The Forbidden Rose (The Spymaster's Lady, #3)

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The Forbidden Rose (Spymaster #3)

by Joanna Bourne (Goodreads Author)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 1,003 ratings · 130 reviews

A career is blooming...

A glittering French aristocrat is on the run, disguised as a British governess. England's top spy has a score to settle with her family. But as they're drawn inexorably into the intrigue and madness of Revolutionary Paris, they gamble on a love to which neither of them will admit.

Mass Market Paperback, 368 pages

Published June 1st 2010 by Berkley Sensation (first published May 26th 2010)

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Feb 28, 2011 new_user rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cool-spies, historical

Sherry Thomas fans will like The Forbidden Rose. Probably. Succinct like Thomas, Joanna Bourne's prose nonetheless sings with flare, marrying original metaphors for timeless ideas (e.g. "she was a battlefield of possibilities") and a quintessentially French understatement perfect for a French setting and a French heroine. +1000 pts. for a unique setting and research.

William Doyle and Marguerite de Fleurignac meet in Revolutionary France. Aptly, principle drives Doyle and Marguerite and, in the s...more Sherry Thomas fans will like The Forbidden Rose. Probably. Succinct like Thomas, Joanna Bourne's prose nonetheless sings with flare, marrying original metaphors for timeless ideas (e.g. "she was a battlefield of possibilities") and a quintessentially French understatement perfect for a French setting and a French heroine. +1000 pts. for a unique setting and research.

William Doyle and Marguerite de Fleurignac meet in Revolutionary France. Aptly, principle drives Doyle and Marguerite and, in the service of those principles, supreme pragmatism. He, a spy, she, a resistance leader.

I want to carve Marguerite et Doyle into a tree. They may be my favorite couple yet: self-deprecating, competent, and selfless Marguerite and sly, devilish and frank Doyle, who pushes just enough, rough and brawny in a society of aesthetes-- and only unassuming to the undiscerning eye. So undramatic and earthy, he is the everyman and the ideal at the same time, the alpha without the overbearing. I loved his -believable and frank- point of view. I could go on about Marguerite too, so big-hearted and independent.

Let's not forget Adrian. I can't wait for The Black Hawk . Rose can be read as a standalone, but Adrian's point of view here should definitely precede Hawk. Fans will meet his future love interest here too.

Readers enjoying historical romance and weary of ballrooms will enjoy that Marguerite and Doyle's dilemmas actually, you know, matter. Revolutionary-era spies, lacking COMSATs, PCs and voice recorders, carried out intelligence grunt work more often than assassination, but Rose excites as the heroes look over their shoulders for tails or exchange passwords-- vintage spy chic. Bourne invests equal effort in her setting, suspense and spy elements, but as she says, she doesn't write romantic suspense, so the action/conflict always comes back to Marguerite and Doyle.

All told, Bourne's sophomore effort, with bold voice and superb atmosphere, impresses more than her debut, The Spymaster's Lady . She's pared her narrative to the core, made this more pointed, that more powerful. She still writes sexual tension better than full-on love scenes, but that is enough. @.@ I thought I was done with historical romance besides Sherry Thomas, but I think I have another favorite author! I'll wait between books, however, since some plot elements repeat themselves, like the road romance. (less)

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Aug 12, 2010 BarkLessWagMore rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, dnf

I’m not going to write a long-winded review because I read most of this on vacation, didn’t take notes and I’m feeling rather lazy. I believe this is part of a series but it reads well on its own. The hero is a british spy, scarred terribly and not traditionally handsome, and the heroine is a beautiful aristocrat keeping secrets of her own. Both know they can’t have each other for any length of time but they are inexplicably drawn to each other and unable to resist the pull.

This book has an amaz...more I’m not going to write a long-winded review because I read most of this on vacation, didn’t take notes and I’m feeling rather lazy. I believe this is part of a series but it reads well on its own. The hero is a british spy, scarred terribly and not traditionally handsome, and the heroine is a beautiful aristocrat keeping secrets of her own. Both know they can’t have each other for any length of time but they are inexplicably drawn to each other and unable to resist the pull.

This book has an amazing sensual buildup. The author even uses the work cock and tits. Yay for her. The hero speaks like an actual guy instead of waxing poetic about the heroine’s bits and pieces like too many historical heroes. And this brings me to my biggest disappointment so far in the book: the lame-ass love scenes. Hugely disappointing. The sexual tension is through the roof but the love scenes were over before they even began. Blech. I don’t like being led on like that and I can’t figure out why the heroine didn’t complain! The hero, with all his sexy talk does a boom, boom, ahhh, boom, ahhh, and then there’s some spillage on her belly, and he’s all done. Wait, what? Did someone rip out the best pages of my book?

