This was a very fast paced action comedy, with a light dusting of romance. The book is on par with a lot of romcom/action movies. I'm glad I read this when I did. I felt myself slipping into a reading slump. And this was the perfect cure. It wasn't perfect but I did enjoy every moment. I wish the book was a bit longer, we could have spent a little more time with all the character to get to know them better. I'm excited for the next book!

🌟: 3.5/5
This one had an intriguing premise and a couple with electric chemistry, and yet there were still some elements that fell flat for me.

Similar to The Blonde Identity, this book follows a woman who gets wrapped up into an international espionage scheme with a handsome stranger after the discovery that her sister, with whom she bears an uncanny resemblance, is a spy. However, the strong point of this story is undoubtedly the dynamic between Dove and Mendez. Their chemistry felt believable on the page from early on, and their interactions were some of my favorite moments throughout the book.

And yet the parts I enjoyed were not executed as well as I would have liked. While Mendez and Dove had a fun dynamic, it felt like their relationship developed much too quickly. The main issue for me is that their big conflict in the story happens within the same day as the biggest steps in their relationship. Such an extreme back and forth got to be frustrating.

Another of the things I struggled with was Dove's internal monologue. She's an ethical hacker of sorts, which is a fun trait for a leading character to have, but I felt like her narration became bogged down with *too* many technical details. I understand wanting to bring a level of authenticity to the character, but too much technical jargon can take me out of a story (which may be more of an issue with me than with the book itself). Dove also spent a lot of time second guessing and agonizing over whether Mendez was genuine with his feelings. This is another train of thought that I, on some level, understand. But it felt like at times that she spent too much time wondering about Mendez's feelings when there were more pressing things at stake.

All in all, I do not think that this was a bad book at all. The first third hooks you immediately, but unfortunately the rest dragged for me. That being said, knowing the character pairing for book two, I am excited to pick that one up when it comes out.

Ultimately, I think this should be one you read and judge for yourself, but if you want my recommendation for a good spy romance, I would encourage you to pick up The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter instead.

Dove is an ethical hacker, someone who can legally hack into programming to purposely look for weak points in a company's software or security. Dove is often mistaken for her sister, Madison, an undercover CIA agent. Dove does not know this about her sister and finds herself caught up in this act of being an agent. With the opportunity to prevent a huge tragedy, Dove puts her thinking cap on and gets to work.

As a James Bond lover, although knowing this would be basically completely different from James Bond, I was excited to find a romance book that had spy-tendencies. Dove pairs up with her sister's partner, Mendez, and the two have a good amount of chemistry and banter between them. I will say I was expecting more action since it did involve a spy, but I can't say I was disappointed. There were some good action scenes in this book which kept me entertained.

Overall, the premise was fun and the characters were lovable. Even with it still being a romance, it was a nice change from the usual romance I read. It almost had a light thriller feeling to it, which I liked since thrillers are my second favorite genre.

THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You love your romance light on the spice, fast paced, and filled with banter.

A big thank you to Berkley Romance and the author for letting me review this advanced copy! All thoughts are my own.

The Spy and I follows Dove, a normal civilian, albeit with mad hacker skills, as she’s sucked into the intense world of international espionage when she’s mistaken for her CIA operative older sister! A hot spy, Mende, shows up to save her, but is he really who he says? What follows is an action-packed, yet somehow cozy, romcom that I didn’t want to put down! Swipe for full synopsis! 💖👉

If you know me, you know I love a good spy girl romance! I grew up with Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls, and her recent adult spy romcom was a favorite read in 2023. It should be no surprise I loved Tiana Smith’s debut, The Spy and I! Give me a normal, everyday heroine thrust into the role of super spy with a hot super spy partner, and I’m in love!

