Love and Let Spy by Shana Galen-Review, Interview and Giveaway

Love and Let Spy
Lord and Lady Spy #3
by Shana Galen
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Genre: adult, historical, romance, mystery

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 5, 2014

Her name is Bonde, Jane Bonde . . .

A beautiful and eligible member of the ton, Jane has more than a few secrets: she’s one of the Crown’s most elite agents. She may be deadly, but she doesn’t know a thing about fashion, flirtation, or love . . . until Dominic Griffyn shakes up her carefully stirred world and asks her to be his bride. He’s exactly the kind of man she’s not looking for. And he’s dangerous, because falling into his arms is so much more satisfying than saving England from her enemies.

He’s an improper gentleman who needs a wife. . .

Tall, dark, and tortured, Dominic Griffyn is haunted by demons from his past. When his stepfather insists that he marry, Dominic allows himself to hope that the beautiful but mysterious Miss Bonde might help him forget his troubles. As they grow closer, it’s clear that there’s more to Jane than danger. She might be just what his neglected heart needs.

•••••••••••••••••••••

5 out of 5 for this reader folks!

BONDE … Jane Bonde .. shaken not stirred!

Man this was one FANTASTIC book. The third book in Shana Galen’s Lord and Lady Spy series, Love and Let Spy was by far my fave (and I adored the previous books too). If you are a James Bond fan you will appreciate the parallels you will find in this book and likely chuckle at the backassward ways Shana portrays them. I am a huge Bond fan and was already a fan of this series, so this was a super fun book, full of action, loving/hot moments and a mystery left to be solved.

Jane Bonde is spy lady extraordinaire. Beyond dedicated to her job, she is completely shocked when her aunt and uncle (also the head of this spy organization) tell her she MUST marry. Frustrated already after an elusive enemy once again escapes her clutches, she is ready to refuse her uncle’s decision and dig her heels in … then she meets her betrothed.

Dominic Griffyn is one hot mess. As the step-son to a Marquess (his mother was an actress who married well when he was younger) he has been told that he must marry or be disowned. Seeing as he loves being the family horse breeder he is resentful when he is ordered to change his lifestyle. Dominic comes with a horrific past that haunts him and refuses to allow him to have a proper “society” marriage, so the prospect of marriage is a NO GO … until he meets his betrothed.

These two are so much similar in ways they can never know. Dominic knows there is something different about Jane (I mean how many ladies scale walls, sneak out at night and wear a daggers in their corsets) and decides to assist her ventures. Jane is quite peeved that this man seems to feel the need to protect her. HER .. an ELITE SPY! That and the stolen kisses, chemistry filled attraction .. really she has more important things to do … like save England!

We are brought on quite the adventure in this story. These two characters were incredible together and bit by bit the layers are peeled back. Jane shows Dominic just how different she truely is when he finally reveals his past, and she never treats him with a pitied word or too kind of hand. Many secrets are revealed, truths surface and dangers occur, but this all just adds to the anticipation and thrill I felt reading this story!

Looking for a great regency spy book with a touch of yummy! Check out the series by Shana Galen for sure!

HAPPY READING! 🙂

Reading Order
1. Lord and Lady Spy
1.5 The Spy Wore Blue
2 True Spies
3 Love and Let Spy

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Rachel T

 

TRC: Hi Shana and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of LOVE AND LET SPY.

Shana: Thanks so much for having me.

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Please tell us something about yourself?

Follow Shana: Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Shana: I’m a wife, a mom, and a former English teacher. I’ve been writing fulltime for the last 5 years, and I’ve published almost twenty books.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Shana: I’d have to say my grandmother was a big influence. She was always writing poetry and she self-published a devotional book back in the days when no one was self-publishing yet. She died in May of this year at age 95, and just a week or so before she passed away, she wrote a new poem. The love of words and writing is in my blood.

TRC: What was the factor on your decision to write historical romance?

Shana: I’ve also written two contemporaries, but I tend to gravitate toward historical romances because I’ve been told over and over that’s where my voice fits best. I also enjoy escaping this world into the world of the past. I do enjoy reading contemporary romances, but I don’t know that I’d like to live in one for 4 months while I wrote it. It might seem too much like my real life.

TRC: Which time period would you describe as the most ‘romantic’ as it pertains to historical romance?

Shana: This might seem strange considering I write Regency-set books, but I think the medieval period is the most romantic. I love the knights and the castles and the simplicity of that period. I mean, I know romance novels romanticize every period, and there wasn’t anything romantic about the plague, but in some ways the past seems simpler to me—no cell phones, racing to soccer practice, or trying to decide which of ten choices of apple to buy in the store.

TRC: When not writing, what do you do to relax?

Shana: I love to read. I wish I had more time to read. My daughter is getting a little older now, and I can actually read chapter books to her. When I get desperate, I pull out Pinkey Pie and the Ponypalooza Party, and at least I’m reading something.

