It's sad, but I was definitely not a fan of the writing style. Not only was the book from time to time really boring, but also the mixture of summary and dialogues was not perfect at all in my opinion.

***Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.***

It was just fine, didn’t know it was a second book to another book.I felt like it was slow going and at the end it was just something to get through. I did finish it but I won’t reread it.

I don't think this book was for me.. The story dragged and while I was intrigued by some aspects of it, I did not end up finding the patience to get through it.

A Spy with Scruples fuses glamour and sophistication with a hint of puffery in the tone of the characters. The narrative is forthright and straightforward, which is good for a book report, but less so for a spy novel. The main character is a stand-up guy, decidedly non-flashy, which makes him a perfect choice to blend into the gentile class he joins. His composed nature makes him more background fodder than the main character. He is so benign that he is boring and there is little to root for. The plot also is very one-note that has no ebb and flow and becomes rather tedious. The cover is cool though.

First, if you think this is going to be your regular spy novel with twists, you are sadly mistaken. There are no twists or turns. Second, it starts out slow and stays slow for most of the book, though it did pickup about chapter 42, but slowed back down by chapter 44. The chapters aren't real long, so the speed up was quick.

Also, the whole concept was just off. I mean the guy is married to a rich woman and they flaunt their wealth. How many people can relate to that? Not many. The way he was recruited didn't seem right to me either. But, then I am not a spy and no nothing about it, except from other books I read. There was no passion in the writing, either. That may be why it was just meh to me.

Overall, if you like spy novels, I would just skip it.
Thanks Netgalley for the Kindle Version of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

this was a really unique spy read, I enjoyed that about it. The characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this book.

A Spy with Scruples was a very emotional read for me. I don't know if it was just because we had been watching We were Soldiers and Young and this was another view of what the Vietnam War took from others, or it created some anger in me for a war that seemed needless.

I enjoyed the mystery of this book. I felt that it moved quickly, revolved around Scott Stoddard and Desiree in a way that it wasn't overindulgent of Desiree's desires over the war effort.

It was entertaining, emotional as I said, and as the book description says, complicated.

I am not sure that this was my type of book, but those who love historical fiction and mysteries will want to read this book. I read the first book in the series, An Improbable Pairing and this book, was not as endearing to me as that one was, sorry.

I give this book 3.5 stars

Thank you, Netgally and River Grove Books for letting me read this book in lieu of my honest review.

A big thank you to the author Gary Dickson, the publisher Greenleaf Book Press and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This is the second book about the same characters. It is about an American Man who marries a very rich Swiss Countess and proceeds to live the good life. Until the US CIA decides to recruit him as a spy. The story is still interesting and is set in the background of the 1960's European glam tram. Realizing that he will never be able to life a free life while embroiled with the CIA, our protaganist proceeds to look for a way to blackmail someone into letting him go.

The story takes us to Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Berlin, St. Moritz and all around Europe. I love the story mainly for the intimate look into the experiences of the rich and beautiful in 1960's Europe.

A Spy with Scruples gave me a look into part of history I'm not overly familiar with. I didn't know it was a sequel before starting the novel, and may have appreciated it more if I'd read the first. It may be my lack of understanding about the spy business, but I thought some of the main character's actions were a little far fetched. Overall I recommend the novel to anyone that likes this time in history or spy plots.

Well written with a good plot. However I did get bogged down in a few spots. The main characters were “glitzy” and I had a hard time relating to them.
Many thanks to Greenleaf Book Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An interesting Cold War spy story involving a newly wed couple with a little one on the way. The husband keeps his spy life from his family and tries to find a way out to return to normalcy. I enjoyed that this was a story without high tech gadgets and relied on brains. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I was given this book to read in exchange for an honest review. I have to say I didn't really like this book. I had read the first book about these characters and although there were a couple things that irritated me in the book, it was still an enjoyable read (An Improbable Pairing). This next book that continued the story was very difficult to get through. It covers the first couple years of the characters marriage and a time period when Scott became a spy. No he became a double spy. No it was really a triple spy. Well maybe it was???? What it was was very confusing to keep up with. He had numerous "contacts" with the various organizations he was spying for and some of them used more than one name or had changed names throughout their careers. I wish when all those people had started showing up that I had started a cheat sheet to keep track of everyone. But by the time I realized I needed a cheat sheet I was too far along to go back and create one. I slogged through until the end because I wanted to see if they ever returned to a normal life but it was a battle to stick with it from about 60% on. I'm not much into the spy type books so maybe that the issue but it was just too confusing. I'm not sure how Scott even kept track of all the people he was dealing with and all the "signs" he had to keep track of to communicate with them all.

Scott Stoddard is enjoying his honeymoon in the South of Fance in 1964.  Scott, an American student studying in Geneva has just married the former Countess de Rovere, Desiree in an unexpected and whirlwind romance when a letter from the draft board appears saying his status is under review.  Scott must now report to a base in Germany to be tested and then tested again only to learn that the CIA is forcing him to train as a spy and use his new social status to gain information and pass it along.  Scott is not pleased about how he has to go about his duty, keep secrets from his new wife and spend time away from his baby daughter.  However, he finds a way to use this position for good as well as finding a way back to his life. 