I found myself laughing out loud at Dove’s internal monologue and some of the banter between Dove and Mendez. The romance between the two is a bit of a slow burn but also comes on quickly, which may not make sense until you read it. 😅 However, it all makes sense to me given they were in the middle of an intense mission with lives on the line! The twists and turns we’re taken through as Dove and Mendez race to save Dove’s sister, and you know, like, the world, were well executed and kept me entertained. Earlier, I said this was a cozy read, and to further explain, there are spikes of action and drama and suspense as expected with a spy read, but there are also slow moments and build up that brought that thrilling pace down slightly. This is in no way a critique, I enjoyed seeing some of the more mundane aspects of spy life and felt like it helped round out the story. I’m excited to see where the author takes us in her next novel which comes out later this year. ✈️💥💕🔎

The Spy and I is out today! Thanks to b and t for the complimentary arc. All opinions are my own.

brb going to look for a hot spy that will make me homemade Oreos… wish me luck! 😅

2.5⭐️
Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for the advanced copies of this book. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I was really excited for an action rom-com featuring a female hacker. Unfortunately this just didn't quite hit the way I had hoped.

Let's start with what I did enjoy.

I have no idea if Tiana Smith has a background in programming, but she actually did a great job with the programming aspects. The heroine is an ethical hacker (or penetration tester) and while simplified somewhat, her tactics were actually accurate.

As a professional programmer, I'm always nervous reading a book about coding because it's not always... quite right. But this book did a great job and I was really impressed.

I also thought that the chemistry between the characters during close scenes was written fantastically. This book doesn't ever feature on page sex, but the characters had palpable tension and chemistry from the get-go.

Unfortunately the romance and plot itself didn't deliver in what I wanted.

This book is about spies, mistaken identities, hacking, and undercover ops. By definition, it should have been fast paced and engaging. But somehow it dragged the whole way through.

The opening scene where Dove is drawn into the scheme, was fantastic. But everything from there on dragged.

I felt like we spent more time in Dove's head listening to her inner monologue than anything else. Rather than experiencing things first hand, we listened to her describing things second hand. With long, long tangents about her feeling for her, her situation, her sister, and Mendez (over and over and over again).

It became repetitive and also lost the action feel because we didn't get to experience the action ourselves.

And this internal monologue led to my other issues with this book. Dove was constantly repeating herself, going on long tangents about Mendez's forearms during chase scenes, crying over her sister during fights... it was just bizarre.

Instead of being focused on a car chase, she describes the way the hero's hands look grabbing the window. So the actual action scenes felt cheapened and less dangerous.

Overall I just don't think this book committed to a tone. It wasn't necessarily rom-com-y. There weren't laugh out loud, silly moments. It didn't play into the silly chaos. But it also didn't go action heavy either.

So in the end I was just feel very underwhelmed by the entire thing. How can a book that ends with a building explosion be boring? No idea... but this one succeeded...

Dove Barkley had planned to meet her sister for dinner. The two have a good relationship - some of the time. Two years younger, and orphaned when they were children, Dove's sister Madison still treats Dove like a child, rather often. However, Madison is out of the country most of the time, and home for a brief period of time, Dove is looking forward to having dinner with Madison.

Arriving early to the restaurant, Dove is soon greeted by someone who certainly is not Madison. From there on in, her life will never be the same.

Dove loved her life, a Penetration Tester, or a legal hacker who helped companies find their weak points, she is content to work behind the screen and to be at home at night - alone. Madison thinks Dove should start dating again, after Dove's last relationship fell apart.

Meanwhile, Dove is being interviewed, and the guy who is interviewing her catches her attention. A bit of flirting here and there, and she gives the guy her number. However, that restaurant meeting ...

It was truly a case of mistaken identity. Dove and Madison could pass for twins, with a few subtle differences. The guy interviewing Dove? In fact, his name is Mendez and he is actually part of the CIA. Dove gets drawn into real espionage, all because Madison is not the person Dove thought she was.

