Book Review: The Pretender - by Celeste Bradley

The Pretender is the 1st book in Celeste Bradley's series of regency-era romances centered around a group of spies known as the Liar's Club.

Synopsis: Agatha Cunnington has come to London determined to find her missing brother, James. Though James has grown distant over the past several years, he is all the family she has left and the sheltered country miss is willing to risk whatever it takes to find him. Agatha's got problems, though. She has a conniving neighbor back home who wants to marry her off to his slimy son at the first opportunity. On top of that, a young unmarried lady cannot simply go gallivanting around the capital alone. So Agatha concocts a fake identity for herself: one Mrs. Mortimer Applequist. To make her disguise complete, she enlists her handsome new chimney sweep to pose as Mr. Applequist himself. Simon Raines, spymaster and chimney sweep extraordinaire, cannot believe his good fortune. As the leader of the Liar's Club, a secret ring of spies working for the Crown, he too is searching for James Cunnington. He believes that James is responsible for the recent deaths of several Liars and the leaking of critical information to the enemy. Believing that Agatha is James' mistress, he tries insinuate himself into her confidence while posing as her "husband."

This author came highly recommended to me and I was delighted with this first book. The plot is exciting and I got caught up in the drama involving the secondary characters. Bradley does a good job with character development. Often in romance, one or both of the main characters are really just character archetypes with little depth and simple motives. Bradley's heroes and heroines are complex, with many different emotional motivations based on their unique experiences and needs. Both are wary of telling the truth, but for very different reasons. Agatha is protecting her beloved brother while Simon is duty-bound to keep his mission secret. Then, when it all comes out in the open, Simon struggles with balancing his love for Agatha with his need to protect her from the dangers of being involved with a spy. For her part, Agatha is a very determined woman who selflessly loves her man. I think that's a really admirable quality. When he tries to push her away, instead of taking what she can from him and then letting him go, she focuses all of her energy on loving him and helping him to face his demons.

Favorite Parts: When Agatha "kills off" Mortimer. It's priceless. Also, the scene where "Repulsive Reggie" shows up and Simon nearly annihilates him.

I gave this book 5 stars in my LibraryThing catalog.