ARC Review: Bound To A Spy by Sharon Cullen (All The Queen's Spies)

Title: Bound To A Spy

          (All The Queen’s Spies)

Author: Sharon Cullen

Release Date: October 24, 2017

Publisher: Random House - Loveswept

Category: Historical Romance

Type: Digital

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Sharon Cullen Website

Blurb:

A fierce Highland lass puts her life—and her heart—in the hands of a dashing British spy in this exhilarating romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Wed to a Spy.

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.

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Favorite Line(s):

“You have ruined me for any other man,” she said on a laugh.  ~  Rose  

Dialogue Highlight:

“My lord, I’d like to introduce you to Miss Rose Turner. Rose, this is Lord William Sheffield. Lord Sheffield comes to us from England and is a friend of Lord Darnley.”

“Acquaintance of Lord Darnley,” Will interjected quickly. “We went to school together, and I thought I would visit while I was passing through Edinburgh,” Will said. For some reason it was important that she know the distinction.

Rose stared up at him with barely a flicker of an eye. The tension and nervousness at supper were gone, and he had to wonder where she’d learned to hide her feelings so well.

“It’s pleased I am to meet you, Lord Sheffield,” Rose said. Her accent was more English than Scottish, telling him that she lived closer to England. Possibly she was from a border clan although that seemed improbable since Mary had been having problems with the border clans of late and probably wouldn’t be keen on inviting one of them to court.

Turner. He tried to remember if he had heard Darnley speak of trouble with any Turners but could not recall.

He sketched a short bow. “The pleasure is mine, my lady.”

She waved a small hand in the air. “You may call me Miss Turner.”

Interesting. She was not even of the peerage which would make it quite impossible for her to find a good match at court as most men were looking for ladies with noble blood.

Emma stubbornly remained by his side, and he shot her an annoyed look that she ignored.

“So you are Darnley’s man?” Rose asked.

“We went to school together,” he repeated, making it sound like they were barely acquaintances.

She nodded absently, her gaze going to the crowd behind him.

After a slight pause Will said, “Would you like to take a stroll around the room?”

Rose jerked her gaze back to him, hesitated, then nodded. He offered her his arm and they set off, leaving Emma behind.

“Lady Emma said you’re from England?” Rose asked, her attention directed to the men they passed and her tone distracted.

He found that he wanted all her attention, not just half of it, and it perturbed him that he thought this way.

“And you’re from a border clan?” he asked in return.

She jerked, then smiled. “Is it that obvious?”

He shrugged. “Maybe not to some, but I can tell by your speech. You don’t have the heavy brogue of a Highlander so I surmised that you are a Lowlander. And . .  .”Here he hesitated, not wanting to offend.

“And I don’t have the title of lady so I must be from the border clans,” she finished for him with a bright smile that drew him in. Her tone indicated that she was proud of her heritage and that it did not matter to her that she lacked the title of “lady.” She was entirely intriguing and completely foreign to him.

“Not only am I from a border clan,” she continued brightly, “I’m from the notorious Turner clan.”

Ah, such pride in her voice.

“Not too notorious,” he said. “I haven’t heard of you.”

“Then you must be living under a rock. We’re a pain in the queen’s side, not to mention Bothwell’s too.”

Bothwell was captain of Queen Mary’s guard, tasked with controlling the pesky border clans who were disgracefully rowdy and uncontrollable with their reiving and thieving on both sides of the border.

“And yet you are at court,” Will said, interested to know how a border lass made it to the queen’s court. He was beginning to think it was her charming personality.

“My mother was in the queen’s mother’s court, and it has been her wish since the moment I was born for me to serve in Mary’s court. She also said I was too wild with five brothers and no sisters.”

“Wild?” My, this is becoming more and more interesting.

“Very wild.”

Excerpt:

“Your thoughts are far off.”

Pulled back to the present Rose was astonished to find Will once again taking the opposite end of the bench she was sitting on.

“Lord Sheffield, it’s been a while.” Rose wanted to bite her tongue. She did not want him to think she’d been counting down the hours since she last saw him and she certainly did not want to remind him of the incident in the library.

His blue eyes twinkled. He was dressed all in black tonight, a raven among the parakeets in the room. The color was becoming on him, with his dark hair and mysterious ways. Somehow, she could not picture him in the bright colors that the other men tended to wear.

“I’ve been busy keeping the king busy,” he said.

She lowered her gaze, not wanting to talk or think about the blasted king.

“You were looking a bit down a moment ago, and I thought to come over and cheer you up. Although it is presumptuous of me to think that I can lift your spirits.”

She grinned. “I was thinking that I would love some fresh air.”

His gaze went to the darkened window. “It’s cold outside,” he said. “What if I take you out tomorrow? We can have a proper go-around of the gardens, unlike our other encounter with the snow.”

“I would like that,” she said.

“The gardens are beautiful in the summer. Have you seen them?”

“Sadly, no. I came to Holyrood in the fall as the blooms were fading.”

“Do you plan to be here next summer?” he asked.

She shrugged. “It depends.”

“On?”

“On whether I accomplish my mother’s wishes and find myself a husband.”

“Refreshingly honest,” he said.

“It’s a terrible trait according to my mother, but I find I can’t be any other way.”

“No innuendos cloaked in pretty words from you, eh?”

