I’m a fan with Ally Carter's YA Gallagher Girl novels,but this is the first adult novel of hers that I've read—and I can only hope there will be more. The Blonde Identity has it all, from mistaken identity, to spies, narrow escapes, Swiss deposit boxes, the Russian mafia, and even a touch of romance. But my favorite part was the happy ending, which segued into the possibility of a sequel.

I loved this book! the action was so fast paced and original! The only thing that I would critique would be that I wish we got more nuggets through out the story. to have more of a build up. The romance I thought was sweet and endearing. I do hope we see the. more of these specific characters again. Regardless I am excited for the series!

I loved the Gallagher Girls series when I was younger. It made me want to be a spy so badly. In fact, I blame the Gallagher Girls series for not one but two internship applications I sent to the CIA (they didn't want me). So when I heard that Ally Carter was writing an adult spy rom-com, I was so so so excited.

The Blonde Identity absolutely did not disappoint. It was so fun, fast-paced, and action packed from start to finish. I couldn't put it down because I always needed to know what was going to happen next. I loved getting to know our two protagonists. I loved that even though the female protagonist wasn't a trained spy, her resourcefulness was consistently useful to her and Sawyer. I.e. I was glad Sawyer wasn't just consistently saving her from peril.

Did the intelligence aspect of this book or the spy plot always make complete sense? Not really. But I don't think I needed it to. I was here for the drama, the fun, the intrigue, and not thinking too hard about why they needed to get this specific flash drive when copies probably already existed.

There was only one thing I could think of that I wish was a little different - We learn later in the book that Zoe has an unnamed heart condition that (presumably) affects her daily life. While I loved the message that people shouldn't underestimate Zoe because of her chronic illness and she's as capable as anyone else is, I wish we saw how her chronic illness affected her a little more. I know this was difficult because of her amnesia, but she did slowly learn other information about herself.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Ally Carter is the queen of hilarious spy romantic comedies. Anyone who has read and loved her Gallagher Girl series will absolutely love The Blonde Identity. Honestly, it feels like you are reading a book about one of the GG girls all grown up.

The Blonde Identity is full of all the romance tropes we love but it does not feel overdone. With her signature wit and hilarious banter, I could not stop reading this book. Sawyer is the HOT operative who Zoe is now on the run with to save her life. Be prepared for a fun romance filled with epic espionage, plot twists, and swoony moments that will keep you up late.

I forgot how much I loved this author writing until I picked up this book. It was like going back to the first time I read the Gallagher Girls series and I loved it. While it was definitely a grown version it still gave me all the feels and laughs. I love Zoe, her energy was slightly chaotic at times but found myself laughing and having to tell people what was happening. I also loved that Zoe seemed to confuse Sawyer all the time. Like any good spy novel there is the tension of figuring out what the next step is that won’t get you killed and it was done well. I also hope we see more of Alex, maybe in a future book cause her story doesn’t seem finished yet.

THAT WAS FUN!!! Sure it kinda includes a list of popular tropes: grumpy x sunshine, there's only one bed, fake marriage, "touch her and I'll kill you", etc. BUT HEY at least it's very enjoyable and easy to read!

A girl woke up on a snowy street in Paris with no memory and a price on her head. Then she met a spy and became inseparable since. The fast-paced and action packed plot made the story flow nicely, and it also has short chapter with dual 3rd person PoV which are perfect.

The ending was implying for a spin-off about the sister's MC and I'll be seated for it.

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 16+
Spice Level: 1/5
4.5 stars

I had such high hopes for this book—and it was exactly what I wanted it to be.
I’ve been a fan of Ally Carter’s since I picked up the first Gallagher Girl book when I was 13. I’ve read all of her YA, and I was so excited to see what she would do in the adult space.
This book was fun, fast-paced, and action packed.
The Blonde Identity follows a woman with no memory, as she learns that she’s the identical twin sister of a CIA agent who is on the run—and that means she has to be on the run, too. She has no choice but to team up with another spy and find her sister.
The amnesia trope is a huge component to this book. Our FMC spends the entire book unable to remember anything before the first page. Usually, I hate this trope, however something in the execution of this book worked for me. There wasn’t a single instance where it annoyed me—which is a first. Because this happens in a such a fast-moving book, where no one is like “don’t you remember me?”, and it doesn’t fall into any of the repetitiveness that the trope usually elicits.
The only aspect of this book that I wanted more from was the emotional development. There was so much action in this book that there was very little time for the quiet moments of a blossoming relationship. Ally Carter does a good job of having fleeting moments and touches within the action-packed scenes, but I felt like I could have used just a little more reaction time to sit with the characters as those feelings grew. I was invested in, and even connected to their relationship, but I wasn’t fully convinced that they were truly in love with each other by the end of the story. I wanted them together, and I was convinced they had feelings for each other, but the development between I like you and I’m in love with you felt a little rushed. I think Ally Carter is more used to writing romances that develop over the span of several books, and I think the transition to a one book romance arc left her with a romance that was not quite as well done as those in her previous works.
That said, I really enjoyed this book. I think I’m being so nitpicky with the romance simply because I’m comparing it to the superb romances her YA series have. It is a solid romance, and every other aspect of the book was phenomenal. I truly cannot recommend this book more and I desperately want more adult Ally Carter books!

