Reviewer Comments: Viscount Kit Whitelaw, top spy in His Majesty’s secret service had been flying high with wine, women and song – that is until his father gave him an assignment that clipped his wings. Banished from London’s pleasures he was sent to the country where hewas spied upon.
The ton’s little darling, Susannah Makepeace had an indulgent father; a fiancé who was heir to a Marquis; and quick as a wink it was all gone… Penniless she found herself stuck in the sleepy little town of Barnstable. Sketchpad in hand she came upon a sight she’d never see in town – a man bathing naked in a pond, which she most certainly had to record - in every delicious minute detail. When Kit caught her in the act and confiscated her sketches, he realized that perhaps his stay in the country wasn’t going to be so dull after all – especially when numerous accidents seemed to indicate a bit of foul play in the air and directed towards the ever beguiling Miss Susannah.
Julie Anne Long first came to my attention with her debut novel THE RUNAWAY DUKE which I, and many others, found to be full of wit, passion, and romance. A great start for a budding romance author. Now with BEAUTY AND THE SPY, the first installment of her brand new trilogy; THIS is an effort I predict will catapult her to the top! It is a profoundly passionate and brilliant piece of work that will entice you from the prologue to the very end. It was totally intriguing and unusual as one might expect a rakish spy to be doing his best to bed the virginal miss, but what Long did was give her characters true substance. Extremely well-developed they took their time to really ‘know’ and ‘care’ for one another with intelligence, wit, and compassion. Definitely ‘keeper’ material! I can’t wait for the rest of this saga to unfold!
