Five Stars!
A sense of time and place is wonderfully evoked in Finley Brown’s “His Little Spy” as the reader is transported to eighteenth century Scotland and immersed in the Jacobite Rebellion.
Lady Kellina Crawford is an eighteen year old widow and a spy on the side of the King James and the plans to reinstate the Catholic king to the British throne. To be fair she’s a terrible spy what with haring off unthinkingly into dangerous situations and flashing papist symbols at all and sundry.
But what she lacks in common sense and subterfuge she more than makes up for in spirit, independence, good intentions and copious amounts of luck. Her biggest bit of good luck was having Lord Hamish MacDonald assigned as her Protector. Hamish is a strong, noble kilt-wearing hunk of deliciousness. Sadly for Kellina, she is betrothed to someone else who is none of those things. Because, of course, a woman of nobility in 1736 is not allowed to marry for love and is instead expected to be used as a pawn in financial and political machinations.
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| Well, at least she can enjoy the scenery. |
Inevitably love happens away for Kellina and Hamish. The chemistry between the two heroes sizzles and crackles on the page. Hamish swiftly recognises Kellina’s need for guardianship, protection and discipline and becomes the ‘Papa’ figure that she craves. The disciplinary spankings meted out by Hamish are exactly what Kellina needs and are wonderful to read.
Hamish, too, becomes enmeshed in the Jacobite cause as secrets and plots are unveiled deep in the Scottish Highlands. This is a fast-moving story with plenty of drama and a higher body count than is usual for a spanky romance novel. The death of one particular supporting character towards the end of the book is particularly upsetting.
That said, this is an uplifting book which ends in a happy place but with the promise of more intrigue to come. “His Little Spy” is the second book in Finley Brown’s Scottish Submission series. I hadn’t read the first book “His Sweet Curse” before reading this. It doesn’t seem to be necessary although the previous book’s protagonists, Sorcha and Edward, are part of this story. I have added “His Sweet Curse” to my virtual reading pile now. I want to be fully up to date by the time Finley Brown releases the next book in the series.
Because I hope we haven’t reached the end of her gripping retelling of the Jacobite Risings just yet.