Shelve under: Libraries, Spies, Falling in Love, London. Adventure-hungry Quinn Ellington solves mundane mysteries for library patrons while indulging her taste for intrigue with her favorite spy novels. But her latest research project entangles her in a mission to decode the whereabouts of a weapons cache from a priceless work of art before arms dealers beat her to it. Her adventure is filled … Her adventure is filled with fast cars, stolen treasures, international intrigue, and a budding romance with suave, handsome “insurance” agent James Lockwood. Daring rescues and intense covert flirting ensue.
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I have just read an absolutely charming and entertaining start to a new series called The Librarian and the Spy (Librarian and the Spy Escapade #1) by Susan Mann. Not only did I love all of the characters, I learned many things I never knew about reference librarians and their jobs. This book had me laughing out loud and turning the pages as fast as possible as the mystery and suspense took off.
Quinn Ellington is a reference librarian who loves her job solving questions for her library patrons, but she also longs to travel and experience adventures like her favorite spy thriller heroes introduced to her by her grandfather. She hates all the stereotypes of librarians because she grew up as a military brat with a Marine father who taught her to shot and three older brothers that she has always completed with.
On an ordinary day at work, insurance agent James Lockwood comes up to the desk and asks Quinn for her help researching some pieces from a private collection. Quinn can’t believe her luck because not only is James gorgeous, but he has a British accent to die for. As Quinn becomes more involved in helping James, she realizes that all this research is not simply for insurance purposes and James has not been completely truthful with her. He is not British and he is not an insurance agent.
As Quinn and James work together to solve an important puzzle to stop an international arms dealer from acquiring nuclear material, Quinn’s intelligence and abilities become a major asset. She is very capable of thinking on her feet and James becomes even more impressed.
Their cover and flirting as a married couple leads to real feelings that they try to control until the end of their mission. This story has a lot of witty banter, flirting and a steady buildup of their chemistry to a relationship. No sex until the end and it is behind closed doors when it does happen. Even when the plot has been resolved, there is a great twist at the end of the book.
I really enjoyed this book and I was very happy to see that it is a proposed series and not a standalone. I was impressed by the fact that this is Ms. Mann’s first book. A fast paced plot, interesting facts, and entertaining characters make this worth the read. I am looking forward to James and Quinn’s next outing!
I recently picked up the third book in this series and enjoyed it so much that I went and bought books one and two. This is a super fun book with great characters and a smart, fast-moving plot. I greatly enjoyed the romance and how the librarian heroine applies her knowledge and intelligence to aiding the dashing CIA spy.
My one complaint is that, after a long build-up, the ultimate bedding was glossed. Not exactly closed door, but it might as well have been. This is totally a me-thing and I know a lot of people won’t mind, but I really wanted more there. That said, it barely impinged on my overall enjoyment and I immediately went on to book 2.
Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun and flirty read!
Librarians are heroes, but I never thought I would read a romance where the Librarian not only saves the day with her brains, but with brawn as well (okay, some of the brawn she borrows from James, who has brawn to spare). Still, Quinn knows the Dewey Decimal System as well as how to shoot a gun. This is a fun, cute, action-packed thriller that made Susan Mann an auto-buy author for me.
So I read this book and I did enjoy the most of the story. The story did have it moments where it was relatively slow and that could cause someone to want to put the book down. The concept of the story is great but the layout could have used a little work. All and all I did enjoy reading the book.