Customer Reviews

My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster Series)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Romances are often predictable with cardboard characters and rehashed storylines. Simpering virgins, roguish alpha males, big misunderstandings, and tidy endings. As Yogi Berra would say, "Deja vu all over again."

Joanna Bourne's "My Lord and Spymaster" is a refreshing yarn. It has a bit of an Oliver Twist ambiance with brutish street toughs among high brow sophisticates and two very compelling lead characters with complex backgrounds. Bourne's stories unfold a bit at a time, allowing the reader to get to know her hero/heroine and the choices they have made and obstacles they have overcome before their paths intersect. She weaves a tapestry of their character, wit, charm, steely will, vulnerabiltity and courage. Her story is rich with details: business concerns are not just window dressing; the spy intrigue gives a sense of life and death choices; the allegiances to country, family and colleagues bring depth to motivations.

The supporting cast is just as interesting -- Adrian, Doyle, Aunt Eunice and Uncle Standish, and even Kedger the ferret. Jess is the intrepid young woman who has had to fight her own battles and use her rapier sharp intelligence to climb her way out of poverty. She has met her match in Sebastian who has polished the rough edges of his own street smarts to become a gentleman and commander and to use his influence to have her father arrested for treason.

Some readers have complained that there is not enough bedsport. Yes, the sexual scenes are understated, but the romance is not. There is electric current between Jess and Sebastian, but as they pursue their different objectives, there grows a sense of wanting not to hurt one another, a protectiveness, as each stand on opposite sides: trying to prove Jess's father's innocence/guilt. I love the written tale - the beautiful worded scenes in the garden, the gritty and sinister turns, the biting snobbery of Claudia and Quentin, the guttersnipes and cockney dialogue. I love Sebastion's wooing of Jess, who has had her trust betrayed so many times, his gentle taming, his tale about a raft and rug sharks.

The best books have the magic to transport you to distant places and times and to make characters and their foibles real, to make you laugh and to feel real empathy. By the time I finished Bourne's book, I felt I had experienced part of Jess and Sebastian's adventure. And when was the last time you read a story with rug sharks? Thank you Joanna Bourne for being a weaver of tales and an imagineer.

As far as romances go, this story definitely earns 5 stars. It is truly an unusual romance. The setting is so accurately drawn and the characters so well developed, I was very much engaged throughout and I'm not a romance reader. Each character is complex and intriguing. The attraction between the leads is believable and never melodramatic--a lot of sparks fly. Ms. Bourne's deep knowledge of the English vernaculars and levels of society gives this story the feel of a Dickens novel. Even subordinate characters are fully formed and add multiple layers of depth. And this is superbly done by the author in astonishingly few words. Quite a skill. One could picture the thieves' warren, the ships' recesses, the shipping warehouses stacked with everything from the most basic items to the exotic. Problem with such lush description is they'll have to work hard to capture it all in the movie because fans will have expectations! Highly recommended to those who want a smart, complex, fast moving tale that is out of the ordinary and memorable.

After a magnificent debut with The Spymaster's Lady, Joanna Bourne shot straight to our keeper shelves.
If you love Samantha Saxon and Jo Beverely, then discover the daring adventure, well-crafted plots and compelling romance of this great new author.
After her father is wrongly accused of selling secrets to Napoleon, lovely Jess Whitby infiltrates the London underworld for the real traitor only to end up naked in the bed of a rude merchant captain. Not only is she falling in love with him, but he may be the scoundrel she's looking for.Don't miss her debut:The Spymaster's Lady

Historicals just don't come any better than this! Fine story, complex characters, great time-and-place detail, an all-round colorful book. I loved it, every page.

It's not a Regency, it's a Historical Set in the Regency Period and therefore not required to sound like Jane Austen. Its language reflects the vocabulary and accents of the time more than adequately. Also, it's not a Stephanie Laurens, so it's not required to be stuffed with sex. There's plenty of romantic tension--a nice balance, actually.

Ms. Bourne writes with the confidence and authority that come with research and insight. I'll be looking for more from this author.

I read the first book of this series, The Spymaster's Lady, and really enjoyed it. I don't know why I never bothered to pick up the next book in the series when it came out. I finally decided to get it off my wish list and order it. I really wish I hadn't. Everything that I loved about the author's style in the last book was repeated here, but it really didn't work for me.

