Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey

Love, Lies and Spies

by Cindy Anstey

In the early 1800s, when her father sends her to London for a season, eighteen-year-old Juliana Telford, who prefers researching ladybugs to marriage, meets handsome Spencer Northam, a spy posing as a young gentleman of leisure.

Reviewed by Leigha on

3 of 5 stars

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Please Note: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A man and woman, each with their own ambitions, discover love may have more in store for them than they ever bargained for in this young adult historical romance.

I really and truly wanted to love this book, but I didn't. The start of the novel was promising. It introduced a sweet romance between two wonderful characters in one of the most memorable meet-cute scenes ever. However, the reason this book interested me was the two characters each had their own drive and ambitions outside of the developing romance. And yet half way through the novel the romance seemed to eclipse their individual ambitions. Their goals became a plot device instead of integral to their characterization, which disappointed me greatly.

Granted, I'm not the target audience for this book. I rarely read historical novels as they tend to either bore me (the etiquette! the fashion! the ton!) or infuriate me (the customs! the snobbery! the ton!). Perhaps readers of historical fiction would enjoy this book far more than me.

tl;dr While the book did have some wonderful moments and characters, the romance ended up taking over the narrative.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 April, 2016: Finished reading
  • 20 April, 2016: Reviewed