The Forbidden Rose (The Spymaster Series)

I love Joanna Bourne. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed her first two books - The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster - I didn't expect to like this one quite as much. I'm happy to report I loved it just as much. Maybe more? THE FORBIDDEN ROSE is set during the turmoil of the French Revolution. Marguerite de Fleurignac is a French aristocrat who smuggles people who would otherwise be sent to the guillotine out of the country. When her château is burned to the ground, Maggie flees to her home in Paris where she intends to warn the other people in her smuggling network that their identities have been compromised. The hero, William Doyle, arrives in time to help her get away. He pretends to be a traveling book seller, but he is in truth a British spy who is using Maggie to find her father, who he believes is linked to the assassinations of several British agents. First off, I love the setting. The French Revolution? I'm intrigued. I've discovered over the last year that, in order for me to enjoy a historical romance, there must be some type of conflict other than the ups and downs of the romance. There is conflict aplenty in this book - in all of Bourne's books actually. She does a great job of exploring the Revolution, making it seem real and horrible. I found myself wanting to learn more about the time period and about Robespierre. It's been a long time since I had a history class, and honestly, the only thing I can remember from high school text books is that the French Revolution was a victory for the people. The monarchy was overthrown. That sounds good, right? Like when the American colonies overthrew King George? Well, there's definitely an ugly, bloody side to the French Revolution that I, in my sunny little world, didn't think much about. This book brought that to life. This is not to say the book is overly violent or anything, but it... well, it makes you think. The second thing I love about this book: Maggie. It might seem odd to describe a woman in a historical romance as a "kick-ass heroine", but that's exactly the type of character Maggie is. No, she doesn't go running around swinging swords, casting spells, or beating villains up like the women in urban fantasy do, but I love her just as much. She's resourceful, brave, stoic, compassionate. She doesn't let people boss her around. She doesn't wait around for a man to come along and save her. She takes matters into her own hands and she does things. She is not helpless as so many other historical romance heroines are. Thing number three: Justine and Adrian. Sidekicks for the win! Adrian is Doyle's spy-in-training. Justine is... complicated. She works for the Secret Police, which I think is a French spy network? She's also a member of Maggie's smuggling network. She has an interesting past and an interesting future, I believe. I've read on Bourne's blog about "Justine's book". I'm now extremely excited to read that story. I loved both her and Adrian, and I'm fairly certain

I don't know if Joanna Bourne's novels about the French Revolution will gain the fame of Baroness Orczy's THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL or Rafael Sabatini's SCARAMOUCHE but I certainly have enjoyed them very, very much. She writes well enough that her novels deserve to come out first in hardcover or at least in trade paperback, rather than mass market paperback. THE FORBIDDEN ROSE is the prequel to Bourne's previously published novels taking place during the French Revolution, THE SPYMASTER'S LADY and MY LORD AND SPYMASTER and is equal in excellence to them. This one has hero William Doyle, (a.k.a., Guillaume LeBreton) as a British spy in France and heroine Marguerite de Fleurignac, French aristocrat and counter-revolutionary. (BTW, an interesting aside, there is actually a real William Doyle, author of the nonfiction tome, THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Was this the author's way to send kudos to him?) Bourne's novel is chock-full of excitement, intrigue, spies, counter-spies and enough action to keep you reading well into the night. And she does all this while providing the romance lover with an exceptionally well-written love story at the same time. I won't go into the plot itself. That has been done pretty thoroughly by the reviewers before me. I'm just adding my 5 stars to the mix. This book is just such a welcome relief to me after the wave of releases recently that do not deserve to have the adjective "historical" in their genre description. Add to that the fact that it is beautifully written and you have a superior historical romance.

I discovered Joanna Bourne from a recommendation on the Georgette Heyer list-serve a few years ago, and she has become one of my absolute favorite authors. Unlike many romance authors she can actually write. Her style is clean, elegant and witty. The books are well researched, and each of the plots completely engrossing. When I finished reading "The Spymasters Lady, (my first introduction to Bourne,) my reaction was incredulity. It was so much better than the usual offerings as to be unbelievable, the adventure, romance and story on a par with The Scarlet Pimpernel, though her writing is far superior to the Baroness's.

For those who haven't yet read The Spymaster's Lady or My Lord and Spymaster, you should know this book comes first--it is a "prequel." Unfortunately it was written last and so for those of us already fans to the series, we knew how it ended before it began as this is Doyle's and Maggie's story (and they are in the other books but later in time). It's a great tale of English spies in France and French undercover work transporting royalists out of France during the time of the Revolution and Robespierre. Marguerite is a wonderful young woman who, though raised as an aristocrat, has adapted to the times and is now doing important work that has her wearing many faces. Doyle is after her father who he believes has provided names of English to be murdered by France. When he realizes he has the daughter, he keeps her hoping she'll lead him to her father. Doyle has never allowed himself to get involved with a woman in the field. Ah, but Marguerite de Fleurignac aka Maggie is no ordinary woman. He gets aroused just looking at her and he admires her intelligence. He wants her for his own. The dialog is very witty and at times humorous. Bourne has mastered the art of suspense and her language is very colorful and well fits the era. I liked this romance as well as My Lord and Spymaster and better than The Spymaster's Lady, but I recommend reading all three. Just read this one first!

The Forbidden Rose is where Joanna Bourne continues to amaze with her thought out, somewhat complex plots and characters who will take a beating and even after all the danger and life threatening action that comes their way, they refuse to be down for the count and live to fight another day. If there is such a thing as swashbuckling spies, I would say Joanna has placed her claim on it. Marguerite de Fleurignac has been hiding in the French countryside where her family's chateau has burned to the ground. As a noblewoman, she must be careful because she is being hunted by those who want to kill her. These are important members responsible for the revolution who arrest anyone for any reason and send to the guillotine to die. Marguerite has just cause for concern, because she and her ex-lover, Jean-Paul, who is the son of the botanist of the Royal Gardens, are part of an underground network called la Fleche, where they help smuggle émigrés across the channel and into England. Marguerite's father is a mad genius hiding in Paris and is also being hunted by a select group of individuals because he maybe responsible for a group of assassinations in England. Guillaume LeBreton, and his twelve-year old servant boy Adrian Hawker, come across Marguerite and basically hold her hostage for her own safe keeping. She lies and tells them she is Maggie Duran, a former governess. Guillaume is actually an English spy by the name of William Doyle who works for the British Service and has been sent on a mission to find Maggie's father. He knows who Maggie is as soon as they meet and will gain her trust and protect her from the men who work for her cousin Victor de Fleurignac, a very high ranking official and a close friend of the bloodthirsty and righteous Robespierre. Maggie is wary of this LeBreton, who is very large, hulking, and has a long wicked scar on his cheek. But in order to arrive safely in Paris, she needs the protection and looks to Guillaume to help her, although she acts as if she doesn't need his aid. He is more than willing to help because this way Maggie will lead him to her father. As Maggie, Doyle and Hawker travel the dangerous roads to Paris, and then enter the city where one wrong move can get them kill, they are unaware that there are others watching them closely who may or may not want them dead. Maggie can't help but succumb to her passions for Gillaume, who is definitely not what he seems. They try their best to find a small piece of happiness in one another arms, but the horrors of the revolution may keep them apart forever. Joanna Bourne has such an amazing skill at writing strong characters, descriptive settings, including a mature and passionate love story. She uses a great amount of historical research to have penned an amazing book such as The Forbidden Rose. Readers of Ms. Bourne's past books have met Maggie and Doyle before in The Spymaster's Lady. The Forbidden Rose is a prequel and the story of how Maggie and Doyle first met me