What I really liked about the last book was the flow of the language. The heroine was French and her thoughts and dialogue really felt authentic to me. The wordiness didn't bother me because it was all part of the experience of Annique (most of the book was from her pov). That same style was duplicated in this book. What was wonderful and had a great feel for Annique was horribly tedious for Jess.

I thought Jess was going to be really interesting. I mean, with her past she had to have some interesting character motivations. Unfortunately she wasn't anything special. Her actions made no sense to me and even though she was supposed to be some genius mind I honestly couldn't see it. She was a very weak character (even though we're told again and again that she's strong) and caved to whatever pressure was placed on her. It was irritating to read about.

I really didn't like Sebastian's character. He was basically a carbon copy of Grey from The Spymaster's Lady. Grey too was overwhelmingly dominant. He was very much so an "I know best" kind of guy. It worked for him because of his position as spymaster. I didn't mind him overwhelming Annique and controlling her actions because she was the enemy and to act otherwise would be stupid. That does not mean it was ok for Sebastian though. Why exactly is he acting that way? His controlling, egotistical behavior was so irritating.

Now, why exactly did these people fall in love? I really have no idea. One moment they're lusting and hating each other and then the author tells us they're in love. I just disliked the characters and couldn't get into the book.

One thing I do have to admit though... I really want to read Adrian's book. I liked him in the last book and I liked him in this one. I truly hope that he won't be a carbon copy of the other two male leads though.

Joanna Bourne can write a wonderful romance! I read My Lord and Spymaster from cover to cover in three days - I didn't want it to end. The relationship between Sebastian and Jess came alive on the pages! There is intrigue, mystery, and betrayal... everything that makes a good romance novel. I wish I could give My Lord and Spymaster a five star review but found a few small details lacking. The story's beginning grabs the reader and holds on tight through most of the book. However, the final scenes lack the "high impact" found throughout the majority of My Lord and Spymaster. I was also disappointed not to find our Grey and Annique mentioned as Adrian and Doyle are major characters. My advice is to read The Spymaster's Lady, if you haven't already, and then read My Lord and Spymaster - definitely worth the time!

One a side note... We are briefly introduced to Jess and her Father, Josiah, in The Spymaster's Lady. Josiah is the smuggler who rescues Adrian when he and Annique are running for their lives away from LeBlanc. Annique is familiar with Josiah and his smuggling business and gives Adrian the password needed to safely board his ships. Adrian returns Josiah's favor later in the book when he removes a girl from under Lazarus' protection. At the time we do not understand this subplot but it becomes quite clear in My Lord and Spymaster that the girl is Josiah's daughter, Jess. I really enjoyed this aspect of both books - quite clever!

Joanna Bourne's "The Spymaster's Lady" was a fantastic book, a fresh tale in a crowded genre with brilliant dialogue and plot. I eagerly awaited the next book by this author, "My Lord and Spymaster", but was unfortunately rather disappointed.

Jess Whitby is a pickpocket turned wealthy young woman whose father's shipping empire is well respected. However her father has been arrested for treason as the British authorities believe that he is a traitor known as Cinq who has been selling secrets to Napoleon. Jess is trying to prove his innocence by showing that someone else is guilty and she believes that Captain Sebastian Kennett is actually Cinq. When she is rescued from some thugs by Kennett she finds herself beginning to question whether he really is Cinq. He believes in her father's guilt but is helpless to prevent her from undertaking dangerous assignments to try to discover proof her father is innocent. As Kennett tries to keep up with Jess and as various nefarious characters try to silence her, Jess has to come to terms with her feelings for Sebastian and the possibility that the traitor is indeed one of the people close to her.

There was plenty of action in this story and the setting, in the murky underbelly of Regency London, was good. The dialogue in this book, however, regularly slipped into Americanisms which wasn't something I'd noticed in her previous novel and that was grating in this story. Jess was also a rather difficult character to get to know or even to like, although Kennett was cast in the usual heroic mould. The identity of Cinq wasn't a surprise to me when it was unveiled and I felt there were some rather annoying loose threads (what happened to Colonel Reams and why did he have such a minor part to play when he was discussed so frequently). The fact that Jess could avoid dozens of different spies trying to catch her seemed a little unrealistic at times but I suppose it was necessary to the plot.

