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164th out of 221 books
—
531 voters
Twelfth Night Secrets
by
Jane Feather
A touching and sexy Christmas-themed historical romance from New York Times bestselling author Jane Feather in which a young woman must carry out a spy mission against the man she loves in honor of her recently deceased brother.
Lady Harriet Devere travels to Oxfordshire with her two younger siblings for their annual family holiday gathering. Now orphaned, the trio has rece...more
Lady Harriet Devere travels to Oxfordshire with her two younger siblings for their annual family holiday gathering. Now orphaned, the trio has rece...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
October 23rd 2012
by Pocket Books
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Pretty good book. I liked both Harriet and Julius. Harriet was surprised to be asked to watch Julius and determine if he was a double agent responsible for her brother's death. When she met him at her grandfather's home she was attracted to him. She also found him to be easy to talk to and very good with her younger brother and sister. She saw things that made her think he was working for the French, but her heart told her that he wasn't. Her waffling back and forth irritated me a little. I did...more
TWELFTH NIGHT SECRETS by Jane Feather is an interesting historical romance with a holiday theme(Christmas). A Napoleonic espionage plot with a few twists and turns. Follow Lady Harriett Devere and Julius Forsythe,Earl of Marbury on a journey filled with passion,secrets,guilt,regrets,honor,romance,spies, betrayal,and love. A fast paced but touching Christmas themed story that will have you turning pages of this story of the desire to honor one's friend and the other's brother as desire and passio...more
I really had high hopes for this novel. The premise sounded promising. However, it fell short for a few reasons.
One. It's a huge leap to ask a woman with no real experience or training whose only role in the war effort was passing her brother's correspondence, to spy on England's top spy. Like really. Don't you think her efforts would be clumsy and place her in danger. Plus, the male attitudes of the period would not have look favorable on using a female in the first place.
Two. (view spoiler)...more
One. It's a huge leap to ask a woman with no real experience or training whose only role in the war effort was passing her brother's correspondence, to spy on England's top spy. Like really. Don't you think her efforts would be clumsy and place her in danger. Plus, the male attitudes of the period would not have look favorable on using a female in the first place.
Two. (view spoiler)...more
The holidays are upon is in 1797. Harriet, aka Harry, is charged with organizing her grandfathers annual holiday soiree. Harry is just coming out of mourning her brothers death, she is busy raising her two younger siblings, and her grandfather is all the family she has left for the most part. Associates of Harry's brother pay her a visit informing her that not only was her brothers death not as reported, but they are in need of her services to gain information on Lard Marbury. Lord Marbury is su...more
I couldn't do it...I just read two more interactions between Harriet and Julius and I started to yawn. Terrible...definitely not a usual Jane Feather book. I only made it as far as page 85. Blech!
The premise was a little sketchy to begin with since what government in their right mind would ask some girl to investigate a potential murderer. The execution was awful...Harriet is boring and has way too much time on her hands. Julius is just as bad. I have a hard time believing he works for the Briti...more
The premise was a little sketchy to begin with since what government in their right mind would ask some girl to investigate a potential murderer. The execution was awful...Harriet is boring and has way too much time on her hands. Julius is just as bad. I have a hard time believing he works for the Briti...more
romance is well and good but you really do need to suspend your disbelief with this one. a short read to tie in with christmas, the ingredients for a couple of fun protagonists were there, but the relationship didn't have a hope of ringing true as it wasn't given time to develop. told to spy on a man who probably killed her brother, our heroine neither sleeps with him because she's overcome with lust and then kills him (option 1) or keeps him at arm's length until the misunderstandings are worke...more
Maybe I'm finally burning out on mass market romances, can you believe it? After 30 years, this may be the section of the library I skip. Sacreliege! This was competently written but many questions went unanswered. She fell for him because that's the formula, he resisted because his character must. The children were adorable because an historical country house christmas romance must have children. ALL "I's" DOTTED & ALL "T's" CROSSED.
Twelfth Night Secrets
As I am a great fans of Jane Feather. i was sadly disapointed with this story. Harry and Julius are an intresting duo and as their relationship devolops its enough to make you want to continue reading. .i think with alittle more adventure and some more steam it could devolop into a great read. all in all it was a tad short for my taste but has potential to be a great read for someone other than me....