A Spy With Scruples is the sequel to An Improbable Pairing, while this could be read as a stand-alone it is helpful to know Scott and Desiree backgrounds and romance.  This picks up right after the first book with the couple enjoying married life and waiting for the arrival of their new baby.  Much like the first book, A Spy with Scruples is a tour of the opulence and luxury of the upper class European community.  The descriptions dazzle with the dress of the time period, the hotels, restaurants and cuisine, vacation resorts and parties.  Desiree shines with her charm and intellect, I'm not at all surprised that she caught on to Scott's situation.  Scott remains one of the luckiest and fast-thinking men ever; even though he was in a less than desirable situation, it was better than having to fight in Vietnam.  Scott's time as a spy was filled with suspense, but not a lot of action.  Through his articles and meetings, I was able to see the many intricacies of the influences of different European countries during the Cold War.  I particularly liked his interviews with Vietnamese families and tracking of former Nazi's.  Overall, A Spy with Scruples offers a different kind of spy thriller focused on the gathering of information.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Received this from Net Gallery! "The Spy With Scruples" is a very unusual spy mystery book. Very well written and mysterious on who these people are that want Scott to give up so much for information and he doesn't even know who "they" are! Very rich indeed on the adventures he comes across and he is a American who "they" want him to give up living in Europe during the 1960's Viet Nam era. Have to say this book had me reading more and more to find out who"they" are and does he get out of the clutches of "these" people safely and still alive!

This post is going to take a look at A Spy with Scruples written by Gary Dickson. It is the sequel to An Improbable Pairing, and was released in March 2020. I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book picks up right where the last one left off. While the happy couple, Scott Stoddard, and the former Countess de Rovere are honeymooning, Scott receives word to report for testing that may revise his draft status for the Vietnam War. Apparently he did too well on the test and now the CIA wants him to work for them, and he has no choice. Work for them, or get drafted.

A Spy with Scruples focuses much more on what is going on with Scott, than Desirée. In the last book, I was impressed that a male author, writing about a romantic relationship would write about such a strong willed woman during the early 1960s, when she was brought up with a certain decorum of how she should act. This book back tracks all of that. She's now the typical pregnant wife that takes the back seat. We see Scott starting to make decisions to get them back to their carefree lifestyle.

Readers watch as he manipulates the press in multiple countries, and even the CIA, in hopes of getting out of service, without ending up drafted or dead. The book was a decent read, but I was quite disappointed in the drastic change between the style of the first book and the second. I'd be interested to see how this relationship may change, if there were to be a third book now that their lives have returned to a calm state.

I'd be interested in hearing what any of you have thought about this book.

Happy reading :)

I was really looking forward to #aspywithscruples by Gary Dickson after reading #animprobablepair but I’m afraid it was a little disappointing to me. This book follows Scott more closely than Desiree as he is the title character and she has just had their baby. It is pretty much void of the glittering lifestyle we saw in the first book and totally about the machinations of Scott, his handlers and the opposition. While it was interesting it didn’t have the zing of the first book and at times felt contrived and a bit unbelievable. I thank #netgalley and the publishers for this ebook to read and review

I enjoyed this book, but it was not one of my favorites. I typically love books about spies, and, as a bonus, spies who work across countries. I found this book to be rather ho-hum as far as spy stories go. However, I have great respect for the hero and heroine, and I think that Scott Stoddard can only be described as noble throughout the book. Which, in and of itself, makes for a great hero. I think the writing itself is quite good, and I will say that I was drawn into the story, setting and action from the first page of the book. In terms of descriptive elements, this author has a wonderful way of ensuring the reader is surrounded by vivid images of sight, sound, feel, etc. - a book for all of the senses.

I received a free copy of “A Spy With Scruples” through Net Galley with the provision that I leave an honest review.
I did not like it , at all.
The hero Scott is a student at a Swiss University during the mid 1960’s . He is a newly wed, married to a wealthy Italian noblexwoman after a whirlwind courtship, which was covered by paparazzi and the tabloid press. Soon after his wife finds that she is pregnant, Scott receives notice that he must appear at a nearby American military base For pre- induction testing. That is, he is being drafted. He’s, the war in Vietnam is blazing,. To make a long, and rather boring seven chapters short, Scott passes the iNtelligence tests with such high scores,, that he is recruited by the CIA. More exactly, Scott is drafted into the CIA with the threat that he takes the job of being a society spy in Europe or get sent to a. A sty war.
Most of the book is filled with descriptions of the life of a wealthy pseudo- student and his glamorous life. If I was expecting a hard-edged spy novel, and I was from the plot summary of the book on offer, it was not happening. The last thing I care to read is a out the days of the elite classes. Villas, exclusive hotels, the south of France in late summer, etc. A. It of Cold War Germany, true, but by that stage of reading it was not enough. For goodness sake , Scott has to join an exclusive fencing exile to build. his cover. How horrible! Eating foie gras , drinking champagne...it’s far from the gray world of George Smiley or even the virile.world of James. Bond. The book was, in my reader opinion quite boring and silly. The longer I read, the more I speed read the pages to find something even a bit exciting , compelling or tense. Ther was a little, but damn little.
I would not recommend this book to anyone.











Q

Somewhat better than the first book, "An Improbable Pairing," but still lacking in depth. The chemistry between Scott and Desiree is referred to frequently, but I just did not feel it - and the repeated reference to their sex life being a barometer to how their relationship was doing got old very quickly, especially since the same phrasing was used often in the first book as well. Was hoping for better connection with the characters after a second book, but it just did not deliver. Good premise to the story, needed a lot more detail and depth to be more believable.

Although somewhat plodding .. we are told every step of the way what's going on .. I rather enjoyed the way Scott, a young newly married American worked it to avoid fighting the Vietnam war .. a horrendous one! His wife is not nearly developed so it's stained to believe he'd care for this thin creature ...but .. his acing an exam has brought him to attention of CIA .. so plans go awry .. fun if incredible ...spying becomes his game behind journalism...