I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I thought the hero, Simon Duval, was a heroic man every sense of the word. He was protective, honorable, kind, considerate, a leader who was respected by his men and his superiors and most of all very caring. The heroine, Suzanne Duval, Comtesse de Chambron, is free from slavery, but she’s been living in poverty in London. Suzanne is not the fragile woman you’d think her to be after enduring the things she has, but, she can’t stand any man’s overtures.

We first met Suzanne in the third book, Once a Scoundrel, when she helped to rescue the heroine, Lady Aurora Lawrence, from the harem in which they were both imprisoned. Suzanne had spent years enduring torture in the harem where she was owned by one of the cruelest men alive. Before that, she had been married, at fifteen, to a cold, unfeeling aristocrat who took her young, tender love and promptly cheated on her and treated her with disrespect and disdain. She went from that directly into slavery where she did what she had to in order to survive. Suzanne is native French, but with the Napoleonic wars going on, she asked to be returned to England when she was rescued. Even the French émigré’s won’t accept her when she returns – in their eyes, she is ruined – a whore – not fit for polite company. So, she supports herself by taking in piecework.

Colonel Simon Duval had met Suzanne at her wedding when she was marrying his much, much older cousin. He was seventeen and she was fifteen and they became friends. All these years later he has learned about Suzanne’s life and her return to London. He plans to find her and assure that she is well – and maybe even help her if he can. Simon has seen years of war and cruelty – death beyond measure – including the woman he loved. He thinks he’s unfeeling, he doesn’t even feel desire anymore.

When Simon visits Suzanne at her boarding house and they talk a bit, he surprises himself by asking her to marry him. It will be totally in name only with no physical intimacies at all. He wants a friend, someone to spend his life with, but no romance. That should work out for both of them because she cannot bear the idea of any man touching her. It takes a bit, but he manages to convince her that it can work - and even gives her an out and stability if it doesn't. Poor man -- he doesn't count on his desire reawakening -- now what is he going to do!

I’ve seen some reviews that said the first part of the book was too slow – at least the part about coming to physical intimacy. I disagree. I think Simon was wonderful in the way he dealt with Suzanne and I think if you put yourself in Suzanne’s shoes – having had unspeakable sexual tortures visited upon her by a sadistic man – you’d realize that Simon has to be very slow in reawakening her desire. Frankly, it is a wonder it ever happened. The other parts of the story beginning-to-end weren't slow at all.

Once they traveled to Brussels, the action really picked up. The very real danger in Belgium and France comes across in the actions and descriptions in the book. Suzanne shows her bravery – as does Simon. Each makes their own significant contributions to the war effort after Napoleon escapes from Elba.

I loved that this book wasn’t about insta-lust. I loved that the love and intimacy grew over time until they were both ready for it. That made the romance so very believable.

One thing that came out of the blue and just threw me – one of those 'Say-What' kinds of things – had to do with Lucas and his ‘gift’. I didn’t see a need for it in the story – but – I can only assume that it will have something to do with a future book focusing on Lucas. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Suzanne Duval is a survivor. She survived marriage to a man more than twice her age who felt women were interchangeable. She survived captivity as a harem slave to a cruel reis. As this book opens, she is surviving poverty by taking in mending, but at least she is free. Simon Duval was cousin to Suzanne's husband and closer to her age. Since Napoleon is now sequestered in Elba, Simon is cashing out of the army. He served well in the Peninsular Wars as an intelligence officer. Suzanne and Simon became friends while she was waiting for her wedding to His cousin and falling half in love with her. He finds her and offers a marriage of convenience, knowing she deserves a better life and to give them time to become reacquainted. Every husband should have some of Simon in them. He is very patient with Suzanne, a wonderful quality in a husband. I don't want to give any more details, don't like spoilers in reviews, but I do highly recommend this book. It is the fourth book in the Rogues Redeemed series, and I feel the best one. It has great characters, is action packed, full of danger, and of course romance. I absolutely loved it!

