Judith’s review of The Counterfeit Mistress (Fairbourne Quartet #3) by Madeline Hunter
THE BEAUTY. THE SPY. AND THE BEHOLDER.
From the beloved New York Times bestselling Madeline Hunter comes this riveting historical romance, in which a darkly handsome nobleman is determined to unmask a delicate and mysterious young beauty…
A refugee from the war in France, Marielle Lyon has established herself at the fringes of London society. Claiming to be the niece of an executed aristocrat, Marielle welcomes the gossip that she is a spy. The more eyes she has watching her, the better protected she is—and the better chance she has of saving her father’s life.
A warrior at heart, Alban Norwood, Viscount Kendale, would still be in uniform if not for his older brother’s untimely death. After all he’s seen, Kendale doesn’t trust the French—or their femmes fatales. He has set up a surveillance network to ferret out undercover agents, and he believes he’s found one in the delicate, mysterious Marielle.
Ready to pounce on his tempting prey, Kendale arranges a meeting with Marielle, who is more beautiful and more cunning than he anticipated. But the Viscount is ready to do whatever it takes to unmask her—even if it means playing a game of seduction.
First off, I haven’t read any of the first two novels in this series. That being said, this book worked its own brand of magic and worked just fine without knowing any of the characters from the first books. Suffice it to say that the best part of any book written by Ms Hunter is just that–it’s written by one of my favorite writers. Such a tapestry of literary effort: a warm and witty and sexy love story interwoven with the politics of the Napoleonic Era, with deft brush strokes of history overlaid with the creative efforts of a writer who quite simply knows her craft to the expert level.
This story is about a determined woman who will use any of her charms, her talents and abilities, her expertise and education as well as her considerable brains to find and rescue her father. Whatever it takes she will do. And if a sexy and equally determined nobleman gets in her path, she’ll take care of him, too, and you can take that however you like. She lived on the fringe of polite society anyway simply because she was French and the odor of a “fallen woman” served her well in her information gathering. It also put her squarely in the suspicions of Alban Norwood and even though that made things a bit uncomfortable at times, Marielle was a creative thinker and managed to make the best of many difficult situations.
If you like espionage and history and this particular era in English/European history, you will definitely like this book. And if you have read the first two novels, I am told by other reviewers that will make reading this novel just that much better. It is a story that will keep you reading non-stop, possibly on into the wee hours of the morning, just as it did for me. It was a complicated tale and that is part of its fascination for me. I like a “meaty” tale and one that doesn’t give up its secrets easily. I think you’ll like both Marielle and Alban because they will string us readers along just as deftly as they did to one another. And if you like Hunter as well as I do, you’ll probably be getting the first two books in this series as well as putting them all on your favorites list.
Be sure to pick this one up and give it the time and attention it demands and most definitely deserves. You’ll not be sorry.
I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5
The series:
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This title is available from Jove Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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