Craig's Love & Let Spy Series (Book Two: One Thing Leads to a Lover)
One Thing Leads to a Lover (Love and Let Spy, Book Two)
Stars: Definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (mystery, intrigue, great characters, fun story, witty dialogue, fencing, General Scott is still the GOAT, a villain you’ll love to hate, people of color in awesome character roles)
Heat rating: 🔥🔥🔥 ½ (see the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section.)
I’ve told you how I love Susanna Craig. I’ve read all her books. I also love the 80s (I lived the 80s, actually), so the fact that this is inspired by Scarecrow and Mrs. King also excites me. I loved me some Kate Jackson in that show. You’d think Charlie’s Angels would be my favorite Kate Jackson role, but nope. Daphne on Dark Shadows. Apparently, I also like the name Daphne a lot (cough, cough . . . Frasier). Dark Shadows was an amazing show and I own the DVD box set, which is in a miniature coffin. What’s not to love? I also loved her in a 1982 movie called Making Love, which also featured Michael Ontkean and Harry Hamlin in a gay love triangle. Michael Ontkean was Sheriff Harry S. Truman on Twin Peaks. I’m telling you: everything goes back to Twin Peaks.
Anyway, Constant Reader, you’ve got to do a better job at keeping me on topic. So what was I saying? Oh, Scarecrow and Mrs. King . . . I won’t go into the book/show parallels since SC has already done it here: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/between-the-chapters/flashback-to-the-80s/, so I encourage you to give that a read.
In addition, the title riffs on the 1983 song by The Fixx, “One Thing Leads to Another,” which I am listening to right this minute. Check out the official video if you’re not old like me and can remember seeing it on MTV. Take a minute and watch it; I’ll wait. Man, the 80s were fun. Our fashion choices were FIRE.
So back to our program, in progress . . . I may actually like this one more than the first book! And I like the cover, haha. No more horror movie vibes.
This one starts with Amanda, the Countess of Kingston (note: Kate Jackson’s TV character was Amanda King). The Earl of Kingston has been dead for 3 years, so our heroine is available (as you’ll see on page 9, Amanda is a “young, and most eligible, widow”). She’s also 32, which I really like. As I mentioned in the review of the first book, the fact is that most romance heroines are 19-year-old supermodels. It works, but . . . man, it’s nice to get a book with a “normal” person. Amanda has NOT able to be a merry widow, cuz her mama and the kids’ guardian are pains in her rear. More about that, later.
Prior to the death of the Earl, Amanda did her duty and presented him with the requisite heir and spare (you will hear this term in damned near EVERY historical romance you read. Prepare yourself for that), and the book begins with her delight in finding Pascal’s treatise on geometry, in the original French, for her precocious elder child, Jamie. Boom, someone bumps into her, book flies away, but the footman rescues her package.
“Just before it met an ignoble fate on the steaming pile left by a passing dray, the footman snatched up the package. In another moment, it was back in her kid-gloved hands, the paper wrapping scuffed and torn and one corner, the string holding he paper frayed but still knotted. No real harm done.” (page 10)
Or was there?
Well, we read the previous book so we know what happened already. Lieutenant Hopkins is in trouble and he had to dump a package. Let’s go back to the epilogue of Who’s That Earl (and if you’re reading this, I assume you’ve read that first book, and I am in no way spoiling anything for you. Don’t @ me if you haven’t).
Back to WTE and the epilogue where we have my man General Zebadiah Scott (the freaking G O A T) sitting in his study, being briefed by Captain Collins, who is scared AF—or, as SC says, “looking unusually agitated.” Uh oh. This is a big deal, ain’t it? You can tell by the fact that Collins has to force himself into the room to tell the General the bad news, like the General is gonna run him through with a cavalry sword. Chill, Cap. That’s not the General’s style, evidenced by the fact that he is cool as a cucumber and just says, “Something’s gone awry, I take it” WITHOUT. EVEN. TAKING. HIS. PIPE. OUT. OF. HIS. MOUTH. (There goes that period thing again.) General Scott is so much the GOAT. Now I’m getting Sherlock vibes.
