With much to recommend this novel, I'm glad to report that FROM LONDON WITH LOVE was delightful, full of hilarious conversations and delicious characters. I loved Emilia from the start--who wouldn't!--and grew to love Sparrow as well. The villains, of course, were dastardly and gave good chase to our main characters. It was filled with suspense as the story continued--I had to do some of my own sleuthing to figure out what was going on, what with all the connections. I'm happy to report that it all turned out okay!

Emilia is determined to marry for convenience. She's had enough of this love business--getting over getting dumped was hard. This time she'd prefer to keep her emotions out of it. Her partner may be somewhat standoffish and a prude, but hey, he's going to take her traveling.

She should never have listened to the voice whispering in her ear. Yes, that would be her former fiance, Mr. Sparrow, claiming her attention. She never expected his next move...and neither did I.

Let's just say that circumstances change, the main characters find out a lot about each other, and the suspense surprised and delighted me. I seem to be on somewhat of a historical kick, and Diana Quincy hit the spot with her colorful narrative and divinely inspired characters. Thanks for the read, and I look forward to your next!

It has been a while since I last read a historical romance and the first sentence of the summary captured my attention immediately. It made me want to just find out more.

From London With Love does not disappoint. I'm utterly captured by the characters and the story. The book started with Emilia being kidnapped by Sparrow, the man who broke their engagement five years ago. The thing that I like about reading this book is that I get to guess who the culprit was as the story progresses. I must say that even though it is quite obvious, the process is still enjoyable. It's also fun to read about both Emilia and Sparrow, how they deny their attraction only to come together again in the end.

Although this is book 3 of the series, I have absolutely no issues with reading this as a standalone. I actually finished this book in two sittings but procrastination got the better of me and I only managed to write the review now. Would I recommend this book? Definitely with those who wants to have an enjoyable and light reading.

I had high hopes for this book. I liked the catchy title and the cover, which what initially captured my attention. The first chapter turned me off the story. I did not get how Sparrow just grabbed her from the church but it wasn't even done romantically. Ick! The story turned out t be okay, though. The romance was sweet and okay. But nothing that blew me away.

'He was no Prince Charming. More like Prince Misery and Disappointment.'

Interesting if somewhat harsh words for someone who thinks they're saving your life!
Jilted and left at the altar five years earlier, Emilia St. George is sure that this time her marriage to the grandson to a Duke, Honorable Edmund Worsely, will go without a hitch. That is until Emilia's former fiancée jiltee, Hamilton Sparrow turns up at the wedding and kidnaps her just as she's about to walk down the aisle. Sparrow, a former spy for the crown had spotted an assassin in the wedding crowd, and he appears to be tracking Emilia. Sparrow needs to get Emilia out of there, even if he does have to 'scoop her off her feet, and toss her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.'
Mind you, Emilia has had the mantra, 'You can do this' running through her head as she's standing in the church vestibule, so what's the real story here?
Somewhat hilarious despite the dangerous events that crowd the pace, Emilia finds herself reluctantly drawn to her cad of an ex-fiance! After all what sort of a man jilts you, and then kidnaps you just as your life is about to settle into an ordered if somewhat mundane path, and by the way who on earth would want to kill her?
By the way, I am loving the James Bond play on Quincy's titles for this series.
Adds to the piquancy and underlying humour of the novels.

A NetGalley ARC
(February 2017)

From London With Love is a fun, easy read. It's a historical romance mixed with adventure and suspense. Unlike most historical novels, the female lead a is strong and intelligent woman who is not afraid to give her opinion, or go after the man she wants. With sizzling romance, murder, spies and assassins, you won't be able to put this book down!

Grade - C+/3.5 stars

This third book in Diana Quincy’s Rebellious Brides series is an enjoyable read featuring a central couple who have known each other for years and were actually supposed to marry five years earlier – until the groom cried off on the morning of the wedding for reasons he never discussed with his betrothed. I enjoy a good second-chance romance, and this one is carried off fairly well, but I am getting just a bit tired of the hero who won’t risk his heart because “a nasty woman betrayed me/used me/broke my heart so I can never love again”. I realise that there are a plethora of such heroes in historical romances, but some of their reasons are more compelling than others, and I wasn’t completely convinced by those attributed to our hero, Hamilton Sparrow (yep – you read that right) and there were times I really wanted to tell him to just man up and get over it already.