Despite that disappointment the characters were very interesting. The only thing niggling at me about the heroine was the fact that she was helping people whom she seemed to abhor. That bit didn't make sense to me but maybe it became clearer later on? At any rate it made it difficult to connect with her. I adored the young boy and his donkey companions. I hear the author is writing his book. I may give that one a go. But sadly, my complete disinterest in all things spy related has forced me to give up on this one. I’m sure it’s super fantastic but I completely lost interest at the midway mark and just can’t work up the energy to pick it up again. I know, I know I finished the slow moving book about the cat lady falling in love with her brother and yet I give up on this? What can I say? I’m a quitter. Looks like I’m going to have to add another book to the DNF pile.
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Aug 05, 2011 Anna (Bobs Her Hair) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: romance fans

Recommended to Anna (Bobs Her Hair) by: new_user

Shelves: historical-romance, romantic-suspense

The Forbidden Rose is a delightful spy/suspense/historical romance set during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. It’s also prequel to Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series, which includes The Spymaster’s Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. Bourne provides an involved plot, mature characters, and a descriptive setting. If you are looking for a historical romance that break away from predictable plot devices then I highly recommend this book.

The Plot
In 1794, Marguerite de Fleurignac (“Maggie”), an ar...more

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Dec 05, 2011 willaful rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of the series

Shelves: hero-is-a-mountain, hero-makes-me-swoon, made-me-laugh, sexy-beta

4.5 stars. Spies, political intrigue, French heroines -- these generally top my “oh hell no” list when it comes to choosing romance. But Bourne has made the combo work for me before, so I trusted her to make it work for me again. My reward was a totally swoonworthy hero, in a character who had seemed far from typical hero material in the previous books of the series. Is there anything sexier in a dude than competence... large, quiet, total, large competence?

Set some years before the previous bo...more 4.5 stars. Spies, political intrigue, French heroines -- these generally top my “oh hell no” list when it comes to choosing romance. But Bourne has made the combo work for me before, so I trusted her to make it work for me again. My reward was a totally swoonworthy hero, in a character who had seemed far from typical hero material in the previous books of the series. Is there anything sexier in a dude than competence... large, quiet, total, large competence?

Set some years before the previous books in the series, shortly after the French revolution, this is the story of how William Doyle met his wife. I can’t remember now if we actually met her in the other books, but I wasn’t expecting her to be a French (former) aristocrat named Marguerite. This doesn’t seem like a whitewash though, because when we saw her through Doyle’s eyes, he wouldn’t think of her that way, just as his loving Maggie. (Though it does bring up my one big quibble about the book and the series in general (view spoiler))

One of the fascinations of the story is seeing the character of Adrian as an old-before-his time adolescent, just beginning to learn to be a decent human being from Doyle. I think this would have less impact if I hadn’t read the previous books, so for that reason I’d recommend reading the series in publication order, rather than chronological.

But Adrian doesn’t steal the show here, because Doyle is simply so delicious. My favorite description of him (from Marguerite, who thinks of him as Guilluame): “ “Guilluame looked Jean-Paul over, being meditative and calm about it. Guillaume, being meditative, was like a mountain wondering if it should fall on someone.” I would take that over endless descriptions of pecs and boners any day, although naturally Doyle is by no means deficient in those areas either.

I love it, by the way, that Marguerite continues to think of William as Guilluame all through the book, just as she instantly became “Maggie” to him. It fits with how equal they are: Marguerite is brave, honorable, intelligent and, if not as adept in survival skills as Doyle, certainly willing and able to learn. They reminded me somewhat of my other favorite Mountain hero and his equally competent love, from Georgette Heyer’s The Masqueraders

The story is also exciting, funny, and beautifully written but of course if you’ve read Bourne before, you expected that. And if you’ve read Bourne before and liked it, you definitely won’t want to miss this.
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May 10, 2011 May added it

Picked by Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal as one of the best romance books of 2010, I thought I would give this book a try even though I generally find spy stories set in the past to be somewhat of a miss for me. Story starts out simple enough. British spy William Doyle meets French aristocrat Marguerite de Fleurignac in a burned out chateau and escorts her back to Paris with the hopes of finding her father, whom he suspects of selling out British agents. Marguerite or Maggie has her own...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Korri added it

Shelves: romance

Having just reread The Spymaster's Lady while getting over a cold, I was ready to pick up another book in Bourne's Spymaster series.

Romantic suspense or romance novels with spy plots are not usually my thing. The few I've read have been rather insipid, with the spying a mere sideline to the flirtatious banter, or else ridiculously trumped up spying missions take over the whole plot.

