In England’s Regency era, manners and elegance reign in public life — but behind closed doors treason and deception thrive. Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal—and to fulfill a dying soldier’s last wish by delivering his coded diary.
At the home of the Wilherns, one of England’s most powerful families, Langdon attends a lavish ball where he meets their beautiful and intelligent ward, Julia Grey. Determined to maintain propriety, he keeps his distance — until the diary is stolen and all clues lead to Julia’s guardian. As Langdon traces an evil plot that could be the nation’s undoing, he grows ever more intrigued by the lovely young woman. And when Julia realizes that England — and the man she is falling in love with — need her help, she finds herself caught in the fray. Will the two succumb to their attraction while fighting to save their country?
Melanie Dickerson is the New York Times bestselling author whose two favorite time periods are Medieval, which she has combined with her love of fairy tales, and Regency England, which stems from her love of Jane Austen. She is a 2-time Christy Award finalist, a 2-time Maggie Award winner, winner of The National Reader’s Choice Award for 2010’s Best First Book, and winner of the 2012 Carol Award in Young Adult fiction. She earned her bachelor’s degree in special education from The University of Alabama and has taught children with special needs in Georgia and Tennessee, and English to adults in Germany and Ukraine. Now she spends her time writing, hanging out on facebook, and being with her husband, two daughters, and two guinea pigs near Huntsville, Alabama. Visit her on the web at http://www.MelanieDickerson.com.
My Impressions:
As I have shared on numerous occasions, I listen to audiobooks during my morning walks and am always on the look out for a book that is easy to pick up day after day for an hour at a time. I have read several of Melanie Dickerson’s fairy tale retellings and knew that her writing style is a perfect match for my reading preferences. So when I saw that she had written a Regency-inspired novel with spies, I couldn’t resist. I am so glad that I picked up A Spy’s Devotion, book 1 in Dickerson’s Regency Spies of London series. It definitely checked all the boxes — Regency romance, mysterious goings-on, and a clean and inspiring reading experience. Dickerson captures the manners and customs of the Regency period and combines them with the intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars. The characters are endearing and complex, and the romance, which is not without obstacles, still ends in a happily-ever-after. The narrator of the audiobook does a good job of capturing the time and place.
A Spy’s Devotion was a great listening experience, and I look forward to reading more in the series.
Recommended.
Audience: adults.
To purchase, click HERE.
(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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