Little More Than Strangers

Susanna Craig seeks to reform a notorious rouge and spy with stubborn love in Every Rouge Has His Charm. Caroline (Caro) became the Marchioness of Chesleigh to escape the bulling of her father, not expecting love. When a few nights of passion lead to abandonment by her new husband, she has lost hope. Afraid he is falling in love, Maxium chooses to let himself be consumed with work. The threat of war with Napoleon, keeps him too busy to think of her. Returning to claim his title of Duke of Hartwell, Maxium must face Caroline. They will both have to confront past hurts, and a dangerous future in order to heal.

Susanna Craig is effective in showing how despicable Caro’s father is from the beginning. Caro’s difficulty with the concept of love is understandable. It makes Maxium’s abandonment seem especially cruel, whether intended or not. Caro is particularly bad with money, falling for the outrageous advances of her family just to spite her absent husband. Maxium is not particularly charming, as he hides his scars and tragic past behind heartlessness and irritation. Determine to make Caro hate him, so she will not love him.

General Scott’s matchmaking, seems especially meddlesome. The spy agency, afraid Maxium has defected, sends Mrs. Fanny Drummond to spy on Caro. Who has a budding romance with the Lieutenant Fitz Hopkins. Caro and Fanny have a shared spirit of stoicism, and disappointment. They both need a loyal friend, if their secrecy doesn’t end their friendship before it even begins.

All leading to a mystery that could endanger them all. Maxium’s dedication to Caro, though misplaced, reveals his true feelings. They both work through a lot of complicated feelings, and self-preservation. No amount of distance can change his feelings for Caro. Though Caro is angry, she is too determined to continue to live in miserable circumstances. They may be little more than strangers, but a renewed commitment to each other just might open their hearts to love.

Cute but I wish the characters had been developed a little more. I don’t know how to explain it, but Maxim very quickly did a 180 on his feelings toward Caro, and Caro forgive his abandonment very quickly. I suppose more struggle would have been appreciated? But a nice conclusion to the series, all the same.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

A grumpy gentlemen who just so happens to be a spy and wear his scars proudly? Marrying a book lover? Yes, sign me up. This book delivered on every single account. Every. One.

It was funny, it kept the reader involved and guessing and it tied everything together with a nice and neat bow.

Caro had a spine of steel and a heart of pure gold. I loved the firey spirit that she kept and she made sure Maxim knew how badly he wronged her. It was perfect. Throw in Maxim, finding himself after six years and realizing just how badly he loved his wife and had to fix things? Sold.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a way to end an outstanding series with a bang! Each Live And Let Spy book has created an intriguing, passionate world; a world where a matchmaking spymaster places his grumpy, damaged, lonely agents with headstrong, passionate, fierce women. These agents come to realize that it isn’t their work but rather passion and love that gives them peace and redemption.

Maxim is a physically and emotionally damaged man; he rashly marries a stranger to save her from ruination and the clutches of her leaching, cruel father. After a few days, Maxim realizes Caroline can tear down all the walls he has built in his heart; terrified, Maxim leaves Caroline not to return for six years. After the estrangement, the couple finds their marriage in shambles, yet a spark of hope still exists.

This stunning story has elements of Beauty And The Beast, an estranged marriage, and an age gap. Maxim is damaged and has destroyed his connection with Caroline, so much so that reconciliation is improbable. When Maxim and Caroline reunite, both have very different expectations. Sometimes it seemed they were uncertain what to do. I like how it takes a journey of self-reflection for Maxim to come to his senses. The couple’s reconnection is rocky. I loved Caroline’s strength. Caroline refutes half-hearted apologies demanding a baring of Maxim’s soul. This was an organic way to show how trust must develop, not by words but by actions. Both Maxim and Caroline must labor emotionally to breach the chasm that tore them apart. At times this couple’s interactions were heart-wrenching to read, but it was also beautiful to see the captivating, burgeoning romance.