Oh, you’re in for it now. BBC’s Sherlock is my favorite show ever. I love it, even the 4th season. I mean, yeah, that last season was fairly disappointing, but if you are a Sherlock fan, you take what you can get. I can quote every word in all four seasons AND The Abominable Bride. I’m serious.
BACK TO THE BOOK. Yes, sorry. But it’s SHERLOCK. I cannot help myself.
General Scott knows who has the book now, and he knows who he needs to send. The Magpie.
And now we are back to book 2.
Thanks to Lewis the footman, Amanda’s got Jamie’s birthday present back. You can tell that Lewis is irritated because he would have been carrying the package if not for Amanda’s insistence that she carry it. That “As you wish, milady” is code for “had I been carrying it, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Matthews the butler gives Lewis the stink eye for not carrying the package, but he learns quick. Amanda ain’t messing around with that package.
Anyway, although the package IS the most important part of the book, we need to learn more about two other characters, Amanda’s mother and Lord Dulsworthy (the kids’ guardian). Okay, so no spoiler here but as soon as I saw his name—DULSWORTHY—I knew he was gonna be the antagonist. That’s a neon sign, right there. For some reason, between the mother and Dulsworthy, Amanda isn’t allowed to go to many social engagements, though she’s been out of mourning for a while. Her mother won’t even let the kids shout in the house—for the love of God, they are CHILDREN. “During the months of her late husband’s illness, and for the period of mourning afterward, she had been cocooned within a muffled world of sickness and grief. Even now, her mother was still trying to wrap Amanda in cotton wool” (14). So the perfect storm is about to happen—bored widow who has no life is about to meet an amazing man who happens to be a spy. So Amanda open the package and sees it’s not the geometry treatise. And AWAY WE GO.
Gimme a second; I’m getting my popcorn ready.
“Oh, bother” she says, when she realizes it’s not the treatise. And I am transported back to Winnie the Pooh. She wanted to curse, but she’s a lady. So “bother” it is. And good thing because here come the kids, James (Jamie) the Earl, who is 11, and his 10-year-old brother Philip (Pip). Pip is bratty younger brother to the extreme. Jamie looks and acts like his father, with a slight build, sallow complexion, and dark hair. (Man, I know we are trying to contrast her late husband with the dashing spy, but all I could think was, “that poor kid.”) He speaks quietly and says things like, “Is something troubling you, Mama?” and likes things like geometry treatises in the original French. Pip is blond and loud and raucous, stockier and nearly as tall as his brother, but is the typical little brother. They’re learning fencing, which is important (it’s apparently important in all historical romance novels, because there is fencing in so many). They go out to observe the bees (I mean, I guess you get whatever entertainment you can), and when they come back in, Uncle George, Lord Dulsworthy, is in the hall, arguing with a stranger.
Cue the dramatic music. 👀
SC is quick to explain that George is a cold fish. “Arguing implied a degree of passion that George would have found shockingly inappropriate under any circumstance. Murmuring reprovingly, then . . . ” (15)
I hate him.
Who is he talking to? Hm, a shop clerk from the bookstore, it seems. He’s got a package for Amanda. He is deferential. He’s ready to exchange his package for the “French cookbook” that she ended up with. But, of course, it’s not going to be that easy and, he leaves without it because pain in the ass DULSWORTHY won’t let this grown woman go upstairs on her own and get the freaking other package. It’s so irritating, because this could have been over with in 7 pages, but then we wouldn’t have our mystery, romance, and HEA. The stranger (you know it’s the Magpie; let’s not even pretend) knows George is lying and tries to talk to Amanda but, Jesus, keep me near the cross (my mom always said that and I never understood it until I had to deal with freaking Dulsworthy), George won’t let her get a word in edgewise and the Magpie has to leave empty handed. But he DOES hand her his card. And oooh, it’s mysterious. It’s got a bird on it and an address that she knows isn’t Porter’s bookshop. And he leaves her with some equally mysterious words about that address, which just SOUND sexy when he says them, “A message here will always reach me, Lady Kingston.”
