Love and Let Spy by Shana Galen (Lord and Lady Spy #3)
Released: August 5, 2014
Historical Romance
Sourcebooks

Reviewed by May

Dominic has been informed he will marry, and that it will be a Miss Jane Bonde. He doesn’t want marriage, and certainly not to some random girl he’s never met before. He simply wants to be left alone to care for the family horses and stables in the country. Is that too much to ask?

Jane Bonde couldn’t think of a worse torture than having to be leg shackled to some man. An elite, indeed one of England’s finest spies she has far more important issues and missions on her mind. Love? Family? Turning domestic? No thank you! There is a mad man to catch and she will have to be entirely focused on the current mission.

When the two meet at last, the sparks fly and the attraction not to mention general interest in one another is very clear. No matter how unwanted their arranged betrothal is. Men tend to fall over themselves to be of assistance to Miss Bonde and it doesn’t go unnoticed by our hero.

“Do all men react to you like that?” Dominic asked.

“What do you mean?”

“That is answer enough. Come.”

I really enjoyed this book from the humorous moments to seeing old favorite characters, the hunt for the villain to the heat between the characters. While not particularly groundbreaking, it was a fun read that I very much liked. Jane really steals this show – she’s so used to being on her own . Not being saddled with an untrained partner.

With a jerk of shock – and perhaps something more – she released her hold on the wall. Too late the folly of that impulse registered, and she fell backward.

He caught her, of course. Dashed man. She would have preferred to land on the cold, hard ground. She would have preferred to smash her bones against a pile of unforgiving rocks. She would have preferred… she closed her eyes. She was not even convincing herself.

I have but one complaint about this book and that is I wish the author had taken more risks, had delved deeper into these characters. The plot is well done, we see why and how they fall in love – but it isn’t enough.

Dominic had some serious trauma as a child that has influenced his entire life on many levels. Given the intensity and severity of how it affects him as an adult there needed to be a lot more focus here – or it should have been removed altogether.

Likewise our heroine is determined to not want a family or husband which I found refreshing – until we discover it isn’t that she doesn’t want these things it is that she didn’t know the right man. This made me gag. Why couldn’t she have been uninterested in becoming a baby factory? Why did that have to become of interest to her?

Don’t get me wrong – this was quite an enjoyable read and one that series fans will enjoy but also it stands alone nicely. I enjoyed how deeply into the spy community this book gets and how skillfully Galen allowed past characters to pop in and help the story along. That said, it would have been an incredible read if Dominic and Jane had each been more remarkable, had been allowed to be more unique and not so predictable. Basically, if they had either gotten deeper into their issues or had them changed altogether it might have made this a book I will remember.

As it is, a very nice read in one of my favorite tropes- a truly kick ass female spy and the man who can’t help but fall in love with her.

Grade: B

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