He only wanted a duchess for a day--but she's determined to make it a marriage for life...
When his father and older brother suddenly pass away, the new Duke of Haverly is saddled with a title he never expected to bear. To thwart the plans of his scheming family, the duke impulsively marries a wallflower. After all, she's meek and mild; it should be easy to sequester her in the country and get on with his life--as a secret agent for the Crown.
But his bride has other ideas. She's determined to take her place not only as his duchess but as his wife. As a duchess, she can use her position to help the lowest of society--the women forced into prostitution because they have no skills or hope. Her endeavors are not met favorably in society, nor by her husband who wishes she'd remain in the background as he ordered.
Can the duke succeed in relegating her to the sidelines of his life? When his secrets are threatened with exposure, will his new wife be an asset or a liability?
But his bride has other ideas. She's determined to take her place not only as his duchess but as his wife. As a duchess, she can use her position to help the lowest of society--the women forced into prostitution because they have no skills or hope. Her endeavors are not met favorably in society, nor by her husband who wishes she'd remain in the background as he ordered.
Can the duke succeed in relegating her to the sidelines of his life? When his secrets are threatened with exposure, will his new wife be an asset or a liability?
ISBN-13: 9780825446184
My Review
He's stubborn..She's opinionated..the sparks fly!
Another charming, delightful, romantic, and deliciously suspenseful tale from Erica Vetsch! After enjoying the first book in the Serendipity & Secrets series I had high hopes and expectations for The Gentleman Spy, which, I am pleased to say it lived up to and exceeded them.
While it did take me a couple of chapters to get into the story, namely because the shabby treatment of the heroine from the people who should have loved her most made me so mad, but when the hero and his lady met for the first time...BAM! I was so intrigued by the story I couldn't put it down. I read it until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I read it first thing after waking up. I read while I was eating. And I read while the family was watching a movie. Needless to say, I finished in less than a day. That's about as fast as I can read a 300+ page book and still get a few things done.
I, of course, loved the suspenseful threads in The Gentleman Spy but I also enjoyed that fact that much of the book features the hero and heroine as a married couple. They both have misplaced expectations when they get married and they both come with a lot of emotional baggage. It was fun, and sometimes frustrating, watching them tentatively learn about each other, slowly adjust to their new normal, and ultimately fall in love.
I've probably said it before but I'll say it again, Erica Vetsch has most successfully jumped eras with her historical romance. I wouldn't hesitate to say that she is now one of my favorite Regency authors. You really can't go wrong reading her Serendipity & Secrets series!
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Gentleman Spy by Erica Vetsch a 4.5 Bark rating.
Another charming, delightful, romantic, and deliciously suspenseful tale from Erica Vetsch! After enjoying the first book in the Serendipity & Secrets series I had high hopes and expectations for The Gentleman Spy, which, I am pleased to say it lived up to and exceeded them.
While it did take me a couple of chapters to get into the story, namely because the shabby treatment of the heroine from the people who should have loved her most made me so mad, but when the hero and his lady met for the first time...BAM! I was so intrigued by the story I couldn't put it down. I read it until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I read it first thing after waking up. I read while I was eating. And I read while the family was watching a movie. Needless to say, I finished in less than a day. That's about as fast as I can read a 300+ page book and still get a few things done.
I, of course, loved the suspenseful threads in The Gentleman Spy but I also enjoyed that fact that much of the book features the hero and heroine as a married couple. They both have misplaced expectations when they get married and they both come with a lot of emotional baggage. It was fun, and sometimes frustrating, watching them tentatively learn about each other, slowly adjust to their new normal, and ultimately fall in love.
I've probably said it before but I'll say it again, Erica Vetsch has most successfully jumped eras with her historical romance. I wouldn't hesitate to say that she is now one of my favorite Regency authors. You really can't go wrong reading her Serendipity & Secrets series!
Tell Tale Book Reviews gives The Gentleman Spy by Erica Vetsch a 4.5 Bark rating.
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
An Interview with Erica Vetsch,
Author of The Gentleman Spy
A woman who loves reading and everything about books meets a handsome, mysterious duke, gets married, and falls in love in Regency England. He even gives her a library! How can a story get better than that? In her much-anticipated follow-up to The Lost Lieutenant, The Gentleman Spy (Kregel Publications), Erica Vetsch offers readers a story they won’t be able to resist.
Q: For those who haven’t read The Lost Lieutenant, give us an introduction to Marcus Haverly.
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Marcus was such a fun character in The Lost Lieutenant because he always seemed to know more than one would think, pop up when he was needed, and be so comfortable in his own skin. He could move in a variety of circles, both high society and those of lower rank. He was mysterious, intriguing. A handsome stranger who always seemed to be in control of his situation.