Alright, Ms. Craig, you’ve got me interested.
The shop clerk slash Major Langley Stanhope slash the Magpie ain’t happy. He’s wondering why TF General Scott sent him; he’s Scott’s best agent (clearly he doesn’t know that the GOAT is also a matchmaking busybody, but we love him anyway). Stanhope was not wearing his glasses (he’s in D I S G U I S E) so he didn’t get to see her well, which he’s not happy about. SC’s description cracked me up. “He would have liked to have seen Lady Kingston as clearly, to have had more than an impression of dark eyes surrounded by a frowsy halo of golden-brown hair.” He wanted to see her expression to determine if she was hiding anything. WE wanted him to see her and fall head over heels. I mean, that’s why we read these books, right?
Anyway, Stanhope heads to a tobacco shop and we meet one of the characters who makes this book so good: “the proprietor, Mr. Millrose, a portly Black man with close-cropped silvery hair.” You know I love when they bring people of color into these books in a meaningful way. You’d think Millrose was just a lowly storekeeper, but oh no. Millrose is actually a spy, but not just any spy. He’s a high ranking, intelligence officer—Colonel William Millrose—General Scott’s aide. THANK YOU, Susanna Craig, for adding a character of color who has depth, importance, and smarts. The character Billy Melrose was played by a black actor, Mel Stewart, on Scarecrow and Mrs. King, btw. This photo of Mel Stewart as Melrose is 100% what I saw when I read about Colonel Millrose. Perfection.🏆
I could keep you here all day talking about the Underground, where the spies work and live, and yeah, Langley Stanhope actually lives there even though he inherited a house. He prefers his underground cell here, with a hard single bed. We could also talk about the codebreakers. But let’s talk about Mrs. Frances Drummond, who lives there as well. “Frances Drummond was the widow of a fellow officer killed in the line of duty. Having determined that she knew more than was wise, General Scott had quickly devised a plan to keep her safe as possible. Officially, she managed the domestic affairs of what was known among the men as the Underground.” (24) Something is up with Fanny Drummond, and you can tell from the beginning. Her descriptors talk about her blue eyes gleaming coldly and her mouth curving into a mocking smile. Keep an eye on Mrs. Drummond, my friends, I say. But, SC doesn’t keep you in suspense for long—LANGLEY is the reason her husband died. 💔 And Fanny blames him, oh my, she does. Ouch. I feel for her. My only brother was a police officer killed in the line of duty. So as much as I love Langley and hate that their interactions pain him, I have a tender feeling for Fanny.
Millrose provides a quick report on the Kingston household. He abbreviated Dulsworthy’s title to “Duls.” I will do the same because that’s perfect. And it notes that Amanda and Duls have an “understanding.” If I were Amanda, and that was my fate, I’d cover my naked body in honey and throw myself to the bees. But . . . hey now, Langley has a thought: “Even blurry, the countess had struck him as attractive enough to do better.” Yeah, buddy. You have no idea what General Scott has planned, do you? You’re in for a shock. But it’s not all fun and sexy times—an agent is missing and a codebook holds the key to his life, and , oh yeah, the fate of the free world.
Anyway, back to the Kingstons. Duls is yapping away, showing that he is in charge of the kids’ lives. The fencing master is coming twice weekly now—Pip must be ecstatic, because the man called him a prodigy. Eye. Roll. And Duls reminds her that they’re sending Jamie to Harrow in September after he turns 12. Jamie. To an English boarding school. This will not end well and Amanda knows this. (Off the subject, I went to a single-sex boarding school for high school and I loved it. Festina lente!)
Anyway, Duls decides he will take the book to the bookshop for her. And he’s not taking no for an answer. I. DO. NOT. LIKE. HIM. Besides the mansplaining and not allowing her to speak a word, he’s also condescending and controlling. He’s definitely voted off the island. Pitch him in the bin.
