Series Name: Secret Society of Governess Spies, # 1
“Now, you have very neatly avoided telling me your name thus far.”
He was close, so close she could have stretched out her hand to touch him. Emily lifted her chin to meet those cobalt eyes, and for the first time in her life found herself speechless.
“Do not make me beg,” he said softly.
Her name tumbled from her lips before she could stop herself. “Miss Emily Leverton.”
“Emily.” He lifted his hand as if to touch one of the curls that lay on her neck but stopped himself, his fingertips hovering over her bare skin for a moment before dropping.
Holy cow! This book is FABULOUS and something I will be reading again and again.
The utterly charming Emily Leverton has a dark past and is determined to leave it behind in her respectable new role as a governess. But when she is recruited by a secret network of governesses who spy on the ton, it may just be a way to redeem the dark secrets of her past.
Straddling the worlds of the ton and the working class, as an ex-solider turned railroad magnate, Zach hunts killers for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met a woman with the brazenness to mock him. So when a saucy governess blows him a kiss he is determined to catch her, never expecting that when he does he will find an intelligent, quirky woman hiding more than her true name. As Zach peels back the layers of Emily’s lies, he falls for the street-wise woman who handles a dagger like a pro and kisses like a mistress. But when his affair with Emily intertwines with his hunt for a killer, he discovers Emily is hiding an explosive secret—one that could destroy them both.
One of the many things that I love about reading is coming across books that have the ability to blow my mind and have me obsessing over the world and characters that exist between their covers. Never Blow a Kiss is one of those books that rocked my bookworm world. I figured I would enjoy Lindsay’s debut novel, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to fall so in love with the story and characters that she has created. As you can see, I really enjoyed this book, LOL. I adored so many things about this story: its romance, this sense of mystery woven throughout the plot, and characters that are fun and complex. Never Blow a Kiss is the first book in a new series that is centred on a network of spies, who all just happen to be governesses. They are led by a mysterious woman called The Dove. Their mission is to serve justice to the upper-class men and women who think they are above the law.
Gosh, this book gave me all sorts of delightful feelings. I love the premise of the story. It was the reason why I requested this book on NetGalley. There aren’t too many Regency romances out there with a decent and unpredictable mystery component to them. This book surprised me with three really great mystery secondary stories. The first is centred around a serial killer who is on the loose in London. This killer is murdering prostitutes, and the local law enforcement has no clue who the killer is. The second mystery is about Emily and her past. Throughout the story, she alludes to this dark secret that has been haunting her, which makes her hesitant to have a romantic future with Zach. The third mystery surrounds The Dove, the woman who is in charge of this spy network. These mysteries were all well thought out, kept me guessing, and at times, at the edge of my seat. Lindsay did a brilliant job incorporating these mysteries with the love story she was telling. Neither the romance nor mystery aspects clashed with each other. They both worked beautifully together to help move the story along in a really entertaining way. The plot and all its details were well thought out. Lindsay leaves one mystery unsolved, which is the identity of The Dove, which is a great way to hook readers in and have them wanting to read the next book in the series.
The characters are amazing. Every character in this book added something to the story, whether drama, humour, or hooking readers in for future books. I loved Emily right from the moment I met her. She is street-smart, sassy, and knows how to take care of herself. I also loved the fact that she has impulse control issues because it often gets her into steamy and funny situations with Zach. What I also loved about her and Zach’s characters was that there was this role reversal in the sense that usually, it’s the hero who is a mystery, and we spend the story peeling back those layers to learn more about the hero. In this book, Zach is an open book; there are no secrets, and he isn’t hiding anything from Emily or the world. We know who he is right from the ghetto. But Emily and her past are a mystery to us. As the story progresses, those walls Emily has built slowly come down, and we begin to learn about her. This story is told from Emily and Zach’s POVs, which I loved. It’s always great seeing inside the MC’s heads and watching that internal struggle happen. I am a sucker for those moments in romances where a character’s world is rocked, and they have no idea how to deal with these strong new emotions that they are feeling.
The romance was chef-kiss perfection. I devoured the banter between Zach and Emily. It was witty, fun, and, at times, very spicy. I always adore it when a hero gives the heroine a nickname, and the name that Zach gave Emily was perfect. There are plenty of delicious tropes found in this romance. You have forbidden love, dark secrets, slow burn, and insta-lust. Right from the moment Zach and Emily spotted each other from across the ballroom, the attraction they felt for one another was hard to ignore. Every interaction between Zach and Emily was delightful and addictive. There was a sense of playfulness in their interactions that really made me happy. If you like your Regency romances on the more spicy side, this book will be right up your alley. There are plenty of intimate moments between these two that are sure to get your heart racing.
Never Blow a Kiss is a dazzling and captivating romance and a great start to what is sure to be a fabulous series.
Thank you, Forever Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
