Tag: Rachel Ann Smith

Secrets of Lady Lucy by Rachel Ann Smith

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)1 Comment

Secrets of Lady Lucy (Agents of the Home Office, #1)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Agents of the Home Office #1
Publication Date: 9/18/19
Number of Pages: 282

Agents of the Home Office is this author’s debut series and she has gotten off to a great start with Secrets of Lady Lucy. The characters are fun and interesting, the story is fast-paced and the mystery is . . . well . . . it isn’t exactly solved because I’m assuming it will run throughout all of the books of the series. We meet characters and I’m assuming hints of couples for future books – and I can’t wait to learn more about them. I also hope we’ll get to visit with Blake and Lucy again in future books – just to check-in and see how they are doing.

In this book, we have a plethora of agents for both the Foreign Office and the Home Office – some know that the others are agents and others don’t. Everybody has their own secret life it seems. The Foreign Office and the Home Office seem to be playing in the same sandbox and are using different rules for the game. Then, there is the mysterious ‘head’ of the Foreign Office that nobody seems to know his identity. There are definitely a LOT of questions left hanging and I can’t wait to find out the answers and I’ll be really disappointed should they not be forthcoming.

Lady Lucy Stanford’s twin brother, Matthew, Marquess Harrington, has spent months coercing Lucy to come to London and participate in some of the season’s events. It is his desire that she finds love and marriage and he knows that won’t happen with her vegetating away in the country. Unbeknownst to her brother, Lucy is an agent for the Home Office and has completed many missions for them. One of her skills is creating and breaking codes.

Blake Gower, Earl of Devonton, best friends with Matthew, met Lucy when she was about twelve and he’s never forgotten her. He spent a summer break from Eton with Matthew and it was one of the most memorable of his life. Blake has just returned to London from the continent where he has been during the war and since the war. He was working for the Foreign office – making maps and providing invaluable information to the troops. Now, he needs to get his estates in order and find a wife. Since he has never been able to forget her, maybe Lucy is the perfect candidate.

Lucy meets Bake at a ball and each is intrigued with the other, but since Lucy isn’t in the least interested in courting or marriage, she does her best to ignore the strange feelings he invokes. As he spends more time with her – and with her brother – she gets to know him better and appreciates the amount of time he spends with her lonely eight-year-old younger brother. While she still doesn’t intend to marry, she does hold him in regard.

Several coded missives are intercepted and given to Lucy to decode – and when she does, she realizes that Blake might be the target of a kidnapping plot and she fully intends to keep him safe.

Lucy and Blake are off on an adventure and manage to find their HEA along the way. I really enjoyed meeting both of them and look forward to checking in on them occasionally in future books in the series.

As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of things I was left wondering about, but I am assuming that they are part of an ongoing plot throughout the series. So, hopefully, I’ll have answers eventually.

I hope you’ll read and enjoy this book

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Desires of Lady Elise by Rachel Ann Smith

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820)2 Comments

Desires of Lady EliseMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Agents of the Home Office #1
Publication Date: 7/18/19
Number of Pages: 98
** Maybe 3.5 Stars **

This debut novella is a fast-paced, fun read and I can see her developing into a go-to author.

Harold Greenfield, Earl of Thornston had a history with Lady Elise Brownstone, sister to the Duke of Fairmont. Ten years ago, when she was six and ten and he was twenty, they were in love – but then he disappeared from ton life amid a scandal.

Elise has spent those ten years pining for Harold and wondering why he hasn’t made a reappearance now that her father has died. She has also spent her time investigating and rescuing debutants from unscrupulous suitors.

Harold is back and is anxious to see how Elise is doing – he has never stopped loving her. When she is in danger, he rides to her rescue like the true knight in shining armor he is.

I was happy to see these two get their second chance at a HEA. They were both steadfast in their love for each other and Elise never believed all of the gossip about Harold.

I’ll keep an eye on this author for future reads. There are a few things that bothered me and/or made it a bit hard to read, but I’ll look forward to seeing how she progresses. What are those things?

• The CONSTANT use of ‘Lord’ – At some point, it should just change from “Lord Whatever’ to just ‘Whatever’. That constant use just made things seem a bit stilted. I don’t think I’ve ever read another historical romance where I saw ‘Lord’ used as often. ** Same goes for ‘Lady’.
• Class distinction was a huge, huge, huge thing in this book and I don’t believe it really would have been an issue – at least not as described in this novella. From everything I have read and learned over the years, the people in that upper echelon of society weren’t hung up on it as we are today. There would have been no issues with an Earl marrying a Duke’s daughter. There MIGHT have been an issue with a Duke’s daughter marrying the untitled third son of an Earl, but not in marrying an Earl. I liken it to our billionaires of today – One might have 40 billion dollars and another only 20 billion, but a marriage between the two would be perfectly acceptable.
• There was a scene that just totally turned me off. Was it a ‘natural’ reaction – maybe, but in the context of a romance novel, I didn’t want to see it. When Harold breaks up with his mistress, she tries to tempt him back and his body responds – he has to fight himself to keep from taking her up on her offer. Didn’t want to see that, think that, or read that. Just sayin’ – one person’s opinion.
• There were some things that I thought could be better explained or more fully expounded upon. What I’m saying is that it could have been just a tad longer and better explained what exactly her father did to Harold, how he threatened him, etc. as well as a fuller explanation of Harold’s involvement with the Agents of the Home Office. It said what he did – but I would just have liked a tad more information.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.