Jo Macauley

It's London, 1644, and Beth Johnson is an actress and a spy. This book should have been better than it was. There's a wealth of material to mine in the life of the young actress/spy, but the creativity a character like that could bring to the story was only briefly touched upon. Honestly, this book felt more like a prequel than a full-fledged book meant to stand on its own, because it introduced us to Beth, her closest friends, her acting troupe, the spy master, and some new friends. What it show more didn't do was have a mystery that held my attention for the entire book, probably because things seemed to be solved far too easily.

The book--and character--have potential but they don't live up to it.

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{my thoughts} – This book was incredibly enjoyable. It takes place during 1664 when King Charles II is ruling over England. The main character is Beth and she is a spy for one of the King’s associates. Throughout the book she is sent on task after task, mostly simple missions that she feels are a waste of her skills as a spy. Towards the middle of the book she is sent on a more promising mission and things become more interesting when it comes to life and death circumstances.

Along the show more way she has a friend named Maisie that was introduced is a sort of younger sibling and an older woman named Moll that allows her the privilege of Boarding with Maisie above her tavern. Moll also was introduced as a mother like figure. Beth seemed to have had a rough go at life as she had been abandoned at a church as a small baby and then adopted by a nice family that had passed away when she was a young child. She was taken in by a neighbor but was treated poorly and like she was less then a person and wasn’t important in the least. When she got old enough she ran away and somehow ended up falling into the spy trade.

The biggest mission she is sent on has so many twists and turns. It begins with investigating a ship and ends with an attempt on King Charles II’s life. If you want to find out what happens with Beth on her mission and if she succeeds in saving the King’s life you will need to read the book. I personally look forward to reading book II in the series as this was a wonderful read! show less

There was nothing wrong with this book. It just didn't hold my attention. I kept wanting to put it down and find something else to do. I really was hoping for more from this book. It just wasn't my kind of book.