It’s never easy keeping secrets… guardian—has other plans. He won’t be satisfied until she is at long last married.
He never forgets a face …
After years on the Continent, Blake Gower, Earl of Devonton, returns to England in need of a wife. He should not be surprised when his best friend Harrington’s sister recaptures his attention. But there’s more to the woman Lady Lucy has become than the delightful girl Blake remembers. When she takes an unexpected jaunt to the country during the height of the Season, Blake is determined to know why—and to discover all Lady Lucy’s secrets.
Unwilling to give up her patriotic mission for marriage, Lucy is conflicted when she meets the enigmatic Lord Devonton. She never expected to feel this way about a man again.
When the ransom demand comes due—will it be for Lady Lucy’s heart?
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Secrets of Lady Lucy is the first book in author Rachel Ann Smith’s debut series, Agents of The Home Office. It was an absolutely fantastic start and I look forward to more from this author and series!
Lady Lucy Stanford does have a secret… She’s a secret agent for the home office and assists them in creating and decoding messages. Blake Gower, Earl of Devonton is also an agent, but for the Foreign Office. He’s traveled the world and is relied upon for his cartography skills.
What a wonderful book to start out this series! Lucy is just twenty-two but considers herself practically on the shelf. After the death of her fiancé in the war, she hasn’t had to deal with the season and has avoided being pressured to marry. But her twin brother Matthew has decided she needs a husband this season. Unfortunately, no man has interested her since her fiancé. Then she meets Blake… I loved Blake! Blake has been infatuated with Lucy ever since he spent the holidays with her brother Matthew and family when he was just thirteen years old. Although they haven’t seen each other since that time, Matthew has had feelings for her ever since.
I really liked this couple! Lucy struggles with her reactions to Blake and the fact that she’s drawn to him. She’s not used to the feelings he provokes and finds herself thinking of him frequently. The banter and the chemistry between them was fun to watch as they get to know each other. Of course, besides the growing romance, we also have the fact that both Blake and Lucy along with several other characters are Agents for the Home Office and Foreign Office. The added mystery along with the fascinating secondary characters made this a fabulous read.
I really enjoyed Lucy & Blake’s story and was happy to see them finally get their HEA. This story had some fabulous secondary characters that I would love to see in future books. I definitely am looking forward to the next book and hoping to catch up with some of my favorite characters! Overall a great start to this new series!
Pride & Prejudice with a Titillating Twist
I do love secrets! In a time when damsels are in distress and Lords rule the roost, Lady Lucy has a secret. Despite her delicate exterior, she is an agent of a covert operation whose purpose is to keep safe those who are targeted. If only her blasted brother weren’t trying to marry her off. She’s managed to maintain her distance from potential suitors, until the dashing Earl of Devonton, or Blake, gets under her skin. He has a magnificent way of charming and teasing her, calling her every bluff no matter how determined she is to resist his advances.
After a sweet and spicy seduction, he explains her v-status as such. “Your virtue is intact; however, your innocence is … well … I’d say you are more enlightened.” Yeah, enlightened and loving it!
A great read for regency and historical romance fans.
Only her desire to crush the Crown’s enemies could induce Lady Lucy Stanford to endure another Season. For years she has worked secretly for the Home Office decoding messages, and she has come to London with one purpose: foil the attempted kidnapping of a highly valuable target, identity unknown. Inconveniently, Lord Harrington Lucy’s twin and guardian—has other plans. He won’t be satisfied until she is at long last married.
After years on the Continent, Blake Gower, Earl of Devonton, returns to England in need of a wife. He should not be surprised when his best friend Harrington’s sister recaptures his attention. But there’s more to the woman Lady Lucy has become than the delightful girl Blake remembers.
I believe this is the author’s debut novel & it is very accomplished. The characters are very well portrayed & the pace is also very good. I loved both Lucy & Blake both are intelligent & both working for the government. Their attraction is apparent from the start but it’s only when they go to a house party that they really get to know each other & fall in love. The road to their HEA isn’t smooth with a kidnapping, mystery messages & a traitor to be found but it all made for a captivating read. The reason I’ve not given it 5 stars is that a number of threads aren’t resolved so the rest of the series needs to be read for everything to be ‘sewn up’
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Absolutely a great start to the series.
Napoleon is on Elba, but all is not quiet on the continent. Lady Lucy leads a secret life working for the Home Office and it’s never boring. Her expertise is decoding messages, plus other irregular activities, that she does right under her twin brother’s nose. Her life takes a turn when she’s introduced to Blake, Lord Devonton. He’s never forgotten her from several years ago. She doesn’t remember him at all, but he is a distraction. A distraction she doesn’t need, until his life maybe in danger. A standalone, but you’ll want to read the next one.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
Agents of the Home Office is this author’s debut series and she has gotten off to a great start with Secrets of Lady Lucy . The characters are fun and interesting, the story is fast-paced and the mystery is . . . well . . . it isn’t exactly solved because I’m assuming it will run throughout all of the books of the series. We meet characters and I’m assuming hints of couples for future books – and I can’t wait to learn more about them. I also hope we’ll get to visit with Blake and Lucy again in future books – just to check-in and see how they are doing.
In this book, we have a plethora of agents for both the Foreign Office and the Home Office – some know that the others are agents and others don’t. Everybody has their own secret life it seems. The Foreign Office and the Home Office seem to be playing in the same sandbox and are using different rules for the game. Then, there is the mysterious ‘head’ of the Foreign Office that nobody seems to know his identity. There are definitely a LOT of questions left hanging and I can’t wait to find out the answers and I’ll be really disappointed should they not be forthcoming.
Lady Lucy Stanford’s twin brother, Matthew, Marquess Harrington, has spent months coercing Lucy to come to London and participate in some of the season’s events. It is his desire that she finds love and marriage and he knows that won’t happen with her vegetating away in the country. Unbeknownst to her brother, Lucy is an agent for the Home Office and has completed many missions for them. One of her skills is creating and breaking codes.
Blake Gower, Earl of Devonton, best friends with Matthew, met Lucy when she was about twelve and he’s never forgotten her. He spent a summer break from Eton with Matthew and it was one of the most memorable of his life. Blake has just returned to London from the continent where he has been during the war and since the war. He was working for the Foreign office – making maps and providing invaluable information to the troops. Now, he needs to get his estates in order and find a wife. Since he has never been able to forget her, maybe Lucy is the perfect candidate.
Lucy meets Bake at a ball and each is intrigued with the other, but since Lucy isn’t in the least interested in courting or marriage, she does her best to ignore the strange feelings he invokes. As he spends more time with her – and with her brother – she gets to know him better and appreciates the amount of time he spends with her lonely eight-year-old younger brother. While she still doesn’t intend to marry, she does hold him in regard.
Several coded missives are intercepted and given to Lucy to decode – and when she does, she realizes that Blake might be the target of a kidnapping plot and she fully intends to keep him safe.
Lucy and Blake are off on an adventure and manage to find their HEA along the way. I really enjoyed meeting both of them and look forward to checking in on them occasionally in future books in the series.
As I mentioned earlier, there are lots of things I was left wondering about, but I am assuming that they are part of an ongoing plot throughout the series. So, hopefully, I’ll have answers eventually.
I hope you’ll read and enjoy this book
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a very unique tale that immediately drew me in. Not only was it a very well-written book with great, multi-faceted characters and a very interesting plot, but the suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds. The romance was just steamy enough and every aspect of the story kept me intrigued from the first page to the last. I can’t wait to read the next in series!