4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stockholm Syndrome on the A1, December 28, 2006
This review is from: The Beauty and the Spy (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the second Gayle Callen book I have read - the first, "No Ordinary Groom", is set at the same time as this book and with some of the same characters. In fact, one scene in this book is also in the other. We are following the fortunes of two sisters and their dealings with men who turn out to be spies in this pair of books.
"The Beauty And The Spy" features Charlotte Sinclair, widow and sister to Jane Whittington (who gets her man in "No Ordinary Groom"). Charlotte has just put off her mourning a year after her husband's unexpected death - not that she was genuinely mourning him as he turns out to have been a nasty chappie. Anyway, Charlotte is now back in the social world and theoretically looking for another husband, at least her mother wants her to, even though she herself is far from sure she wants to put herself at risk of another man like her dead husband.
Anyway, Charlotte is at a party and gets rather carried away when watching a man behave oddly. She recently found some journals of her father that prove he is a spymaster for the British Government and she consequently sees spies and intrigue under every bush. She follows the mystery man, ends up hiding in a cupboard whilst he has a conversation with another man which shows they are up to no good. Unfortunately they find her and one man threatens to kill her, other other says he will deal with her and kidnaps her.
So Charlotte is tied up, covered with a blanket, lowered out of a window and taken away in a carriage with "Nick", the rather dishy man she followed into the room. He explains that he's trying to uncover a spy who caused a lot of deaths in Afghanistan and that he's working for the government - Charlotte doesn't think she can believe him. And thus the book turns into "Stockholm Syndrome on the A1" as they travel northwards by carriage chasing after the mystery spy woman, Julia Reed. As her captivity continues Charlotte starts to trust Nick her captor and ends up helping him. He also does his part in helping her - helping her to get over the bad ways in which her husband treated her, mainly in bed; guess how Nick helps her with THAT problem?
The story periodically interweaves with Will and Jane (the couple in "No Ordinary Groom") but most of the time they are stuck in a bedroom in an inn discussing captivity, spying and what's happening next - oh, and dealing with her issues about sex too, of course. The book slowly builds to a fairly unspectacular finale where Julia Reed is caught but then is rescued by a baddie but most of the action is actually happening within our lead characters' heads - and body parts.
Sadly this book didn't work for me. I found it quite slow going as the basic plot wasn't really enough to keep my attention. Nick as a character didn't seem all that well formed (I suppose, as a spy, he must be hard to read!) and Charlotte, too, seemed rather irritating. The whole spying sub-plot seemed rather far-fetched and the fact that Nick didn't just stash Charlotte somewhere else right at the beginning, rather than bringing her along with him and thus massively overcomplicating his plans, seems rather a plot hole. Although set in Regency times and travelling by carriage to Leeds from London (presumably the Great North Road then) there is almost no period detail and the characters speak to each other in American English; an example from Nick: "Sam, take Cox and go retrieve the body for me. It's at the entrance to the park a couple blocks east of here." Three non-English but American word-forms in those two sentences so evidently the author and her editor haven't checked it that closely.
If you just want a romance with some sex and some handsome/beautiful people you might like this; if you want more of a story, more genuine character development, more accurate historical detail and depth, you need to give this one a miss.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
engaging Victorian espionage romance, September 29, 2004
This review is from: The Beauty and the Spy (Mass Market Paperback)
In 1844 at a party, undercover spy Nicholas Wright seeks a female traitor so he cuts a deal with one of her minions, Campbell. Overhearing the transaction is widow Charlotte Sinclair, daughter of the recently retired spymaster and Nicholas' former boss. Campbell wants Charlotte dead immediately, but Nicholas tells him this is not the place and he will take care of this intrusion.
Nicholas and his partner Sam abduct Charlotte to keep her safe. As the plot boils and the danger increases, Charlotte takes risks too feeling she is a chip off the old block having recently read her father's journals. Nicholas finds himself panicking over her safety as he has fall in love with her; she reciprocates his feelings but wonders whose side is he really on?
This engaging Victorian romance, the second in the "Spies and Lovers" series, is a fabulous espionage love story that takes readers for quite a ride once Charlotte is discovered. The story line moves at a fast pace as Charlotte tries to escape as she believes her kidnappers will dispose of her at the first convenient moment. Worse to this feisty young woman is that she is attracted to Nicholas though she vowed never again after a brutal marriage. That odd relationship makes for a terrific historical.
Harriet Klausner
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Escape, September 23, 2005
This review is from: The Beauty and the Spy (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the second book in Callen's "Spies and Lovers" series. It's a fast paced, action- espionage love story that offers full-bodied characters, and a delightfully romantic storyline.
This book is a great escape. I was particularly impressed and inspired by Callen's well-rounded and substantial secondary characters. They never stole the spotlight, but they definitely claimed my interest. I also greatly enjoyed the author's wit and mastery of the language. I am looking forward to Sam and Julia's story that will arrive in Spring of 2005.
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