This fast-paced romantic comedy was enjoyable. I loved Dove's snarky nature, her absolutely brilliant mind and her growing relationship with Mendez. Then the twists this story had when it came to who Madison really was and why Dove got drawn into this serious case of espionage kept me tapping my Kindle in pretty much one sitting.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

3.5/5 - The Spy and I by Tiana Smith was a fast-paced spy rom-com with an instant-love trope. Dove works in cyber security. Somehow, she is mistaken for her twin sister, an undercover CIA agent, and ends up with her getting involved in a spy mission with her sister's CIA partner, Mendez. Together they travel around the world trying to escape the assassins after them and find a CIA double agent. There's a lot of adventure, action, spy talk, banter, and lightness despite having assassins after them. This was an easy and light read that felt more like a cozy mystery with a side of romance than a true romance book. While it was instant-love romance, there was no spice nor chemistry between Dove and Mendez. I was disappointed that it didn't have the tension or air of mystery that I was expecting.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Romance for providing me with an ARC with this book in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to love this - I really did. This is one of those times I judged the book by the cover (and we all know how that usually plays out). I found the tech aspects of the book cringey (being in tech myself), the character development weak, and the romance unbelievable. It got to a point where I was skimming the book because it felt like a lot of telling, not showing, and I was tired of Dove talking about how hot Mendez was every few pages. For a book that's marketed as a romance, outside of the constant pining, it felt like the romance took a backseat. Also didn't really care for Dove's sister - I wish their bond and childhood had been explored more!

Overall, I was left wanting more. Fans of spy movies (think, Mission Impossible) and maybe Killers of a Certain Age or Argylle might enjoy this. Others... maybe not.

Unfortunately this book didn't work for me, something about the pacing and writing didn't match. Also I couldn't wrap my brain around Dove going from introvert to confident semi spy even to save her sister. I really really wanted to enjoy this more. The synopsis made me think fast pace and witty FMC but this was not the case.

Romantic comedy involving spies, CIA and a penetration specialist who gets caught up right in the middle of it.

The premise of the story is absolute fire, getting mistaken for your sister who just happens to be an undercover CIA agent? SIGN ME UP. The beginning was promising, fast paced, action packed and a handsome CIA agent who’s come to the rescue.

There was little romance in the story for a romantic comedy but the Oreo scene was my favorite. And there’s definitely chemistry between the characters but I felt like there wasn’t that much dialogue.

Overall, it’s closer to 3 starts, 3.25 due to a lack of romance and confusing character motivations. There’s also some plot holes in the story that might be resolved in the next book but it just bugged me a lot by the end.

If you’re into spies, conspiracies and a little romance, this one’s for you.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the idea, and I really enjoyed the opening, but I found it more difficult to read as the story unfolded. I began to lost interest when the sister vanished, and the story focused mostly on Mendez and how hot he was. Constantly reminders of his hotness, rather than any personality development, made Dove seem like a lust=crazed twit as she followed him around like a duckling.

There were some good action sequences, and some witty writing, but alpha jerks whose entire character is bound up in his sexiness is a hard sell for me. Others who lap that character type up will adore this book!

I loved the action, adventure, romance, mystery, drama of this story. Everything about it appealed to me and I enjoyed every moment spent listening to the amazing audiobook narrated by Jaime Lamchick. The mystery reminded me of a lighter version of some of my favorite thriller books and movies, and the love story is the perfect counterpoint to the drama of all the action. I didn't guess what was going on and was just happy to be along for the ride. This a new favorite for my shelves!

💻 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 💻
𝖳𝗂𝖺𝗇𝖺 𝖲𝗆𝗂𝗍𝗁

I haven’t read many if any spy romances, but I have to say they are perfect for creating the angst we all love (or hate). Plus spies are always sexy…it just is what it is! This is a low spice, high anticipation romance that I found I couldn’t put down! It releases on February 13th! Thank you to @berkleyromance and @netgalley for the advanced copy!