The plot was crafty and spell bounding. This book also has a secondary couple that also navigates fear and passion. The emotional growth between Maxim and Caroline develops organically. The author doesn’t try to patch up Maxim's wrongs quickly but instead takes us on his journey of self-reflection and redemption. Maxim and Caroline's romance resonated with me on many levels. The epilogue has a lovely way of wrapping up the series. I am sad to see this series end. Susanna Craig, I enthusiastically say bravo for wowing me with a sexy, seductive, witty romance! Maxim and Caroline beguiled their way into my heart; they are a couple I won’t soon forget. I wholeheartedly recommend this book! I cannot wait to see what Susanna Craig has in store for us next!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How can anyone go past a tortured duke and a lady in need of protection from her family. Caroline finds herself quickly married to Maxim, the Marquess of Chesleigh, when they are caught together in her father’s library. Yet after only a few intense and passionate days of marriage, Maxim leaves for France to resume his life of espionage, leaving Caro alone for six years. When he returns, she is not the person he left behind. Caro is independent, spirited and not about to let him into her heart. Yet the passion they once shared burns brightly. As Caro learns more about Maxim’s past, she is determined to make him realise that what they have together, is worth fighting for. Yet, it seems that there are forces around them, determined to bring about their demise, in order to prevent Maxim from revealing the secrets that will bring the Napoleonic war to an end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, with the passion between Maxim and Caro burning brightly. This is a fast-paced story that has plenty of passion, intrigue and angst. The secondary story between two spies who are intertwined into Maxim and Caro’s story, made for a great addition and added a bit more spice to this story. What set this story above many other historical romances, is the author’s ability to cleverly intertwine the romance between the characters alongside the revelations of Maxim’s past and Caro’s family dramas. Well worth reading!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Every Rogue Has His Charm is the 4th (and I believe final) book in the Love and Let Spy series.

This is a fitting end to this series, with a really fantastic epilogue. The books are loosely connected and I enjoyed reading them in order.

This second chance romance has vague Beauty and the Beast vibes. Scarred and gruff Maxim is one of the best spy's working undercover for British Intelligence. The story gets off to a great start with a scene in the library (love those library scenes!) where he meets Caroline, and through a quick series of events, he finds himself engaged to be married.

Caro and Maxim marry as strangers, and 4 days later, Maxim walks out.

Six years later, after no contact, Caro has made a life for herself, not even knowing if she's a widow or not, Maxim walks back in her life to claim his Dukedom.

So here's where the book lacked for me. There wasn't enough character development for the leads. There wasn't enough anger on Caro's part that this man who swore to protect her abandoned her for six years. Forgiveness was given almost immediately, and I think because of that the tension I was hoping to see that would have made this a well earned romance, just wasn't there. There wasn't groveling on Maxim's part to win her back. He basically filled her in on the highlights of why he left, flimsy reasons, and that was that.

Even when the couple are reunited, the path of course cannot be easy for a spy. The villain in this story was seen coming a mile away. The two dastardly deeds done to Caro and Maxim were a device to force them to care for each other.

We do get a bit of a bonus romance between two other undercover spies, a widow and a young buck. They had an interesting romance, and filled in where the main romance lacked (they even had several steamy scenes on page).

I did enjoy the scenes with matchmaker General Scott and his super smart and observant wife.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely given.

