Spying My Way To Your Heart
A little subterfuge is sexy, a lot of subterfuge is ALSO sexy
When I was in elementary school, my best friend Rachel and I started our own spy league and made an application and everything for anyone else who wanted to join our ranks. No one did, but we were very organized about it. A few years later on Halloween, when my sandwich costume fell apart after our first jaunt around her neighborhood, we pivoted to all black outfits to be spies for the next round of trick or treating. Point being, spy narratives have been a part of my life as long as I can remember, so imagine my delight at having so many spy-inspired romances to read! Here are a few of my faves.
Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig. My mom let me borrow a few of these when I was a teenager, and I rediscovered them as an adult just before my romance craze truly started. They really are the intersection of most of my interests- spies (I had a Burn Notice podcast for three years), romance, all-lady secret societies, academic women hunting for the truth.
I’m recommending the series as a whole because if you like historical romance and spies, this is a no-brainer. Also I can’t really remember enough to distinguish between them given it’s been a few years. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and spanning years and countries, The Pink Carnation series follows a loosely (and sometimes not so loosely) connected group of women spies with flowery aliases fighting tyranny and their own feelings. The framing device that crosses the full 13 books is that a present day academic, Eloise, is researching this ring of spies hoping to discover the identity of a spy that history hasn’t quite figured out yet- The Pink Carnation. Of course the reason everyone else is having trouble is that they assume this spy must be a man. But not Eloise! She has another take entirely, and as she dives into the archives (and also starts to fall for a mysterious rich guy who turns out might be a direct descendent and gives her access to even more archives) she’s certain she’ll get to the truth eventually.
Something odd about this series is that is gets markedly less spicy as it goes. The first book I’d give a solid three flame emojis, but by the last few books it’s closed door. Can’t explain it. Still, great series! Will keep you entertained for months or weeks, depending on how fast you read.
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥🔥
A Rogue To Remember by Emily Sullivan. Lottie Carlisle is sick of her life, and the life her Uncle Alfred insists she transition to (married to a peer of the realm) sounds no better. So she creates a scandal of herself and escapes to the countryside to live out a free life of spinsterhood and art.
Then her childhood friend Alec Gresham, who essentially abandoned her without a word five years ago, is sent to fetch her and tell her three terrible pieces of news: her scandal has been kept a secret so she’s very much still eligible (gag), she has to return to London (gag!!!), and her uncle is dying (ok that one’s the worst, but not by a lot!!). Their road trip back to civilization may take a couple detours, though, for Alec’s work (surprise surprise, he disappeared without a trace because he’s a spy and didn’t want to involve her, oh and of course Uncle Alfred is also a spy) and for Lottie’s last dregs of freedom (or so she thinks).
I love a woman who will ruin her own life in order to make it her OWN life, and a man who reluctantly agrees to let a headstrong woman into his dangerous world when he realizes she’ll make his life hell either way, may as well let her help.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas. Lady doctor with self defense experience! A former police detective and not-so-secret bastard of the Ravenel family! One steamy night, never to be repeated because “the world is complicated” and “Ethan Ransom is totally a spy and would never complicate Dr. Garrett Gibson’s life because she’s too great.” OK Ethan.
Garret Gibson is a BAMF in her own right, thankfully, and of course Ethan can’t help himself and stay away. And thankfully, when some real crazy shit goes down, the family Ethan didn’t know he had steps in instantly, Garrett heals him and keeps him safe, and love really can conquer all.
Something I particularly love here is that neither of these characters are really part of the aristocracy, so that has nothing to do with the plot or stakes, not really. I love a ball and a duke and a wallflower as much as the next girl, of course, but I’ve found myself really appreciating when my favorite historical authors show me a fully other side to a long-gone time. In some ways it almost makes it feel more contemporary (because while classism is still a thing, it’s obviously not so rigid anymore) but also more historical (because I’ve read hundreds of books set in ballrooms and the marriage mart so anything outside of that feels more unknown and complex). It’s a good mix!
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending another roundup of fake engagement books (part 2 for fake engagement, part 4 for fake dating, there are just too many good ones to stop recommending them!).
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
I LOVE spy books, and I've read so, so many of them-Joanna Bourne, Julie Anne Long, Nita Abrams, Michelle Diener, Shana Galen, Tracy Grant. Sharon Cullen wrote a fabulous series called All The Queen's Spies, set in the Elizabethan era.