To Wed A Scandalous Spy (Royal Four)

Rating:
Summary: Celeste Bradley is back
Review: Although there were a few minor irritations, they had more to do with leftovers from The Charmer than with this book. So without that, I have to give this book 4 & 1/2 - 5 stars. I have long waited for Lord Reardon's story, and I was not disappointed -- a fact for which I am exceedingly glad after the low point of The Charmer.

Reardon (Nathaniel) and Willa are terrific individually and awesome together. The way their relationship started had me wondering, but Bradley pulled it out beautifully. Wit, plenty of emotion, exquisite romance, very sensual love scenes, and thrilling intrigue combine to make this book a splendid way to continue the characters and world begun with the Liars Club series and to initiate the Royal Four series. I am thrilled that Ethan Damont (the best character from The Charmer) is up in the next book.

So glad I bought this book. Happy reader, here.

Rating:
Summary: an entertaining 3 1/2 star read
Review: Celeste Bradley begins a new series (the Royal Four or the Quatre Royale) with "To Wed a Scandalous Spy," dealing with spying and intrigue in Regency-era England. This series features four intrepid heroes, all of noble, aristocratic blood, all committed to protecting the realm no matter the cost. "To Wed a Scandalous Spy" features the head of the Royal Four as hero, who bears the codename Cobra, and who is in reality Nathaniel Stonewall, the Earl of Reardon.

Readers were introduced to Reardon in "The Impostor" (Bradley's other Regency-spy series, the Liar's Club). In that book, Reardon had posed as a selfish, dissolute lord in order to infiltrate a group of French sympathisers, the Knights of the Lily. But that operation had left Reardon tarnished with the reputation of a traitor, and it was assumed by one and all (even his family) that the only reason he was never prosecuted for treason was because of his title. Ostracised and shunned, Reardon hasn't allowed the past to affect his work, even if he has been hurt by the reaction of family and one time friends. And now it looks as if one of the ex-members of the Knights, Forster, is back in England, bent of wreaking havoc again. But on the way to intercept and capture Forster, Reardon is felled in a country lane by a young lady with a slingshot. Trying to make up for her mistake, Miss Willa Trent, spends the night caring for a concussed Reardon, only to be discovered in the morning by her guardian. The upshot is that Reardon finds himself married to Willa. All at once, Reardon's life has become quite complicated, for not only is he a spy on a mission, but now he's also a spy with a wife he finds quite delectable -- a wife he'd like to appear a hero to, instead of the treasonous snake everyone assumes him to be! But can the Cobra afford to let go of the callous persona he has created?

While I enjoyed "To Wed a Scandalous Spy" on several levels, certain aspects of this novel (mostly the way things were tied up in the end) gave me pause. The book started off well, and Celeste Bradley did a good job of keeping things humming on an even and interesting vein. And then of course came that fatal last chapter in which certain things about Willa's family and past were revealed, and without going into plot-spoilers, all I can say is all those revelations just made no sense. For if they were true, than Willa's guardians behaved in a manner that could be termed as being completely irresponsible. That niggle aside, "To Wed a Scandalous Spy" was an entertaining read: the story was an interesting one, the hero was a fine and noble one, and the heroine, while a little scatty at first, will win approval because of her steadfast belief in Reardon. On the whole, an entertaining 3 1/2 star read.

Rating:
Summary: terrific espionage Regency romance
Review: In 1813 Nathaniel Stonewall chases after Sir Lucien Foster, the last free traitor of the Knights of Fleur. Nathaniel knows catching this turncoat would help ease some of the sacrifice he accepted when he was named as "Lord Treason" for allegedly betraying his country. In fact Nathaniel is a double agent, Cobra and a member of the top secret Royal Four.

In Derryton, Willa Trent has resigned herself to being a spinster when her latest suitor is injured. On the way home she shoots a rock from her slingshot, but accidentally knocks out Nathaniel. She spends the night nurturing him though she stole a quiet kiss, but as he remains consciousness her guardian John Smith declares they must marry. As she learns who her spouse is, Willa realizes not all is as it seems. She and Nathaniel fall in love, but he remains undercover as a man detested by everyone except Willa, willing to risk her life to prove her husband is loyal.

This terrific espionage Regency romance will remind the audience of the classic tale James Fenimore Cooper's The Spy though that novel occurs in colonies during the American Revolutionary War and has no courageous female as a co-star. The story line is action-packed, but also insures the audience fully grasps what the hero has given up and accepted, including the disowning by his father; even his Royal Four peers recognize how much the cost is. He and the incredible Willa make this a splendid story that will have readers desiring more tales like this one.

Harriet Klausner