An Amazon Best Book of the Month! “An endearing love story that kept me up all hours reading… Wonderful!” —SABRINA JEFFRIES, New York Times bestselling author, for Third Son’s a CharmHe’s turned seduction into an art form… glean dangerous war secrets. Now he’s putting those skills to the ultimate test: capturing an elusive assassin by seducing his daughter. The problem? She’s entirely immune to Rafe’s flattery.
Never before has Collette Fortier met a man as attractive as Rafe. But her father’s life is at stake, and succumbing to Rafe would be disastrous. But when Rafe turns the tables on her, offering support and friendship instead of a fleeting affair, Collette finds herself tempted in ways she never could have imagined…
“Bright, funny, poignant, and entertaining—everything historical romance fans could ask for.” —Kirkus Reviews Starred Review for No Earls Allowed
The Survivors Series:
Third Son’s a Charm (Book 1)
No Earls Allowed (Book 2)
An Affair With a Spare (Book 3)
What People Are Saying About Shana Galen:
“Shana Galen charms readers with poignant and unforgettable characters, humor, and a passionate page-turning tale that’s impossible to put down… Galen is an amazing talent and never disappoints.” —Lorraine Heath, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, for Third Son’s a Charm
“Shana Galen delivers again!…A sharp, poignant battle of wills between a wonderful wounded hero and the only heroine brave enough to get past his defenses. Don’t miss it!” —Eileen Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author, for Third Son’s a Charm
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This is part of a terrific series, although each book is a stand alone. In this story Colette is a young french women whose only desire is to save the life of her imprisoned father. Rafe, a lord, and member of a group of special English army men who perform specific tasks for a Colonel is tasked with learning if Colette is a french spy. Rafe is chosen as he has expertise with women, as he is known by the nom de plume “ the seducer”. No woman can refuse his charms…except Colette it seems.
For Rafe, this could be a curse or a blessing, for Colette, she has more important concerns, but Rafe could be useful, and he IS rather attractive. So the plot thickens and the two become involved in a web of intrigue and danger as their attraction for each other grows.
The story has an interesting plot, colorful characters, and witty dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to historical romance readers.
I received An Affair with a Spare by Shana Galen from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This is the third book in her Survivors Series but can be read as a stand-alone. However, the first two books were wonderful.
Collette is forced to spy by the French government on the English in order to save her father, an assassin for Napoleon’s reign. Rafe, The Seducer of Draven’s suicide military group, is sent in to find out what exactly Collette is looking for. As a truly beautiful man, he struggles to keep women at arm’s length. While Collette is attracted to him, she succeeds in ignoring him until he offers friendship.
Both Rafe and Collette grew up lonely for different reasons- Rafe was ignored or forgotten and Collette’s father was working. Both are drawn to one another through friendship as if they are (and they are) starving for a TRUE friendship. Both are also working against the other in the attempt to secure needed information.
Collette isn’t a spy and she is horrible at it. Her contact should have seen this but this never comes up. Rafe was… boring really. I loved the first two books and was looking forward to this one however, it kinda fell flat for me. Neither character drew me in. I was more interested in the secondary characters than Collette and Rafe.
I have greatly enjoyed Shana’s writing and while I thought this story was OK, I was slightly disappointed. But, I can’t wait till Jasper’s story next. #AnAffairwithaSpare #NetGalley
Publisher’s Description:
“An endearing love story that kept me up all hours reading… Wonderful!” —SABRINA JEFFRIES, New York Times bestselling author, for Third Son’s a Charm
He’s turned seduction into an art form…
Rafe Beaumont, fifth son of an earl, uses his irresistible charm with the ladies to glean dangerous war secrets. Now he’s putting those skills to the ultimate test: capturing an elusive assassin by seducing his daughter. The problem? She’s entirely immune to Rafe’s flattery.
Never before has Collette Fortier met a man as attractive as Rafe. But her father’s life is at stake, and succumbing to Rafe would be disastrous. But when Rafe turns the tables on her, offering support and friendship instead of a fleeting affair, Collette finds herself tempted in ways she never could have imagined…
My Thoughts:
I try to not miss a chance at reading a book by Shana Galen. She always seems to entertain with well developed plots, unforgettable characters and entertaining as well as intriguing storylines.
Rafe Beaumont is the fifth son of an earl and far enough down the line as to not likely to inherit. Most of the ton see him as a seducer of women and a wastrel. This is however an excellent cover for his duties to the crown as a spy.His current mission is to seduce information out of Collette Fortier.
Collette Fortier is the daughter of a French spy and assassin. She is trying desperately to find a way to save her father and succumbing to the charms of a rake like Rafe is definitely not in the plan. In order to save her father she has been tasked to find a way to break the code used by the English. She needs to get Rafe’s assistance not fall in love with the man. She struggles to resist him but for the most part succeeds.
This witty, sometimes humorous book is filled with intrigue. It is a real page turner and in this reader’s opinion, “Not To Be Missed”.
I gave this newest Shana Galen book 4.75 of 5.0 stars for storyline and characterization and a sensual rating of 3.75 of 5.0 flames. This unusual plot includes our rakish spy with a conquest that he cannot seduce.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this title through NetGalley to read and review. This in no way affected my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.
5 Show more
Review Rafe and Collette story.