Dove Barkley, a cyber security analyst, is thrust into a perilous government mission when mistaken for her super-spy sister. Teaming up with her sister's attractive partner, Mendez, Dove faces trained assassins and a looming national tragedy. As she grapples with the urgency to save her sister, doubts arise about Mendez's true identity. In this heart-pounding romantic comedy, Dove must navigate espionage, danger, and her growing attraction to Mendez to prevent a catastrophic end for herself and her sister.

Like I said, there is a lot of anticipation in this one with a bit of a slow burn after an initial “warm up” but it never goes beyond some intense make out sessions. The sisterly bond between Dove and Madison is strong as they both grew up in the foster system and they are all each other really has, plus they are both badasses in their own way. Mendez is swoony for sure! Give this one a read!

Read if you like:
♥️ Romantic Suspense
🕵🏻 Spy Plots
👯‍♀️ Mistaken Identity
😆 Banter
🥵 Bad Boy Vibes

This book is marketed as a romance, but it truly is more of a romantic suspense with the romance playing a backseat to the suspense plot and spy aspects.

If you like books with an underlying romance but truly focused on other aspects of plot, I would recommend this one for those vibes!

All in all, the spy aspects were entertaining and made this a fast paced and bingeable read, but going in anticipating more romance and chemistry it was a bit lacking for me in that aspect.

Thank you Berkley Romance for my ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of The Spy and I by Tiana Smith!

I went into this book expecting a romance, but it was really more of a romantic suspense with some action mixed in. It was slanted more towards the suspense and action, though; I still enjoyed it, but I felt like the marketing was bit off for the book! I did enjoy the romance aspects that were there, and there was a lot of good banter, too!

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. They were fun and quirky, and I really liked that I could see elements of people I knew in the book characters (minus the super spy part, of course!). I thought the book was well-written, and the narrative was well-done. Overall, it is a good book with a lot of fun elements!

A fast paced and entertaining- and wholly unrealistic- romantic suspense thriller. Dove finds herself unexpectedly coopted by Mendez, a CIA officer, who initially mistakes her for her twin. She's an ace with computers but not with love. This move quickly from the US to Prague where the two- well no spoilers. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a comic book version of CIA so if you're ok with that, go with the budding relationship between Dove and Mendez.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC of The SPY and I, Dove and Mendez come off strong and I really wanted to see more about their dynamics. I love how it is about being spy and everything. But I will give it only 3.5 stars. I love how badass Dove is and how Mendez is a cool spy but maybe on the middle of the story I ask for more.
Overall it is a good read.

As much as I love spy thrillers, it has turned out that spy romance might be even better? There is a nice balance of humor for levity and intense situations in this one, with interesting characters who have great backstory and are well developed despite the action packed story. This is a thoroughly enjoyable story.

Prepare yourself for an electrifying adventure with The Spy and I, a captivating romantic comedy penned by the talented Tiana Smith. This fast-paced and immensely pleasurable novel is bound to enchant all aficionados of spy-infused romance. Brace yourself for an abundance of side-splitting and highly entertaining moments, as well as a plethora of heart-stopping surprises that will keep you hooked until the final page. Buckle up for an exhilarating ride, as this book promises an absolutely fantastic experience.

This looked good, but the more I read the less I liked it. The main character is too naive and comes across a little airheaded even though she's supposedly a whiz hacker. The name Dove isn't doing her any favors there. The romance is based entirely on instalust and Dove cannot stop thinking about how hot Mendez is, even while she's supposedly worried about her sister being in danger and being shot at etc. She just blindly follows him around, has no clue what's going on, and definitely doesn't come off as geeky or smart. She's also really annoying and I liked her less and less as the story went on. Mendez was kind of a jerk and the fact that he was hot, while pointed out in every other sentence at least, really didn't make up for that. Overall it was unbelievable and annoying and the plot absolutely does not hold up to any scrutiny whatsoever.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.