Seducing the Spy by Celeste Bradley

Elite spies, secret defenders of the king, The Royal Four are unsurpassed in courage, honor, and daring. Known to his brothers-in-arms as The Falcon, Lord Wyndham is the most secretive and aloof of the four. But when The Falcon meets the impetuous Lady Alicia, he discovers a soul mate whose hidden fire matches his own…

SEDUCING THE SPY - Lady Alicia Lawrence was cast out of polite society and branded a liar for a youthful mistake. When she overhears details of a conspiracy that could affect her country's fate, she turns to the one person who might believe her—Stanton Horne, Lord Wyndham. Posing as Wyndham's mistress in order to root out the enemy, Alicia is drawn into an uneasy partnership…and a wildly seductive liaison.

Lord Wyndham's uncanny ability to detect lies has made him a valuable member of the Royal Four, but in matters of romance it has proven a distinct liability. Alicia is the only woman whose thoughts he cannot read…and the only one whose sensual touch quenches every secret desire.

As the mission grows more dangerous and more personal, and each encounter with Alicia more fiery than the last, this daring spy must face his greatest challenge yet—learn to trust the passion in his heart…

I can't remember the exact order of which authors I read first when I came back to reading romance a couple of years ago, but Celeste Bradley was right up there. The first book I read by her was the first book in the Royal Four series, To Wed a Scandalous Spy, and then I went and devoured all of her books in the Liar's Club series.

I am not sure if it is the books themselves, or whether it is more about me, but the journey through the series has been a bit up and down.

Okay......hold on a second. I just went to check if I had any reviews of the other Celeste Bradley books that I had read, and you know what? There was, and I wrote basically the same intro without even realising. Worth reading more than once? Probably not, so maybe I will just push on and talk about this book.

Lady Alicia Lawrence is a pariah in the ton - tarnished by a youthful indiscretion. When she overhears a plot involving the deadly Chimera, she rushes off to Lord Wyndham, Stanton Horne to enlist him to help foil the dastardly plot against the Crown. Between them, they decide that the best way for that too happen is for Alicia to identify the voices of the men that she heard speaking, because they were sure to be at the upcoming house party (okay, orgy) that the King will be attending. In order to smooth the path back into society, Alicia agrees to act as Stanton's mistress for the duration of the house party. In order to do that she gets to spend his money, buying an entire new wardrobe, renting a house, and basically to make it look as though she really is his mystery.

Once at the house party, Alicia is an immediate hit with all the gentlemen, and Stanton gets the first inkling that maybe this transaction isn't necessarily going to be as easy as he thought. The thing is that Stanton's special skill is that he can always read the people around them to see whether they are telling the truth or not...everyone except Alicia of course.

Over the course of the party, the couples from the previous books are reintroduced, and for the most part because of their roles within the Royal Four, it is a successful, and meaningful interjection into the book.

As the book builds towards it's climax, the tension rises, aided by a couple of side trips to Alicia's childhood home, and involving her sisters in the climactic final scenes.

Overall, this was a bit better than the last book in the series, much better than the one before that. There were still some things that left me scratching my head. For example, the identities of the Royal Four are supposed to be ultra secret - no one can know who they are, and yet Alicia went straight to him. Another example is in relation to Alicia's scandalous past. Whilst she explained what happened to her to Stanton, it was all a little too vague for my liking. I am also not 100 percent sure that this book stands alone too well, given how many characters from the earlier books appear, and the ongoing thread in relation to the dreaded enemy spy, The Chimera.

In a way I am sad to see this series end, and I would kind of like to see another Liar's Club book, but to be honest I would like to see something a little different from Celeste Bradley now. I guess one way to do that will be to track down the only book that she has written that I haven't read yet - Fallen.

Overall - a very entertaining read.

Rating 4/5

My Scandalous Bride - Anthology

I can't remember why exactly had to get this now, but I think it is because I realised that once I read this there would only be one Celeste Bradley book that I hadn't read yet. Hers was the first novella that I read, but I will go through them one by one. I actually hadn't read any of the other authors at all.

Christina Dodd, "The Lady and the Tiger"
Laura Haver will stop at nothing to find out who killed her brother-even if it means posing as the wife of notorious rogue Keefe Leighton, the Earl of Hamilton. But things go too far when Keefe engages Laura in an artful game of seduction-a game that can have only one winner...

I am not sure what to make of this story. I really liked the premise until near the very end of the story. Keefe is a master spy who is trying to stop a French spy from giving away England's secrets. Laura is convinced that Keefe is a double crossing spy, and she is determined to unearth his secrets. So when she pretends to be his wife at the local inn, so that she can spy on him on his land, he decides to claim her as his own as he knows that no one in the inn will assist her against him.

Stephanie Laurens, "Melting Ice"
Once, Dyan St. Laurent Dare, Duke of Darke, dreamed of making Lady Fiona his bride. Now they're together again-at a scandalous dinner party where debauchery is the menu's main course. But will wedding bells ring after the guests get their just desserts?

First thing...Dyan? It is an unusual name for sure! I am not sure whether one or both of these characters had been introduced in other books, but I didn't really feel as though I knew who Fiona was. Fiona and Dyan had shared a kiss many years ago, and Fiona, wanting a declaration of love, scared him off. As soon as they saw each other again the sparks were there, and when Dyan realises that Fiona has no idea that the dinner party she is attending is THAT kind of party, the obvious thing is that he be the one to debauch her instead of one of the other guests. Not too bad as a story!