“I grew up with five brothers. I know many swear words but no innuendos.”

He laughed, a rich, deep sound that broadened her smile. “I’m sure you received quite the education at the hands of those five brothers.”

“I can set a rabbit trap. I can hit the center of a target with a well-balanced dagger. I can climb rocks and jump over creeks and I can milk a cow.” She looked around the room of prettily dressed ladies and gentlemen, all well-bred, none probably knew one end of a cow from the other.

“All admirable traits to possess,” he said.

She looked at him sharply to see if he was making fun of her or looking down upon her for her special talents. There was none of that in his frank gaze.

“Is that why you like to be outside more than inside?” he asked.

“I spent most of my youth outside. My mother had to drag me in by my braids and as soon as she wasn’t looking I was heading back out.”

“You’re a fascinating creature, Rose Turner.”

“I’m unsure how to take that statement, Will Sheffield.”

He grinned again. “It’s the highest compliment.”

“Then thank you. But I am far less interesting than a lot of the other women here who have traveled the world.”

He shrugged. “I’ve traveled the world. There are certainly wonderful sights to see and interesting people to meet, but there’s really nothing like home.”

“And where do you call home?” she asked.

“Here and there. England sometimes. France sometimes. Right now, Scotland.”

She tilted her head to study him. “And you call me interesting. I have a feeling there are many stories in that head of yours.”

“A few.” He seemed slightly uneasy at the turn in conversation. He was far more comfortable talking about her than he was about himself.

“Tell me one.”

He appeared surprised. “You should have warned me that I was here to entertain you. I would have prepared better.”

“There is not one story that you can tell me?”

“Not one that is appropriate.”

“You forget that I was raised with all brothers. Inappropriate was an everyday occurrence amongst us.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure you have plenty of stories as well.”

“I do, but we aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about you.”

He stood suddenly and held his hand out to her. She hesitated, surprised at the unexpected movement when she’d been content to sit and banter with him forever.

Slowly she put her hand in his and he raised her up. “Come,” he said. “I’m feeling the need for a breath of fresh air as well.”

She glanced back at Margaret and Emma who were both looking a bit alarmed, and waved them away. I’m fine, she mouthed. She completely trusted Will Sheffield.

Review:

Rose Turner is everything you would expect from a red-haired Scottish lass. She’s a bit mouthy; she’s not much in to the whole “Queen’s court” thing; and despite her mother’s wishes, she knows what she wants. Her family is notorious for reiving and, while she isn’t the best match possible for a titled heir, her mother still sends her to court to find a husband. She prefers to be outdoors, an oddity to most, and inadvertently stumbles upon a plan to murder the King. Her situation in knowing the information now has her in danger and also under the protection of Will Sheffield … although she doesn’t know it.

Lord Will Sheffield has been a spy for Queen Elizabeth for years. Having gone to school with Queen Mary’s husband, he possesses the perfect alibi for entrance to Queen Mary’s court. When he sees Rose discover the plot to kill Mary’s husband, he knows she is in danger if her identity is discovered. He’s been trained to accept casualties within the spy world, but the thought of the vibrant Rose as a casualty has him thinking about things that have no place in his life. Before too long, he can no longer resist the head strong woman in Queen Mary’s court. But neither can Rose resist Will. When danger creeps too close and Rose’s life is on the line, Will has to decide whether to let her go and allow one more casualty of war, or up end his entire life by admitting feelings he has no business entertaining. 

I had a little difficulty getting in to this book initially, but just a bit in and that difficulty had passed. There was quite a lot being explained and initially, I saw Rose as a bit of a weak-minded person. I couldn’t have been more wrong and glad I am of it. Rose was a lot of fun getting to know once she came out from under her fear of the King. For good reason, but her fear took over everything and it wasn’t until she built trust with a couple of the ladies in the court and comfort with Will that we were treated to her refreshing view of the world and her natural flair in bantering with Will. She is anything but what you would expect from a young miss at court and that is what makes her so enjoyable. Will is also amusing because he is set in his ways and beliefs and Rose threatens to topple all of that. They get to a point where you know the inevitable is going to happen because it simply has to. And even then, Will is still trying to deny a part of himself to both himself and Rose by participating in the moment without actually completing it. I know that is vague, but I don’t want to give anything away. Equally enjoyable was the introduction of Rose’s family. Now those are some interesting characters that I’d love to red more about. What fun and mischief they could get into.

This is the second book in ALL THE QUEEN’S SPIES series. I have not read the first and it did not interfere with my reading enjoyment at all. Rather, it made we want to read the first book because of the references of the previous characters and my curiosity to see what happened with them. A few of the secondary characters played a fairly significant part, but only a couple of them ended up breaking out into a person I would want to read more about in future. The suspense was mostly predictable, so no huge surprises here, but still enough to keep me engaged. I was questioning the Scottish slant initially because Rose exhibits very little Scottish dialect. Yes, she’s from the lowlands, but there wasn’t much to mark her as Scottish save the red hair – until her family is introduced. Overall, this book was quite a pleasant surprise with an interesting plot and equally fascinating characters. Those who love HR with an unlikely couple, a dash of mystery, a touch of suspense, and a lot of sensuality, is sure to be pleased! Ms. Cullen has a talent within HR and I am sure I will visit her writing again soon.

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/Author in exchange for an honest review.