Swoon Saturday (1): Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey

Helloooo! Welcome to the first Swoon Saturday post! ❤

Today, we have Cindy Anstey’s Love, Lies and Spies – which releases on the 19th together with No Love Allowed.

Below is my ARC review of this historical romance:

Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey

Publication Date: April 19, 2016 by Swoon Reads

Genre: Young Adult Romance

[Special thanks to the publisher for the review copy!]

Goodreads Summary:

Juliana Telford is not your average nineteenth-century young lady. She’s much more interested in researching ladybugs than marriage, fashionable dresses, or dances. So when her father sends her to London for a season, she’s determined not to form any attachments. Instead, she plans to secretly publish her research.

Spencer Northam is not the average young gentleman of leisure he appears. He is actually a spy for the War Office, and is more focused on acing his first mission than meeting eligible ladies. Fortunately, Juliana feels the same, and they agree to pretend to fall for each other. Spencer can finally focus, until he is tasked with observing Juliana’s traveling companions . . . and Juliana herself.

My thoughts:

I had mixed emotions at the beginning because I wasn’t very happy with the first quarter. Having read These Vicious Masks, which is also a historical romance (just with super powers), I had expectations that Love, Lies and Spies wasn’t able to meet.

Juliana’s name distracted me a bit, but Spencer’s name made up for that. I love the name Spencer.

It didn’t help that I don’t remember anything about the Regency era, and I had hoped the book would be better as I read more.

The Pyebalds’ trick on Juliana restored my faith in this book. It created tension which I really liked. Plus, the last lines of Juliana’s and Spencer’s parts on Chapter 9 were ❤ ❤ ❤ <3!

I found myself commenting (aloud) on what’s happening by the time I reached the third quarter. That was a good sign, and it kept me interested in reading until I finish. Maxwell is creepy, btw. Really creepy.

I smiled when I saw the similarity of Chapters 1 & 18. 🙂 I loved how the last quarter was written, and Chapter 19 is perfection! ❤ The last paragraphs of that chapter made up for the early parts of the book.

I think what I love the most about this book (aside from Spencer Northam, that is) is the strong image of a woman capable of making decisions for herself. Juliana did not allow herself to be bound by society’s rules. I love that she pursued her shared dream with her father – to publish their research, and I believe that represented Cindy’s publishing dream. I think the connection is adorable. 🙂

Waiting is a big part of the book, somehow –

publishing dreams could wait,

true love could wait,

the best parts of the book await.

Love, Lies and Spies will bottle up your anticipation and let it out when you least expect it.