I started this book much as an afterthought, because I had the previous one of the series to read and this one was due to be released in a couple of days and I felt quite guilty because I was behind with my ARC reading… But once I started I couldn’t seem to put it down!!! Oh, my, it had all the things I love in a historical romance book, a spy story, a forced marriage and a dark, scarred and thoroughly fascinating hero made cruel by his suffering, but transformed by love. I adored Susanna Craig’s writing, her understanding of human nature, the story she created around the spymaster and his “pupils”, the steamy bits full of passion and love, just EVERYTHING. She’s now firmly on my ever-growing list of gorgeous authors that I simply can’t miss reading!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was not the normal romance.
Spoiler alerts.
This was a story about a heroine who, even though she was given every physical comfort, she did not receive any emotional support. And so, she latched on to a lady who she had just met.
This story bounces around a lot, and it is actually two romances in one and part of a series. Three-quarters of the characters are spies of some kind. There are head spies, novice spies, experienced spies who want to retire, spies who have had traumatizing experiences, people married to spies and then the rest of the characters are regular people.
The story opens at a house party that the head spy had sent his operative to to determine if the host was committing treason. The house party also had many young ladies and the operative, the hero, feels that the head spy wants him to marry and settle down. The hero keeps trying to get into a locked library. One night he gets lucky and the door is open. He goes inside and he realizes someone is there, hiding! The door shuts behind him and a young lady in a nightgown runs out from the shadows and tells him that the door lock is wonky and they are locked in. They break the knob trying to get out, then talk for a while. The hero tries to pick the lock again and after 20 minutes or so, it opens. But then they hear her father coming and the hero hides behind the door, until the father has throughly terrified the heroine, then he steps forward and they get married. He is ten years older than her and after he tells his in-laws not to ask for money, he takes his wife to London. After a week, when he starts having feelings for the heroine, he abandons her. He moves to France to spy, which is normal, because he is half Breton and lived there as a child. He is gone for 6, SIX years! This is where I dislike the story. Six years is five years too long. A normal woman would have found happiness elsewhere. I really do not like romance novels where the heroine is treated as less than a human, but she forgives the hero. There is no excuse to abandon someone, with no letters or proof of life. She should have declared him dead. For him to have done that, I do not forgive him.
The rest of the story is interesting, but every time they mention the six years, it just infuriated me.
The story was so well.written, with intrigue and intertwining story lines, just like real life. I enjoyed the descriptive settings and day to day life, except for the six year abandonment. I would love to take a star off for that galling fact, but I won't be petty. I give this book 5 stars and a recommendation to read.

Will their time apart have inexorably wrecked their trust …

Oh I think this book is one of my favorite in this series.
I kind of love second chance about married couple.
Caro and Maxim did not choose one another but fate and a game of hazard did the trick and what could have been a rather happy union is now just the sad result of miscommunication and years of estrangement, two miserable strangers afraid to love.

Caroline knew she had few to no prospect as a dower-less lady, the daughter of an Earl, but an impoverished one and worse, a leech who loves to keep everyone under his grip to add injury to her circumstances.
Maxim is a man shaped by his upbringing, no mercy was spared to his young self, only more and more hardships, until he became unable to trust and believing himself unfit to care. A perfect recruit as a spy with no one to care about or for.
But his young spouse is not one to look down at him, which scares him, she looks right into his eyes and does not flinch. Even, more disturbing, she seeks his company.
Unsettled by his bride’s unexpected advances, he does not know how to answer but by fleeing. Leaving her at the mercy of the vultures looking for juicy gossips. Six long years of silence.

Now, upon his grandfather’s passing, they meet again, what should have been a simple encounter to let the past rest turns into longing for something more, a chance to explore what could have been.
Maxim thought he could let her go, even more when she has every right to be angry at him and does not hide her ire. Yet, upon discovering how he wronged her, he is lost on how to atone for his errors and the wounds he inflicted her when he only sought at that time to protect himself, never really thinking about her, the young bride he hurt in the process.

Their romance is a lovely tale, of forgiveness, acceptance and letting the past behind but not the sole one, a second love story grows in parallel.
At the end of the last book, I expected the next tale would be about Fanny and Fitz. And while they are not the main couple, they too get their own if a bit unconventional HEA.
5 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 onscreen lovemaking scenes.

I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Spy's and the beauty and beast theme what's not to love. Although I haven't read all the other books it didn't matter with this one as the spy side of things wasn't a major part of the story as there are two romances in here for the price of one. Maxim and Caro are the main love story but at the same time Fitz and Fanny also as they are watching over Maxim and Caro. Well worth the read. I received a copy in exchange for an honest review all thoughts are my own.

