Review - One Thing Leads to a Lover by Susanna Craig

 This book is great! I was excited to read One Thing Leads to a Lover after liking the first book in the series, Who's That Earl. The series is called Love and Let Spy, but the first book didn't have a whole lot of spying, so I wasn't expecting much here, either, but was very pleasantly surprised!

Amanda Bartlett is a young widow, and her wishes are constantly overridden by her overbearing mother and the guardian appointed to her sons by her late husband. Her life, as she sees it, is overwhelmingly dull. Until, that is, she finds an old French book by mistake. The book is actually a very important codebook, and Sir Langley Stanhope, a spy codenamed the Magpie, is tasked with getting it back. When the book goes missing, however, Amanda and Langley have to work together to retrieve it. There is a ton of action and, of course, romance.

Overall this was a great book! Craig does a great job of balancing plot and character development, with both progressing side-by-side. There is some on-page intimacy, and it's done very well. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review - Who's That Earl by Susanna Craig

Who's That Earl, by Susanna Craig, is the first in her new Love and Let Spy series. Thomas Sutherland is a spy who, through a quirk of inheritance, suddenly becomes the Earl of Magnus, the castle near the small Scottish village where he spent summers growing up. Since he has no interest in giving up his profession, he goes to Dunnock castle to sort things out and get back to spying. However, the castle is being leased to the reclusive writer of scandalous Gothic novels, Robin Ratliffe. Robin Ratliffe, though, is none other than Jane Quayle, the girl Thomas fell for seven years ago before being called away on duty. Robin is receiving death threats, and Thomas is ideally trained to get to the bottom of the situation.

This was a really fun, quick book to read. I really enjoyed both Jane and Thomas, and the way that Susanna Craig handled the tension between them was very well done. I sympathized with both characters' struggles - Thomas being reluctant to drive a wedge between his new title and his old friends; Jane craving her independence. Jane's dogs were an adorable addition to the story as well.

The mystery of the letter-writer seemed to be wrapped up rather quickly - I would have enjoyed having more hints or a bigger glimpse into his motivation, but recognize that the true story is Jane and Thomas.

I really enjoyed Who's That Earl and will definitely be reading more by Susanna Craig!

Thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the review copy!