This first in the Regency Spymasters series
certainly
combines some great fun elements. Lord Cosmo Dunsmore
can't
believe his eyes when an angel falls from the sky in front
of him. Maybe it's the fault of his good French brandy.
Mari Lamarre however is an aeronaut, a daredevil who jumps
with a silken parachute from a balloon. SPY FALL involves
spying, smuggling and falling in love.
The southwest English coast is notorious for smuggling
French brandy to avoid duty, connived at by the wealthy
who
are buying the brandy. With Napoleon in power in France
there is an uneasy peace but soon the might of the French
army will be turning to invasion. Lord Cosmo's family
owns
a coastal residence, and he's not so hungover as to ignore
the fact that this French-speaking lady Mari might be a
spy. What's more, she wears riding breeches so she's no
fine debutante. Cosmo feels free to proposition her. The
lady declines, mainly because she's more interested in
seeing to her aerostation equipment. At this time her
family's balloons are filled with hydrogen, always a fire
risk, and her adventurous brothers won't be far away.
I had a smashing time learning about the early stages of
parachuting, having made a jump myself under a modern
canopy. Staging jumps during exhibitions is a way to earn
money to pursue the science; at this time the canopy
supports a wicker gondola which holds the parachutist. The
characters are all intelligent interesting people, from
Cosmo's statesman father to a neighbouring young lady
Rosie
who collects fossils and writes to science journals under
a
masculine name. Conversations are lively, often with
double meanings, and there are plenty of references to
events of the day, such as the French chess sets no longer
using a king and queen. Cosmo, like Sir Percy in The
Scarlet Pimpernel, is less drunk and more sharp then he
pretends, so the spying game also has double dealing. As
for Mari, what a fantastic heroine.
There's drama, danger and wicked bedroom scenes in this
adult romance. Lovers of historical fiction could hardly
do
better than Diana Quincy's SPY FALL.
When a fiery French parachutist lands on a drunken Lord
Cosmo Dunsmore, he surmises she’s an angel sent from
above.
But is she a spy after something far more sinister than
his
debauched soul?
A fearless parachutist is out of her depth …
Mari Lamarre is gaining fame for her daring aeronautic
endeavors, but her riskiest adventure begins when she
collides with the darkly charismatic son of the Marquess
of
Aldridge. If her mission succeeds, Cosmo’s father will be
ruined.
A rakehell falls for a dangerous woman …
Surrendering to a fierce passion, the two embark on a
torrid affair, even as Cosmo vows to protect his family at
all costs. But in doing so, will he risk losing the
captivating beauty who’s swept into his life and made off
with his heart?
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