Monday, February 8, 2016

"A Spy's Devotion" by Melanie Dickerson



About this book:

  “In England’s Regency era, manners and elegance reign in public life—but behind closed doors treason and tawdriness thrive. Nicholas Langdon is no stranger to reserved civility or bloody barbarity. After suffering a battlefield injury, the wealthy, well-connected British officer returns home to heal—and to fulfill a dying soldier’s last wish by delivering his coded diary.
  At the home of the Wilherns, one of England’s most powerful families, Langdon attends a lavish ball where he meets their beautiful and intelligent ward, Julia Grey. Determined to maintain propriety, he keeps his distance—until the diary is stolen and all clues lead to Julia’s guardian. As Langdon traces an evil plot that could be the nation’s undoing, he grows ever more intrigued by the lovely young woman. And when Julia realizes that England—and the man she is falling in love with—need her help, she finds herself caught in the fray. Will the two succumb to their attraction while fighting to save their country?”



Series: Book #1 in “The Regency Spies of London” series.


Spiritual Content- Many prayers; Talks about God, His plans & ways, Providence, and pleasing Him; (Most) ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Julia says she rarely prays expect in church (which I don’t believe as she prays many times in this novel); Nicholas had thought to be a clergyman (but his father disapproved); A mention of a(n old) man not being a strong believer in God; A couple mentions of Bible reading & God’s Word; Mentions of an iron cross, Bibles & a book of prayers; Mentions of prayers; Mentions of church & sermons; Mentions of Christians; Mentions of angels & miracles;
*Note: A mention of “the hell hounds”; Regency sayings such as “pray tell”, etc.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘shut up’, and two forms of ‘stupid’; Lots of Pain, Blood, Bruises, being shot & attacked, along with thinking you’re dying (semi-detailed); Fighting, Knives & causing pain (up to semi-detailed); Threats of death & stabbing someone; Remembering pain (up to semi-detailed); Remembering a horse being beaten (semi-detailed); Many mentions of war & injuries (and deaths) it caused (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of drinking, drunks & brandy; Many mentions of treason, betrayal, & hangings; Mentions of assassins, murders, shooting & enemies; Mentions of gambling, debts & betting; Mentions of cigars & tobacco; A couple mentions of hunting.


Sexual Content- six hand/wrist kisses, three forehead kisses, four not-detailed kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss & four semi-detailed kisses; Thinking about kissing & Staring at lips (barely-about-not-detailed); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Touches, Nearness & Dancing (up to semi-detailed); Noticing; Flirting; Many mentions of flirting; Many mentions of reputations & compromising situations; Mentions of mean leering at women & having ungentlemanly thoughts; Many mentions of men ruining governesses & taking advantage of the ladies; Mentions of a young woman who was seduced, abandoned & now carries his child; Mentions of an older man being overly friendly with Julia (when he tries to touch her, she steps on his foot and gets away); A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of betrayal over a broken engagement; A mention of Julia possibly being attacked or molested in an unsafe area; Love, falling in love & the emotions.

-Julia Grey
-Nicholas Langdon
                                P.O.V. switches between them
                                              Set in 1811
                                                        322 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Hmmm! While very different from all the author's other novels, I enjoyed “A Spy’s Devotion”. I admit I kept checking the title page to see if this was really written by Melanie Dickerson since it was so different...no Fairy-tale element and set in Regency era. It started out slow and wasn't till about half way in that the plot picked up and my interest started. Julia was very sweet and I liked Nicholas. I didn't like Phoebe or her parents or Mr. Edgerton at all. I really liked Leorah and hope she'll have a story in this series, as she made me laugh. ;)
Julia had to learn about following God’s ways instead of society's ways, which I thought was a neat element in a regency book. “What if she followed her heart and concentrated only on obeying God’s rules, instead of society’s rules?”


See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

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