But steady on, girl, you know it’s just bringing Amanda and
Langley together. So . . . she decides to send a message to the mysterious man
who left her the card. The next passage is hilarious and is one of the reasons
the book is so good. She is trying to figure out what kind of bird is on the
calling card. The ornithologically-challenged Lady Kingston considers
addressing the note, “Dear Mr. Middling-Sized Sort of Carrion Bird.” Well, they
end up meeting anyway because Langley is wandering about her back garden and
she smacks him in the head with a clay flowerpot, steps on his glasses, calls
him Mr. Rook—or perhaps Crow (no bird Wikipedia for them, rooks and crows and magpies look nothing alike),
and has to admit SHE NO LONGER HAS THE BOOK. Ah, this is going to be fun. But
this encounter has Amanda thinking, because no matter what her mother and Duls
seem to think, she’s not stupid. She knows he’s a spy. Soon they’re having
clandestine meetings in the garden, which harkens back to the show, where
Scarecrow would hide in Mrs. King’s backyard to speak to her. This is an
important scene because we finally get to “see” the Magpie. Remember, he’s an
accomplished spy, mimic, and master of disguise, so it’s taken to page 44 to
get a description, and YES! Langley is a member of the hazel eye club. I love
him already. He’s got walnut brown hair and he’s about 35 years old and, “he
was . . . well, dashing was the first adjective that came to mind.” Yes,
honey, he sure is. Though he needs to go back to spy school because she
immediately sees he’s wearing a red uniform coat beneath his greatcoat and asks
if he’s a soldier. Too late, he has to introduce his real self and my man
doesn’t play around when he tells her the cookbook isn’t a cookbook: “It may be
the most priceless piece of military intelligence we have.” GULP. 👀
Speaking of master of disguise, he’s trying to retrieve the book from Duls’ ball, and puts on a footman’s livery and powdered wig. He helps Amanda from her carriage and fantasizes about undressing her. How does she respond when she learns it’s the Magpie, not a lowly footman? She launches into a dissertation of magpies and . . . he never gets to instruct her on what needs to be done to retrieve the code book. Who needs Wikipedia when you have Amanda?
I hate to say it, but if that’s how she always responds, maybe there’s a reason Duls never lets her speak. And this 32-year old woman had to sneak and change into a sexier gown because her mother had her wearing the most dowdy outfit ever—she and her maid invent a ruse so she can go back and change into a low-cut rose-colored gown because she’s trying to attract the notice of a certain bird. Makes me think about how Audrey Horne would change out of her saddle shoes into heels when she’d get to school on Twin Peaks (See? I told you!). But the dress ends up being her saving grace, because a clumsy dancer ripped it and gave her an excuse to go look for the Magpie, who she greets in a darkened room by . . . cawing like a crow. I love her. But if you’re a fan of historical romance, you know that darkened rooms are a major draw to horny folks at a ball and . . . someone opens the door while they’re searching Duls’ rooms, and Amanda and Langley are forced to throw them off the trail by kissing. And what a kiss it was. That kiss knocked the heat scale to 2½ and nobody is even undressed. But guess what, no code book and they both go home emptyhanded and horny. And Langley thinks he’s the wrong man for the job:
“Langley wasn’t entirely sure who the right man would have been. But he was positive the task should belong to someone who wouldn’t have connived for a kiss with the countess at the first opportunity, who had the self-control not to grope her arse.” (66)
Now you see why I like these books!
