Am I giving a heist-y spy book (aka my nemesis) five stars??

I have to—this book was just so unexpected. As romance readers, we see a series called The Lovelocks of London, with three Miss Lovelock sisters, and we know what’s up. 

But there’s four books in the series. And the math wasn’t mathing… a long lost sister, perhaps? Nope! Book two is about Mrs. Catherine Lovelock, their widowed mother. And that’s how this book hooked me.

This age gap was 🔥 and I loved the characterization of this heroine. I love that she was 45 (and our hero was 28). I love that she had a biological daughter ‘out’ and two stepdaughters married (in the prequel and book one). But mostly, I love that Catherine was equal parts mother and very hot romance heroine—all at once.

Ngl, the moment I read the stolen naval plans prologue, I’d mentally downgraded this book to four star territory. Spy stuff? Schemes to retrieve objects? For some reason, I’m just allergic to these story elements. 

But then… the spy stuff was more character-driven than MacGuffin-driven, there was a very Clue-esque house party, and our hero James was such a Himbo spy that… I was having a good time? The best part was how well the spy stuff tied into the romance plot; way that James was outgrowing the facade he’d created as an agent, and the way Catherine was rediscovering, even growing into, herself.

And then this story hit me with my favourite word: Epistolary. Just imagine how I felt when I read this sentence:

“James sent Enfield out to buy foolscap, quills, and plenty of ink. He suspected he was going to need supplies for a long epistolary siege.”

Epistolary. Siege. Oh yes 🥰🥰

Ultimately, this was such a uniquely paced romance plot. It wasn’t friends to lovers, it was more like lovers to friends? Everything was so backwards that I never knew what to expect and by the end, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.