Our last March romance is Andrea Pickens's Seduced by a Spy (Grand Central Publishing), the next book in her lady spy series. Shannon's first assignment away from Mrs. Merlin's school for young ladies and potential spies isn't exactly as she'd expected, but when she crosses paths with Alexandr Orlov, whose throat she should have slit at their last encounter, her mission goes horribly awry. Worse, her next assignment forces her into close quarters with the Russian spy at a remote castle in Scotland, where they are to protect the family of a munitions expert. Shannon already knows from a friend's spy mission that she and Orlov get along like oil and water, but to prove herself worthy of being a Merlin's Maiden, she'd work with the devil himself. Alexandr doesn't mind a bit being in Shannon's company. In fact, he'd like to be in much closer quarters, and tries to persuade her every chance he gets. But now that they're in the Highlands, someone unseen is tracking the family--a very entertaining grandmother and her two young grandchildren--they're protecting, and Alexandr and Shannon have to mix their work and play more carefully to catch a killer. Another author in recent years has done a series with heroines who are knights, and I didn't especially enjoy those. Perhaps that carried over to this one, but I had a very hard time believing in Shannon as a spy. Buying into the whole school to train female spies just didn't work for me. I found Orlov charming, a lovely hero for a historical romance, but I just didn't enjoy Shannon nearly as much, I'm afraid. This one's earned only three of Cupid's five arrows.
Until next time, happy reading!
