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Summary: superb Regency romance
Review: In 1813, Agatha Cunningham flees her home to avoid the unwanted advances of her odious neighbor, "Repulsive" Reggie Peasley and to find her missing brother James. In order to travel by herself, Agatha pretends to be married to Mortimer Applequist, an imaginary person she conveniently made up. However, her lies have caught up with her as the London ladies she recently met demand meeting her fictional spouse.Simon "Rain" Raines heads the Liar's Club, a group of pickpockets and thieves who work for the King in search of French spies. He thinks his former best friend and associate James Cunningham turned traitor as he has been missing for several weeks, secret operatives have been killed, and his bank account has grown. He goes to James' home to encounter the man's mistress, a Mrs. Applequist, but garbs the disguise of a chimneysweep. Before he knows what happened, he pretends to be Mr. Applequist. As he and Agatha fall in love, Simon wonders how will she react when he arrests her lover, not knowing that James is her brother. Regency romance fans will take immense pleasure in the first Liar's Club novel, a fun tale due to the outrageous antics of the intrepid heroine (sort of like a Baroness Munchausen). Simon is a delightful protagonist trying to overcome being the son of a Covent Garden whore who traded her body for meal money for them and an unknown father. This delightful winner belongs to Agatha, whose spins are clever and fabulous as she learns "oh what a web we weave when we first deceive". Harriet Klausner
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Summary: You have never read anything like this!! Truly memorable
Review: Okay, I've been reading Regency romance for years and I have never come across a story quite like this. Celeste Bradley is breaking new ground and making me laugh out loud. Not to mention, my husband has been getting a lot more action these days thanks to her amazingly sexy scenes. A bit of a warning, this is not your mother's Regency romance. Light on history and long on fresh new characters that break the mold, Celeste Bradley brings a refreshing, new outlook to the historial romance. Thank God for that!! No more cut-out stuffy characters and wilting violets, Agatha Cunnington is flawed and funny. Not to mention intelligent and witty. How nice to have those as attractive traits in a romance heroine. I'm not going to get too far into the story, since I don't want to blow the plot twists (and there are plenty of them). But you HAVE to read this book. I can't wait for her next one.
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Summary: Slightly different, great characters, funny.
Review: Plot description on this book's Amazon.com page. Get this book. What a delightful story. Agatha is a strong, funny, spirited and caring heroine. Simon is wonderful. All the secondary characters are great too. This is a slightly different story-Agatha doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued, and she is sharp and quick witted. I look forward to the next book in the series. This is a very nice story, different in some ways familiar in others. If I were to describe the plot, it would give away some of the funny scenes. There were two places where I just laughed out loud. Buy this, you'll enjoy it
Rating:
Summary: Good Good Good
Review: So good, I bought the next two, in the series as soon as I put the book down. The story was entertaining to the end...just enough sex to make it romantic, not trashy.
A very fun read, I loved it. I salute you Ms Bradley!!!
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Summary: A new writer for my favorites list
Review: The Pretender is my second Celeste Bradley book, and I am hooked. This one has it all: humor (I smiled through so many pages & even laughed out loud a few times), heartbreak, longing, romance, sensuality, suspense, adventure, tenderness, a well-paced plot, and engaging characters. The secondary characters turn up in other books, which is lovely (and these two reappear later) because they are wonderfully drawn (Button & Kurt, for example). Simon is truly dreamy and Agatha is indeed headstrong and quick-thinking. Unfortunately that sometimes gets her into trouble. My only complaint is that Simon didn't hang on to his fake accent long enough and he seemed, for a spymaster, rather slow on the uptake in figuring her out. But, get past that and the book soars. Splendid!
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Summary: A new writer for my favorites list
Review: The Pretender is my second Celeste Bradley book, and I am hooked. This one has it all: humor (I smiled through so many pages & even laughed out loud a few times), heartbreak, longing, romance, sensuality, suspense, adventure, tenderness, a well-paced plot, and engaging characters. The secondary characters turn up in other books, which is lovely (and these two reappear later) because they are wonderfully drawn (Button & Kurt, for example). Simon is truly dreamy and Agatha is indeed headstrong and quick-thinking. Unfortunately that sometimes gets her into trouble. My only complaint is that Simon didn't hang on to his fake accent long enough and he seemed, for a spymaster, rather slow on the uptake in figuring her out. But, get past that and the book soars. Splendid!
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Summary: Historical at its very best!
Review: This is one of those novels that has everything - true historical accuracy, real, real characters, great plot, and lots of fun, fun, fun!
It's too hard to explain the plot, and anyway, since so much of what makes this novel so funny hinges on the plot, it would be a pity for me to write it if you can read Celeste Bradley's far superior writing. Basically, this is about a young English lady, who, realizing that as a single woman she has very limited options, (can't travel, etc on her own), decides to make up a husband (Mortimor Applequist - don't you just love the name?). But somehow, she has aroused suspicion - what to do? But fear not, Agatha's imagination is up to anything at all, and when she has to think on her feet, she is on top form! Until her tangle of very many fabrications tangle themselves up and threaten to trip her. . .
Both the heroine - Agatha - and the hero - Simon - are both such very likable people, but especially Agatha. She comes across as so real, that you half expect her to pop up in your living room as you're reading this book. And you wouldn't mind, either, Agatha is just the person you wanted to spice your life up, just the person you wanted to be your best friend. What a pity she's not real! And Simon is no slouch either. And their romance is beautifully done, and so completely believable - this is a book that truly does satisfy on every level.
While most novels are either heavy on the characterization or heavy on plot, this book can easily stand on either the characters, or the plot! This is an unusual novel, in that it is *both* plot and character driven, which means that you have some very interesting and funny characters constantly doing interesting and funny things. This is also a very nicely plotted book - everything that happens is there for a reason, which you find when Ms. Bradley so nicely wraps it all up for us at the end. . . I would recommend this book to anybody - no matter what your taste, you are sure to find what you're looking for in "The Pretender". And I'm off to buy the next in the series!
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Summary: A very special book!
Review: This is the first Bradley book I have read and it will not be the last. Someone wrote that the humor in this book was so enjoyable - and I would totally agree. Usually books that one talks about the humor would not be something I would expect to like - but it is the dialog between Simon and Aggie - it is so endearing. They just have a connection almost immediately and although Simon the spy seems to imply that his loyalty is with his country one continutes to hope that Aggie will melt him with her resolve to at least bed him - if she cannot wed him. It is just such a wonderful romantic story and I quite look forward to the rest in the series!!
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