So Langley is ready to give up, now. But Scott has thrown a wrench into it: Hopkins’ captors know she has the book. And she’s got to be protected. So the next time we see him, the Magpie has another face: he’s a dandy at the theatre, wearing a pink silk coat and twirling a quizzing glass. He’s watching her all the time now, and catches her in the garden later. It’s awkward; they’re horny. She mentions Duls sending the child to Harrow and now he’s got an idea. Because the next day, the boys have a new tutor . . . just in time, because Duls was trying to blackmail her into marriage—marry him or Jamie goes to Harrow. Mr. Stanhope, the tutor, wearing spectacles that make her mouth water. (I mean, some guys ROCK that glasses look.) Amanda finally grows a pair and shuts up Duls; the tutor is staying. And that excited Langley. Hell, that excited me. C’mon, we are at page 89 and it’s time for y’all to get naked. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife, people. We are all imagining Langley in the little governess’ room upstairs once it’s cleared out of all the junk, lying in his lonely bed. Needing Amanda. Swoon. But there’s no chance of us spending a sad night with him in his solitary chamber, because WHY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IS SHE WANDERING AROUND THE GARDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT??? So he’s going to have to go out and check on her, in dishabille, and he’s hot as fire. And this type of writing is why I will reread SC’s books:
“The way his shirt clung to him most provocatively, confirming the breadth of his shoulders and highlighting his taut abdomen.
The way his dark eyes pierced her through those steel-rimmed spectacles, making her want to gnaw her lip like a schoolgirl and express her willingness to learn whatever lesson he offered to teach.” (97)
Reading this, we are there, in that garden with her while she eyes this dangerous, mysterious, sexy man. But you know Amanda. She immediately starts babbling random stuff about whether he is qualified to be a tutor and throwing her hands around hysterically. And he talks calmly to her—yeah, he really did go to Oxford. And since romance books are about romance and not about reality, it starts to rain and of course they’re drenched and their clothes are sheer and plastered to their bodies and this scene is so sexy until he blurts out that she’s in danger—trained killers think she has the cookbook. So back to his cold and lonely single bed.
I mean, if he’s looking for companionship, the maid Mary has made it clear she’s down—she even winked at him. I wish I could pull off a saucy wink. When I do it, it looks like I’ve got an eyelash in my eye.
But, no worries, the flirting between our H and h continues, over, inexplicably, an invitation to lunch. Which he refuses, of course. I mean, the man is trying to teach himself how to smile. He’s definitely not down for lunch small talk. Well, she invites him to dinner (“Dinner, then”) and guess what, Langley has a hunger, “and his hunger had very little to do with food.” (I just read that in Christopher Walken’s “more cowbell” voice.) Yeah, NOW we are talking. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! Because Langley knows what is up and he knows that this invitation is just that . . . an invitation. And he’s sitting there wondering who will make the next move, AND SO ARE WE. We are living it, until her mother asks if he’s related to Sir Langley Stanhope. SCREECH . . . full stop. Oh, and someone dropped their fork and it wasn’t him . . . Amanda, “who was looking at him with an expression for which he had no name.” BUSTED! Cuz yeah, Langley is a KNIGHT, though he doesn’t want to even think about it (my man is so humble). So, he lies . . . and, oh no! He’s leaving without even tasting the custard. Amanda isn’t playing around and challenges him about leaving, so Langley decides to play a new card—he’s got things to do in the library, he says, putting that ball firmly in her court.
What’s Amanda going to do? Is she going to meet that challenge. Dear God, I hope so!
And . . . PLAY BALL! She does! Good girl, Amanda! But he cannot let her take the point because he is looking at her over the top of his glasses and smugly announcing, “I win.” And, soon, Langley pulls those spectacles off like Superman and tosses them onto the desk. And now the Magpie is on stage, doing voices (“Nobody knows who the hell I am”) and biting her in all the right places. Pardon me, I need a minute . . .
Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the novel, especially since this part also talks about his background and how he ended up in the army and becoming a spy and it’s really well done. Made me fall in love with the young Magpie and love Scott even more. I really want you to read this book, so I won’t go into detail about what happens before these two FINALLY GET IT ON. But that visit to the library was worth signing up for borrowing privileges! And SC’s writing is always a treat: “Oh, sweet heaven. Who could have imagined that amazing range of voices and accents were not his mouth’s greatest skill?” (120)
And Langley sleeps well for the first time in years, which is good, because the next day, he’s got to show off his fencing skills against the pretentious fencing master, earning Pip’s admiration and approval. There’s a lot of fencing in historical romance. Luckily, I took fencing in high school so I have an idea of WTF is going on. I wish I had paid more attention.