First off, I think this might be my first five star romance book rating, I absolutely adored this novel! It was one of the most fun, laugh out loud funny, action packed, and entertaining reads. The pace was fast, the plot was a ton of fun and the relationship between Sawyer and Zoe was 100% swoon. There was never a dull moment and I could not read it fast enough. My one issue, is that I now have to go add all of Ally Carter's book to my TBR, this was my first of hers and it definitely won't be the last.

Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book. The pacing was very off and I was not invested in the plot. It felt weirdly childish at parts but it was an adult romance novel. I did not care for either of the main characters.

DNF at 15%

i am SO SAD ABOUT THIS

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc but this just wasn’t for me :/

like almost every other woman my age, i was OBSESSED with the Gallagher Girls series in elementary school. they hold so much nostalgia for me & i still think about them a lot tbh, so when i found out Ally Carter was releasing essentially an adult Gallagher Girls book this year i was PUMPED.

sadly, this was a little too Gallagher Girls in my opinion. it just felt extremely YA & while the characters are adults (no clue how old), they could just as easily be 16 based on the internal monologues. i didn’t foresee that improving or me suddenly enjoying it more so i’m gonna put this down as my 3rd DNF of the year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This was basically an adult Gallagher Girls if you’ve read those books by Ally Carter. 😂 Honestly, I didn’t love the title of this one (a play on Bourne Identity) but it turned out to be quite fun!

Zoe was a fun character. She’s kind of whimsical… but she also has amnesia. She can’t remember anything that happened to her before the book started. Her twin sister is a spy for the CIA and Zoe is randomly placed in these funny situations where people think she’s the twin. The MMC, Sawyer, was a good character, too. He had some good character development and went from grumpy spy to in love and actually caring about somebody.

While I enjoyed the story and I was engaged I knocked it down a star for two reasons: outlandish and insta love. I should’ve expected it to be a little outlandish because it’s a spy novel but it was just… a lot. How do these bad guys find them in, like, four different countries? How do they not die after jumping into rivers, off bridges, etc? It was very… Bourne Identity (duh 😂). The other reason was the insta love. Y’all know I’m usually not a huge fan of this trope. Zoe and Sawyer knew each other for about four days and they were in love. 😂

Overall, a good and entertaining story.

Read this if you like:
🔍 The Bourne Identity
🔍 Enemies to lovers
🔍 Grumpy x sunshine
🔍 Characters on the run
🔍 Books that aren’t spicy
🔍 Little pink drinks

The Blonde Identity is a fast paced romcom that had me hooked from the beginning. I usually don’t become completely invested in a book until the 15-20% mark, but Carter managed to hook me pretty much right away. This book is very fast paced and a little over-the-top at times, but with a spy romance that’s exactly what you want and hope for.

The book starts off in Paris, where a woman wakes up on the street void of any memories, not even her name. Over her, an annoyingly handsome and dangerous man is shouting at her to run with gunshots and what appears to be bad guys closing in. As the reader, you, just like the FMC are lost and unsure of what’s happening. What’s fun is getting to learn pieces of the story as you go through the silly adventures of the FMC and MMC. I appreciate this book having a dual POV. With the FMC having amnesia, being in her head the whole story would have been repetitive so having the chance to get the MMC’s POV was refreshing and kept things interesting. They also have fantastic banter which made the story more enjoyable for me.

As an adult romance, I was hoping to get a little bit more spice between the two characters, especially considering how much tension is built between them. The MMC delivers some pretty good bedroom talk, however unfortunately the following scene ends up being closed-door. I can appreciate a closed-door romance, however with all the tension built, it was disappointing as a reader to not see anything unfold.

I also felt as though the author was hesitant to make this a fully adult romance novel. She has previously written YA so it may be because that’s her comfort zone, but if you’re promising an adult novel I don’t want the author to shy away from adult content. This goes with the sex scene but also the use of language. The beginning of the book has a lot of dialogue between the MMC and FMC where the hero would swear, the heroine would correct him and ask him not to use “foul language” which would result in him holding his tongue/changing his language. I think given the situation the two characters find themselves in, swearing is understandable and I didn’t love how we were pulled away from it as if it’s some bad thing.

