Rose Turner’s mother sent her to the court of Mary, Queen of Scots, to give her a better life. Raised with rowdy brothers in a notorious border clan, Rose has plenty of experience fighting and thieving—and practically none when it comes to matters of decorum and discretion. Without a single ally, she has little hope of making a good marriage to salvage her family’s reputation. But after overhearing several influential lords plotting to murder the King of Scotland, Rose meets a man after all: a handsome spy trying to shield her from danger.

As one of the Queen Elizabeth’s top agents, Will Sheffield has come up north to keep a close eye on the goings-on at Mary’s court. A consummate professional, Will notices Rose’s presence at the secret meeting . . . and he’s not the only one. The wild, naïve beauty has made a fearsome enemy—and only Will can keep her safe. But after an attempt on Rose’s life pulls them tantalizingly close, Will faces an agonizing choice between professional loyalty or powerful passion.

Rose Turner is the daughter of a border clan lord who is known for his thieving.  She was sent to court to try and find a husband.  It’s truly the last place she wants to be as she’d rather be at home taking care of animals, wearing breeches and having a good time with her five brothers.  She tries to spend as much time outside of the palace as possible but as it’s horribly cold out those times grown shorter and shorter.  During one of her outdoor times she tries to get out of the weather and uses a hidden door she knows about.  Unfortunately she happens to hear men behind a closed door plotting to kill the king.  She gets away before they see her but drops her shawl.

Will Sheffield is the son of a Viscount but he’s also one of Queen Elizabeth’s spies.  He’s been sent to Queen Mary’s court to gather information and is hidden in the shadows listening to the plot to kill the king when Rose arrives.  He knows that he has to protect her from the plotting men, but his fellow spies tell him to leave it be.  There are casualties in all their missions and she will be another.  Will doesn’t exactly feel that way and sets out to meet the beautiful Rose.

Rose and Will spend more time together and Rose starts to care for him – just as Will starts to care for her.  She is approached however, by Lord Lysle who starts to pay attention to her.  She is fine with it until Will tells her that he is one of the plotters. She has to play her cards right so that Lysle doesn’t have a clue that she is aware of his deeds. Rose is also torn – she knows she should go to the queen to tell her of the plot but if she does but is scared.

Will knows he should stay away from Rose but he finds himself falling in love with her anyway.  He knows he can’t be with her or marry her but when it comes down to doing his job or saving Rose, which will he choose?

Bound to a Spy was a lovely story of secrets and intrigue, love and romance.  I truly enjoyed reading about Rose and Will’s meeting and falling in love.  Though they both knew it was wrong to fall in love with the other they still could not stay away from each other.

Will had had a childhood with no love.  His parents had resided in London while he had lived on their country estate raised by nannies and governesses.  He knew he’d never get married nor fall in love as he didn’t believe he knew how to love someone.  It was sad to know he thought this way about himself.  He was a good man who ended up taking such good care of Rose.

Rose was a wild little thing who was clearly out of her element in the palace.  She wanted to be outside in the fresh air and not stuck sitting around doing embroidery (that she wasn’t good at). Rose may have been an outdoor girl but she still had grace and refinement and I liked the dueling parts of her personality.  When it came to Will she was a goner from the get-go.  Truly smitten from minute one and it only grew from there.

This romance flowed so nicely within the story and blended well with the intrigue aspect of it.  Cullen once again did a fantastic job of bringing us the story of Elizabeth’s spies and the love stories.  I can’t wait to read the next one as it looks to be just as good as this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Simon Marcheford wants nothing more than to settle down on the land bestowed upon him by the English crown. Queen Elizabeth, however, is not about to let her best spy retire so easily. Simon will have his reward, she decrees, after he completes one last mission in Scotland. But no sooner has he sussed out a diabolical plot up North than Queen Mary weds him to her cousin—an exquisite beauty with troubled, soulful eyes—and orders Simon to watch her every move.

Aimee de Verris is no spy. But her life may depend on becoming one. Banished from the French court by Catherine de Medici, Aimee finds herself tasked with reporting on Queen Mary’s activities in Scotland, where she’s unnerved by the frigid weather and brutish customs. Worst of all, Aimee’s been married off to a most uncouth lout. But when murder strikes, she learns to appreciate Simon’s talent for shielding her with every inch of his muscular frame. If Aimee desires her husband, perhaps she could trust him—or even love him.

Simon is an English spy in Queen Mary’s court in Scotland via his assignment in Spain.  He’s asked by the Queen to keep an eye on Aimee de Verris as Mary believes her to be a spy.  While Simon thinks that Aimee’s beautiful he has no true interest in her – nor her in him.  That doesn’t stop Queen Mary from ordering them to get married.  What?  Yep, the next day they’re married and neither is happy about it.

Aimee was raised by her aunt, Catherine de Medici, in the French court.  She fell in love with a man but when they were caught in an embrace Catherine sent Aimee to Scotland.  Catherine told Aimee that she needed to spy and if she succeeds then Catherine would let Aimee and her man be together.  Of course because Aimee believes herself to be in love with a man in France the last thing she wants to do is marry someone else.  Though she fights it she ends up marrying Simon.  She likes the man but the thought of being married to anyone but her love and an Englishman to boot is horrible.

Aimee and Simon try to deal with their marriage as best they can but when someone is killed in Queen Mary’s court they have to hide and then escape to save their own lives. While in this dire situation they get to know each other and realize that maybe they can learn to love each other.

While this book blurb was based on two spies coming together we soon learned that Aimee wasn’t anywhere near being a spy.  She was just a young girl who had been played by her aunt.  I felt horrible for her for being so used by both Catherine and in the end, Queen Mary.  She had just wanted to be left alone to be with her man, Pierre.  I was happy that she soon realized that what she thought was love with Pierre was just an infatuation and that Simon was a man she could love – and then fell in love with him.

Simon was a great guy who just wanted to be left alone to raise his young sister in the country.  His Queen had tasked him with one last mission and he never imagined where it would lead him – into matrimony.  The more time he spent with Aimee the more he liked her and soon found himself in love.  He was a good man and I was thrilled that he found love with Aimee, even if it was unexpected.

The characters in this book were interesting and intriguing.  The story was well written and sucked me in from the first page.  My one issue with the story is that the falling in love happened really quickly.  I loved that they fell in love I just wish it would have happened a bit slower – a minor issue, really.

Overall I enjoyed the book and definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5