Customer Reviews

Too Hot For A Spy (Zebra Debut)

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

 

 

If you really enjoy and appreciate some accuracy in your Regency-set books please steer clear of this one - I've been reading Regencies for over 40 years and this is probably in the Top Three worst I've ever tackled. Maybe I'm not being fair because I couldn't finish the book. Maybe it got better beyond page 50, or page 100, or maybe it didn't. I couldn't take the chance. The plot revolves around the daughter of a duke who 1) works at the Home Office as a clerk (insert buzzer sound here); 2) the inadvertantly meets our hero at a ball where he does something naughty to her on the terrace (insert buzzer sound again); 3) she's wanted to become England's first female spy for YEARS and is accepted at Spy School, and her parents (the duke & duchess) allow her to trundle off to the country to spy school, a young, single, innocent daughter of a duke (insert LOUD buzzer sound here). This isn't even an anachronistic book, it's silly. While some would argue the differences between what would/could happen in the real Regency vs the RegencyLand in our historical romances, there are some accepted customs, values and mores of the era and this book throws them all out the window with the dish water. And that's just not nice. But you know what burned me most? When. An. Author. Does. Something. Like. This. For. Emphasis. Sadly, our heroine has 4 sisters and 1 brother and Wolf has plans for more books about the Fairchild siblings.

I would love to meet with the person who thought this book was worth publishing! Even at only $3.99 it is no bargain. The spymaster may be a hero from Waterloo but I think he left his manhood there! He takes too much crap from the spoiled brat heroine who doesn't understand the first thing about being a spy. She has to be bipolar or something! She only follows the orders that suit her, but the only consequences when she doesn't obey orders is to be kissed or "tupped" by the spymaster.

And speaking of tuppings... there are many a love scene in the book and if you enjoy strange and inappropriate places/times for them then maybe you would enjoy this book. I can think of no other book/genre who would have the main characters "make love" in the middle of a mission with a dead man's next to them who had his brains blown out!

This is not the first novel this author has written - just the first one in this style. The concept is the a duke's daughter Olivia is accepted to 12 week training program to become a spy. At first that concept works - until she is asked to follow orders and listen. She falls in love with one of her instructors (who is has encounter with earlier in the book and then seem to gloss over...) and doesn't understand that he is her lover and her BOSS.

I almost never say this but - I would suggest save your money - I wished I did!

The first two books in this series (I unfortunately bought a 2 for 1 ebook bundle) are the worst books I have ever read! The protagonists all suffer from (cheesy) multiple-personnality syndrom and the stories are all over the place. It's hard to believe that these books have even been edited (and supposedly by a reputable publisher). I only gave one star because minus 20 wasn't available for selection.
I painfully got through the first one and deleted both a few chapters into the second.
I can't believe anybody but the author's doting family or her BFFs would ever recommand(or even read)these books!
I feel cheated and robbed and will have a hard time trusting this publisher ever again with my hard earned money!
p.s. sorry about all the exclamation points but I just couldn't help it!

Sir Sebastian Brooks runs a very successful spy training facility and everything seems to be perfect till the moment till he gets a new trainee, who will turn his well planed life upside down. Lady Olivia Fairchild wants nothing else more than to work for the Home Office, with the help of her mother she finds a way to be excepted into Sebastian's spy academy. Now she just has to prove that she is as worthy as her fellow male trainees. Very soon she has to prove her proficiency when she helps Sebastian with an important case. Both of them are fighting their growing feelings for each other.

TOO HOT FOR A SPY is a powerful debut novel and Ms. Wolf is definitely an author you want to keep an eye on.

Olivia is a very unusual heroine, strong and far ahead of her time. Once she got the idea of working for the home office into her mind nothing and no will stop her in achieving her goal. It's funny how she clashes wills with Sebastian, because he is a person who follows rules, whereas she follows her heart.

Once I started with TOO HOT FOR A SPY I couldn't put down the book, because I was absolutely glued to the pages. There wasn't one moment in the whole book that was boring and it wasn't predictable. It was pure joy to watch the story develop and I was more than a little sad when it ended.

In April 2010 the next Fairchild sibling story arrives with Too Hot For A Rake. I am really looking forward to see how the family saga will continue.

To all Regency fans, TOO HOT FOR A SPY is a novel you don't want to miss. I can highly recommend this debut novel!

As a woman in 2009 when you set your sights high and want to do anything, push yourself to the end of limits and strive to assume an occupation of your choosing that is a possibility. In 1816 that was not the case but this fact did not damper Lady Olivia Fairchild's desire for success though nor hinder the dream for her grand ambitions - she wanted to be a spy!

Olivia had a plan to make this happen by outwitting her controlling father, maneuver around the regulations with the head of England's Home Security and work with her mother to secure this position and obtain the goal of spy in training. But she never envisioned the person that would block her would be the man that ran the training facility Sir Sebastian Brooks - a man she was attracted to and drawn toward in ways only a woman would be and she was not sure she could dare let these emotions happen for fear they would thwart her end goal.

But a determined Olivia was able to convince even Sebastian and prove that she could do everything as well as the male trainees - swim, shoot a bow and arrow, fence and eventually handle the rigorous of calisthenics. What Olivia never though could happen is that the man, who vexed her so much, threw up obstacles at every opportunity and forced her to be not equal to the men but better was also the man she would fall in love with and could it be that she may even be the one to save his life?

Sebastian for his part was trying to handle this woman he had no want of at his facility but had a burning desire to have in his bed. He knew that she would not take orders and could disrupt the academy as well as his own life and play havoc with his desires. She made him feel whole again and try as he did to resist her at every turn she called to him and in ways he never felt before with another woman.

When Sebastian is called to service for his country it is Olivia that uses her wits about her and comes to his rescue despite direct orders not to. She knows that what she is doing is the right thing and nothing can keep her from this man or her desire to serve her country - both of which she loves.

Sebastian and Olivia have a number of adventures together and what draws them in as a couple is not only the chemistry between them but the confrontation of two high-energy, polar opposite personalities. While Sebastian has served in the military he knows how to follow a direct order and work within the system. Olivia has lead of life of luxury with her family and only knows what she wants and knocks down the walls to achieve it. This encompasses not only her desire to be a spy but to make sure that Sebastian's feelings for her not only are about love but loyalty and letting her be what she desires.

After many near misses and an almost death experience all at the hands of Olivia the couple come to realize that they are no good apart and need to be together fighting the enemy as well as each other.

This book is an excellent read for everyone that wonders about the women who came before us and their struggle to obtain their chosen profession. The training scenes were well written and the spy missions were not drug out to slow the book down. I felt the objective was to lay the groundwork for the Regency spy network while also showing how two completely opposite people who find each other impossible to live with but love can find a middle ground for their love and marriage and both ideals were accomplished. The side story of Olivia's family was fulfilling and I look forward to other books that involve them. There were a number of break ups between the couple and while I think this was over done as the reason for the break up was repeated and in a sense drawn on too many times. One such incidence would have sufficed for the reader to get the point of where the issues lie between Sebastian and Olivia. This is a good book and highly recommended!

I don't read a lot of regencies,but this read was filled with fun and excitement. Olivia starts out as a spoiled pampered young lady and grows into self sufficiency. She's fiesty and outrageous and made me laugh. And she gives all the guys a run for their money.

This book was so much fun. I loved it when Olivia bested the other trainees. Also it was great when "spymaster" realized he was in love with her even though he fought it. Everyone who hated this book, needs to step back and realize "Romance" novels are for fun. The love scenes melted off the page but the best part was the fun seeing these two come together. Give it a try.