Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey

Title: Love, Lies, and Spies
Author: Cindy Anstey
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: April 19th 2016

Summary from Goodreads:

Juliana Telford is not your average nineteenth-century young lady. She’s much more interested in researching ladybugs than marriage, fashionable dresses, or dances. So when her father sends her to London for a season, she’s determined not to form any attachments. Instead, she plans to secretly publish their research.

Spencer Northam is not the average young gentleman of leisure he appears. He is actually a spy for the War Office, and is more focused on acing his first mission than meeting eligible ladies. Fortunately, Juliana feels the same, and they agree to pretend to fall for each other. Spencer can finally focus, until he is tasked with observing Juliana’s traveling companions . . . and Juliana herself.

Review

Love, Lies, and Spies was a fun nineteenth-century based loved story full of spying, secret missions, and ladybugs!  The writing style and dialogue fits the time period of the book which in turn had me rereading sentence every now and then. My only other reservation was the amount of characters. There are lots of characters and the author switches between using first names and last names that can get confusing if you are not great with names.   The plot started off a tad slow with quite a lot of build up but once the romance and courting season started I was hooked.

Juliana Telford is full of sassy comments, witty dialogue, and a mind of her one that goes against most of the ladies of her time.  She is into science and wants to get her natural science work published.  This strong female lead was well paired with Mr. Northam, who is a strong minded, smart fellow.  The connection and dynamic between the two characters is truly what makes the story. The spying aspects are a nice addition and felt like a welcomed secondary plot but never overtook the romance.

Love, Lies, and Spies was an enjoyable standalone that I would recommend if you are in the mood for old-fashioned English banter and a cute love story!

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

Title: These Vicious Masks
Author: Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: February 9th 2016

Summary from Goodreads:

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

Review

I can’t put my finger on the exact issue I have with the writing style but the sentence structure and flow slowed me down. These Vicious Masks was hard to get into, both the writing and slow introduction made for a tedious first couple of chapters. (I almost gave up but I had heard good things so I kept going).

While I think at times These Vicious Masks seemed to have some great innovative plot points other times it felt like a mash-up of popular tropes that feel overused. The setting and world building seemed a tad stereotypical. Along with the world, I did not really care about the characters; there was nothing wrong with them but I just did not care what happened to them. Evelyn is a strong willed female lead that is full of attitude, witty comments, and a fierce love for her sister that made her an entertaining character. (One of the aspects that kept me going throughout).

These Vicious Masks unfortunately fell flat. Conceptually it sounded like a book I would have loved but the writing style, romance, and world building did not work for me.