Mary Jo Putney does it again! This Redeemable Rogues series is fantastic and Simon and xxx is another treat for the literary senses. A battered by fierce and determined beauty and a smart and sincere handsome spy find their HEA amid the smoke of the final days of Napoleon’s tyranny and Wellington’s victory (with the help of countless allied forces). It’s good stuff!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The start of this book was so utterly dull, that I couldn't make it past the first few chapters. I haven't read many in this series, so perhaps that is part of the issue. Also, based on the cover, I was expecting something adventurous from page 1, but I did not get this. Perhaps if I had read the other books and had altered my expectations of the book, then I would have been able to find a way into this book. and enjoy it as I really enjoy Putney's writing!

Once a Spy by Mary Jo Putney is the fourth book in the Rogues Redeemed series. Quite frankly it could be read as a stand alone, but it is a Mary Jo Putney book, so why not read theme all. Simon and Suzanne Duval are a couple that really makes you realize how much work can go into a marriage, but not in a bad way. It reminded me of how life just doesn’t stand still.

Simon Duval was a spy during the war with Napoleon. He was captured and held for killing the next day when he and some others escaped. Simon finally was able to leave the army and heard the widow of his cousin was in England. When he went to visit her, he saw Suzanne’s reduced circumstances and offered her a marriage of companionship and comfort. Suzanne’s scars from her past are a huge barrier, but Simon is persistent. Suzanne and Simon set off on a trip only to find how much they really love each other, but is that enough.

I love the relationship and strength between Suzanne and Simon. I found them both strong, resilient yet damaged by the past. I think they are what made this book so remarkable. Once a Spy by Mary Jo Putney was a good read!

This was a great addition to Rogues Redeemed series. Based around the time when Napoleon has been sent to Elba and the army are weary from war, Colonel Simon Duval resigns his commission and seeks a more peaceful life. He returns to England and seeks out his cousin’s widow, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron. Suzanne has been cast out by her fellow French émigré having been captured by pirates and forced to live a horrible life in a harem. Following Napolean’s escape from Elba, Wellington asks Suzanne and Simon to seek out information, which could avert a war. Together they learn to love and heal their scars. I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. All comments are my own.

A fine addition to the Rogues Redeemed series. Putney writes a great swashbuckler. As with other books in this series, the characters are well developed and likable and the plot is full of twists.

In early 1915, with Napoleon locked securely away on Elba, Colonel Simon Duval is ready to leave the army. When he finds his cousins widow living in straightened circumstances, he immediately offers marriage. Both Simon and Suzanne have been bruised by life, but they agree to an unconventional union--which quickly begins to be something more. But the army is not done with Simon. Before many months have passed, they will both face a great deal of danger.

After a disappointing previous book in the series, this is a return to form. Well-rounded characters, tense plotting, and a believable romance make for a very satisfying story.

When he was young, Simon Duval struck up a friendship with his cousin’s French wife, Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron. Years later he finds her eeking out a living as a seamstress in London. He proposes marriage and at first Suzanne refuses because of the abuse she had suffered first by her dead husband, then as a harem slave. She wants nothing to do with men, but there's something about Simon that she trusts. When he says they can have a marriage of friendship, she finally agrees. When the newlyweds travel to Brussels, Simon is once again asked by Duke Wellington to scout the countryside to find out what direction Napoleon will march his army.

I nearly gave up on this book because nothing really happens until the 80% mark. I understand Suzanne has a lot of fear to overcome being with a man again, but it was drawn out way too long in my opinion. Once the war segment of the book starts, the plot really picked up and I did enjoy the last 20% of the book. I did like Simon a lot. He was an honorable, kind and compassionate hero and Suzanne did grow on me toward the end as she gains her confidence again.