TRC: LOVE AND LET SPY is the third instalment and August 2014 release in your Lord and Lady Spy series. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Shana: It’s basically James Bond, except James is Jane. She’s the best spy the Crown has to offer, and she’s single-minded when it comes to completing missions. But she doesn’t count on meeting Dominic Griffyn. He’s not the typical Bond love interest. He’s dark and complex, and I think he’s as interesting a character as Jane.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the series?

Shana: This is the last. I won’t say I’ll never do another, but I don’t have any more planned at this moment.

TRC: Do you believe an author should stay true to the time period when writing historical fiction?

Shana: It depends how you define “true to the time period.” If you mean that the characters should dress as the people then dressed and use the same conveyances, etc., yes. If you mean that women can’t play the part of a pirate or a spy in historical fiction, then no. It’s fiction, and while I do try to be as accurate as possible, I want to make my books accessible to the modern reader.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties (historical research, logistics, background) did you encounter writing this particular story and series?

Shana: I’d say the hero was the toughest to get right. He has a dark background, and without giving any spoilers, I wanted to treat that in a dignified way but still be true to the time period. He also has an affinity for horses, and I found myself researching a lot about horses and colic.

TRC: What is next for your JEWELS OF THE TON series?

Shana: I don’t have any further plans for that series either. This has been quite a year of endings for me. I wrapped up Jewels of the Ton, Lord and Lady Spy, and my Misadventures in Matrimony series.

TRC: What are your thoughts on writing a series and ending an instalment with a major cliff hanger?

Shana: I’m okay with it. I don’t do it because I always like for a new reader to pick up any of my books and be able to jump in without having read any other books in the series. But I do read books with cliffhangers, and I enjoy them. They sure make me buy the next in the series!

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Shana: At the beginning, I tend to direct the characters, and then at some point, they usually take over and direct me. Often I look back at the beginning of the book and see that my characters are not very much like I’d envisioned them on those early pages. I have to do a lot of revision. I have written books where the characters didn’t “come to life” for me until very late in the book. Those books are always tough to write and often frustrating because by the time I finally “get” the character, the book is almost done. Then I have to go back and fix it.

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Shana: If an author wants a reader to experience the same emotions as the character, the reader must identify with that character. She has to see something of herself in the hero or heroine. That’s why it’s so important for authors who write strong characters to make them vulnerable too. Writers fail to touch readers when the characters aren’t either sympathetic or relatable.

TRC: Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon. How do you handle the pressures and anxiety of writer’s block?

Shana: I don’t have writer’s block so much as a lack of time to write. Lately I’ve been overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work on my plate, and I’ve actually just avoided it. This isn’t like me at all. Normally, I make a list and just go down it, methodically checking things off. But I think it’s a mark of how overwhelmed I’ve been that I just kind of gave up for a few days. Now I’m back to my trusty to-do list.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information with other authors or friends and family. With whom do you bounce ideas?

Shana: I like to brainstorm with other authors. I have a brainstorming group with Robyn DeHart, Margo Maguire, Anne Mallory, and Emily McKay. I also brainstorm with my friends Sophie Jordan and Tera Lynn Childs.

TRC: What three things would you like to accomplish in the next five years?

Shana: I’d love to make the USA Today or NYT list. I’ve been published almost a decade, and that’s always been a goal of mine. I’d also like to go to Hawaii. I’ve never been. Finally, I’d love to spend about a month in the UK with my husband and daughter in about 10 years, so I want to start saving for that so it can become a reality.

TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?

Shana: I’ve been a vegetarian for 28 years.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Shana: I’m working on a new series, The Covent Garden Cubs. It’s about a gang of thieves and how their lives intersect with a noble family, the Derrings. The first book is Earls Just Want to Have Fun, and it’s about the Earl of Dane and a female thief, Marlowe, who disrupts his life and all his preconceived notions.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Shana: I’m also working on an anthology that will be out in October with Miranda Neville, Carolyn Jewel, and Grace Burrowes. It’s titled Christmas in The Duke’s Arms and my novella features characters from Love and Let Spy.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food chocolate chip cookies

Favorite Dessert milkduds

Favorite TV Show Downton Abbey

Last Movie You Saw thinking…Rio 2 maybe?

Favorite Musical Group the Newsboys

Dark or Milk Chocolate milk

Secret Celebrity Crush Flynn Ryder

Last Vacation Destination Disneyworld

Pet Peeve interruptions

TRC: Thank you Shana for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on all of your success.

Shana: Thanks again for hosting me!

Shana and her publicist are offering a paper copy of LOVE AND LET SPY to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

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6. Giveaway is open to USA/Canada only.

7. Giveaway runs from August 11 to August 15, 2014