Read Online Beauty Like the Night The Spymaster Series Joanna Bourne 9780425260838 Books

Product details Series The Spymaster Series (Book 6) Mass Market Paperback 304 pages Publisher Berkley (August 1, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 0425260836

Beauty Like the Night The Spymaster Series Joanna Bourne 9780425260838 Books Reviews

• A new Bourne HR is a rare and precious occurrence. I'd been looking forward to this one since the moment it was available for pre-order. It's a quality HR and if it weren't by Bourne I'd probably give it 5 stars, but it is by Bourne and is not, IMO, close to being her best work. What makes for a superior Bourne book? A really angsty, complex romance embedded in a complicated spy story, with lovely writing and very well developed characters.
  
  This new one almost fills that bill, but I found the intrigue and action to be less compelling than usual, in spite of some exciting moments with a high body count, and the romance was less angsty and emotionally complex than I was hoping for. Don't get me wrong. I think this is a very good HR. There is some great, intelligent writing here, and there are some very romantic moments. Another thing that appeals is that we meet up again with Doyle (from THE FORBIDDEN ROSE), spymaster foster father of Sevie, this book's heroine, and spies Hawker (from THE BLACK HAWK) and Pax (from ROGUE SPY). (Missing in action, unfortunately, are their loves, Marguerite, Justine and Camille. I would have loved seeing them again also.)
  
  Perhaps the best part of this story was the relationships other than the romantic one. I loved seeing Doyle and heroine Sevie together, getting better acquainted with Doyle's other children, observing Hawker and Pax's protectiveness of Sevie, and watching the hero here learn to care for his estranged wife's daughter, after years of complete indifference. So, in summary, this is definitely worth the read but is not my favorite Spymaster series book.
• FINAL DECISION The most traditional romance of the Spymasters series, Severine and Raoul's story is filled with intrigue, danger, violence and great romanticism. If this is the last of the Spymasters, it allows readers one long lingering goodbye.
  
  THE STORY Severine de Cabrillac, an orphan of Revolutionary France and previously a member of British Intelligence spends her post war years solving crimes around London. Late one night, a man breaks into her home seeking information about his murdered wife and her missing twelve year old daughter. Raoul Deverney has come to Severine because she is one of the few clues he has. When he seeks Severine's help in discovering the truth about his wife's murder, the two engage in a dance of secrets and unwanted passions.
  
  OPINION This book felt more like a traditional romance that the more recent books in this series which sometimes felt like historical fiction because of the depth of the historical context and the darkness in the book. This book feels more traditional because the focus of the book is on London and while there is political intrigue, the focus really feels personal as the story revolves around Raoul's murdered wife and missing daughter.
  
  Without being obvious or maudlin, this book serves as a wonderful conclusion to the series as we are treated to a great deal of time with the most recent heroes in the series. We get to see the whole gang working together one more time.
  
  Severine is a woman who is strong and has made her own path. The younger sister of Juntine (BLACK HAWK) and the adopted daughter of William Doyle (THE FORBIDDEN ROSE), she has grown up among the spies and intrigues of Meek Street. Determined to avoid being protected by those same men, she ran off to Spain during the War in order to work with British Military Intelligence. That experience left the expected scars on her both physically and emotionally. Now that the war has ended, she has made a life for herself solving crimes in London -- especially those where people are falsely accused.  (But she still has a hand in with her family's business).
  
  Raoul is a man searching for the murderer of his estranged wife and her missing daughter. He also has a great many secrets (which I won't reveal because that is part of the story). He is sophisticate and incredibly dangerous as Severine recognizes from the start. He is also an incredibly romantic character which I really liked because he is so different from the other heroes in this series.
  
  The story in this book maintains the grittiness of the series, but isn't quite as dark. In fact, there is some sweetness to the romance that I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed.
  
  Bourne has stated that this is the last of the Spymasters series. I believe this series was incredibly unique and I will miss the characters. If this is the end, I think that it was a wonderful opportunity to visit old friends again and wrap up things.
  
  WORTH MENTIONING Lots of appearances here by the men of the series, but not the women.
  
  CONNECTED BOOKS BEAUTY LIKE THE NIGHT is the sixth book in the Spymasters series. This story stands on its own, but the characters from prior books make significant appearances.
  
  STAR RATING I give this book 4.5 stars.
• This was a delicious book, but then most of the books in this series are. If you haven't read the books in this series, they are The Spymaster's Lady (The Spymaster Series Book 1),The Forbidden Rose (The Spymaster Series Book 2),My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster Series Book 3),The Black Hawk (The Spymaster Series Book 4),Rogue Spy (The Spymaster Series Book 5),Beauty Like the Night (The Spymaster Series).
  
  Please be aware that the books are not written in order relative to the timeline. If it were me, I would read Book #2 first, then Book #1, then Book #3, then Book #5, then Book #4, then Book #6. It won't ruin the series if you decide to read them in the series order, or if you read them according to the timeline, but if you're new to this series, it can be confusing to read about happenings in Book #1 that aren't fully explained until Book #4. Welcome to the world of Joanna Bourne.
  
  In Beauty Like the Night, we are given a delightful heroine in the now grown up sweet little Sevie (Séverine de Cabrillac) with whom we were first introduced as a four year old in Book #2 - The Forbidden Rose. At some point, Severine apparently decided to take part in the family business so to speak and spent her time in the Great Game of spying. When Sevie encounters Raoul Deverney in her bedroom in the early morning hours, we know she has met her match. He's smooth, sexy and amazingly confident in his person. Much about Raoul will remain an enigma until a ways into the book, but as usual Bourne captivates us with the storyline as Sevie sets out to try and find Raoul's missing 12 year old daughter.
  
  It seems that after Sevie "retired" from spying, she set up her own detective agency in London, so finding a 12 year old girl can't be all that hard. We soon learn that Sevie has some amazing skills that might be described as savantic, for lack of a better word. I enjoyed this book so much, I immediately began re-reading the entire series. It seems to me that Bourne is either planning to add to this series with future books or setting her readers up with characters who will grow up and have their own series. I could definitely see Pilar in a future book. She's a remarkable girl.
  
  Big plus in this book is the fact we get to revisit the characters of Doyle and Hawker.