Once A Spy by Mary Jo Putney

While many storylines with a Regency setting are centered on attending balls and staying respectable, the fourth book in the Rogues Redeemed series is focused on relationship challenges and political turmoil. Although a man and woman are not looking to marry, circumstances would make their union advantageous. But there are personal issues that could keep the couple from ever being truly close. With the French not willing to give up fighting surrounding countries, the lives of these two individuals are thrown into increasing dangerous chaos. I have always liked when my romances are filled with historical information, and whether the details are fact or fiction in the story, I always believed in the possibility of the events actually occurring. Mary Jo Putney makes scenes in ONCE A SPY entertaining with captivating realism.

After the many battles with France ended when Napoleon resigned as its ruler, Colonel Simon Duval is ready to live more peacefully in England. Upon meeting the widow of his cousin, he immediately thinks they should marry. It would benefit them both, as Suzanne Duval has little funds and he is lonely yet is not seeking a loving relationship. Although she had not considered getting married again, the proposition is too good to reject. As Simon and Suzanne begin a new phase of their lives as husband and wife, they also agree to do their part in making certain the French never fight the English again.

Though Simon and Suzanne knew each other years ago, both have drastically changed because of several incidents in their lives, which caused them to think there could never be more than friendship between them. I really liked how they seldom let the past dictate them in the present, which proved just how resilient they had become. Simon is one of five men who escaped after being captured during a battle, and he ends up helping the English even after getting out of their army. What previously happened to Suzanne was a terrible ordeal, yet she has not let it keep her from trying to be content. I really admired both of them for how they persevered even when a new obstacle arose, and their reactions are always honest.

From London to Brussels and other less known places, Simon and Suzanne faced quite a few threats, and I felt as though I experienced each event. Anything dealing with real historical episodes seemed very true-to-life, and I though Ms. Putney skillfully wove her own imaginative thoughts in with specific facts. Background is given to let the reader know what took place in any prior books, and I was thrilled for the glimpses of couples who have been featured in the series. Rating – 4.5 Stars

I voluntarily reviewed the book, and all comments are my honest opinion

Series: Rogues Redeemed

Publisher: Zebra Books

Releases: September 24, 2019

Purchase: https://tinyurl.com/y2mlljzz

Genre: Historical

Author website: https://maryjoputney.com/

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Set at a crucial moment in history, Colonel Simon Duval, both English and French, must once again become a spy when rumors surface of Napoleon escaping from Elba. His French wife, the widow of his murdered French second cousin, becomes his partner to ferret out information for Wellington. Suzanne Duval carries terrible memories of her past. As she works through her many demons, she only grows stronger because of Simon's patience, respect and love.. With many interesting secondary characters and the perils of political unrest, Putney's book is never boring. A definite 5 STARS read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

NOTE: I cannot post this review to Amazon and Bookbub until it is released in September. I will also post it on my website soon: katemcmurry.com. Currently it is posted on Goodreads.

5 stars
Terrific, slow-burn, Regency romance!

After many long, hazardous years as a British spy, 29-year-old Simon Duval is thoroughly burned out. Half-French and half-English, and an inheritor of great wealth on his English side, rather than joining the French Royalist army to fight Napoleon, he believed he could do more good for the cause of liberating France—and Europe—from Napoleon by serving in the British Army. After Napoleon’s abdication in 1814, Simon is finally free to resign his commission and return to England. Once in London again, he is delighted to discover that his cousin’s widow, Suzanne, is alive and well, though living in poverty while working as a low-paid seamstress to support herself.

Suzanne Duval, the Comtesse de Chambron, met and became friends with Simon 12 years earlier, just prior to her marriage at age 15 to Simon’s 30-something cousin, Jean-Louis Duval, the Comte de Chambron. In the intervening years, Suzanne’s husband fled France taking Suzanne with him. Their ship was attacked by pirates, Jean-Louis was killed, and Suzanne was captured and sold into a harem in Constantinople. (Her eventual escape from the harem occurs during Book 3 of this series, Once a Scoundrel, but it is not essential to read that story in order to get a complete picture of how her harrowing harem experiences have adversely affected her life. That is fully revealed in this book.)

