Love, Mystery, and Deception

She is told he is plotting against England, so she must spy on him to save her father from debtors' prison. Then, she meets Jasper, and nothing is what it seems. What will Annabel uncover, and what happens when love interferes with her plans? This is an entertaining historical romance. I enjoyed it and would recommend it.

4 1/2*STARS*
Jasper Warren, Marquess of Ramsbury, is suspicious of Sir Reginald Spencer. Jasper has a network of spies and former soldiers that keep Sir Reginald under surveillance. One of his friends is missing, possibly murdered. There are also rumbles of a miners revolt in Wales. Last season was beautiful clothes, jewelry and part of Society, now Annabel is impoverished and the chaperone of Sir Reginald's daughter. Blackmailed by Sir Reginald to spy on Ramsbury at his house party, Annabel is torn between what is right and protecting her father. Compromised, Annabel and Jasper are married, but now their lives are in danger. It's more complicated than they first thought. Trusting each other is their first test. Jasper is a sweetheart with a teasing disposition and very charming.
Very descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

This was a fun read. Annabel Pearce was a member of the ton till her father lost everything in a bad investment and she had to seek employment as a chaperone for the daughter of Sir Reginald Spencer. Sir Spencer has tasked Annabel to spy on Jasper, the Marquess of Ramsbury when Spencer's daughter receives an invitation to his house party.

Things start to take an interesting turn when Annabel is caught in Jasper's room in the middle of the night (she was hoping to find information that would confirm he was a spy against the British crown). Due to this situation, Jasper offers to marry Annabel and protect her reputation from damage at the urging of his childhood friend and neighbour, Fiona, who herself was a victim of an unwise decision the previous season.

In any case, things heat up once they are married and Jasper and Annabel come together to find the real spy and to bring the network down. Aided in this quest is Jasper's interesting household staff comprised of former soldiers. The story was fast paced and kept me engaged throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will look forward to more from this author.

I received an ARC from the publishers and NetGalley and submit my honest review voluntarily.

This was a nice read. I really liked the romance and mystery combination and this one delivered that. However, the copy I got has no spacing a lot, it kinda strained my eyes while reading and just pulled out my attention from the book time to time. The characters are also likable and interesting, I liked the fact that both main characters are cunning and smart, but then they also keep a lot of secrets from one another, which was acceptable at first, given all the spy business happening around them but more than halfway through the book, everything felt so dragged out already, the secrets and some omissions.

Still, I liked this book and found it very interesting. Plot was pretty solid and has just the right amount of steam that didn't overpower the whole story at all. The writing style could still improve as well as spacing but it's still pretty good.

What can I say? I loved this book! Loved the characters. I really think this author's writing flows well. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great intriguing and heartfelt romance story.

I am a huge fan of Regency Romances that have a strong, intelligent female protagonist, and contain something else, not just the romantic plot. This book balanced romance with another plot so well. The characters were well thought out and their actions and motivations were understandable.

Annabel has been asked to spy on Jasper, the Marquess of Ramsbury, in order to protect her family, while simultaneously protecting the reputation of the young lady she is a paid companion for. Unfortunately, Annabel finds herself accidentally getting caught in a compromising position with Jasper, therefore finding herself married to him.

I loved that the spying plot was so central to the story. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. An enjoyable read!

"His Wife, The Spy" is a compelling addition to Maxwell's Enterprising Women series, offering a unique blend of espionage and romance. Fans of historical romance with a dash of mystery will find this novel an enthralling read, filled with twists, heartfelt moments, and a satisfying resolution.

"His Wife, The Spy" is another entertaining read from Peri Maxwell. I do love a marriage through accidental compromise trope. Annabel is a strong heroine, simply trying to survive her change in economic circumstances. Jasper is willing to let people think badly of him to catch a villain. Maxwell's pacing is decent and the plot intriguing. I have read all of the books in the series and will certainly read future entries.

4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Dragonblade for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

What do you do if you are told to spy on someone or your father will go to prison? Well you spy of course! And that's what Annabel did at a house party held by Jasper. That is until she was caught in a compromising situation with Jasper and has to marry him.
A fasted paced story with twists, turns, deceit, complexity and more. A continuation of a wonderful series that can be read alone or as a set. Characters are well defined, determined and totally honorable. Author keeps the reader engaged and on their toes waiting for the next surprise around the corner.

I really should not have started reading this exciting romance on a weekday, which resulted in me going to bed in the early hours of the morning! Once I started this book, I could not put it down. I loved the main characters and Jasper's friends, even though they were initially antagonistic towards Annabel. Fortunately, although Jasper was wary of her and her motives, he saw that she was being coerced by her employer to spy on him. As the tension escalates, Jasper is disappointed that Annabel does not seem to have the same trust in him that he has for her. I also felt for Annabel as she had to deal with a recalcitrant father who followed every get-rich scheme to the detriment of his family. As barriers are removed Jasper and Annabel discover something much deeper between them, that is if they can live long enough to enjoy it. The novel is a standalone and comes to an excellent conclusion in that the perpetrators receive their just reward. I received a copy of this book as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

His Wife, The Spy, by Peri Maxwell, is a fun and enchanting historical romance taking place in Victorian England. It follows the story of Annabel Pierce, a spinster, who is employed to help a young lady find her match in society. However, she encounters her own in the most unlikely of circumstances, Jasper Warren. The dynamic between these two was entertaining to watch, and the scenes with banter are absolutely perfect. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a short and straightforward historical romance that you could read on vacation. I liked the sizes of the chapters. The inner monologues of the characters also made sense in the circumstances. The details of their meeting were one of my favorite parts. However, I feel that the chemistry between these two lacked something intangible. It seemed Annabel had more chemistry with Fiona than Jasper at times, and the details of her employment were a bit hard to follow. Besides this, it was a joy to read, and for that, I give it three stars. I am very grateful to Peri Maxwell, her team, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc.

Annabel’s circumstances change and she has to choose working and doing the bidding of her horrendous employer.
She tries to spy on Jasper the Marquess finding herself compromised and married to him.
Both have many secrets and trust in each other is a long way off as they try to navigate the mystery of a devious plot.
Lots of action, deceptions abound, truly enjoyed both characters and their personal stories.

Thank you NetGalley. This was a fascinating story. Annabel's father made some poor investments. She decided she would make her own way rather than let him find her a husband. She was caught in Lord Ramsbury's room while looking for a piece of jewelry that her charge lost. She was chaperone to Lord Spencer's daughter while looking spying for Lord Spencer but now all of a sudden she is married to Jasper. She can not find anything against Jasper but there are other things going on. The mystery as well as the romance keeps you busy with this story.

This is my favorite book in this series up to this point. I loved Annabel right from the beginning and the fact that she stood up to Jasper right from the beginning. I also loved that she was smart enough to put together a lot of what was going on and without her Jasper may never have gotten the full scope of Spencer's plot. And of course, her standing up to her father regarding her sister's future groom was a great moment for her. The one thing I would have really liked here was Annabel and Jasper actually sitting down and talking about what they knew (or thought they knew) about what was going on with the other. He knows Annabel is acting as a spy but never addresses with her why or what she is looking for, as soon as she realizes he knows she's acting as a "spy" she isolates herself, and then when she has her suspicions about Claudette rather than addressing them directly she isolates herself from him further. To be fair to her, her suspicions about Claudette were valid given much of Jasper's past behaviors. I just wish she had shown some of that backbone from early on to have it out with Jasper and get the truth for herself. Other than that, I really loved their story and watching them work as a team to solve the mystery of what Spencer was up to. I'm also always a fan of getting to see characters from previous books interact with the new characters.