One of the things that first drew me into Susanna Craig's books was her complex, richly-detailed characters. They hold my interest, engage my emotions, and push her stories forward in realistic, relatable ways. That continues to hold true with the newest installment in her Love and Let Spy series, Every Rogue Has His Charm. Craig's unlikely matchmaker, a spymaster general no less, has his work cut out for him this time!

Caro and Maxim both had so many layers. I enjoyed watching them slowly peeled away to reveal their hearts, fears, vulnerabilities, and love. I'm not typically a fan of reunion romances where one partner abandons the other for long periods of time but Craig made it work, sending Maxim fleeing from unexpected feelings and giving Caro the necessary time - and circumstances - to grow stronger and more confident in herself. When they reunited it was on a level playing field, with Caro not hesitating to go head to head with her long-absent husband, giving me a romantic journey of passion, forgiveness, acceptance, and love that kept me eagerly flipping pages.

Another thing I enjoy about Craig's books is her propensity for moving her stories out of London and into interesting places brought to life through her detailed descriptions and impeccable research. It makes her stories feel fresh and new and, in this book, added to the mystery of who is behind the accidents that keep putting Maxim and Caro at risk.

The secondary cast surrounding Caro and Maxim play significant roles in this journey with another potential couple taking their own romantic journey as they also helped move the story forward. As a fan of the series, this secondary romance - as well as the career opportunities - for one particular character filled me with delight.

Every Rogue Has His Charm is the fourth book in this series but as with the others, it stands well on its own. Readers new to the series can absolutely jump in with this one and not miss a beat. A small warning though: the epilogue is a retirement party for our erstwhile matchmaker that brings all four couples together. You might want to hold off on reading the epilogue until later if you plan to read the first three books (and you should; they're all terrific). The series books, in order, are:

Who's That Earl
One Thing Leads to a Lover
Better Off Wed
Every Rogue Has His Charm

4.5 Stars
ARC received for fair and unbiased review

Every Rogue has His Charm is the 4th Love and Let Spy book. It is also the last in the series, which I didn’t realize until the end of the book. I enjoyed reading this book and finished in less than 24 hours. I didn’t finish in a single night only because I really did need to sleep.
Maxim works for General Scott in a distant sort of way. He meets Caroline and marries her only to leave her soon after for France. Timeframe is 1802. Fast forward 6 years and Maxim becomes a Duke and returns to England to become reacquainted with Caroline.
The story leads us through the possibility of reconciliation. Forgiveness is a major theme.
Each book in the series has had some sexual content. This installment had more and earlier in the story than has occurred in the other books.
It’s fun to see General Scott’s involvement in each story. Who would have thought an English general and spymaster would also be a matchmaker.
Each book in the series takes a different approach to creating a love match. I have enjoyed reading each book.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

On the surface, the Rogue in this book, Maxim, is fairly typical of Regency romances – he thinks he’s unlovable because of his scars, both physical and figurative, and so he chooses to leave his new bride rather than make her miserable. They spend six years apart, before he becomes a duke and returns to Caro’s Brighton home to see her again.

Of course, under the surface, there’s the spying and intrigue and mystery we’ve come to expect from Craig’s Love and Let Spy series, and this fourth (and final) installment hits all the right notes in that regard. Though I did find the villain here to be a bit too predictable in what is otherwise a tightly-plotted series, one I’m genuinely sad to see end.

Second chance romances are never my favorite, but since Maxim and Caro barely had a first chance, I still got all the moments I love of watching this couple learn about each other and fall in love. Caro is stronger than Maxim gives her credit for, and he is softer than anyone would assume, and I love stories where the main couple brings out the best in each other like that. In the end, I enjoyed their book so much more than I expected.

The only true flaw I can find is that Craig has created some spying within the spying, dispatching previous side characters Fanny and Fitz to spy on Maxim as he returns home. There were some chapters from this POV, which I actually loved. Fanny and Fitz are an unlikely couple but their chemistry was stronger than the lead couple’s for me, and I loved watching him break down her walls even as he realized that she would make a badass spy herself. So I suppose that’s the real problem – I would have happily read an entire book of Fanny and Fitz, and in doing so, I wouldn’t have been comparing Caro and Maxim to them. Both couples got a bit shortchanged, and I think they both deserved more room to shine.

What a glorious ending to an awesome series!!

Loved it... Perfect mix of steam, love, suspense, spying, matchmaking, secrets, mystery, longing and whatnot!!

I couldn't put this book down and finished it in 3.x hours 😁 I was intrigued.

Maxim and Caro - I loved them both!! Happy they got their HEA.

The epilogue was awesome - perfect wrap up 👌

When I finished it, the one thought was - oh won't there be any spinoffs - anything to see more about all these characters we have read about so far- maybe their children's stories 😅😅


Note: Received an ARC in exchange of honest review.
I had read "Better off Wed" in this series and yet to lay hands on the first two books but these books can be read as standalone books as well.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kensington Books and the author for an ARC of this book. I am writing this review voluntarily and have not been compensated for it.

It's my absolute pleasure to review the final book in the Love and Let Spy series by the talented author, Susanna Craig. In this last instalment we follow the romance of Maxim and Caro. Max, who has been scarred by an accident at a young age follows Zebediah Scott's orders to visit a house party and comes across a damsel in need of rescuing from her overbearing family. Caro isn't bothered by Maxim's appearance and, when they get married, looks forward to getting to know her attractive and mysterious husband better. Until he leaves her on the fourth day of their marriage and doesn't re-emerge for another 6 years!

When Maxim comes back he reunites with his wife, a woman that he has never been able to forget, He has a lot to prove to her before she will let him back into her good graces. Add to that mysterious illnesses, attempted drownings and a visit from her horrible father, and Maxim definitely has his work cut out for him.

There's plenty of adventure, chemistry and swoony moments to keep the reader entertained. I loved this book as much as the previous ones.

I have followed this series from the beginning and am sad to see it wrap up. I'm looking forward to what comes next from this author.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
While this is the final book in the series it can be read as a stand alone.
Caro is desperate to escape her father and so she agrees to marry Maxim a complete stranger. A stranger about whom there are rumors in part due to his scars.
Maxim proposes to a stranger after they are caught alone at night in a library.
Once we'd Maxim flees the marriage afraid of loving Caro.
I liked how the two learned to be together slowly. I liked how Maxim was so protective or Caro and how she understood him and his past so well.
4 stars.

While attending a house party on the behest of his spymaster, General Scott, Maximilien “Maxim” Grant, Marquess of Chesleigh, and heir to the Duke of Hartwell, finds much more than incriminating evidence against his host, he finds a wife!

Lady Caroline Brent is in the library when Maxim comes in and they are accidentally trapped and then discovered alone in the room together by her parents and the hosts. To save her, Maxim immediately proposes. But when they wed, he makes it clear that he doesn’t like her family and will not give them a penny or lift a finger to help them. Their marriage starts well, Caro doesn’t seem bothered by Maxim’s scars or his foreboding demeanor, but when he fears his feelings, he bolts, leaving Caro alone in a strange house and at the mercy of her self-serving, controlling father. To put some distance between them, Caro moves to Brighton and settles into a quiet, albeit lonely life.

Six years later, Maxim, who has been working undercover in France, gets word that his grandfather has passed and he is now the new Duke of Hartwell and must return to England to sort out the estate. Maxim believes his time away from Caro has “cured” him of his unwanted feelings and decides to go see her before going to London, just to inform her of the death of his grandfather (that is his story and he is sticking to it!). But once he sees her again, he finds it impossible to just walk away and wonders if it is possible to win her heart? However, before they can he must redeem himself with her as well as his fellow spies and his spymaster, not to mention, figure out who is trying to kill him!