Five years since the first time she was supposed to walk down the aisle, Emilia St. George is about to attempt the trip again, this time in order to marry Mr Edmund Worsley, the grandson of the Duke of Arthingon. But before she can get as far as taking the first step, her erstwhile bridegroom suddenly reappears, informs her that her life may be in danger and insists that she leaves with him immediately. Once Emilia has stopped laughing, she refuses in no uncertain terms, and Sparrow, a man who is by no means as puny as his namesake, is left with no alternative than to bodily haul her out of the church and into his waiting carriage.

When they are attacked by a man Sparrow knows to be a highly-paid assassin, Emilia starts to take the possibility of a threat to her life seriously – and to wonder who could be trying to kill her. She’s her father’s only child and heir to his immense fortune, but her fiancé does not want for money, and besides, if she were to die before their wedding he’d get nothing, so he doesn’t have a motive. But if something should happen to her, her father’s heir would be her cousin, Dominick Ware, a man with a shady past, a tendency to disappear, and who, for reasons we don’t learn in this book, is suspected of killing his own parents. It doesn’t help that when Sparrow was attacked by the assassin, Emilia bashed the man’s head in with a rock, so they’re unable to interrogate him due to the fact that he’s unconscious and probably near death. Sparrow and Emilia agree that Ware needs to be found and questioned – but first, they must return to Emilia’s home to lay the whole matter before her father and arrange for Emilia’s protection, so leaving a man with important information and a potentially fatal head wound in the care of trusted servants, the couple heads back to town.

Emilia is well aware that she is marrying Worsley for reasons other than love. Her dearest wish is to travel – first to Paris, then Italy and perhaps Greece – and seeing that her husband-to-be is a diplomat, she is looking forward to visting many different places to study their art and culture. She’s a highly skilled artist and her dearest wish is to complete the copy of a painting she had worked on with her beloved grandfather, but which was left unfinished at his death. (That isn’t to say she’s a forger – art students frequently copy the masters in order to gain an understanding of the techniques employed so that they can use them to develop their own skill). When one particular painting (called Portrait of a Youth in Profile) goes missing – and then turns up in the collection of the notorious reprobate (and friend of Sparrow’s) the Duke of Sunderford – there’s yet another layer of intrigue added to the mix, as it seems that Emilia and Sparrow have not only to discover who is out harm her, but also to find out who could have gained access to her studio and then passed off her copy of the Portrait as an original Italian masterwork.

The identity of the villain isn’t too difficult to guess, so the story is as much a ‘whydunnit’ as it is a ‘whodunnit’, and there’s plenty of action and interesting revelations to keep things trundling nicely along. The relationship between Emilia and Sparrow is well-realised; the sparks fly from the outset, and the author allows them time to get to know each other again for the people they really are. The problem is that they are both characters I’ve read hundreds of times before; Emilia is ashamed of her vibrant red hair (afraid it makes her look like a whore), thinks she’s too plump (which of course, she’s not, she’s built like a goddess), and believes that because men don’t want wives with minds of their own, she must simper around her fiancé and defer to his obviously more informed opinions, whereas the real her is vibrant, clever and passionate. I did, however, like that Emilia felt able to be herself with Sparrow because, not having anything to lose or prove, she didn’t have to pretend to be something she wasn’t; and that Sparrow came to see and fully appreciate her for the woman she really is and to see what he’d lost by not marrying her when he had the chance.

But in terms of the characterisation, Sparrow is similarly stereotypical. He’s knee-weakeningly gorgeous (of course) but a woman done him wrong so he has sworn off love and just sleeps around instead. He’s also recently inherited an impoverished title, so has resigned from the job he loves – as a Home Office agent – in order take up the reins of his crumbling estates and see if there’s any way he can possibly hold back the tide of debt about to engulf him. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the evil woman who broke his heart was a spy who leaked valuable information to the French which caused the capture, torture and deaths of a number of his men. Sparrow is thus guilt-ridden as well as debt-ridden, so even if he did have a heart to give to Emilia, he would still not be worthy of her.

To sum up, From London With Love is fast-moving and entertaining romp, and I certainly didn’t dislike it. But it relies on too many conveniences and contrivances for the plot to work, and I got particularly stuck on the fact that the paid assassin Sparrow spots at the beginning is so expediently incapacitated, forcing Sparrow and Emilia to solve the mystery on their own. I also couldn’t get past the fact that SHE BASHED HIS HEAD IN WITH A ROCK – yet they expect him to be able to spill the beans when he recovers. The ending falls into the “how convenient” category, too, with the baddie abducting Emilia when Sparrow is conveniently away from London (interrogating rock-guy who has made an amazing recovery), yet he somehow miraculously manages to get to the destination in time to Save The Day.

