An AAR Top 100 Romance originally published on June 10, 2010 Plodding through forgettable spy novels (and historicals in general) sometimes makes me forget what a truly great book looks like – and then I read one like The Forbidden Rose. Joanna Bourne’s latest novel has everything I love about romance: A strong relationship, complex…
Beauty Like the Night, the eagerly awaited sixth book in Joanna Bourne’s widely acclaimed Spymaster series, tells the story of Séverine de Cabrillac, whom we first met as a very young child caught up in the revolutionary terror of late eighteenth century Paris in The Forbidden Rose. Ten years after being brought to England by…
What could be better than a historical romance with a good dose of spying thrown in? If the book in question is written by Joanna Bourne, the answer is a resounding “nothing at all”! I’ve fallen in love with many of Bourne’s characters, and was beyond pleased to see that this fifth installment of the…
To say I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of Rogue Spy is an understatement of immense proportions. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each of the books in Ms. Bourne’s Spymaster series, and given the revelations about Pax made in The Black Hawk I’ve been on the edge of my seat waiting for his story. Naturally, my expectations were…
In All About Romance’s review of The Black Hawk in November 2011, Jean Wan wrote, “Once in a while, during every reader’s literary life, you encounter a book that reminds you why you are a reader. It renews your faith, if faith was lost; it rekindles your interest, if interest waned; and every word, every page,…
There has been a long delay between the release of the audio version of Ms. Bourne’s début novel, The Spymaster’s Lady, and audios of the other books in the series, but at last, we’re now able to enjoy this, the prequel to that book and can look forward to listening to the remaining books in…
Once in a while, during every reader’s literary life, you encounter a book that reminds you why you are a reader. It renews your faith, if faith was lost; it rekindles your interest, if interest waned; and every word, every page, is a wonder. Adrian and Justine’s story is not only such a book and…
Narrated by Kirsten Potter Wow, another new-to-me narrator and another fantastic one as well. Kristen Potter nails the characters of The Spymaster’s Lady and one can easily differentiate the numerous male characters, even spymaster Grey with his numerous disguises. Ms. Potter performs the part of the young French spy, Annique, with a beautiful French accent….
Let’s start off with the good news: Joanna Bourne clearly isn’t a Oneder. (Insert sigh of relief here.) The slightly less good news? My Lord and Spymaster isn’t quite as blow-me-totally-out-of-the-water terrific as The Spymaster’s Lady, but it’s a very, very good historical romance featuring complex and flawed characters far out of the typical wallpaper…
I almost passed on reviewing The Spymaster’s Lady. The cheesy cover (open ruffle-shirted hunk – yawn) and even cheesier title (oh, no – not another spymaster!) led me to believe that it would be yet another boring, cookie-cutter, Regency super-spy romance. I could not have been more wrong. Joanna Bourne hasn’t had a book published…