IN BED WITH A SPY

The Regency-era widow of a British Army major joins forces with a spy to expose a ring of assassins in this combination romance and thriller.

Alexander (The Smuggler Wore Silk, 2014) follows up her debut with the second novel in her Spy in the Ton series. Alastair “Angel” Whitmore, Marquess of Angelstone first saw Lilias Fairchild wielding a saber at Waterloo, delirious with grief and rage over the death of her husband earlier in the battle. When he encounters her again in a London ballroom, he is instantly attracted to her—even after she drops a medallion out of her reticule. Angel recognizes the medallion as the mark of the Death Adders, a network of assassins he has sworn to defeat. The Adders are a threat to British security, which gives Angel a professional duty to take them down. Worse, they killed his lover years ago, and he has sworn to avenge her. Although he briefly suspects Lilias of being an assassin, the two soon discover that the medallion may have belonged to her beloved husband, Jeremy Fairchild. If so, then he himself was a Death Adder, and Lilias’ memories of him will be tainted. Soon, Lilias and Angel are playing more than one dangerous game—carrying on a love affair under the noses of the ton and the kindly in-laws with whom Lilias lives and chasing skilled assassins through the opera houses and mansions of London. Then Lilias finds herself the target of an assassination attempt, and their investigation becomes more frantic than ever.

Lilias is a worthy heroine—beautiful and sweet but with plenty of sharp edges and innate abilities. Angel loves her for her strength but also longs to protect her, which causes friction throughout this delightful novel.