THE CODE OF LOVE

Author: Cheryl Sawyer ISBN: 0451218388 5/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: SIGNET ECLIPSE
Time Period: Regency 1810-1812

To Sir Gideon Landor, an English naval prisoner, Delphine Dalgleish is a Parisian trifle, as pretty—and as useless—as a porcelain doll, who would think nothing of turning him over to the French legion. To Delphine Dalgleish, he's an ice-cool double agent whom she despises for his treachery. But these two are about to find out how wrong first impressions can be. In the midst of the Peninsular War, Sir Gideon has orders to crack the Grand Paris Cypher, a code created for Napoleon. Meanwhile the emperor himself sends Delphine on a delicate espionage mission to London. Gideon and Delphine may manage to defend their dangerous secrets, but not their hearts. As passion takes hold, it is time to decipher their own complex code of love... And still war draws them inexorably to the Peninsula, threatening their lives and testing an alliance that may prove stronger than two empires...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE CODE OF LOVE is not a book you can read lightly. There's so much historical activity and intrigue engaged throughout, that much of the time the love story seems pushed into the background. I'm not sure if its the amount of detail or the style of writing that slows the pace and requires so much intensity on the reader's part, but I do know that all the historical passages are necessary in order to show the wide chasm that Gideon and Delphine must cross if their love is to survive this explosive time and their own at-odds loyalties.

On the romance side, this is a relationship where the man is the first to tumble headlong into love, despite his clear knowledge that a relationship between them is impossible—he's an English spy and she's a devoted French patriot and Bonapartist. It was refreshing to see a man truly caught off guard in the throes of his own emotions and how it affects his ability to concentrate, his devotion to his country's cause and simply trying to live day-by-day with an all consuming love that seems to overwhelm him. I once heard it said that when a man truly falls in love, it is for always, and nothing drives this home more than in Gideon's love for Delphine. There's almost nothing he won't do to have her—and yet, he must remain true to his scruples and to his duty to his country.

Delphine, on the other hand, takes longer to realize and accept that she cares for Gideon, actually loathing him after their first meeting on the island of Mauritius. But as the two become deeply intertwined into the search for the Grand Paris Cypher and Delphine begins to see Gideon through different eyes, she knows he's a man of honesty and integrity, that he truly loves her, and her feelings slowly begin to change. But can they truly overcome their different political ideologies and overlook the differences in their loyalties enough for their love to endure? Can they bare all to each other and end the secrets that lie between them, even though it goes against their loyalties to France and England?

As I said before, this is not a book to sit and read in bits and pieces. There's so much going on here, so many situations and so many characters who play significant roles in the plot, that it does require a bit of intensity and concentration on the reader's part in order to keep abreast of it all. THE CODE OF LOVE is more historical fiction than historical romance, with a story that, I think, is more appreciated once the last page has been turned. Ms. Sawyers is a prolific writer whose knowledge of the time period and its principle players in the time of the Napoleonic Wars will be certain to bring her much praise. However, I recommend this book more to those with an interest in that history and in reading historical fiction, than I do for those who are searching for just a simple historical romance.

Nancy Davis