Jessamine Goodfellow has spent six Seasons avoiding the parson’s trap, and spinsterhood is finally within her grasp. A brilliant scholar, she longs for adventure and new experiences, things her family frowns upon. Presented with the opportunity to use her puzzle-solving talent on a secret mission for the Foreign Office, Jess eagerly accepts. Even when it means posing as the wife of a scorchingly attractive Scotsman who she must also covertly investigate as a possible double agent.
Lord Dougal MacNair, the new Viscount Fallin, has always completed his assignments for the Foreign Office alone. Now he’s saddled with an overly enthusiastic amateur partner. She possesses a remarkable intellect, but something about her isn’t quite right, and after two failed missions, Dougal is certain someone is working against him. Battling their secret suspicions, Dougal and Jess dive deep into their cover as a married couple, which arouses temptations they find irresistible. Danger is all around them, but it’s their hearts that may be the most imperiled.
Review:
This was such a fun read! I’ve been a sucker for the we’re spies and we need to go undercover as a married couple storyline since middle school (it’s all Scarecrow and Mrs. King‘s fault, and yes, I know I’m dating myself here but it’s true), so chances were excellent I was going to enjoy this one, but honestly, I just never suspected how much I was going to enjoy it.
(Spoiler: the answer is OMG SO MUCH!)
Dougal and Jess make a lovely pair, and I really enoyed watching them actually become a real couple as they worked undercover to (maybe) reveal a pair of spies. Ms Burke blended just the right amount of romance and suspense here, giving us (and them!) a touch of danger blended with their delightful burgeoning romance. I *almost* feel cheated that we didn’t actually get to see Jess (ahem) enjoy Dougal’s kilt, but I can’t really complain when the scenes we did get to witness were so off-the-charts hot. 😉
Miscommunication was a major player in their relationship issues, which normally drives me a bit crazy, but here it really worked. Dougal really listens to Jess–he takes to heart what she’d told him about her views of matrimony when they first met, and lets it color his actions going forward–and though he makes some rookie romance hero mistakes along the way, he also mans up nicely and asks her what he did wrong and how he can fix it. Gotta love a romance hero who knows how to take direction… 😉
This is the sixth book in the series, and since a good deal of the time Dougal and Jess are off on assignment and away from the other series characters, it would probably make a decent standalone novel. BUT…hear me out here! The last two books, Evie’s and Lucien’s, are coming next, and wouldn’t it just be best if you binged the whole series before they do? That way you’ll be just as anxious as the rest of us for these two oh no, marriage just isn’t for me characters to realize their urgent need to rethink their stances on matrimony? That’s what I thought. #sorrynotsorry
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.