Customer Reviews

Seduced by a Spy (Warner Forever)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Author Andrea Pickens understand how to write so you feel like part of the action, and her characters are delightfully three dimensional. Seduced by a Spy is her second book about the Young Ladies of Mrs. Merlin's Academy. While there are some repeat characters, the books all stand alone and can easily be read without reading earlier ones.

Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Select Young Ladies is not what it appears to be. Rather than being a respectable school for young women, it's an academy that helps young orphan girls by removing them from the slums of London and giving them a career-a career as a spy.

Shannon is one of these orphans, and as the tale begins, she is sent out on a mission to take out D'Etienne, one of Napoleon's agents. Unbeknownst to her, Russian spy Orlov, is sent out on the exact same mission-and they meet up at a very inopportune moment. Their mission failed, they travel back to England, only to discover that their respective employers have decided to join forces and use Orlov and Shannon as a team, sending them to Scotland where D'Etienne is likely to show up next.

Shannon and Orlov decide on a temporary truce, but disguised as governess and tutor they find more than they bargained for in the wild moors of Scotland. Love for both their charges and each other threatens to break through their cold and cynical facades. Will they ever be able to go back to being cold and disengaged again?

Seduced by a Spy is a wonderful action novel with an atmosphere typical to that of regency novels, and lovers of Georgette Heyer's work will be delighted to find this modern-day alternative. Slow to start, it quickly picks up pace and captivates you completely, and I found it difficult to put down before the last page was turned.

Combining action and romance with a good sense of humor and you end up with "a ripping good tale," as Orlov's pupil would put it.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

This is one in the series that have young English orphan girls rescued by the British government to be educated at Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Select Young Ladies to be spies for England. I read The Scarlet Spy first (Sophia's story) and rated it 4 stars. Then I read this one, Shannon's story that involves Russian spy Alexandr Orlov, a blond, blue-eyed rogue, who join forces with her to chase a French assassin across Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. In the process, they fall in love. The story line sounded good and parts of the story were very enjoyable. When they got to Scotland, however, I found the story to slow and did not find it hard to put down at that point. The lovemaking scene left a lot to be desired and there was only one. There wasn't much of a seduction despite the title. Still, if you're an Andrea Pickens fan, you'll probably enjoy this. The best spy romance novels I've found, however, are those in Joanna Burke's Spymaster series.

This is the second book in a series of historical romances, following The Spy Wore Silk

I love the premise behind this series. An English nobleman has set up a school for girls - where in addition to the usual skills of the time (reading, writing, art, music, languages, dancing, horseback riding, etc) they learn how to be assassins, spies, and courtesans. The girls who gain this education are orphaned girls whom he finds in the most vile slums of London, living on the streets. He literally gives them a chance to not only live but to serve their country as "Merlin's Maidens" - members of a top secret and elite highly trained spy corps.

This particular book follows the adventures of Shannon (all of the girls are named for cities around the world, so they have names like Sienna, Shannon, Seville, and Sophia) as she faces off with one of Napoleon's top assassin spies in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. With the help of a handsome Russian agent, she is assigned to prtoect the children in the family of a top military scientist, as they are the apparent target of the French assassin.

While Shannon has a bottomless well of courage and physical fighting ability, she always has to watch her temper and her passions. And having to work so closely with the handsome womanizing Russian spy Alexandr Orlov will prove to be as great a challenge for her as protecting two innocent young children (whom she learns to love) from a stone cold assassin...

From the first page to the last page, this book never stops being fun fun fun. Girl Power! Shannon's story is the best of this series and it's great series to start with it. The "hero" (Mr Orlov) is as easily lovable as the heroine.

It was a pretty good book. The ending could have been written better though. It did make me eager to read the other two so I started Scarlet Spy right after I finished.

She, like her peers, was taken from the London slums and sent to attend Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Select Young Ladies where she learned espionage skills including weapons usage. By 1812 as Napoleon wins every battle, this member of Merlin's Maidens, espionage operative Shannon having proven extremely competent with a gun is assigned to kill French spy D'Etienne who her superiors know is making trouble in Ireland, expected to cause waves in Scotland, and ultimate believe he plans to assassinate the family of a ballistics expert. Russian agent Alexandr Orlov is assigned to work with her, but she distrusts him; writing him off as a rogue while he has doubts about her competency.

The duo pursues their target into Scotland. However, the prey proves diabolically clever ready to use innocent pawns to keep his mission functioning. Shannon knows she has no choice but to trust her teammate if they are to prevent D'Etienne from achieving his objectives as well to stop him from killing people. As they fall in love, time is running out on their assignment.

The latest Merlin's Maidens espionage Regency romantic suspense (see THE SPY WORE SILK) is an exhilarating action-packed thriller starring two fascinating lead characters whose relationship initially reflect that of their respective countries; needing but distrusting one another. The story line is fast-paced once Shannon negotiates her way to an apprentice under fire role and never slows down as she and Alexandr must learn to believe in one another if they are to achieve the mission and follow up on their love for one another. Andrea Pickens provides a fun historical.

Harriet Klausner