I enjoyed this well-written, fast-paced, beauty and the beast themed conclusion to the series. The book has a bit of everything; intrigue, steamyish love scenes, spies, a matchmaking spymaster, a secondary love story, life and death moments, a hidden threat, a villainous father, and finally their long overdue HEA complete with an epilogue that includes everyone from the series. As much as I liked this book, I personally think that Caro forgave Maxim too quickly and that he owed her some serious groveling, but overall, it was a very good read and I would happily recommend it. This is the fourth and final book in the series, but the series is loosely connected and it could be read as a standalone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

Scrumptious! Scrumptious! Scrumptious! This book was a delightful read with wonderful characters, a sensual romance, a bloodthirsty villain, and the required nasty families. Whew! Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Even more, there was an Epilogue that made your heart swell as it neatly brought the series and all of those wonderful characters to a close. OH! And lest I forget – there is a second romance in there as well. 😊

Maximillien (Maxim) Grant (Marquess Chesleigh) has had one of the worst upbringings I’ve ever read. To say he was mistreated and abused by his odious grandfather – the Duke of Hartwell – would be putting it mildly. He is a survivor though – and has been an agent of the Crown since he was a very young man. Once back on English soil, his spymaster, General Scott, sent him to a house party – where he met, rescued, and married a young woman he’d hardly spoken two sentences to. They spent four days together after the marriage, then he left her – for her own good, of course.

Lady Caroline Brent also comes from a fractured family. Her father is an odious man who constantly belittles her – so, when she is caught locked in a library with a beast of a man, she quickly accepts his proposal of marriage. Strangely, his scars don’t revolt her and where everyone else fears him, she does not.

Caro had high hopes for them to come to care for each other – then – he just left her. She’d not had a word from him in all that time – and then, he showed up again. No warning – nothing. He just arrived. Well – she was now as cold and uncaring as he is and he’ll neither gain her forgiveness nor her care again. There is no future for them.

It was such fun to see the two of them dance around each other – each wanting so much and yet afraid to show it. It was also fun to see the matchmaking General Scott’s hand in the dance as well. When injuries and illnesses befall members of the household, are they natural, or …? Who could want to hurt Caro? Maxim? Hmmmmm.

I hope you’ll give this delightful book a read and love it as much as I have. It is excellently written, the characters are well-developed and relatable, and – well – there are spies. I couldn’t put it down once I began to read.

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

Such a great historical romance! Loved this FMC and the dynamic with the hero. Jumping into the series on this book was interesting, but the writing style was intriguing and fun. Fun summer read, full of twists and turns that hooked me from the jump.

I've adored the Love and Let Spy series, and so I was very much looking forward to this fourth and final installment. Unfortunately, Every Rogue Has His Charm didn't quite delight me as much as its predecessors.

At the center of the story are Maxim and Caro, a pair who married quickly and lasted a whole four days as a married couple before Maxim caught feelings, panicked, and fled to France to bury himself in his spying work. Some six years later, he returns and the two realize they might have a second chance to make things work. And for me - they did! I loved Maxim and Caro; they had strong chemistry and enough wounds of the past that I really believed both their desire to hold back and their eventual reconciliation.

The issue was that they weren't the only couple to fall in love in this book. Sure, Fitz and Fanny made a great pair - but their inclusion in this book felt shoehorned in. I would have preferred to see them get their own book. Instead, they proved a distraction from the story I was more invested in.

Overall, that was my main issue with this book. There were too many plot threads - Maxim and Caro, Fitz and Fanny, General Scott doing his thing, the attempts on Maxim's life - and none of them got the time or attention they deserved. Everything felt jammed in without space to breathe, meaning that I didn't get to sink into either love story as much as I would have liked. On a related note, the "let spy" portion of the story didn't really feel as distinct or engaging as in the previous books in the series, either.

Don't get me wrong - I still had a pleasant time reading Every Rogue Has His Charm. But unfortunately, it ended up being mostly a competent conclusion to the series rather than a truly dazzling one.

3.5/5