Lynne Connolly‘s review of The Spymaster’s Lady (The Spymaster Series) by Joanna Bourne
Historical romantic suspense released by Berkley 2 Jan 08
Annique Villiers is a spy for Napoleon’s France, but recent changes in the way her country operates and changes in her personal circumstances have made her more wary of her masters. She is in possession of a secret that both sides would kill to get hold of. And she’s the prime target.
Grey is in charge of England’s spy unit. Strong, intelligent and powerful, he’s what Annique needs. But can she trust him? Annique meets Grey when they are both captives and in a bad way, together with a young man who is in imminent danger of dying from a bullet wound. That’s the start of the adventure that takes Annique and Grey from war-torn France to war-ravaged England.
This book isn’t perfect. There are very few that are, and I suspect that if one exists, it would be a dead bore. This book is anything but a dead bore. I’ve been putting off reading it for a while, because I’ve read a few highly recommended historical romances recently that disappointed, and I didn’t want that to happen again. It didn’t. It’s a great yarn and an involving read. I enjoyed reading this book, and with only a couple of longueurs, raced through it from start to finish.
I could have done with a few less “kitchen table” scenes (when characters sit around and discuss what has just happened and what is to be come) but that was a very small price to pay. Bourne works at the border where improbable shades into impossible, one of the most exciting areas for a historical novelist, and one which is dangerous, because a few shades the wrong way and the book goes into “unbelievable” territory. Bourne never does this.
The book uses the three act structure. Act one is the journey to England, but I won’t say what acts two and three are for fear of spoilers.
While there are several improbabilities in this book, notably the existence of a separate spy network in this period which was of little practical use outside the military in the Napoleonic period and there’s no evidence for it, but then, it’s possible so the reader can happily read on. I enjoyed it very much, even though I guessed most of the surprises before they happened. It didn’t matter. I dislike books that depend on shocks and revelations to carry a story through and while this book had its share, the enjoyment didn’t depend on them. They sprang up as needed, to push the story on.
I liked Annique. She was a complex and fascinating character, believable given her training, background and needs. Grey I found more shadowy, the alpha male who falls in love very early and is superior in spying skills to the heroine. Just what she needed, but I would have liked a few more insights into him and his needs. He had no fears, except losing Annique. Their awareness of each other and their enmity is the core of the book, the old lovers who should be enemies plot that for me anyway, never gets stale.
This book gets a B+ from me. Great story, great characters and a great read.
Grade: B+
Read other info and more reviews by following the Spymaster Series tag.
Summary:
She’s never met a man she couldn’t deceive…until now.
She’s braved battlefields. She’s stolen dispatches from under the noses of heads of state. She’s played the worldly courtesan, the naive virgin, the refined British lady, even a Gypsy boy. But Annique Villiers, the elusive spy known as the Fox Cub, has finally met the one man she can’t outwit.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in the series:
Funny, I just read it and wrote on AAR about my disappointment. Annique was a very inconsistent character and I find it implausible that in this dangerous and dirty trade she remained a virgin (despite being trained as courtesan) and never hurt anyone. For someone with such an impressive reputation she was surpisingly vulnerable and infantile. This is no Winter Garden or Petals in the Storm.
I did think the virgin thing was a bit far-fetched, but since I couldn’t really fault it historically, I gave her one for the team. As I said in the review, improbable but not impossible. However the first scene went a bit overboard, and after that it was hard to believe that Annique was a virgin (even though, because of some of the phrases in that scene, that’s where I worked it out).
Winter Garden suffered from historical inaccuracies, but I read it such a long time ago, all I have is my notes, a mere sentence about the inaccuracies and a C grade. I did enjoy “Petals From The Storm,” though I thought Robin stole that book.
The Regency spy genre is a bit tired, and it has no real basis in fact. There were a few spies in the era, and one notable female spy, but the Napoleonic Wars were straightforward wars, and the spies worked for the military. There really wasn’t that much spy activity in that period, and most of it was under the aegis of the diplomatic corps or the military. Definitely no separate units. I did like Bourne’s acceptance that spies weren’t gentlemen. Many people considered them despicable because they had to lie to their friends as a matter of course, which made them most ungentlemanly.
It wasn’t a bad book it just didn’t live up to the hype. Not the author’s fault, I supposed.
Oh, and Winter Garden wasn’t a keeper for me, I just use it as an example of a strong heroine who can stand up to any man. I didn’t get that vibe with Annique. As the review from Dear Author said, she talked, talked, talked. Even to a virtual stranger. They didn’t have to torture her: she’d tell them everything eventually, the chatterbox 🙂
I loved this book, for the way the heroine drew me into the story, and for the way I didn’t see the bombshell coming and went back to the beginning to retrace all the clues I’d missed along the way. I didn’t have a problem with her lack of experience, but I would have liked a bit more realism in terms of adjustment issues following the bombshell reversal (I’m trying not to give anything away for people who haven’t read this yet) and I didn’t buy the non-recognition of hero bit – but I loved the rest so much these two niggles weren’t dealbreakers for me. Wonderful book,and I *heart* Joanna Bourne.
I agree Maya M. I loved this book, as you’ll see from my review on this site.
I don’t disagree that it’s a bit unlikely she would have remained a virgin, but that was a small price to pay for such a good story. I also felt she was very consistent (sorry Natalie).
I had fun with it if I just rolled with it.
Even if she lacked experience she should have been better at hiding it, considering she could play the part of courtesan that well. Grey (and Adrian) found out about it too easily.
What I mean by “inconsistent” is that she doesn’t live up to her reputation. She shows some promise at first, but makes too many mistakes (what’s up with spilling her guts to a virtual stranger?). I guess you could say she consistently blunders throughout the book 🙂
Even Grey’s opinion of her is not consistent. First he and his friend think she’s very clever, then, when she gets cornered by LeBlanc in Dover, he thinks she’s incompetent (not that I’d argue with him on that one), then, only a few pages later, she’s awesome again, with no reference to his previous doubts. I guess the editor should have noticed that.