THE CHARMER

Author: Celeste Bradley ISBN: 0312999712 10/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Time Period: Regency, 1813

Collis Tremayne could make any female swoon; yet no one would guess the hidden desperation that drove him to become the most skilled spy in service to the Crown. All that stands in his way...is Rose Lacey, a confounding chit who manages to outsmart him with cunning and courage. She is the only woman he cannot melt with his smile. With every breath, he wishes he never laid eyes on her. And with every flash of her green eyes, he craves to possess her... Rose Lacey fought hard to meet the challenge of becoming a spy for the infamous Liars Club. And if it weren't for Collis Tremayne, who manages to make her blood boil with his arrogance, and leave her breathless with white hot longing, she'd achieve her dream. Now, they must work together on a secret mission to uncover a dangerous plot-one in which the very safety of England hangs in the balance. Armed with wit and wiles, they must face deadly intrigue, clever enemies, and-if they can manage not to murder one another-the intoxicating lure of unbidden passion...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Once again, Celeste Bradley hits the nail on the head and garners a Top Pick award from me. Sexy, fun, witty, dramatic, daring, charming…that's just a few of the ways to describe THE CHARMER…and it certainly charmed me.

One of the things I enjoyed most about THE CHARMER was the way in which characters from the former books in the Liars series weaved in and out so seamlessly. A perfect fit anywhere they appeared, they managed to retain their original personalities much as I remembered them from THE SPY, THE IMPOSTER, and THE PRETENDER. That's not an easy thing for a writer to accomplish.

Ms. Bradley also introduces us to some very endearing secondary characters in this story: a memorable one, in particular, the frazzled friend of the Prince Regent's, a Mr. Forsythe, a book collector and sometime absent-minded inventor. The Prince Regent, too, is included in the thick of things, engagingly and lively portrayed in all his corpulent and spoiled splendor. The barbs and quick witted bantering interchanged, not just between these characters, but with everyone involved in THE CHARMER, is enough, I think, to keep any lover of book reading smiling and well entertained.

As for the two leads, Rose and Collis, they certainly are a pair to be reckoned with. Rose is the first female spy of the Liar's (look out Uma Therman), and it was wonderful to see how she had blossomed from her defeated and abused character in THE IMPOSTER into a confident and determined young woman. Collis, too, has had his share of torment, coming back from the war maimed and uncertain about what his future will hold. When the two are thrown together on a test mission designed to measure their suitability as spies, their attraction to each other was not, in the least, surprising, nor was watching their relationship blossom into something much more than just two competitors shooting sparks at each other using verbal zingers and karate flips.

If you want a book with wonderful characters, great dialogue (I wish I could come up with some of these character's lines in my everyday life), sexual tension and sizzling love scenes in which the sex matches the characters, a smooth and sophisticated villain, and a storyline that's gripping, fun, and exciting… then THE CHARMER is sure to charm you as much as it did me. I highly recommend it!

Oh, and you don't have to read the others in this series mentioned previously above before you dig into THE CHARMER. It stands quite well enough on its own. However, if you do happen to get that book-buying urge, don't hesitate to pick them up. Trust me, you won't be sorry. I, myself, anxiously await the next offering in this delightful series, TO WED A SCANDALOUS SPY. It can't be published soon enough.

Nancy Davis