After five years of tracking and capturing spies on English soil, Philip Jonquil, Earl of Lampton, is in pursuit of his last quarry. But at a traveler’s inn, he encounters an unexpected and far more maddening foe: Sorrel Kendrick, a young lady who is strikingly pretty, shockingly outspoken, and entirely unimpressed with him. Indeed, Sorrel cannot believe the nerve of this gentleman, who rudely … accuses her of theft and insults her feminine dignity. Doubly annoyed when they both end up at a party hosted by mutual friends, Philip and Sorrel privately declare war on one another. But Philip’s tactics, which range from flirting to indifference, soon backfire as he finds himself reluctantly enjoying Sorrel’s company; and, much to her dismay, Sorrel finds Philip’s odd manner to be increasingly endearing. In the midst of this waning war and growing attraction, Philip catches wind of the French spy he’s been tracking, and Sorrel inadvertently stumbles upon a crucial piece of the puzzle, making her indispensable to the mission. But can two proud hearts negotiate a ceasefire when cooperation matters most?
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Lovely regency romance. I really like the story. Sorrel is the kind of character I relate to and I so liked her. I enjoyed reading about a character with such fierce independence and disregard for the traditional social expectations of women. And Philip was a great character, too. I liked him right away and only liked him more as the book progressed(except for maybe wanting to slap him around a bit in the library scene when Sorrel asks for help…luckily that only lasted a page or two). I loved their witty conversations and the chemistry between them. Great book. I look forward to reading more of Eden’s books.
This is the first book in the Jonquil Brothers series and what a great way to begin! Philip Jonquil has a persona of a dandy as a guise for being a secret British agent of the crown. While acting like he cares for nothing more than fashion aids Philip in gathering information, it also causes Sorrel Kendrick to draw the wrong conclusion about him. Because of their rocky first meeting, Philip and Sorrel must overcome their differences to find who the person is behind the cascades each of them have built.
Action, adventure, and a dangerous enemy on the loose, this is a page turner and a hold everything kind of book. I enjoyed seeing Sorrel change throughout the book. I also liked that she had grit and determination. She would not give up when she was in tremendous pain when those closest to her dealt with her disability in ways that were unhelpful. Seeing Philip believe in her gave her the courage to do things she did not think were she was capable of when she needed it most.
I am looking forward to reading more in the series because there are unanswered questions that I look forward to learning about in future books. I recommend reading this book if you like well crafted stories with adventure and some romance.
Philip Jonquil has been hiding behind the disguise of a careless and shallow dandified gentleman for years while working for British Intelligence to aid the war effort and catch French spies. While conducting some business he has a chance run in with a Miss Sorrel Kendrick at a random country inn. She does not take kindly to the persona he has adopted and in fact is greatly insulted by him. Sorrel was injured years earlier in an accident and needs a walking stick for anything requiring her to take more than a few steps and he is under the mistaken believe that she has adopted a rediculous fashion accessory. They part as strangers, until they unexpectedly meet again at a gathering for friends and family for the holidays. Their second meeting goes worse than the first. They are forced in company with one another for the duration of the gathering. What their animosity is so strong for one another that they declare that they are at war with one another. There are witty barbs and snarky banter a plenty until they soon find that they actaually enjoy each other’s company. They have gained a respect and understanding with the other and even find themselves working together.
I actually started this series by reading the sixth book in the series, The Heart of A Vicar, which focuses on Harold. Which I loved and was very interested in reading more books by Sarah M. Eden. In that book Philip and Sorrell actually feature quite a lot and I found myself as invested in them as I was with the main characters of the story.
I really love Philip and Sorrell. Especially Philip. His persona of a dandy may be an act, but his penchant for saying absolutely absurb things in any situation is not. I loved this about him, I found his little barbs so ridiculous and amusing. Sorrell is so strong and brave. She is adamant that she will hold on to her independence and wants to care for her family even though it is difficult and often painful for her to do so. She has such a big heart, but she hides it behind an abrasive facade.
I quite like the role reversal here. In most historical romances you see a sweet and pampered young woman paired with a tortured and abrasive man. But here, she is the one that suffers with physical pain and is abrasive in her interactions with others. He is the one walking around charming everyone around him with his sparkling conversation and grabbing attention with his flashy outfits. It was a refreshing change and the author pulled it off really well.
I enjoyed this book far more than I did the prequel to the series which focused on Crispin and Catherine and which I felt was dragged out a little more than necessary and had a never ending amount of misunderstandings and lack of communication, in a way that it lacked believability. (I was still very hapy though to see Crispin and Catherine in this book to see how they were fairing after the conclusion of their book). But in this book I felt that the pacing was great, nothing felt unnecessary to the plot, everything worked together to move the story forward and the their reactions to situations, I felt, were matched up with their characters.
I’m officially in love with Sarah M. Eden’s writing and will be moving on to the next book in the series.
I thought this was another quick, fun and clean read. I have enjoyed all the Jonquil Brothers books. I enjoyed Philips alter ego and the banter with Sorrel. They are both pretty clever and witty. In part I judge a book by how much I want the story to continue and if I’m sad to say good bye to the characters when I close the book. I was sorry to see this story end. And it made me want to read the other Jonquil brother’s books again just to catch a little glimpse of these characters once more. (I didn’t read these books in order since I checked them out from the library and took them in order of availability. This one took a long time to get. I think I was number 17 on the reservation list).
So glad to return to this series. I have read all of the others and decided to pick up number one. What a great beginning and introduction to the Jonquil Brothers.
A very good book and interesting characters. I enjoyed.
I have to say that I’ve become a big fan of Sarah M. Eden. While there are aspects of her stories that I may not entirely love, her characters are incredible and have a depth to them that you just don’t find in a lot of modern literature. There always seems to be some aspect of them that just really speaks to me.
In this book, the heroine suffers from a debilitating leg injury that causes her endless amounts of pain and frustration. I felt like the way she was portrayed was very believable and compelling. I felt her pain and understood her struggles to accept the sudden change in her life that destroyed all her dreams for the future. And she’s not the perfect saint or angel that so many other tragic heroines seem to be. She’s biting and mean at times, but I really understood her. Perhaps I just felt a kinship with her. But I fell in love with her.
The hero is basically Sir Percy from “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, but I still enjoyed him. The way he and the heroine played off each other was entertaining and heartwarming. And I love the cast of side characters. The more I read about the Jonquil family, the more I want.
I would give this book five stars, but the plot was a little too melodramatic at the end and had a ridiculous spy plotline, which I’m not a fan of. I guess that just shows you how much I loved the rest of the book; though I don’t care for spy novels (excluding the brilliant “Scarlet Pimpernel”), I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
UPDATE: I’ve read this so many times. The ending and spy subplot is still ridiculous, but the rest of the story is so fantastic, that I just keep coming back (but then I tend to skim over the meh bits).
This is a fun book with a lot of witty banter. It is a clean non-religious historical romance novel.
Phillip is an Earl leading a double life as a spy.
Sorrel is a lady who has had an accident leaving her a cripple and a little syndicalism towards life.
I enjoyed reading their relationship grow. There were some holes in the story (like how they actually met when she couldn’t walk without a cane), but overall I enjoyed it.
The Jonquil series is fabulous! I love the characters!