Pride and Petticoats (Regency Spies)

It's a classic love story. The main characters meet during the war. They should be enemies. English Lord hold dislike toward anything or anyone American. Yet this stunning American is somehow different... Love, danger, jealousy, adventure. This book has it all. Shana Galen leads her readers on the path of mind blowing romance. Very heart warming!

Ms. Galen's second effort is just as charming and entertaining as her first "When Dashing Met Danger." Not only do we get to visit with old friends once again...we are introduced to new ones with a fresh new romance to entertain us. Charlotte is desperate. She has lost her father and brother to the British and their miserable war. If only her brother and father had not been forced to try to rush the blockade...but they did and now she has lost everything. Not knowing where to turn, she and her faithful maid Addy sail for England and hopefully her brother's childhood friend Cade Pettigru. She has no idea she's about to have to face her prejudice and be tested by the one man that not only fires her temper...but her passions as well. Will she be able to see Freddie for the man he is or will she let her preconceived ideas get in the way of a love only she can imagine? Lord Freddie Dewhurst is not who he seems and he relies on this for he is a spy for the British government. His role as a Pink of the Ton is half contrived half his true self. When he has to pose as a married man to a Yankee upstart he questions whether he has the skills to pull it off. Charlotte gets his temper up as no one ever has! She also makes him feel things he never thought possible. Will a war between countries and a prejudice for two countries powerful enough to prevent these two strong people from finding a love that's true? This was a very entertaining read. Ms. Galen has taken a very timely issue of nationality prejudice and worked it into a story that will capture the reader's attention. We get a chance to visit with Lucia and her Alex (When Dashing Met Danger) once again. This was a very romantic read and Ms. Galen has captured the time period and it's issues in a very endearing way.

Freddie Dewhurst is a dandy, with a capital D-A-N-D-Y. Attire, attitude, and appearance are everything. Appearances, however, can be deceiving, and behind Freddie's puffed-up façade is a loyal British spy. Who, then, could be a worse match for him than an uncouth, uncultured, unfashionable American? Charlotte Burton has no love for the British. More like raging hatred. They are, after all, responsible for the deaths of her father and brother. It is only under the most desperate of circumstances that she ventures to London to make one last effort to restore her finances. On the day of her arrival she gets caught in the middle of a spy-hunt. Her family friend--the sought after spy--escapes, promising to return for her but leaving her in the custody of two British spies. Namely Freddie and his cousin. Freddie's mission is to capture the escaped spy before the traitor can sell vital British codes to the French. Charlotte's is to protect her friend--and herself--from yet another British-inflicted fate. Freddie's superior at the Foreign Office comes up with a plan to draw the spy out: Freddie and Charlotte will pretend to be married and madly in love. Though neither likes the idea, they finally agree that this is the only way for both to get what they want. Freddie will get the spy that holds British lives in his grasp. Charlotte will get one thousand pounds for her troubles and the assurance that Freddie will give her friend a fair chance at proving his innocence. The sham marriage soon turns steamy as Freddie's kisses make Charlotte forget why she hates the British and Charlotte's fire and vitality make Freddie long to break rules he'd always held so sacred. Despite meddling mothers, battles of wit, and years of pride and prejudice Freddie and Charlotte draw closer and closer as the charade continues. And when it comes down to it, each will have to make the choice between love and country. A sensual and seductive tale, Pride and Petticoats weaves together intrigue, passion, and a nobly flawed hero and heroine that come to life and beg to be read with the same investment of emotion that both characters must make in the end. If you are looking for a masterpiece of historical romance lyrically told and fiery enough to singe your fingers, then look no further than Pride and Petticoats.

In 1813, American Charlotte Burton arrives in London to see hometown friend Cade Pettigru and to save her family firm Burton Shipping which is in near ruin due to her father's gambling and womanizing and now the death of her sire and her brother caught smuggling. Several men burst into Cade's room; he kills one before fleeing. Cousins Sir Sebastian Middleton and Lord Alfred "Freddie" Dewhurst take Charlotte prisoner until they can figure out where she fits in this espionage case. Freddie, who is immediately attracted to the Yank, insists that Cade stole coded messages that he plans to sell to the French if he obtains the code definitions. His Foreign Office boss Lord Edwards directs Freddie to pretend he married the colonist so they can use her as bait to catch Cade. Freddie says no one would believe a dandy like him would marry an uncouth Yank, but agrees to try it. Charlotte agrees when he offers her money and the chance to prove Cade is innocent. They make the perfect couple. She scorns his heritage and he knocks American freedom limited to white males. At breakfast Freddie tells Charlotte he is her master so she dumps coffee on his lap. As his mom screams annulment, the combatants fall in love, but Cade remains a thorny issue between them. The sequel to when DASHING MET DANGER is a superb Regency romance due to the strong lead couple and interesting multifaceted perspectives on the War of 1812. The story line is at its best whenever the prime duo tears down the other's most sacred institutions with simple logic. Though the anticipated confrontation with Cade is anti-climatic, fans will enjoy the boudoir War of 1812. Harriet Klausner