A Spy's Devotion

The Regency Spies of London, Book 1

By: Melanie Dickerson

Narrated by: Anna Parker-Naples

Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

In England's Regency era, manners and elegance reign in public life - but behind closed doors treason and deception thrive. Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal - and to fulfill a dying soldier's last wish by delivering his coded diary.

At the home of the Wilherns, one of England's most powerful families, Langdon attends a lavish ball where he meets their beautiful and intelligent ward, Julia Grey. Determined to maintain propriety, he keeps his distance - until the diary is stolen and all clues lead to Julia's guardian. As Langdon traces an evil plot that could be the nation's undoing, he grows ever more intrigued by the lovely young woman. And when Julia realizes that England - and the man she is falling in love with - need her help, she finds herself caught in the fray. Will the two succumb to their attraction while fighting to save their country?

©2016 Melanie Dickerson (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Clean romance

Really enjoyed this cute, clean, well-written book. I will definitely be reading more from this author as it was refreshing to read about smart and thoughtful characters for a change.

Beautiful ending

Such a sweet ending! The first 1/2 of the book moved a little slowly. Not that the book was bad, just a slow pace. The last 1/2 of the book really sped up and the ending was beautiful, sweet, and everything I love about Melanie Dickerson. The narrator did a great job with her multiple different tones and voices for different characters. Although, I found a few of her voices to detract from the character. This is a great story that I felt very comfortable to listen to with my 10 year old daughter. It is clean, sweetly romantic, with great moral principles. Has a similar feel to the movie Ever After, although a totally different plot😃. I will listen to it again (however I may skip a chapter or two in the beginning.

A good spy story to keep you guessing

I quite enjoyed this book. I struggled a little at the beginning as the narrator is different to others I listen to but it was a very satisfying listen overall.

Where is the spy story?

What a godawful book! I bought it on sale, either a Daily Deal or something, but I was still tempted to return it, which would have made it only the second book I returned in 15 years as an Audible member.

This is supposed to be a "Regency Spies" story. It's about 5% spy story and 95% handwringing. I can't marry him, he's a fiend! I can't marry him, he's to nice! I can't marry him, my cousin wants him! He'll never want me, he needs to marry money! I don't want to be a governess! I don't want to anger my uncle! Pheh. Idiocy at its worst.

Suspense!

Great drama and period piece. Well done! Reminded me of a Jane Austen but with mystery!

Took a little time

It took me a little while to grow accustomed to the narrator, but I quickly did and enjoyed listening to this book.

This could have been exciting, but...

... I can't stand repetitive angst. Every time I began to be happy with Julia's rising resistance and caught up in the excitement, she went back into the mental hand wringing, saying things that had been said multiple times before. Probably the writer wanted to keep her in period, and to build the pressure of the suffocating limitations on a woman of the time, but surely there were better ways than repetitive internal dialog and prayer.

It is a difficult task to create an exciting spy thriller that remains faithful to regency period realities for women. Even while I rooted for Julia to figure out how to save the day, and believed she could, I couldn't help checking frequently to see just how much time was left before the book would end. Had I been reading this in print, I would have skimmed past quite a bit of detail.

Excellent

I really enjoyed this one! Narrator was excellent as well! Great storyline, character development, romance, suspense and action.

Tedious

Slowest paced book I can ever remember listening to. Characters are all one dimensional. Narrator not awful, but neither is she someone I'd call enjoyable.

Religious

The description should warn people this is religious fiction. I would not have bought it had I known.

Love the suspense and intrigue.

The main characters are classically, and wonderfully crafted by the author with great supported characters playing crucial roles that makes the story really come together. The intrigue and suspense later on in the book makes the story even more captivating.

Lovely

Different than the rest of her books, but just as well written. It had a very Fane Austen feel to it, probably just because the setting is similar. I preferred Jude Mason who read her other books but you get used to this reader and just have to enjoy the story itself. Highly recommended for fans of romance, a bit of mystery, and classics.

Promising storyline

I thought this was a good story, but for me personally the whole was spoiled by too much anxt. If you don't mind a fair bit of 'I'm not good enough for him' thoughts, then hopefully you will enjoy it. Too many references to God for me too. Not a religious book, but still, a lot of 'God willing' type phrases. An interesting additional element to the romance with espionage and spying within the household. Don't want to say too much to give the story away. Maybe my review is more negative than I intended because I had high hopes of finding a series of books that are more than just romance, but the elements I have highlighted just spoiled it for me.