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erinarkin20
All the stars for this book and the series as a whole. I'm sad that Day and June's story has come to an end but it was lovely. Full review to come.
The minute I read the summary and saw the cover to Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey I immediately wanted to read it. I love historical romance - add in the spy aspect and I am totally on board.
Juliana Telford is the main character and there is more to her than meets the eye. As a girl growing up in the nineteenth century, she should be interested in attending parties and finding a husband but really, none of that is important to her. Instead, she would prefer to continue to study the bugs she and her father have researched for so long. Unfortunately in order to try to get a publisher to consider publishing their research, she has to jump through some hoops and that includes pretending she is interested in parties and a husband.
Our hero is Spencer Northam and like Juliana, he is hiding something about himself. As a spy for the War Office, he is on a mission to find the truth about the traitors he has been directed to watch. As he and his good friend, Lord Randolph Bobbington spend some time outside of London, conveniently near the home of the supposed traitors, they cross paths with Juliana and things become super interesting.
I have to admit, I love the way Juliana and Spencer met. It was one of my favorite parts and you don’t have to wait long for it as it is the first chapter of the book. With that said, the book is written well and the rest of the book provides fantastic interactions between these characters. As Juliana continues to investigate her publishing options and Spencer continues to investigate the traitors, they cross paths quite a bit. To make it easier for both of them to avoid potential matchmaking – since neither of them are looking for a spouse – they pretend they are interested in each other and the development of their friendship and eventually a romance was well done. Please note, the romance is very PG but I loved seeing how their relationship evolved. The banter between these two and getting to peek into the development of their relationship was fantastic.
In addition to the above, there is an added layer to the story. Someone (nope, I’m not saying who) has decided they want to compromise Juliana in order to be able to marry her and have access to her money. I won’t go into much detail on this aspect of the story only because I don’t want to give it away but he has a connection to the family that Juliana is traveling to London with and when things start to fall apart for him things become more dangerous for Juliana. Other secondary characters include Juliana’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. All of them add something to the story and help keep the story moving forward.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic YA historical romance. It was exactly what I was looking for and I can’t wait to read more by Anstey. If you are looking for something light with a historical feel and well-written characters, consider checking this book out. There really is something for everyone in this book – romance, intrigue, and a bit of adventure to keep you turning the pages.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
Juliana Telford is the main character and there is more to her than meets the eye. As a girl growing up in the nineteenth century, she should be interested in attending parties and finding a husband but really, none of that is important to her. Instead, she would prefer to continue to study the bugs she and her father have researched for so long. Unfortunately in order to try to get a publisher to consider publishing their research, she has to jump through some hoops and that includes pretending she is interested in parties and a husband.
Our hero is Spencer Northam and like Juliana, he is hiding something about himself. As a spy for the War Office, he is on a mission to find the truth about the traitors he has been directed to watch. As he and his good friend, Lord Randolph Bobbington spend some time outside of London, conveniently near the home of the supposed traitors, they cross paths with Juliana and things become super interesting.
I have to admit, I love the way Juliana and Spencer met. It was one of my favorite parts and you don’t have to wait long for it as it is the first chapter of the book. With that said, the book is written well and the rest of the book provides fantastic interactions between these characters. As Juliana continues to investigate her publishing options and Spencer continues to investigate the traitors, they cross paths quite a bit. To make it easier for both of them to avoid potential matchmaking – since neither of them are looking for a spouse – they pretend they are interested in each other and the development of their friendship and eventually a romance was well done. Please note, the romance is very PG but I loved seeing how their relationship evolved. The banter between these two and getting to peek into the development of their relationship was fantastic.
In addition to the above, there is an added layer to the story. Someone (nope, I’m not saying who) has decided they want to compromise Juliana in order to be able to marry her and have access to her money. I won’t go into much detail on this aspect of the story only because I don’t want to give it away but he has a connection to the family that Juliana is traveling to London with and when things start to fall apart for him things become more dangerous for Juliana. Other secondary characters include Juliana’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. All of them add something to the story and help keep the story moving forward.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic YA historical romance. It was exactly what I was looking for and I can’t wait to read more by Anstey. If you are looking for something light with a historical feel and well-written characters, consider checking this book out. There really is something for everyone in this book – romance, intrigue, and a bit of adventure to keep you turning the pages.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
I love a good accent when I am listening to an audio book and I have to admit, this narrator did a fantastic job and had the accent! If you enjoyed the book, definitely consider this in audio - It was a great lead up for me as I needed to know all the things before I started The Sleeping Prince.
Dear Julie Kagawa...did I wrong you in some way? I have no words for that ending...other than I'm going to need the next book right now. Please and thank you.