Diana Quincy is a good storyteller and can certainly create strong, attractive characters, but From London With Love is nothing new and the author doesn’t manage to transcend the tropes. I’ll keep an eye out for her future books and will probably read some of them, but she hasn’t yet convinced me to make her a place on my auto-read list.

Loved it, just loved it! Diana Quincy has once again delivered an enthralling, page-turning novel in From London With Love.
Hamilton Sparrow and Emilia St George are both strong characters with plenty of appeal. I liked the fact that Emilia was curvy snd enjoyed her food. It was a refreshing change from the lean, gamin-like heroines that populate so many romance novels.
While this is a regency novel, it is so much more and really could have been set anytime in history with equal appeal. The story is peppered with murder attempts, kidnappings and thefts, and there are plot twists aplenty. It's fast-paced and held my interest throughout. Can't wait for the next story by this author!

Emilia, the daughter of a wealthy third son, appears to be meek, biddable and plain to Edmund, her fiance. Sparrow, a viscount, appears a wealthy rake with no worries. Neither is who they appear to be. Then again, there are quite a few characters who wear false faces!
Enjoyable and lively romantic mystery! The third hit in this series is as delightful as the previous two. Filled with action, wit and drama. Loved the characters especially the two leads, Sophie, Will and Dominick! Would love Sophie to have her own story. Reads as a standalone.
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book from Netgalley and the publisher.

Best beginning of a book in forever. Hamilton Sparrow ruined her wedding day -- again. What a rat! But Emilia St. George emerges from yet another disaster, ready to marry her betrothed and somehow, have her revenge on Sparrow. This book is just so much fun, what with spies, assassins and the journey of self-discovery. I love Emilia and her ability to roll with what life brings her without ever losing her pride or spirit. When she was dumped on her first wedding day, she did not let Sparrow (or her foolish father) see that she had lost the love of her life. She channeled her passion in art and was determined to use marriage as a means to travel and see the world. Sadly, her second fiancee was not much better than the first. How she discovers his unworthiness makes a rollicking tale, with Sparrow with her every step of the way. He grows, too, and realizes that he missed the woman who was right in front of him. Dislikes. Emilia's mother -- who kept squishing her personality and true self. I can't ever get over how these wonderful Regency fathers don't see what pills they have married. Had Emilia not had such a spine, she would have lost her spirit and ended up married to a man who made her less than she deserved to be. Sparrow, on the other hand, once he figured it out, was a partner to love, cherish but never obey. (I received an ARC at NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.)

A really fun and entertaining historical read. Sparrow was an agent for the crown and when he sees a paid assassin in the crowd at Emilia’s wedding he knows he must rescue her. I really liked Sparrow and Emilia, great chemistry and Sparrow is fun and the story has plenty of drama and some steam. A good read.

Emilia St. George is furious that Hamilton Sparrow has ruined her wedding, again.
Hamilton Sparrow used to be an agent for the Crown during the war with France. Because of that, when he recognised a killer for hire, he has to remove his target.
The mystery to solve now is who wants Emilia dead and why? All our heroine wants is to travel and paint.
An intriguing mystery for our hero to solve. If he can keep his mind on the job. A very exciting time for our heroine who discovers just what she really wants.
This is the third in a series of stand alone stories.
A fun, sexy and very entertaining read.

Publisher's Description:

With wedding bells ringing and a killer stalking from the shadows, a former British spy makes up for lost time with the one that got away in this thrilling Regency romance from the author of Spy Fall and License to Wed.

Emilia St. George is moments away from marrying the admired grandson of a duke when the man who once jilted her decides to kidnap her at the altar. It’s the second time in five years Hamilton Sparrow has ruined her wedding day, and Emilia isn’t about to forgive him. The mere sight of her ex-fiancé revives painful memories—and, most regrettably, aching desires that refuse to be ignored.

Scanning the guests at Emilia’s wedding, Sparrow spots a familiar face: an assassin he recognizes from his days as a spy in France. Whisking Emilia away, he’s pleasantly surprised by her newly formed curves. Could this be the same flame-haired slip of a girl once promised to Sparrow? And does the fop she still insists on marrying realize what a prize she is? True, Sparrow left Emilia at the altar. But he’s afraid that the only way to right that particular wrong is to risk the one thing he’s always guarded: his heart.