Celeste Bradley, "Wedding Knight"
Alfred Knight will do anything to avoid a scandal-even marry a woman he barely knows. But his bride has a most titillating secret...one she'll share as soon as she conquers her temptation for the man she was never supposed to marry!

Having read and mostly enjoyed all of Celeste Bradley's books except for Fallen, this story was the reason why I got this book in the first place, and I wasn't disappointed. When she is on form, Celeste Bradley takes stories that you might well have read before and gives them a humour and a freshness that is really entertaining. Alfred Knight has found the perfect wife. She is quiet, will never embarrass him in public and will remain dutiful. It doesn't matter that he will never feel any great love for her. He just wants to get on with restoring his family's good name after all the terrible exploits of his mother. So when his perfect bride switches places with her twin sister, Alfred is a little surprised to feel such a strong attraction to her, and that she isn't the biddable miss he thought he was getting. The only thing that stretched a bit too far was the fact that Kitty is a really good knife thrower. Other than that, a good read.

Leslie LaFoy, "The Proposition"
Rennick St. James, the Earl of Parnell, has four days to seduce London's most popular widow into becoming his wife-or else she'll marry another man. It won't be easy...but Rennick has been lusting after the beguiling Julia Hamilton far too long to let her go now...

I had never even heard of this author before, let alone read anything by her, and for the most part I really liked her story. If there was one thing that bothered me, it's trying to work out whether a confirmed rake would wait around 13 years for the only woman that he ever truly loved, and if so, why would he be such an out and out rake during that time? Other than that the novella was entertaining.

Overall rating: 4/5

One Night With a Spy by Celeste Bradley

When I first started reading romance again, Celeste Bradley was one of the first authors who I bought. I bought the first book in the Royal Four series (To Wed a Scandalous Spy) and then got all the books in The Liar's Club series and enjoyed them all (The Pretender was my favourite) and then I got the second book in The Royal Four series, and suddenly found that I didn't really like it anywhere as near as the rest. It was therefore with some trepidation that I bought One Night With A Spy not too long go. I am pleased to say that even though it was nowhere near as good as some of her earlier books, it was nowhere near as disappointing as Surrender to a Wicked Spy...somewhere in the middle!

The Royal Four are spies without compare—daring, dangerous, beholden only to the King. With the fate of the Crown in their charge, no temptation can interfere with the mission at hand. But as one spy is about to discover, some women refuse to play by the rules...and the results can be sinfully pleasurable…

ONE NIGHT WITH A SPY

For years, Lady Julia Barrowby has acted the part of an old man’s ornamental bride, never revealing that she has secretly helped the ailing Lord Barrowby in his work with the Royal Four. Now that her husband has died, Julia believes his place in the Four is hers by right. But convincing the remaining members will not be easy, especially with Marcus Ramsay, Lord Dryden, distracting her at every turn. Somehow, the mysterious Marcus seems to see into her very soul, effortlessly satisfying all her secret, forbidden longings…

Marcus stood next in line to be chosen for the Four, and he is not willing to be displaced by a woman, no matter how intriguing or beautiful she may be. Under orders to investigate Julia, Marcus discovers her diary, overflowing with years of loneliness and yearning. Fulfilling Julia’s fantasies is the perfect way to get closer to her, but seducing this fascinating creature is fast becoming more than a means to an end—it is his soul’s deepest desire…

Marcus, Lord Dryden is determined to become the next Fox, one of the members of the all powerful Royal Four, men who had their fingers on the pulse of just about every thing going on in England. It shouldn't be too difficult, after all he had done his apprenticeship - it was his for the taking. Or was it? Julia Barrowby had, in all but name, been acting as The Fox for the last three years. Her late husband, a much older man, had been officially The Fox, but he had chosen his own apprentice well and as he became more and more incapacitated Julia had taken over. Julia had links to the people who travelled in the fairs around the country, providing her with a large spy network of loyal people to let her know what was going on and where.

Since her husband's death, Julia has been inundated with young men who wish to gain her favour, and her estate, and it is to this group of men Marcus attaches himself in his current guise as Marcus Blythe-Goodman. Soon Marcus is only one of two serious contenders for Julia's affection. When a series of things starts going wrong (privies blowing up, wells being contaminated) Marcus and his main rival stay around to assist Julia and to try to protect her. It turns out that Julia has a pet lion and all of her servants are actually former members of the travelling troupe (acrobats etc). Marcus, however, has an advantage over his rival - he has read Julia's secret diaries which details her privatest fantasies, and Marcus was determined to be her fantasy man.

The problem for Julia is that no matter how well she performs her role, she does not meet all the criteria - for she comes from a humble background, being Jilly the horseback rider before she became the wife of Aldus Barrowby. Being betrayed by Marcus is almost enough to destroy his spirit, but not quite! Given all the lies that have been between them, what hope is there that they can be together.

Julia was a good character - intelligent, beautiful and yet more innocent than she appeared, and Marcus was great fun. I guess there wasn't a lot of honesty between them but the fact was that they were rivals for the same position, and Marcus was actively trying to find information to discredit Julia, so that lack of honesty was probably understandable.

Sometimes Celeste Bradley seems to try a bit too hard to be funny, and there were glimpses of that here again, but for the most part the author manages to control herself during this outing, in a way that the last book could really have benefitted from!

Overall, this was entertaining. I will get the next book so that I can have the complete set, however, if it isn't good then there is a fair chance that I won't be buying the next series that Bradley writes.

Rating 3.5/5