Rafe is the seducer in Survivor club. His job was to seduce the women during the Napoleon war to find everything he could to help British to counter act and win the battle.
Rafe was convinced this was the only thing the company needed him for. Coming back to England Rafe figured his life would go back to normal. Enjoying the life of leisure as son of a Marquess.
Collette grew up in France in the inner circle of French court. Her father was enforcer and assassin. When her father was put in prison, Collette knew she had to everything possible to help him. Napoleon top advisors wanted the list of spies and secret files. Collette was send to retrieve the documents in exchange for her father’s life.
In London Rafe and Collette each had a mission to find and stop the documents from reaching France. Neither was looking to find love and life together after their tragedy past.
Rafe and other survives worked together to find a way to protect the documents and help Collette save her father. In doing so, Collette, Rafe and Collette father ended up leaving England to find a life in America where their identities were safe.
A enjoyable and entertaining book. This historical romance offers plenty of drama and humor as Rafe and Collette’s story unfolds. As these two are at cross purposes while being attracted to each other, you know there will be much bantering an sparks flying. Collette is sassy and fun and Rafe is a very handsome guy (and he knows it) and charming. Together their story was a fun (if a bit of a slow burn in the beginning) read.
I love Shana Galen and I loved this book. Great Characters and a great story. This is the third in the series and just as great as the first two.
Hard to believe but each book in this series just keeps getting better. In a story of hidden identities and deeply hidden emotions, this book will take you on an engaging journey to an ending that will leave you wanting more. This is the story of Rafe Beaumont, termed the Seducer as he spied for the crown. Of course that is not known by many but if you just looked into his violet eyes, one could believe it!
Collette Fortier is on a mission of her own, to obtain information to send back to France to free her father from prison. But when the spy begins seducing the spy, what will happen? Upon meeting, Rafe is his charming self, but Collette seems to be immune to his charms. But as he offers her friendship (of course in hopes of getting info from her), he is hard to resist.
In typical Shana Galen prose, you are taken through a wonderful tale, full of spies, suspense, traitors and even amusing quips about hedgehogs (yes wait until you read what that is about!). I really did not want to turn the last page, but I know there will be another book in this series and just cannot wait!!!
Collette Fortier, aka Fourney, is pretending to be the niece of Lady Ravengate, the contact to the Bourbon government, imprisoning her father. He was Napoleon’s most deadly assassin, although forced into that role. To free her father Collette has been tasked with stealing the English secret code so the French can decode Britton’s communications. She has come to the notice of Lieutenant Colonel Draven of Britain’s Foreign Office. He tasks Rafe Beaumont, one of the surviving members of Draven’s elite suicide squad in Napoleon’s War, to find out if she’s spying. Rafe was known as “The Seducer” as he’s charming as so very beautiful. Women has ALWAYS fallen at his feet. It was an easy task for him to seduce information from women during the war. Now back in England as the 5th son of the Earl of Huddingfort, he’s just kinda drifting from one woman to the next, never making real connections. Draven believes he’s perfect to determine if Collette is Fortier and if she’s spying.
Rafe is totally at a loss as to how to proceed when Collette rejects him. He’s NEVER been rejected! Truth be told she’s overwhelmed by him and gets tongue tied around him. When she gets nervous she starts spouting facts about hedgehogs since that’s the only text she had teaching herself English. It makes for some really funny, laugh out loud moments in this story. Not to mention Rafe being at a total loss as to how to proceed with his mission. Rafe finds himself taking advice from his friend Jasper as to the strategy to engage Collette. I found the whole story engaging and funny. This is a really good story!
Thank you Shana Galen for inviting me to be part of your review group and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to honestly review this story.
Rafe Beaumont, fifth son of an earl, uses his irresistible charm with the ladies to glean dangerous war secrets. Now he’s putting those skills to the ultimate test: capturing an elusive assassin by seducing his daughter. The problem? She’s entirely immune to Rafe’s flattery. Never before has Collette Fortier met a man as attractive as Rafe. But her father’s life is at stake, and succumbing to Rafe would be disastrous. But when Rafe turns the tables on her, offering support and friendship instead of a fleeting affair, Collette finds herself tempted in ways she never could have imagined. Collette is staying with Lady Ravensgate posing as a cousin whilst trying to find secret codes to send to France in order to win her father’s release.
A lovely read as always from the author the characters have plenty of depth, Rafe is swoon worthy but as well as looking gorgeous he’s also caring. Collette is driven to free her father & even pretends to be uninterested in Rafe. The pace of the story is very good & flows extremely well. There is intrigue & mystery but also lots of humour, especially Collette learning English from a book about hedgehogs & how when nervous she spouts facts about the prickly creatures. Of course the pair are attracted to each other but decide to become friends & all the while that attraction simmers. This is the third book in the series & could very well be read on its own but I’d recommend reading the previous books & I can’t wait for the next, hopefully Jasper’s story.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Loved, loved, loved Rafe and his Violet eyes!!! This whole Survivors series has been amazing and we’ve gotten glimpses of the professional flirt Rafe Beaumont that hinted that there was more to him than met the eye…and boy was there! I loved the intrigue, that Shana does so well, while also getting the deep emotions and backstories of both Rafe and Collette. Also let me just say Thomas Gaines
Can’t wait for Jasper’s story and to learn more about Draven’s lost lady!