Soldier is book three in the Talon series by Julie Kagawa and if you haven’t started the series yet, you definitely should. I will warn you, if you have read anything by Kagawa, you know she isn’t one to let her characters go happily off into the sunset when you are mid-series so keep that in mind when you pick this book up.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I picked up Soldier. Remembering where things left off with book two, I had my doubts about how much I would get of Ember and Garrett together in this book. Because I love these two but things did not wrap up well for them in Rogue. I was immediately pulled back into the story when I started Soldier as Kagawa dives right in.
One of the things I wanted most was delivered by Kagawa in this book. We learn more about Garrett’s background. Everything from who his parents were to how he ended up with the Order of St. George and his progress with the Order. I loved this background and it gave me more insight into Garrett…which is what I wanted.
There are a number of things happening throughout this story. First, Garrett is on his own and finds out some surprising things about The Order and its leader. Second, Ember and Riley are trying to figure out how the Order is aware of all the safe houses and find themselves right in the middle of the danger they have been trying to avoid. And finally, we can’t forget about Dante. His role within Talon has grown and he is now leading an initiative that isn’t widely known.
Similar to the prior books, Ember still struggles with balancing her dragon half with her human half. She wants to be part of both worlds and it continues to show in her relationships with Riley and Garrett. As Ember learns more about her dragon and what her connection with Riley truly means, she feels overwhelmed by it while Riley accepts it. I won’t give anything away here but Ember isn’t one to just do or accept things because that is what she should do. As she comes to realize what she really wants, you can bet that Kagawa has more in store for these characters.
I have to say, Dante’s parts with Talon added another layer to this story that I wasn’t really expecting. I am still angry with him because he is willing to throw away his relationship with his sister for the respect of Talon but it’s clear he is uncomfortable with the situation he finds himself in now but honestly, it is all his own doing and while he definitely isn’t onboard, he doesn’t do anything to change what’s happening. It will be interesting to see where Kagawa takes this arc and how it impacts the rest of the series.
In true Kagawa fashion, the ending will rip your heart out. The image I have in my head of the final paragraph being written is perfectly depicted by the images below.
All I have to say is…hold onto your hearts people. I try not to take it personally but…
So….I can’t say much more other than - GO READ THIS BOOK! If you enjoyed Rogue, I think you will be happy with the progression of this series. I personally will be sitting over here just waiting for someone to take pity on me and hand me an early copy of Legion (hint hint).
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the review copy!
Soldier is book three in the Talon series by Julie Kagawa and if you haven’t started the series yet, you definitely should. I will warn you, if you have read anything by Kagawa, you know she isn’t one to let her characters go happily off into the sunset when you are mid-series so keep that in mind when you pick this book up.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I picked up Soldier. Remembering where things left off with book two, I had my doubts about how much I would get of Ember and Garrett together in this book. Because I love these two but things did not wrap up well for them in Rogue. I was immediately pulled back into the story when I started Soldier as Kagawa dives right in.
One of the things I wanted most was delivered by Kagawa in this book. We learn more about Garrett’s background. Everything from who his parents were to how he ended up with the Order of St. George and his progress with the Order. I loved this background and it gave me more insight into Garrett…which is what I wanted.
There are a number of things happening throughout this story. First, Garrett is on his own and finds out some surprising things about The Order and its leader. Second, Ember and Riley are trying to figure out how the Order is aware of all the safe houses and find themselves right in the middle of the danger they have been trying to avoid. And finally, we can’t forget about Dante. His role within Talon has grown and he is now leading an initiative that isn’t widely known.
Similar to the prior books, Ember still struggles with balancing her dragon half with her human half. She wants to be part of both worlds and it continues to show in her relationships with Riley and Garrett. As Ember learns more about her dragon and what her connection with Riley truly means, she feels overwhelmed by it while Riley accepts it. I won’t give anything away here but Ember isn’t one to just do or accept things because that is what she should do. As she comes to realize what she really wants, you can bet that Kagawa has more in store for these characters.
I have to say, Dante’s parts with Talon added another layer to this story that I wasn’t really expecting. I am still angry with him because he is willing to throw away his relationship with his sister for the respect of Talon but it’s clear he is uncomfortable with the situation he finds himself in now but honestly, it is all his own doing and while he definitely isn’t onboard, he doesn’t do anything to change what’s happening. It will be interesting to see where Kagawa takes this arc and how it impacts the rest of the series.
In true Kagawa fashion, the ending will rip your heart out. The image I have in my head of the final paragraph being written is perfectly depicted by the images below.
All I have to say is…hold onto your hearts people. I try not to take it personally but…
So….I can’t say much more other than - GO READ THIS BOOK! If you enjoyed Rogue, I think you will be happy with the progression of this series. I personally will be sitting over here just waiting for someone to take pity on me and hand me an early copy of Legion (hint hint).
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the review copy!
