TITLE: The Spymaster's LadyAUTHOR: Joanna Bourne
STARTED: March 18, 2008
FINISHED: March 22, 2008
PAGES: 373
GENRE: Romance
FIRST SENTENCE: She was willing to die, of course, but she had not planned to do it so soon, or in such a prolonged and uncomfortable fashion, or at the hands of her own countrymen.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] 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.
THOUGHTS: I believed everything in this book but... wait for it... the love story. You would think that is a crucial part of enjoying a romance novel. Yet, despite my scoffs at the love narrative, I still enjoyed this book.Bourne takes risks with her characters and writing style that made this book an interesting read. I would tell you what those plot risks are, but that would ruin the book for those who have not picked up this book. Writing wise, Bourne writes the dialog as it would occur in life. There are variants in cadence, vocabulary, and tone depending on the characters' background and language. It was so nice to finally read a book where the environment sounded natural. I completely believed the setting and the non-romantic motivations of the book.
Too bad the romance did not live up to the rest of the book. I just had a hard time believing that Annique who had gone through so much hardship could act like a simpering teenager in love. Sure, you could argue that love turns us all into flirty-eyed fools, but that just didn't cut for me. She starts out fighting and then just rolled over. And, on the part of our hero, I think he was more in lust/infatuated than in love.
Still, this book was a rather splendid read and I look forward to what Bourne creates for her sophomore novel.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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