I knew that in the second book, I wanted to disturb Marcus. He was much too comfortable in his role in The Lost Lieutenant, and I knew he would need to be pushed out of that to reveal more about his character. Marcus needed to learn that control is an illusion, and that when it comes to dealing with people, relationships can be untidy. |
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Q: Being the second son and single meant that no one paid much attention to Marcus’s comings and goings, which was ideal for his life as a spy for the Crown. What did his work as Crown agent entail?
Marcus is involved in both intelligence and operations for the Crown. With England engaged in a protracted war with France, the need for intelligence was great. And the home front was no different. Marcus keeps tabs on various people’s activities. I created Marcus to be a sort of “eyes and ears” of a fictional branch of the Home Office. He has a network of informants, and he has the ability to go undercover and interact with individuals who are socially distant from the salons and ballrooms of society. |
Upon occasion, Marcus has worked as a spy, infiltrating France to gather intelligence, but now that he’s the Duke of Haverly and his actions are scrutinized more closely, he fears his work as a spy is in jeopardy.
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Q: Why was it so scandalous for a woman to read books, and especially read a newspaper, during this period in history? Chivalry and the protection of women were a large part of proper English society during the Regency, and it was feared that too much academic work or exposure to the more, shall we say gritty, elements of life were both improper and could be dangerous to the “weaker female mind.” I’d like to think the men of the era had women’s best interests at heart, or at least thought they did, but I suspect it was because they were afraid of just how smart women are! |
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Of course, Charlotte thinks this notion that reading is dangerous to women is a load of twaddle, and she reads as much as she can, even though she has to hide her books from her father. When she faces a problem, she turns to books to find the answers. And when she marries, she finds joy in being given run of the house library.
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Q: A major part of the story involves coming to the aid of women involved in prostitution. That’s not a popular subject in Christian fiction. Tell us more about this aspect of the story and why you decided to make it a part of The Gentleman Spy.
Charlotte discovers early in the story that she has a half sister, the product of her father’s long affair with his mistress, and that both her sister and her sister’s mother have been tossed out to fend for themselves. Her sister, Pippa, makes the difficult choice to become a high-class prostitute in order to survive. Charlotte wants to help her newfound sister and forge a relationship with her, but Pippa doesn’t trust anyone, especially not a half sister who has all the advantages she never had growing up. |
Portraying social issues like prostitution in Christian fiction is tricky. The last thing I want to do is write an “issue book” where I’m expounding my views on a particular theme or social situation. I don’t want my story to feel as if I’m standing on a soapbox on a street corner and shouting about how the reader should sit up and take notice of my cause and my views and do something! Any social issue, whether it is the treatment of veterans as in The Lost Lieutenant or the world of prostitution and exploitation of women and the double standards of society as in The Gentleman Spy, must be organic to the story and grow out of the characters’ lives and actions.
As Christians, we cannot be blind to these issues, but for me, as a novelist, the issues must be an integral part of the story I’m writing rather than something inserted with the purpose of preaching to the reader. If one of my stories gets someone thinking about what they could do regarding a social issue, that’s great. But it isn’t the primary reason for writing the story.
As Christians, we cannot be blind to these issues, but for me, as a novelist, the issues must be an integral part of the story I’m writing rather than something inserted with the purpose of preaching to the reader. If one of my stories gets someone thinking about what they could do regarding a social issue, that’s great. But it isn’t the primary reason for writing the story.
Q: What can readers look forward to in the last installment of the series, The Indebted Earl?
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Between the release of The Gentleman Spy and The Indebted Earl, there will be a bonus novella! Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection releases in October of this year, and my novella, “Wonders of His Love,” is included. This novella takes us to Haverly Manor, the home of Marcus and Charlotte, for the Christmas season. Cilla Haverly, widow of the former heir, is wondering what her next step in life should be. Is she doomed to be the dowager’s companion forever, with no real place in society any longer? When an intriguing Scottish painter arrives to paint the portraits of the new Duke and Duchess of Haverly, he ignites in Cilla a spark of independence that has the dowager’s feathers ruffled and Cilla thinking thoughts of revolt . . . and love.
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And finally, in March of 2021, the last installment of The Serendipity & Secrets series, The Indebted Earl, arrives. The story of Sophie Haverly, younger sister of the duke, The Indebted Earl takes the reader to the Devon coast as Sophie and Captain Charles Wyvern navigate grief, survivor’s guilt, rambunctious orphans, a dear woman suffering early dementia, smugglers, and a growing love that neither is sure is proper.
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Erica Vetsch
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Erica Vetsch is a New York Times best-selling and ACFW Carol Award–winning author. She is a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota with her husband, who she claims is both her total opposite and soul mate.
Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. A self-described history geek, she has been planning her first research trip to England. |
Learn more about Erica Vetsch and her books at www.ericavetsch.com.
She can also be found on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Twitter (@EricaVetsch),
Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).
She can also be found on Facebook (@EricaVetschAuthor), Twitter (@EricaVetsch),
Instagram (@EricaVetsch) and Pinterest (Erica Vetsch).
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