Marielle Lyon has a few secrets to keep. However, she enjoys the fact that gossip speaks of her being a spy for France. Feeling as though the attention will keep her safe, she continues to push for her ultimate goal. Alban Norwood, Viscount Kendale, has made it his life’s mission to right some wrongs from the past. He doesn’t trust what appears to be the truth and ferrets out undercover spies to balance the past. Marielle soon comes on his radar and all signs point to her and her duplicity, yet no one has been able to prove anything. Will Kendale be able to see through the surface to what is truly going on in Marielle life, or will he accept the book by its cover?The Counterfeit Mistress was an intriguing read that pulled you in from the first few pages. However, I soon found that our leads didn’t have a lot of chemistry between them. I wanted them to get together because I enjoy HEA stories, but The Counterfeit Mistress didn’t really have that “oomph” that I want between my h and Hs.The Counterfeit Mistress is a great stand-alone novel, and the mystery of what Marielle was hiding was a decent story line. However, even that fell a bit flat in the end of The Counterfeit Mistress. The conversations between Kendale and his friends were amusing, and the fact that Marielle thought that she was so clever compared to Kendale also provided some humor in The Counterfeit Mistress.This book was reviewed by Vanessa for Joyfully Reviewed (JR), and was provided by the publisher/author at no cost to JR for the purpose of being reviewed. Marielle is an escape from France. She was running away to stay alive. She moved to London under a false identity as to cover up who she really is and why she was running in the first place. She opened up her own printing business so help her woman friends with money and jobs. She also used the printers to send secret messages back to France about whom their leader was and why he is a horrible man. She just did not know that one day while on one of her little excursions she was be followed by a man who would change her life forever. She never thought that she would let him into her life let alone her heart. Kendale is a Viscount who feels that it is his duty to arrest all the spies in London who are from their enemy France. He followed Marielle for a long time trying to catch her in one of her spy excursions. He was not completely sure if she was a spy or just a simple woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As he was investigating her, he had to get close to her and earn her trust. He just never thought while he was getting close to her that he would want to be with her. And he never in his life thought that he would fall in love. Marielle knew from the very beginning when Kendale was following her everywhere she went. She just did not care. She went about her business like any other person, but when she had to deliver some papers to go to France, she made sure that she lost him first. She thought that he would give up on following her. That was until one day that he actually knocked on her door and introduced himself. After he introduced himself they became quite close. They even met for rendezvous in a cottage between where he lived and her house. They both kept a secret from each other though. Kendale kept the secret that the only reason why he was with her was because he was investigating her. Marielle kept from h8m the exact truth of who she truly was and what she was actually doing. By the end of the book, the truth of both Kendale and Marielle came out. They both also professed their love3 for each other. Even though Marielle was not who she said she was, she and Kendale still agreed to get married. Since I loved this author form the very beginning, I was glad to have the opportunity to read this book. It fulfilled my expectations and I cannot wait to read another book that is written by this author. Her historical romances are a page turner.
What do You think about The Counterfeit Mistress (2013)?
Wonderful tale of a young woman thrown adrift in Histories darkest times of revolution
—kayz