In summary, taken on its own this is a reasonable book and deserving four stars. However, compared to her previous book it's a real disappointment - and it's not going on the keeper shelf for me.

I've been eagerly awaiting this second book by author Joanna Bourne and it didn't disappoint. Great book. Loved it almost as much as her first one, "The Spymaster's Lady", which I have to say is one of my favorite books in recent memory. What an excellent author we have here. While the plot was not as fascinating to me as the first book (to me this story focuses more on the h/h's interaction and somewhat less on an intricate story line and secondary characters, compared to the first book), the main characters are amazing, their interaction with each other so interesting to read and very satisfying, and the overall writing is wonderful. Ms. Bourne says so much but presents it to the reader so indirectly. You really understand what the main characters are feeling without it being spelled out for you, and yet the people in the story still seem so beautifully drawn. Ms. Bourne seems to know how to reach into her characters and, with seeming ease and thru fascinating dialogue between the h/h and other characters (including a ferret in this one!), shows the reader the h/h's deepest fears and hopes, including feelings of stark terror, moments of great bravery, and levels of great romance. This book is highly recommended. 5 stars! Loved it. Kudos to Ms. Bourne.

With the publication of My Lord and Spymaster, Joanna Bourne has once again proven her mettle as a master storyteller. Infused with an intricately complex mystery and littered with intriguing characters and smart, snappy dialogue, this is a book I found hard to put down.

Successful ship owner, Josiah Whitby has been arrested by the British Service and accused of selling government secrets to Napoleon. His daughter, Jess is convinced of his innocence and determined to save her father from the hangman's noose by flushing out the real traitor, the notorious Cinq, but in order to do that she must return to the streets of her childhood, the dangerous streets of pickpockets and thieves. She sets a trap for sea captain, Sebastian Kennett, the man she believes is the real traitor but her plans misfire when thugs attack and Jess is injured. She awakens aboard a Kennett ship, brains scrambled, naked and at the mercy of her enemy, the very man who provided the evidence that led to her father's arrest and is determined to see him hang for his crimes. Bourne has a talent for creating strong, intelligent, and daring heroines and pitting them against arrogant and opinionated alpha males. Jess and Sebastian are perfect examples. Jess is relentless, even risking her own life by plunging back into a dangerous world where she is no longer welcome when all other avenues of proving her father's innocence have been exhausted. Sebastian, a bastard by birth who spent his childhood scavenging along the Thames for food and sleeping on cold, dirty streets is now a man who moves easily among the nobility but life has made him a hard man who lives in a world of black and white and is supremely confident that his way is the right way. He's fascinated by Jess and has every intention of installing her in his bed even though he doesn't trust her, adamantly believes in her father's guilt and knows she will hate him after her father is hanged.

Several characters from The Spymaster's Lady figure prominently in this book. Secondary characters and plenty of plot twists held my interest throughout, but the fascinating and multi-faceted Jess is the star of this show and it was she who kept me up late into the night turning the pages of another keeper from Joanna Bourne.

Truly, I feel so sorry for those readers who feel they absolutely have to dash through every book they pick up --reading it as fast as they can--and wanting it to contain sex, sex, and more sex! Those readers should not read this book, as they just won't appreciate it.

As someone mentioned to me just recently, you shouldn't rush ragtime music--and neither should you rush through a book by Joanna Bourne. You need to turn the pages slowly, savoring the beauty or her descriptions, the wit of her writing, the magnificence of her plots, the intelligence of her characters (especially those of the female persuasion) and above all, the feelings that the two main characters have for each other. There is an enormous amount of sexual tension in this story, but it's cleverly disguised as longing. One doesn't feel battered by it, but rather is comforted by the lyricism of the author's prose as she demonstrates her skillful use of the English language, whether she's writing about adventure, history, romance, mystery or a travelogue.

How can you not appreciate an author who writes this sentence? ||Outside, one bird woke up to sing ten or twenty notes and then rolled over and went back to sleep.||

I loved her previous book and was practically counting the days until this one was released. I was not in any way disappointed by it, either. It's very different, but also very fabulous!

Yes, there are a few little places where the language is perhaps a tad more modern than it needs to be--but they're few and far between.

This is a ||real|| swashbuckler. I can't wait for the next one! You go, Joanna Bourne!