REVIEW #168: Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance

Title: Spies and Prejudice
Author: Talia Vance
Publisher: Egmont
Release Date: June 11th 2013
Pages: Hardcover, 298 pages
Source: Bought

Summary from Goodreads:
Fields’ Rule #1: Don’t fall for the enemy.

Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She’s busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she’s sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.

So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her “nothing amazing,” it’s no loss for Berry. She’ll forget him in no time. She’s more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother’s death.

But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can’t Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?

With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide.

Oh, where to start with this one...  just like the summary says, Spies and Prejudice is 50% love story, 50% spy story.  When I first saw the cover and the blurb I was SO excited, I LOVE spy stories, they are actually one of the only kind of adult books I will read (those very rare occasions I do not read YA).  So I had super high hopes, maybe a little too high.

The first 50 pages were a bit rough, there were a couple of things that just seemed to be a bit of a stretch.  Berry works for her father's company helping out with cases, mainly spying on unfaithful partners, when she glimpses her mother's name in a document that her best friend's father happens to be holding.  So once I got passed the 'random' arrival of a mysterious hot guy and the fact that Berry works as a private investigator while in high school, I was able to enjoy the rest of the book.

The Romance: Predictable Love triangle
The Spy story: A bit random.  Energy drinks mixed with death threats and suicide that may have not been a suicide.
The Characters: Also a bit predictable and easily forgettable.
The Ending : Whattt??? Interesting way to go with the story and the characters.

Spies and Prejudice was hard to rate, I am still a bit torn but have decided that it was a 2.5 star book; the romance was a bit hokey and the spy story was interesting (not exactly in the best of ways).  As long as I did not over think things, I could find it entertaining enough to finish the book. If you enjoy the Gallagher Girls then I would recommend this one with reservations.