As I am a great fans of Jane Feather. i was sadly disapointed with this story. Harry and Julius are an intresting duo and as their relationship devolops its enough to make you want to continue reading. .i think with alittle more adventure and some more steam it could devolop into a great read. all in all it was a tad short for my taste but has potential to be a great read for someone other than me....
The setup was great - h's brother killed on a spy mission in the Napoleonic War, and she's recruited to watch over the H -his buddy/suspected double agent. How could a story with espionage and a holiday house party end up being so dull? The h was not likeable. There was very little action. On top of that, there was hardly any romance and virtually no steam. With a shorter page count,one would hope this book would lack all that boring filler that seems so pervasive these days in HRs that clock in...more
1-1/2 stars
Poorly done spy story. It was a very short story- they used large typeset and large margins to stretch it out to 258 pages, but it was more like a 120 page story. And not much mystery. And please- falling in love almost instantly with someone you believe murdered your brother and is a traitor to your country?!
Poorly done spy story. It was a very short story- they used large typeset and large margins to stretch it out to 258 pages, but it was more like a 120 page story. And not much mystery. And please- falling in love almost instantly with someone you believe murdered your brother and is a traitor to your country?!
Hard to say why I didn't give this 3 stars. There wasn't anything to object to in the story. However, the mystery/suspense elements don't really hold your interest much, since the reader is informed fairly early on about what actually happened.
Harriet and Julius just never really held my interest all that much.
Harriet and Julius just never really held my interest all that much.
I finished the historical romance but it was very heavy in detailed description of every day-to-day activity sprinkled with characters sometimes thinking about the plot but no action. I skimmed a lot. After Harriet's brother is killed, she is asked to watch Julius and see if he is a double agent.
I was expecting better and was disappointed. Very short book that really had no substance. I found that the little action held my interest not at all, and even though it was a spy sotry, the intrigue just was not there.
I couldn't get into this book; it, in fact, kept putting me to sleep. The spy plot seemed silly and the set up forced. The two leads had a bit of chemistry, but they in and of themselves weren't very interesting.
This has got a good plot. It's simple reading and I sped through the novel in less than a day. Not particularly memorable, but the characters were enjoyable. I would have liked to see a little more complexity.
More of a novella than a novel, and there was still one fairly serious plot question that I didn't feel had been adequately answered by the end, but... if you let that one go, it worked.
I love Jane Feather's novels. They are always filled with a little mystery, romance, and history. "Twelfth Night" felt a bit rushed and incomplete. I don't think I read why Nick was murdered or what the mission was about that the Julius was involved in.
Christmas! A Georgian house party! Napoleonic spies! Spunky lady sleuth! I bought this book from very limited options when stuck in an airport, but it turned out to have SO MANY THINGS I LOVE.
I really enjoyed this book. Harriet is quite the character, I really like her personality. I'm hoping this story line becomes more than just a holiday novel. I would really enjoy seeing where Julius and Harriet's lives together go! There could be lots of action involved just like when Julius was ambushed and Harriet came to the rescue.
It was a slow read. I should have finished it in four hours, but couldn't get that interested. Routine and predictable.
I found this book mediocre. I like Jane Feather but this book didn't stir me at all.
Great story telling, love the genre, but the plot felt odd.
Well, still a goodread.
Well, still a goodread.
I thought this book would never end, and it's short. I usually love Christmas stories and house parties, but this emphasized every boring part of both.
had some good moments, but the ending of the spy situation left me flat.
very slow to start and could only get halfway through the book
Not as enjoyable as other books I have read by the same author.
Not her best work and the premise was unrealistic
quick fun Christmas read.
easy read, but not a really involved or original storyline, enjoyable though
while this was a moderately fun christmas story it seemed unnecessarily complicated and overdone in places. the conspiracy didn't seem fleshed out enough, and neither did the relationship- it seemed flat to me. but overall fairly enjoyable.
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Jane Feather was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in New Forest, in the south of England. She began her highly successful career after she and her family moved to Washington D.C. in 1981. She now has over ten million books in print.
Has also written under pseudonym of Claudia Bishop (books written in 1984)
More about Jane Feather...
Has also written under pseudonym of Claudia Bishop (books written in 1984)
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Jan 12, 2013 01:29am