The Spymaster's Lady

By: Joanna Bourne

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

She's braved battlefields. She's stolen dispatches from under the noses of heads of state. She's played the worldly courtesan, the naive virgin, the refined British lady, even a Gypsy boy. But Annique Villiers, the elusive spy known as the Fox Cub, has finally met the one man she can't outwit...

British spymaster Robert Grey must enter France and bring back the brilliant, beautiful - and dangerous - Fox Cub. His duty is to capture her and her secrets for England. When the two natural enemies are thrown into prison, they forge an uneasy alliance to break free. But their pact is temporary and betrayal seems inevitable as the fates of nations hang in the balance.

©2008 Joanna Bourne (P)2010 Penguin Audio

One of the best romance books

If you could sum up The Spymaster's Lady in three words, what would they be?

Riveting, unforgettable, superb

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were realistic. I cared about them. I want another story about them. Even the secondary characters were compelling. The story was well written. The author has excellent command of the written word.

What about Kirsten Potter’s performance did you like?

Kirsten Potter brought all the characters to life. Her portrayal of the characters accents, French, German, and English were excellent. Her male character voices were perfect.

Any additional comments?

Joanna Bourne is a master author and Kirsten Potter is an outstanding reader.

The Spymaster's Lady

I like a well written historical romance, particularly historical romantic suspense, but so often the things that keep the couple apart are so contrived you can't even pretend to believe them. And, the women are often so weak-willed and like every other romance heroine, rejecting the man at first but in time just wanting to be dominated by the love interest. In this book the heroine is smart, strong, possesses all kinds of skills to keep her and others alive. The man and woman are spies on opposite sides so the problems of them getting together are believable. The suspense is high. And the heroine remains strong and brave to the end. And her love interest, strong himself, loves her for her strength and bravery. I hope Audible gets other books by this author! Very exciting, romantic and sexy.

The Beauty of Listener Reviews

Would you listen to The Spymaster's Lady again? Why?

Absolutely. I downloaded this book solely based on listener reviews.
I am so glad I did. Thanks audible listeners for the recommendations
So let me add to people who are thinking about downloading this book.. DO IT
you won't be sorry!

What other book might you compare The Spymaster's Lady to and why?

Closet would be Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth

What does Kirsten Potter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love her narration, she is quickly becoming on of my favourites.. She has a smooth tone to her voice, and her accents are excellent.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes I was really annoyed every time I had to pause the book. to do some work!

Any additional comments?

Reviews are important!

Great book, OUTSTANDING narration

The story is of the beautiful and cunning, French spy Annique Villiers who is trapped between an unscrupulous countryman and the handsome British spymaster Robert Grey. She eventually forms an uneasy alliance with Grey but it soon becomes apparent that Grey is after more than the elusive Albion plans (Napoleons plans to invade Britain), he burns for her as well. This story is filled with twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. But the narration rates among the best that I've heard. Kristen Potter has a husky voice that lends itself well to smoldering sex scenes. She has a variety of British accents (Cockney, aristocratic, country) but she would revert to an American accent when portraying a persons thoughts. This was extremely helpful in sorting out speech from narration from a characters thoughts. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this audible selection and look forward to more Bourne/Potter stories!!

Supremely entertaining

I read the book when it first came out and loved it. Joanna Bourne is a very gifted writer and prose-master. But the thing that makes this book such a delight to listen to is the narration. Kirsten Potter does a fabulous job with the French names and prose. She has done justice to this outstanding work of fiction.

Amazing!

I have NEVER felt a need to write a review for any book...until now. I cannot believe how engrossing, inventive, perfectly paced this novel is. I've read many other authors' works and enjoyed them but this is the first time a romance novel has so thoroughly impressed me. Other works seem so trite by comparison, with the usual he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not, ending in torrid sex romps. Here, the characters, the plots, the twists and turns, the witty dialog, the understated yet powerful love scenes, all blend together in a beautiful, vital background of political intrigue. The narration was the only thing I could fault, when the characters' voice were not quite right from one scene to the next, but that was easy to overlook, considering the excellent writing and the fact that the narrator did a great job with the female voices didn't botch the male voices by overacting but somehow let my imagination add the right level of maleness needed. I look forward to other works by Bourne and Potter!

Mixed emotions

Mixed emotions on this one.

First of all, I was disappointed that the audiobook narrator is an American and, although she does the character accents satisfactorily, the other narration is done with her American accent. I got used to it but I'd rather have British narrators.

Something happened midway through the book and Annique became mousy and uninteresting. The book had great potential with good characters and then things changed. There's a major plot line that Robert never seems to question that still makes me wonder.

Overall, not a bad book but I expected better. I'll listen to the next book in the series.

Spectacular

I loved this book in paperback and loved it more on audio. Kirsten Potter did and excellent job of reading the talented Joanna Bourne. I'd read another of either of their historical romances.

Historical spy fun!

Loved the historical aspect of this story as well as the adventure and the surprise twist to the story. I think Kirsten Potter did a great job of bringing these characters to life and her accents were fun and entertaining! Joanna Bourne can sure write a love scene that seems realistic and natral without it being trashy and vulgar. The characters are a little over the top and incredible but still so amusing that you can't help but find out more. I would love for audible to present more of Joanna Bourne's work.

So good

Great book, with a beautiful love story. This is one of my favorite re-listens. Kirsten Potter, the narrator Is fantastic. I have actually started buying books just because she narrates them.