A review by beckyyreadss
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.0

The first and second book in this series were gifted to me by Michael Joseph Penguin Publishing and when I saw that the third book was released, I had to find out how it ended. I didn’t overly enjoy the first two books, so I didn’t have high hopes for this, and it was okay just not mind blowing. 
 
This book has two points of view. The first is Alice also known as Agent A and she is the top operative within the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, a secret government intelligence group that is fortunately better at espionage than at naming itself. From managing deceptive witches to bored aristocratic ladies, nothing is beyond Alice’s capabilities. She has a steely composure and a plan always up her sleeve. So when rumours of an assassination plot begins to circulate, she’s immediately assigned to the case. But she’s not working alone. Daniel Bixby, otherwise knowns as Agent B and Alice’s greatest rival, is given the most challenging undercover assignment of his life – pretending to be Alice’s husband. Together they will assume the identity of a married couple, infiltrate a pirate house party and foil their plans. Determined to remain consummate professionals, Alice and Daniel must ignore the growing attraction between them, especially since acting on it might prove more dangerous than their target.  

If you are wanting enemies-to-lovers – this isn’t it. This book is two people denying their feelings for 200 pages and one of them pretending to hate the other and the other of them having a crush on them but having conflicted feelings about. The only saving grace of this book was the dual POV and hearing Daniel’s thoughts and him being protective of Alice.  

I think this book would have actual enemies-to-lovers instead of fake dating and pretending to hate each other. I wanted to know the conflict and why they hated each other and none of them had a valid reason. Another issue I had with this book was I was waiting for something to happen, anything to happen that when the big “villain” got revealed I was almost rooting for him because this book was just a bunch of filler pages until the reveal. I would have liked the separation after the mission to have been longer, but it was like they are forced apart in one chapter and back together in the next.  

Throughout this series, all I've wanted was more from it and never got it. It was an alright read but I don’t think I'll re-read them again.  
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