England, 1814

When Winifred is rescued from her snow-stranded carriage by the notorious and reclusive Alistair, Marquess of Coventry, she is instantly drawn to him. Jilted by her betrothed and socially ruined by untrue rumors, Winifred is tired of paying for crimes she didn't commit and decides to play the seductress London society claims she is. Thinking a night of passion shouldn't leave any lasting effects, she instead finds her heart marked forever.

Six years later, Alistair is working for the Regent as a spy. A search for Napoleon's English supporters leads him to the beguiling Winifred, recently widowed with a young son. He hasn't forgotten how the unconventional beauty warmed his bed, and the heat between them rekindles immediately. The spymaster is determined to uncover all of plucky Winifred's secrets. Especially the one regarding her son.

Tracy’s review of For Her Spy Only (Masquerading Mistresses #2) by Robyn DeHart

Winifred and her maid have carriage trouble and are left on the side of the road while the driver goes off to get help. Fortunately for the women they are rescued by the Marquess of Coventry and taken to his home for the night. He’s not a sociable man and is brusque, his speech clipped, and he’s more interested in his books, than he is in the women.

Winifred, however, finds Alistair quite appealing. She was recently left at the altar and then smeared by her ex-fiance. He told everyone that he had caught her in the arms of her lover – a complete lie. She is now rejected by the ton and with Alistair she sees her chance to be the wanton woman she is claimed to be. Alistair isn’t stupid. He sees a beautiful woman trying to seduce him and he takes her up on it.

Six years later Alistair, who works for the Crown, is working on a case. He must use some maps to try and decode a book so he heads to the man who is the Royal Cartographer. Unfortunately he finds that man is deceased but Alistair is assisted by the man’s widow – none other than Winifred.

Winifred is shocked to see Alistair again…and scared. While she married the cartographer she only did so because she was pregnant with Alistair’s son. She doesn’t know how to tell him and as he has stated, adamantly, that he never wants children she wants to keep the two separated.

As Winifred and Alistair work together to decode his book the attraction they had years before is rekindled. Winifred, however, fears that she’s losing her heart to the man and she can’t let that happen as she knows they will part ways and then she will be heartbroken once again.

This was a short but sweet novella. The story is fast moving and kept me engaged for the entire story. I didn’t read the first book in this series so I wasn’t completely filled in on the Seven (the group of men that Alistair works with for the Crown) and not too much info was forthcoming. Despite my curiosity where the Seven was concerned I didn’t feel it took too much away from the love story that was blooming.

Alistair was not a people person and he didn’t care that he would rather have his books than a person to talk to. It made him an individual and one I could understand (sometimes I like books better than people too!). He was kind to Winifred, however, and that had me liking him all the more.

Winifred was a loving and caring woman and I liked seeing how she interacted with her son and understood his “quirks.” I thought she was perfect for Alistair.

This story had a nice blend of angst, passion and romance and I enjoyed reading it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This title is available from Entangled Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided the publisher in exchange for an honest review.