The Pretender

May 15, 2003
What a wonderful idea! Agatha Cunnington intends to invent a husband, head for London unencumbered by chaperones and proprieties, and find her missing brother. In reality, Agatha needs a man for her plan to succeed-and the chimneysweep who just entered the room is the only logical choice. But the sweep happens to be a member of the renegade Liar's Club and a spy in service to the crown, and he is on the trail of a traitor who just might be Agatha's vanished sibling. A bold heroine with a taste for adventure and a hero worthy of her match wits and find love in this fast-paced, passionate adventure. The first volume in "The Liar's Club" series, this lively, Regency-set historical is great fun and will appeal to readers who like their historicals laced with laughter yet on the mysterious side.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2003
Agatha Cunnington needs a man. To more easily search for her missing brother, James, Agatha creates a new identity for herself as Mrs. Mortimer Applequist, but when the always conveniently unavailable Mortimer's presence is required at a social gathering, Agatha grabs the first man she can find to impersonate him. He turns out to be master spy Simon Montague Rain, who has disguised himself as a chimney sweep to sneak into Agatha's home to find evidence of her brother's whereabouts, because not only is James one of his spies but he also disappeared after some of Simon's other agents began turning up murdered. To get closer to Agatha, whom he believes to be James' mistress and accomplice, Simon agrees to pose as Agatha's "husband," but Simon soon finds how easily distracted he is from his real mission by his all-too-tempting new "wife." The first in a new series in which each title will feature a different member of the Liars Club of spies, " The Pretender" is a witty and delectable combination of superbly crafted characters and an intrigue-steeped plot in which Bradley beautifully manipulates the sinfully sensual yet delicately romantic relationship between Agatha and Simon into an irresistible and supremely satisfying love story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)