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Title: A Shameless Angel
Author: Elizabeth Cole
Genre: Historical spy romance (Napoleonic Wars)
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A bluestocking gets sucked into a world of espionage when she discovers that her dead fiance was a spy and that his friend is all too attractive.
Thoughts: This entire book is a spoiler for the previous book in the series, so make sure to read them in order.
Which is a pity, because this is a much better book than A Reckless Soul. The leads have significantly better chemistry, and their reasons for working together make a lot more sense. Sarah is pleasantly consistent--she has her strengths but does not miraculously transform into a super spy as soon as she discovers the world of espionage. She's quite competent without being unrealistically so. She also gets a lovely Crowning Moment of Awesome while dealing with an unwanted suitor.
I will admit some discomfort with the first major sex scene, however. Sarah and Theo have taken refuge in a private box in the theater, and he gets unexpectedly frisky. There was nothing in her character up to that point that suggested she would be receptive to such advances under such circumstances, though. While I'm totally in favor of sex positivity, it's not at all historically accurate here. And while there's never any indication that she regrets it (which also doesn't fit with her character), I can't help but feel a certain lack of consent involved. She had been deflowered by her fiance as a way to distract her; then Theo effectively does the same thing again, also to distract her. Sure, it ends up being ok because he really loves her and they (is this a spoiler in a romance?) end up getting married. But when it happens, she's already embarrassed and upset to have been taken advantage of once before, and he's engaged to someone else. They are not nearly as conflicted as they ought to be for people of their roles and experiences. Instead of being enjoyably hot, the scene just made me uncomfortable.
But overall, it's a pleasant if not particularly groundbreaking book.
Note: I was given a review copy of this book.
Author: Elizabeth Cole
Genre: Historical spy romance (Napoleonic Wars)
Thingummies: 3
Synopsis: A bluestocking gets sucked into a world of espionage when she discovers that her dead fiance was a spy and that his friend is all too attractive.
Thoughts: This entire book is a spoiler for the previous book in the series, so make sure to read them in order.
Which is a pity, because this is a much better book than A Reckless Soul. The leads have significantly better chemistry, and their reasons for working together make a lot more sense. Sarah is pleasantly consistent--she has her strengths but does not miraculously transform into a super spy as soon as she discovers the world of espionage. She's quite competent without being unrealistically so. She also gets a lovely Crowning Moment of Awesome while dealing with an unwanted suitor.
I will admit some discomfort with the first major sex scene, however. Sarah and Theo have taken refuge in a private box in the theater, and he gets unexpectedly frisky. There was nothing in her character up to that point that suggested she would be receptive to such advances under such circumstances, though. While I'm totally in favor of sex positivity, it's not at all historically accurate here. And while there's never any indication that she regrets it (which also doesn't fit with her character), I can't help but feel a certain lack of consent involved. She had been deflowered by her fiance as a way to distract her; then Theo effectively does the same thing again, also to distract her. Sure, it ends up being ok because he really loves her and they (is this a spoiler in a romance?) end up getting married. But when it happens, she's already embarrassed and upset to have been taken advantage of once before, and he's engaged to someone else. They are not nearly as conflicted as they ought to be for people of their roles and experiences. Instead of being enjoyably hot, the scene just made me uncomfortable.
But overall, it's a pleasant if not particularly groundbreaking book.
Note: I was given a review copy of this book.
