From the
acclaimed author of ‘Fallen’, comes a wildly exciting and sexy new Liar’s
Club series featuring irresistible heroes who’re out to steal their leading
ladies’ hearts! ‘The Pretender’ is the first book in this exhilarating
series.
Simon Rain was the head of a very
secret spy organization in the Regency England, called ‘The Liar’s Club’.
His recruits ranked from highborn lords to Convent Garden pickpockets, all contributing to
the efforts repelling the tyranny of Napoleon. But somehow, the secrecy of the Liars is
compromised and one after the other, ultra-secret agents are being hunted and rendered
useless. And shockingly, the most likely leak seems to be one of the Liars himself, James
Cunnington, who’s disappeared. Though, in his absence, his bank account has started
to inexplicably swell. Then, a mysterious woman calling herself Mrs. Agatha Applequist
comes to London. She seems like a lady, though her husband is never to be seen. She comes
up on Simon’s radar when she freely begins to use the money in James’ bank
account. Determined to ferret out the truth, Simon goes disguised to her house as a
chimneysweep, whom he believes to be James’ mistress.
Fear for her missing brother James
and certain unwelcome coercions force Agatha Cunnington to leave behind her brother’s
country estate that she’s made very prosperous through her sharp business acumen, and
come to London. When she discovers how difficult it is for an unmarried young woman like
herself to get even the lowliest job done, her agile and very imaginative mind creates the
fictional Mr. Mortimer Applequist, whom she declares to all and sundry to be her
often-traveling and consequently ever-absent husband. Thus, as an ordinary married woman
she’s able to traverse London unnoticed, searching for her brother. But when her
charade is about to be blown, she persuades the unsuspecting chimneysweep, a.k.a Simon, to
act the role of her husband! Now begins a game of cat and mouse between a master spy and a
very intelligent young woman – a game that grows only more perilous and interesting
by the page. Add to this a sizzling attraction between the two central characters, and the
readers have a very HOT and incandescent read in their hands!
Celeste Bradley proves her
exceptional skills as an author in this excellent but imaginative book, ‘The
Pretender’ which is a story about a master spy and an even cleverer woman, who match
wits and wisdom in a deadly game of love and life. Not only the main protagonists but also
every character in this book is very well thought out, and equally well depicted. Agatha
and Simon are two of the most intriguing protagonists ever to appear between the pages of
a book and who’re liable to simply steal away the readers’ hearts with their
intense and poignant love. Their mutual suspicions and their spying proclivities provide a
great deal of the comical and in this they’re well aided by various side characters.
As a result, ‘The Pretender’ has the combined elements of humor, suspense and
romance. The overall story is so entertaining and the glow of satisfaction after turning
the last page so great, that the slight stretch of imagination required to believe this
implausible tale is no effort at all.
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas
for The Road to Romance
March 3, 2003
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