But remember, throughout all of the mystery and intrigue, the GOAT wants Langley and Amanda together, and he’s going to make it happen. Including sending them away to Richmond, which just happens to be where the Stanhope family home is. No wonder this man is the best spymaster in the kingdom. He knows that Major Stanhope doesn’t think he deserves the Countess, but SIR Stanhope could have her . . . if he would just embrace the title and home. And Scott has to talk to him like he’s an idiot, because, Lord, this man is afraid to love.
“‘Perhaps I was mistaken,’ Scott began, with all the assurance of a man who was never wrong, ‘but when you entered this office, I thought I sensed . . . something between you and Lady Kingston?’
Langley had expected to be met with annoyance, anger, maybe even disappointment if the general ever discovered that he had slept with the woman he was supposed to be guarding.
Instead, Scott looked . . . hopeful.
Sharply, Langley shook his head, partly to deny the general’s insinuation, partly to drive such a thought from his head. He couldn’t afford to let what happened last night raise his expectations. It was ridiculous to imagine the general matchmaking at all, let alone between Langley and the Countess of Kingston.
Anyone must see that Amanda deserved better than a street urchin turned spy.” (152)
Ah, but General Scott will not be deterred.
-----------------------------
Now, let’s head to the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section. Don’t read if you’re easily offended. Don’t read if you don’t want it spoiled. I warned you.
Reminder, don’t continue if you don’t want to hear about sex and/or you don’t want to hear about the ending. Second reminder: these are primarily HEAs, which means H (Hero) and h (heroine) are getting together before the last page. So you know it’s coming, no pun intended.
The book is a little longer than the first—220 pages. There
are two sex scenes. They are not described in as much detail as the ones in the first
book, but the dialogue here is hotter, which works as well. Heat rating guide can be found here.
Sex
Amanda is a widow with two kids—no virginal first time here. This first scene is short, but it’s been a long time for Lady Kingston and she doesn’t want to wait, so minimal foreplay (SC makes up for that in the second scene, though). And the first time they get it on, it’s against the door in the library. Oh yeah. And she introduces new terms for pubes: “crisp curls” and “sensitive hairs.” Okay, WHAT? Um, those hairs aren’t sensitive (they’re actually pretty darned tough, as any woman who has been grabbed by pad adhesive can tell you). That made me laugh, kind of breaking the mood. But a few lines later, Langley says, “Come for me, Countess” and grabbed my attention again! Every man should say that to a woman at least once in his life.
Amanda takes control in this situation, and that’s refreshing in a romance novel, where it sometimes feels like the woman has to be persuaded. Not here; Lady Kingston grabs hold of what she wants and puts it right where she wants it. Literally.
It’s relatively short, but the writing gives you a lot to go on: “His other hand slid up her arm and settled at the base of her throat, its pressure yet another sensation she had not known to crave [same, girl, same], yet impossible to ignore.” (121)
The second time is once they’re visiting friends in the country. Amanda is sharing accommodations with her mother. No sneaking into her room in the night. But lo and behold, he has inherited a lovely home right down the road from her friends—yeah, you know Scott set all this up. And in that home is a bed and these two aren’t waiting any longer.
‘”Amanda . . . I swear when I brought you here, I had no intentions—well, no real expectations of . . . ’ He let his gaze wander to the bed behind her.
‘Oh?’ Her brows rose, then settled again, giving her warm regard a seductive cast. ‘I did.’ (165)”
Hey now, this is a whole new Amanda than the woman we met 150
pages ago. And I prefer her! Especially when he asks her what part she wants
him to play in bed, who she wants him to be, and she says she just wants him. Swoon!
