lover who believes she is still in love with Michael and who, for her own reasons wants Roget dead. She will do anything she can to bring about his demise even if it means protecting Julianne, a woman she is supremely jealous of.
And Finally there is Lawrence. He is also a super-sexy, super spy who works with Michael and Antonia and who himself is in love with Antonia. He is working -- somewhat impatiently -- to make Antonia get over her feelings for Michael.
All four characters get a pov which I think works very well because they each come from events from their own perspective. I liked that each characters' thoughts and feelings felt true to them even when they weren't in fact completely true. For instance, Antonia is a very unreliable narrator when it comes to her perception of Julianne. And I think Michael is rather naive himself when it comes to his understanding of how Antonia feels about him. But I also liked that the author made all four characters very sympathetic and I liked all four.
I thought the storytelling was good and I didn't feel that I could guess every line or every plot movement. It felt like a book I have not read a ton of times before.
This is the third book in a trilogy. I did not read the other two because the blurb on this one intrigued me more than those did. But I did not feel lost and plan to back track to read the others.
I am finding that I really, really like Emma Wildes' voice. She has taken a trope that I despise with the fury of 1,000 fists -- the spying Duke/Earl/Marquess -- and made it not only palatable but very interesting.
Michael Hepburn, the new Marques of Longhaven is a spy for the Crown. He was merely a younger son until his older brother died suddenly. To help his parents through their grief he agreed to marry the young woman his brother was promised to from almost the cradle.
Julianne Sutton is the beautiful daughter of the Hepburns' best friends. She had been used to the idea of marrying the laughing affable Harry. But the quieter, more enigmatic Michael is a different prospect altogether. But marry they do and immediately Julianne is confronted with her husband's mysterious silences and even more mysterious various knife and bullet wounds he sports when he comes home.
Michael is still on the trail of an elusive French spy name Roget and thinks he can hide that side of his life from his wife. But Julianne is not the naive, sheltered woman Michael thinks she is. She is observant and intuits much more than Michael realizes much to his chagrin. She also has her own secrets which makes Michael underestimate her a bit.
Helping Michael is the sultry widow Lady Antonia Taylor. An ex-lover who believes she is still in love with Michael and who, for her own reasons wants Roget dead. She will do anything she can to bring about his demise even if it means protecting Julianne, a woman she is supremely jealous of.
And Finally there is Lawrence. He is also a super-sexy, super spy who works with Michael and Antonia and who himself is in love with Antonia. He is working -- somewhat impatiently -- to make Antonia get over her feelings for Michael.
All four characters get a pov which I think works very well because they each come from events from their own perspective. I liked that each characters' thoughts and feelings felt true to them even when they weren't in fact completely true. For instance, Antonia is a very unreliable narrator when it comes to her perception of Julianne. And I think Michael is rather naive himself when it comes to his understanding of how Antonia feels about him. But I also liked that the author made all four characters very sympathetic and I liked all four.
I thought the storytelling was good and I didn't feel that I could guess every line or every plot movement. It felt like a book I have not read a ton of times before.
This is the third book in a trilogy. I did not read the other two because the blurb on this one intrigued me more than those did. But I did not feel lost and plan to back track to read the others.
book_grinch's review against another edition
3.0
2,5 stars
It isn't a bad book. The story and the characters were okay, i guess. Michael and Julianne make a cute couple. They're both quiet and reasonably sensible persons...there's no drama in their relationship.
Regarding the secondary romance, well, unlike what happened in the previous books, i felt that it was a little neglected.
Lawrence as a character, turned out better than i was hoping, but Antonia felt a little like a spanish Mata-Hari cliché...
Bottom line, i only read the book because of the romances in it, because the mystery part, wasn't all that interesting. And this is putting it mildly...
It isn't a bad book. The story and the characters were okay, i guess. Michael and Julianne make a cute couple. They're both quiet and reasonably sensible persons...there's no drama in their relationship.
Regarding the secondary romance, well, unlike what happened in the previous books, i felt that it was a little neglected.
Spoiler
I wouldn't mind knowing if he's going to tell Antonia a little something and i would really like to know how she would react to that tidbit.Lawrence as a character, turned out better than i was hoping, but Antonia felt a little like a spanish Mata-Hari cliché...
Bottom line, i only read the book because of the romances in it, because the mystery part, wasn't all that interesting. And this is putting it mildly...
jkh107's review
3.0
In the wake of his brother's unexpected death, a former spy takes on his family obligations, including marrying his brother's fiance. The brother had secrets of his own. As does the fiance. And amongst all this secret stuff, someone appears to be targeting the hero violently. Could it be the secret agent, the thesaurus spy (Roget)-- his secret nemesis from the Napoleonic wars? Shhh. It's a secret!
stellar_raven's review
4.0
Very nice ending for this trilogy. I loved it as much as I did the other two in the series, though I think the first one is still my favorite.
Michael was always the most enigmatic of the three friends, so I was most anxious to get to his story to find out more about him. I also loved the fact that in Julianne, Ms Wildes crafted a heroine who was more that equal to the hero. The progression of their relationship was delightful to read.
I have to say, though, the secondary storyline between Antonia and Lawrence fell a little flat for me. I didn't like that there was no clear resolution to their story and felt that theirs was rich enough to deserve its own book.
Michael was always the most enigmatic of the three friends, so I was most anxious to get to his story to find out more about him. I also loved the fact that in Julianne, Ms Wildes crafted a heroine who was more that equal to the hero. The progression of their relationship was delightful to read.
I have to say, though, the secondary storyline between Antonia and Lawrence fell a little flat for me. I didn't like that there was no clear resolution to their story and felt that theirs was rich enough to deserve its own book.
khardan's review
4.0
Como ya os anuncié en el segundo libro de esta trilogía, Un error inconfesable, Michael es el protagonista de este libro. Si ya habéis leído los dos libros anteriores, entonces podréis haceros una idea y unas ganas de quién es: el espía que todo lo sabe y que todo lo puede. Al menos, así es como se nos presentaba desde fuera. Y, en cierta medida, así es en realidad, pero la perspectiva de verlo desde dentro y conocerlo a fondo es distinta. En el libro anterior nos enteramos de que Michael se había prometido debido a la muerte de su hermano y, por increíble que parezca, el libro comienza prácticamente con la boda con la novia a la que apenas conoce. Aunque es cierto que por un momento me despisté y me imaginé que sería como en el segundo, con una viuda de por medio... pero no. Este libro mezcla tanto Sin miedo al escándalo como Un error inconfesable. Y lo digo por esa mezcla entre Antonia ─la viuda que parece querer algo más con él y un pasado que les une─ y Julianne ─la novia debutante─. Con romance de época y jóvenes debutantes se nos sirve una novela muy agradable y de mi gusto.
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