My Thoughts:
Someone means harm to our heroine, but who?
Emilia is a very talented artistic young lady, but with her fiery tresses is considered dowdy by ton standards.
Sparrow is a former British spy who broke off their engagement and left her at the altar for reasons he was not at liberty to divulge.
I have read other books by Diana Quincy but in my opinion this one may be the best I have read.
I found this suspenseful tale of love lost and found again to be very engrossing. The characters are well developed and the storyline one of love and intrigue. The underlying suspense adds a different dimension to this intriguing tale.
I gave this book 4.75 of 5 stars for storyline and characterization and 3.5 of 5 flames for heat.
There are some extremely heated love scenes between our hero and heroine but they only add to the story rather than detract from it.
I received a complimentary digital ARC of this title via NetGalley from the publisher to read and review..
This in no way affected my opinion of this title.

'From London with Love: Rebellious Brides' by Diana Quincy is book Three in the "Rebellious Brides" series. This is the story of Emilia St. George and Hamilton Sparrow. I have been reading the series but feel you can make this a standalone book. Emilia is at the church getting ready to marry when all of a sudden she is taken by Sparrow. Sparrow was the man she was to marry a few years ago but he broke their engagement along with her heart. Now Emilia has the mind set to marry Edmund Worsley who is a grandson of a Duke. Even though there is not love there she thinks it is a good match for her. For a few minutes after realizing that Sparrow has taken her she thinks he came to realize that he loves her but that dream is busted. Sparrow was just trying to save her from someone he thought was trying to kill her. Sparrow now being reunited with Emilia starts to realize that there is more to Emilia than he first thought. This was an exciting read trying to get to the mystery of who might be out to get Emilia. Also a great book about second chances at love! "My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read."

Thanks Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept and netgalley for this ARC.

Diana Quincy's romance's are always exciting, adventurous, and the height and pinnacle of the genre. Art, love, debauchery, and passion plus so much more! Looking forward to the next book already

Diana Quincy’s From London with Love is a cute historical romance with a bit of an adventure storyline. Hamilton Sparrow jilted Emilia St. George at the alter five years ago without ever giving her any reason why he broke things off. On the day she’s set to finally marry and marry the grandson of a duke, Sparrow shows up just as she is set to walk down the aisle and abscond with her - ruining her second attempt to marry.

Sparrow kidnapped Emilia after he spotted a paid assassin at the wedding, because he realized she must be the target. He formerly worked for the Home Office, which is how he knew the identity of the assassin, and his work was why he left her at the alter five years ago. Emilia is determined to marry her betrothed and does not believe she is in danger, but Sparrow is determined to protect her. In the process, he begins to notice the woman she has become.

From London with Love is an enjoyable, but it is not a very exciting read. The pacing was a little slow and the mystery is fairly easy to figure out. Emilia and Sparrow are both interesting characters, but they did not have much chemistry. (On a she note - I wish Sparrow had a different name, because all I could think about was Jack Sparrow.)

ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley, but this review was voluntarily and honestly written

This is Emilia and Sparrow's story. She was supposed to marry him years ago but he calls it off at the last minute. She is ready to marry Edward. Sparrow kidnaps her to save her life. There are many twists and turns in their relationship. Will she marry Edward or Sparrow or go on with her life alone.? The person who wants her dead is a surprise. It was a very fast read. I really enjoyed it.

Excellent book. Sparrow and Juliana were betrothed when young, but he broke it off on the day they were to wed. Five years later as she is about to wed another, he abducts her and the adventure begins. Suspenful story.

RATED 3.5!!

Emilia St George is about to wed, finally! She is moments away from marrying a man she can at least be comfortable with, and one who can maybe take her places. she's always wanted to go. Being an artist, Emilia has a keen eye for detail, so this is her betrothed's biggest draw. Just before Emilia can set foot in the church, she finds herself being forcibly hauled off by none other than Hamilton Sparrow, a man she once loved.

At first, Emilia believes Hamilton has come for her. Pretty soon all those silly dreams vanish when Hamilton tells her that she was an intended target for execution. Since Hamilton saved her life, she knows she can trust him to get to the bottom of things and discover just who wants her killed. While on the run together, Hamilton and Emilia rekindle the flame that still burns bright between them. Will Emilia and Hamilton have a chance at something real this time or will Hamilton flee again when all matters are settled?

FROM LONDON WITH LOVE is an intense read from start to finish; it's a real page-turner. From the very second Hamilton comes into contact with Emilia, sparks fly, in more ways than one. Emilia resists him at every turn, which is only right, considering Hamilton's past treatment of matters between them. All in all, things lead to a beautiful ending. I love stories about second chances at love and FROM LONDON WITH LOVE makes my top twenty list.

If you're into "Womanizing rake gives up his roguish ways for sweet and innocent (but feisty, of course) miss" stories, this should be right up your alley. Alas, I hate those stories. The writing itself is good, and I loved the suspense element, but by the time I'd read 50 pages I just wanted to slap both characters.