And she wants to look at his nakedness, and SC gives us a great description. We
are right there in that bedroom with them. Where’s my popcorn? 🍿
Amanda likes what she sees and she wants to learn to use her
mouth, which clearly never happened with her husband. Her husband was 20 years
older than her, but c’mon, my man, you were only 49 when you died. Don’t tell me you
never wanted to spice things up. Was it always missionary in the dark, while
wrapped in nightwear? Clearly, since this was confirmed a little earlier, when,
on page 122, she thinks of “. . . her late husband’s infrequent visits to her
bed, candles doused, nightshirt raised, nothing to alarm, offend, arouse her.”
Hell, I AM OFFENDED.😒 You're making all of us middle-aged folks look bad, dude.
Not only is she willing to learn to use her mouth, she is also willing to finish things up: “Gentleman or rogue, he couldn’t bring himself to believe that a lady, particularly one of no experience, would thank him for finishing in such a fashion. She refused to heed his warning, however.” (168) Yeah, that’s a real gentleman. (Just give us a warning, guys. For reals.)
Then it’s his turn to return the favor, which we get in exquisite detail. And she’s SHOOK. And Langley says what we have all been thinking: “You, my dear, have met all the wrong gentlemen. The sort who think the only respectable sort of sex happens in a bed, with the woman lying on her back and the man on top.” And this man’s stamina is admirable, because he’s ready to go again.
Like I’ve said, there are books with graphic scenes, but SC isn’t about that life. She uses words such as, “Holding her gaze, he tilted his hips and watched her eyes widen with the discovery of what that perfect angle could do.” And it works. I’m not knocking graphic scenes, mind you. But everything doesn’t need to be black and white—grey is nice, too.
Some spoiler-y things
We found out that General Scott met Amanda 10 years ago, and clearly had her on his radar. The late Earl of Kingston knew Scott, too. Hmmmmm.
When Langley takes Amanda to the tobacco shop that shields the Underground, it’s fun to see everything all over again through her eyes. She meets Millrose in his shopkeeper persona, but when he’s downstairs in the Underground, he is clearly in control. The man is unflappable.
I love how she explains to them that what happened to Captain Drummond wasn’t Langley’s fault or Fanny’s. They needed to hear that. She does a lot for Fanny in the short time she’s at the Underground. And I went from disliking Fanny to pulling for her in just a few pages.
❌ I caught one misspelling in the book, page 211, “griping”
for “gripping.”
The epilogue sets up book 3 (Better Off Wed), but I wonder if it also foreshadows the fourth book, which is titled Every Rogue Has His Charm and is about a Duke named Maxim. The epilogue of the second book mentions Major Laurens, now Duke of Raynham, with no more information. SC doesn’t throw hints like that without a reason, so I am excited to see if my hypothesis is correct. (Maybe if I ever get the nerve to tag her in a tweet about this, she’ll let me know!)
ETA: Susanna Craig replied. 😱 I am screaming in hysterical fangirl right now, but I felt I needed to update everyone on her response to my question, above. Duke of Raynham is from the Rogues and Rebels series (book 2). I've read the first one and have already purchased the others, but haven't grabbed time to read them. Guess what I will be doing this weekend?
What about the third—yet unpublished—book?
So, NetGalley gave me an advance reader copy of the third book, Better Off Wed, which will be published December 28, 2021. I will do a BRIEF review of that next, 100% spoiler free. I will update to an in-depth review of that one once it’s published.
This is about Captain Addison, Lord Sterling, who we meet in the second book’s epilogue. Jeremy Addison is a Viscount, though he prefers to live his life as an army codebreaker. But General Scott has plans for him, as evidenced by the last paragraphs in the epilogue of book 2:
“’So I’m sending you to find her.’
Addison, who had been obligingly nodding along with his commanding officer until the last, jerked to his feet. ‘I? But I—I don’t—' His throat bobbed in a hard swallow. ‘What am I to do with her if I succeed?’
‘When,’ Scott corrected, handing the newspaper across his desk to Captain Addison as he would a set of orders. ‘And I should think the answer would be obvious, Lord Sterling. I want you to marry her.’
God, I love General Scott 💓
Comments
Post a Comment