Simon and Suzanne both believe they are incapable of sexual response, Simon because of burnout and Suzanne because of being sexually abused in the harem. In spite of her determination to never be controlled by any man again, when Simon proposes a marriage of comfortable, platonic companionship, Suzanne finds his generosity, warmth and kindness impossible to resist, and she accepts.

As Suzanne and Simon settle into their unconventional marriage, news comes that Napoleon has escaped from Elba and has headed to France to reconstitute his army. Simon and Suzanne are called upon, as a native-French-speaker spying team, to enter perilously unstable France, both to gather intelligence for General Wellington and to try and locate Simon’s long-missing cousin, Lucas, who has been spotted in France.

Once a Spy is Book 4 in the Rogues Redeemed, Regency romance series by award-winning, historical romance author, Mary Jo Putney. Chapter 1 of Once a Soldier, Book 1 of this series, sets the stage for these interlinked, standalone novels. In Portugal, in 1809, five English spies have been captured by Bonapartist soldiers and have been condemned to be executed in front of a firing squad the following dawn. When they manage to escape from the cellar where they are being held via a secret tunnel, each of the five men vows to redeem their formerly roguish existence, and they make a pact to reconnect with each other in London after the war is over. Will Masterson is the hero of Book 1, Once a Soldier. Lord George Gordon Audley is the hero of Book 2, Once a Rebel. Gabriel Hawkins is the hero of Book 3, Once a Scoundrel. Simon Duval is the hero of Book 4, this book, Once a Spy. Chantry is a subcharacter in Book 3, whom Gabriel Hawkins meets in Constantinople working as an aide to the British ambassador there. Gabriel recognizes his fellow escapee, though he is using a different name, Ramsay. It is my understanding that Ramsay will be the hero of Book 6 in this series. Simon's cousin, Lucas, was not in the basement in Portugal with the five others, but he is introduced in this book as another fascinating and very sympathetic “rogue” who wants and needs redemption, and I was intrigued to learn that he will be the hero of Book 5.

I am a big fan of “slow burn” romances, and this heart-warming romance is an excellent example of that approach. Simon and Suzanne are both strong, honorable, compassionate, and very attractive protagonists, and it was a pleasure to read about their growing friendship, love, and mutual, sexual healing. Ms. Putney is extremely skilled at writing sex scenes that are both highly emotional and deeply passionate, which talent is on full display in this book. The unique sexual situation of both Simon and Suzanne brings an additional layer of sensitivity and compassion to their eventual lovemaking that is very moving.

There are many scenes of exciting action-adventure in this book which are connected to Napoleon’s 1815 Hundred Days of restoration to power before his final defeat at Waterloo. All of these scenes are impressively written with great historical accuracy, and they are given compelling immediacy as we experience electrifying events through the eyes of Simon and Suzanne.

I also enjoyed the cameo appearances of the wonderful protagonists from the previous three books in this series when members of the Rogues Redeemed fellowship reconnect with Simon in London.

I have very much enjoyed every one of the Rogues Redeemed novels so far, and I greatly look forward to the upcoming books in this marvelous series.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Romance Plot: 5 stars
Action-Adventure Spy Plot: 5 stars
Historical Settings: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars

This was a great addition to this series. I love when the main characters in a book are sympathetic and strong without going overboard and unrealistic, and that's exactly what we have here. Suzanne and Simon both been through less the idealistic situations but it doesn't overwhelm them. I thought the plot line was great and everything just flowed well with some well written adventure. From the romance perspective, I liked the slow buildup of a true, loving relationship.

Excellent addition to the series with another great book as I was expecting with Mary Jo Putney! I enjoyed seeing cameos by some of the previous characters from the earlier series books.

In Once a Spy Suzanne and Simon enjoy a very brief friendship just before Suzanne marries Simon’s cousin. They meet again after living through separate hells of war and Simon asks the widowed Suzanne to marry him. She impulsively accepts and they begin a journey of healing and falling in love even amidst the war. The characters are sympathetically and realistically drawn. One can’t help identifying and falling in love with them. Secondary characters come to life as the plot weaves its way through the Napoleonic wars. I would highly recommend this book to patrons.