An Agent for Dixie

Shy and reserved Dixie Fontaine is a young seamstress. Her older sister Liana is daring and adventurous. When Dixie allows her sister to talk her into applying to be an agent with the Pinkerton detective agency in 1872 Denver, Dixie is sure she won’t make the grade. But she surprises herself – and everyone else – by landing the job.

Dixie’s fate is soon intertwined with that of Alexei Zivon. He's the son of a Russian diplomat. He’s also a seasoned Pinkerton agent. Used to working alone, Alexei reluctantly agrees to take Dixie on as an agent trainee per company policy. The catch? They have to enter into a “marriage of convenience” to pull off their undercover assignments at a swank health resort where someone has itchy fingers around priceless jewelry.

It takes a while for this story to get going. Close to half the book is taken up with preparations for Dixie and Alexie’s undercover assignment and travel. It’s five chapters(out of nine) before they even arrive at the spa and begin their assignment.

While the characters are adequate, their credibility is shaky. One may wonder about a hot shot Pinkerton agent who makes up plans on the fly and knows nothing about common social conventions of the time, like how long a widow should wear black or a wedding ring. Alexei also seems surprised when Dixie researches her undercover character and role.

This book can’t seem to decide what it wants to be – a detective whodunit or a romance. Attempting to straddle both genres, it’s an awkward fit. The plot is rather pedestrian, with a predictable conclusion. The identity of the jewel thieves is never a major mystery. Additionally, any burning desire to discover who’s filching jewelry from wealthy spa goers is never really kindled. Ho-hum.

Still, middle school readers may enjoy Dixie’s pluck and resourcefulness as well as vivid descriptions of the space and its surroundings.

If you’re looking for a full course, stick-to-your-ribs kind of literary meal, this isn’t it. If you’re hungry for a snack and a clean, entertaining read for a beach trip, grab this book.

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I enjoyed this one! At first, based on the title, I was reticent to pick it up; An Agent for Dixie does sound a bit like some revisionist pro-South Civil War love story, which I wasn't interested in. Thankfully, there was none of that here! A delightful historical romance and a perfect non-Regency romance, which I had been craving lately. 4 Stars!

This book was so good! I loved Dixie's and Alexei story. It was full of excitement and it was wonderful to watch Dixie go from a shy lady to a Pinkerton agent. An absolute joy to read. Thank you Backlit PR via NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

An Agent for Dixie takes place in Colorado when two sisters Dixie La Fontaine and Liana LaFontaine apply to be Pinkerton Women. Dixie who is the shy one isn't even sure she will get the job. Liana is the center of attention. Part of getting the job you must make a marriage of convience to your partner in crime/mentor. ( Most likely for it to be more seemly.)
Ms. Dixie La Fontaine's future rests with Alexi Zivon who was chosen as her mentor/husband.
This is from Ms. Dixie La Fontaine point of view. However when they get their first mission together they slowly get to realize how well or awful they are together. This book deserves five stars because it gives warm feelings inside. An Agent for Dixie was provided to me through netgalley for a review. May 8th 2020 it came out on e-kindle available for all.

Although short, I do think this story was very cute. I really enjoyed the romance between Alexei and Dixie. They balanced each other out pretty well. There was just enough romance to be satisfying, combined with an intriguing detective case.

This novel was quite cute and fun, great if you want something bite-sized to leave a sweet taste in your mouth. The premise of this book is adorable. Dixie, our main character, is a young seamstress who wants to be left alone to live a normal life. Her more outgoing sister, Liana, convinces her to become a Pinkerton detective, However, in order to become a detective, all of the young female trainees must agree to enter into a marriage of convenience for the duration of their careers. Dixie gets paired with Alexei, a stoic but well-meaning Russian-born detective, to solve the mystery behind a series of jewelry thefts in an elite spa.

I enjoyed reading this short novella, although I wish that it had been longer. We only scratched the surface of the relationship between Alexei and Dixie. I’m a sucker for a marriage of convenience, so I wanted more development in their relationship, to be able to see them fall for each other. It felt very abrupt, but that’s just the nature of a story that’s only a hundred pages. In addition, the mystery was solved too tidily. If the novel had been maybe 40 to 50 pages longer, or if they had cut out some of the lead-up to the case at the beginning, I feel like this would have been a stronger novella.

That said, this story was endearing. I particularly enjoyed the way Dixie’s character progressed throughout the story. She was incredibly clever, and I loved how she was the one who was always thinking on her feet and Alexei was following her lead. There were also some cute romance moments. I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to read this story because it was quite sweet and now I’m intrigued about the other novels in this series (there are SO many!).

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story was part of a multi series with a sweet story line. All of these stories do stand alone. The main premise in each one is that the Pinkertons are expanding into lady agents. If you are accepted into the program you will have to enter a marriage of convenience while in training. You can annull after every case, but if you want a new case, you must marry.
The draw to these books is the amount of cases and variety of situations that each couple faces. In this case, the female decides to interview with her sister. They meet and marry their agents. Then Dixie and Alexi travle.one way while her sisters travels another. Dixie and Alexi travel to a spa to crack jewelry theives.
This story had romance and action and adventure. The heroine is resilient a d inventive. The hero broods a little. Very enjoyable light read. I recommend and give 5 stars to each one. There is a comete story with no danglers.

A well written historical romance. Good plot, fun characters and a nice setting. Nothing outstanding to me about this book. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

Another great addition to the Pinkerton Series! This is Dixie and Alexei's story and it was simple wonderful!
Dixie had always been in the shadow of her older sister, but as she becomes an agent and is paired with Alexei, you begins to thrive!
Love this author and all she writes and this is not exception!

I rather liked this historical novel about the beginnings of the Pinkerton Agency. Dixie of course, was again our innocent heroine, but with a twist, she could speak fluently a lot of languages, which meant that she had skills that would be useful as a private eye.
I had never realized that of course, in this era, you couldn’t partner a single woman and a single man together because of scandal, and thus marriages of convenience would have to take place.
I did think her announcement at the spa of why she had a male fawning on her was risqué, and am not sure how that would have been taken, but it was a fun idea. I was unaware that paraffin wax for arthritis was a known treatment then. But spas certainly were.
I liked this story.

This was the second novel that I have read in this series and l was not disappointed with it. I enjoyed reading about Dixie and her partner. She is a kind sweet natured person and becomes an agent. The story is simple but kept me interested. I do recommend that you read this book.

An Agent for Dixie (Pinkerton Matchmaker) by Linda Carroll-Brad.

Dixie signs up to be a Pinkerton detective when she goes for her finals, she finds herself being married to the male mentor she is assigned to for their case together . Dixie and Alexei have to go and visit a health spa where there has been a series of jewellery robberies.

This story was a bit slow to start but did turn into a lovely read . You could just imagine being there with some of these very spoilt pushy women. Nice lazy afternoon read.

3.5/5

I enjoyed this romance story with the two main characters that were Dixie LaFontaine and Alexei Zivon. And also the rest of the characters to.

Dixie LaFontaine has lived in the shadow of her older sister. But when become an agent and also being paired up with Alexei her future husband she begins to come out of her shell.

Alexei Zivon has decided that he want to have adventure in his life then doing what his family wants. For the last four years he has been an agent for the Pinkerton. Now he faced with his biggest challenge to train a female agent who has no practical skill or does she.

This story was fun to read with the twist and turn within. I had fun trying to guessing who the villains were.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinion.