2021 New Release challenge
ARC Review: One Thing Leads to a Lover (Love and Let Spy #2) by Susanna Craig
10:00
Series: Love and Let Spy #2
Author: Susanna Craig
Published April 6th 2021 by Lyrical Press
Goodreads Synopsis
Opposites attract more than trouble in the latest captivating Regency romance Susanna Craig.
Amanda Bartlett, widowed Countess of Kingston, is a woman beyond reproach. Married at nineteen, she dutifully provided the Earl with an heir and a spare before his death three years ago. Since then, Amanda has lived a simple, quiet life. A life that, if she were honest, has become more than a trifle dull. So when an adventure literally drops into her lap, in the shape of a mysterious book, she intends to make the most of it—especially if it brings her closer to a charismatic stranger...
Major Langley Stanhope, an intelligence officer and master mimic known as the Magpie, needs to retrieve the code book that has fallen into Amanda’s hands. The mistaken delivery has put them both in grave danger and in a desperate race to unearth a traitor. It’s also stirred an intense, reckless attraction. Langley believes the life he leads is not suitable for a delicate widow, but it seems he may have underestimated the lady’s daring...and the depths of their mutual desire.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Amanda Bartlett, the widowed Countess of Kingston, has always been told to watch her step. Married at 19, she is finally free to be herself, but with two young children in her care, her mother living in her home, and a suitor dogging her heels, she is still trapped in some way. While out shopping for a birthday present from her eldest son, she is jolted in the street, and the book she thinks she bought turns out to be a book full of French war codes, valuable to the war effort, and embroiled in an adventure than just could be the making for her. Sir Langley Stanley, a major and intelligence officer, feels guilt over the death of his comrade, and now that another has been kidnapped, and the code book holds the key to his recovery, he needs to get Amanda to help him retrieve it, and find the traitor who is in their midst. Masquerading as the tutor for the young boys, Langley moves into Amanda's home, for protection, and it's soon clear that their attraction may just be one thing they need to overcome.
I was completely blown away by Who's That Earl when I read it last year, and as soon as I spotted this one on NetGalley, I requested it. Amanda's life has been boring since she married during her first season, with a husband old enough to be her father, not allowed to do anything more straining than picking the meal options for dinner. Now widowed, she's still young, and wants her chance at freedom, but is stopped at every turn. Her two boys, Jamie and Pip, are her entire life, but she shares guardianship of them with her late husband's friend, Lord Dulsworthy, who is adamant they should be off at Harrow, and also wants to marry her too. It doesn't help, either, that Amanda's mother has moved in, and has taken over everything, from answering invitations, or creating the menu at dinner, to stating what Amanda should wear, even. It's too much, and I really felt for Amanda here - she deserves to be her own person, and have a little fun. Becoming embroiled in intrigue and espionage may not have been what I was expecting for her, but she took to it like a duck out of water, and was perfectly aided by Langley. Langley was an amazing love interest, with his own complex backstory as an orphan on the streets of London, to being adopted by a loving couple, and raised to join the military and help with the intelligence services. He's only once let down his guard, and that's when his friend was killed, and he won't make the same mistake again. He fights his attraction to Amanda almost as much as she does for him, but it's inevitable, and swoony, and downright perfect for them both. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I was again blown away by the brilliance of Susanna's writing, and her story telling. I can't wait for the next book, hinted at in the final pages of this one.
Dates Read:
Rating
4 Stars