Overall, I did enjoy myself while reading this. I read it in a day, so it was clearly entertaining and fun. I just feel like it could have used a bit more romance, however I’m here for more espionage and undercovering.

the blonde identity - @allycarter
(i received an arc from @netgalley but all thoughts are my own, my lack of sleep due to this book can attest to the fact)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

age rating - 16+

this book is a must read if you enjoy a blend of
romance / comedy / action

Think the Saint (Val Kilmer), The Proposal, Knight and Day, and the Bourne Identity with banter like Luke and Lorelai mixed into a beautiful smoothie called The Blonde Identity.

The Blonde Identity follows a woman who wakes up on the ground with amnesia. She soon finds out she’s the identical twin sister of a rogue spy and must partner (and fake marry) with a grumpy operative to survive.

I usually hate the amnesia trope, but this was done so amazingly i didn’t even think twice.

I’m pretty sure i highlighted the entire book but that’s besides the point. It was hilarious, it was swoon-worthy, it was the right amount of exploding buildings and jumping off bridges.

I loved the Gallagher Girl books but more so I loved the Art Heist series that ended too soon so I was super excited for an adult Ally Carter Spy book...
But her characters made it so hard to enjoy. They read and acted and spoke like immature teenagers and I just couldn't get into it.
My sister read it and so I'm giving it the rating she gave it because I dnf at 26%.

this was bananas but not in a fun kooky way but like “god, help me what is going on” way. i am a Gallagher girl, i loved carter growing up but this was not it. the plot structure is off, the characters are too YA, the instalove gave me whiplash and and a fade to black sex scene? IN THIS ECONOMY? absolutely not. also losing my mind at the random british inclusion at the end

I have mixed feelings on this one. I, like many others, loved Ally Carter's Gallagher Girl series so when I saw she wrote an adult romance I was first in line. But I missed having a female main character that could kick ass. Since when we start the FMC has amnesia she is saved again and again by the male main character and I personally took a while to buy into their love since she is fairly incompetent. I will say though that the voice of Zoe really did pull me in, she felt realistic and had me laughing and slowly changing my mind. By the end of the book, I was pulled in and found myself truly rooting for both of them and I thought the plot resolved itself quite well. But I still wish we could have been following Alex instead. I am really hopeful that the next book will follow Alex instead.

When I first saw this book come up on a NetGalley the cover drew me in, and then I read the author and I recognized the name but was having a hard time placing how I knew it. After a quick google search I discovered it was the same author who wrote the Gallagher Series (this is going to date me because the first one came out in 2006, but I don’t care 🤷🏼‍♀️) I was obsessed with this series growing up and finding out the author is now writing adult spy books I was hooked!

This was a suspenseful romance, there’s a few twist and turns along the way and you don’t know if a particular character is good or bad. It’s fast paced, has a hot spy guy, and a set of twins. If you are looking for a spicy romance this is not it, it’s an action packed adventure with a HEA. If you are a Gallagher Girls fan, definitely recommend checking this out!

I want to thank Avon and Harper Voyage for sending this for me to review via NetGalley!

I was a huge fan of The Gallagher Girls when I was a teen and was so excited to see Ally Carter come out with an adult version. The book starts with a bang from page one and doesn’t stop until the last page is turned. I loved the two main characters, their chemistry and their banter. I loved the spy and mystery aspect; truthfully there wasn’t anything that I didn’t like. The only issue I had was at times it read as a little immature but I kinda expected that from a Ya author. Overall this one was soooo fun and I highly recommend

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @avonbooks for an early copy of The Blonde Identity by @theallycarter. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

The Blonde Identity is a fast-paced rom-com about Zoe, a woman with amnesia who discovers she’s the identical twin of a rogue spy. She woke up in the middle of the night in Paris with no memory, a splitting headache, the hottest guy she has ever seen telling her to run and people trying to kill her. She doesn’t know who’s trying to kill her, but according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s a spy’s identical twin sister. Too bad the only person who knows she's not the woman they're looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear from a criminal organization and every intelligence service in the world. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they're lying their way across Europe--dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister's name.

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

Okay, hear me out. Can someone please turn this novel into a movie? I enjoyed this action-packed espionage rom-com – I was hooked from the very first chapter! It’s fast-paced and I enjoyed the adventure Zoe and Sawyer went through, running and avoiding those who want to kill them, and pretending to be married and falling in love in the process. Zoe’s personality, although having amnesia, was fun to read about – she’s quirky, fun, and isn’t afraid to take risks (of course when someone is after you waiting for a chance to kill you’d risk anything than die, right? But that’s besides the point). It was also a delight to watch Sawyer fall for Zoe in the most sweetest, possible way. 🥹

Rating The Blonde Identity ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5. Pick this one up when it releases on August 8th, 2023 for an exhilarating, funny and adventurous romantic comedy!

What a fun, quirky, fast pasted Romcom!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and thought Ally did a wonderful job making her characters relatable and loveable.