Bourne, however, creates believable worlds in which the stakes feel high and very real. She writes complex charac...more

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Oct 05, 2012 CB rated it 5 of 5 stars

J'aime ce livre.

Joanna Bourne writes amazing prose. Her cadence is fresh, her perspective unique, her settings unusual and not the same old, same old. Here we have the waning days of the Terror, when guillotine blades dropped almost around the clock. Marguerite (Maggie) is an aristocrat from Normandy who runs La Flèche, an underground railroad that spirits the condemned across the English Channel to freedom. When we meet Maggie, she is alone, on the run, hungry, tired and scared after her family...more J'aime ce livre.

Joanna Bourne writes amazing prose. Her cadence is fresh, her perspective unique, her settings unusual and not the same old, same old. Here we have the waning days of the Terror, when guillotine blades dropped almost around the clock. Marguerite (Maggie) is an aristocrat from Normandy who runs La Flèche, an underground railroad that spirits the condemned across the English Channel to freedom. When we meet Maggie, she is alone, on the run, hungry, tired and scared after her family's chateau was burned to the ground. Maggie's family had been left alone because her malicious cousin Victor is a trusted cohort of Robespierre, so the loss of her chateau came as a surprise. But even more upsetting is that someone knows the hidden identities of La Flèche operatives and is hunting them down.

Guillaume LeBreton claims to be a itinerant bookseller when he catches Maggie in the ruins of the chateau's stable. He isn't, of course; he's William Doyle, surplus son of an English Earl, and a valued member of the British Intelligence Service. He's on the hunt for Maggie's father, a mad Marquis who has disappeared. Unfortunately, he took with him a list of British officer candidates who have been marked for murder by Robespierre.

Sounds ridiculous, no?

But it's sublime.

The writing is so beautiful, I wish I could put it on display and stare at it like a bouquet of gorgeous flowers. And funny! Maggie has the driest sense of humor. And her fatalistic bon mots fit perfectly with who she is. Plus, she is SO French. Joanna Bourne obviously has known her share of Frenchwomen, because I felt like I was back in my old job's Paris office (only they have better plumbing and much better coffee than Maggie did.)

And Doyle felt like a man. He thought like a man, he acted like one. And his words and actions also suited who he was, although the English aristocrat really had been subsumed by the spy.

The plot is tightly woven; the supporting characters are all three dimensional people in their own right (and Hawker and Justine get their own book); the research is impeccable.

This book took the sour taste of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES out of my mouth. Ta, Ms. Bourne!(less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

This was a hard book to rate and review for me. In the end, I ended up not caring about most of the "cons" because I just flat out enjoyed reading this book so much I couldn't bear to give it less than a four.

Cons first. For some reason, Maggie's dialog annoyed me a bit. It was like English with a French turn, when she was supposed to be speaking French, or something. I dunno. It didn't work particularly well for me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Maybe this next one reflects more on...more This was a hard book to rate and review for me. In the end, I ended up not caring about most of the "cons" because I just flat out enjoyed reading this book so much I couldn't bear to give it less than a four.

Cons first. For some reason, Maggie's dialog annoyed me a bit. It was like English with a French turn, when she was supposed to be speaking French, or something. I dunno. It didn't work particularly well for me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. Maybe this next one reflects more on my defects of character, but for a group of hardened spies in the middle of a political crap shoot, these people seem to be able to avoid a ridiculous amount of violence and killing, to the point where it nearly broke my suspension of disbelief. I was also a bit lost as to the relationships of some of the characters (why did I get random asides of Justine and the Madame, again?), but maybe that was because I jumped into this as my first book in the series, as was recommended to me.

Some pros now. I've seen some complaints that the romantic scenes fell a bit flat, and I'd agree that if you're looking for steam, this probably isn't it. But it seemed to fit the characters for me. Maggie and Doyle are not extremely attractive, nor do they engage in hours of banter and foreplay before they get down to business. They don't have that luxury. Instead, they are both caught up in events way over their heads, pulling the strings with other peoples lives at risk. Even though they didn't have a typical or lengthy romance, I felt what they had was sincere. They both realized it was a bad, risky choice to be together. They couldn't tell each other the truth about their circumstances. Either one, or both, could be dead the next day. But instead of letting everything push them apart, they let that be the common ground they stand on to take something for themselves. It was a welcome change to read a romantic pairing where no one felt the need to "fix" one another. Imagine, you can have a relationship built on solid foundation of mutual bodily pleasure and respect! The other characters were a pleasure to figure out. Hawker, of course, who I've seen gracing the cover of his own book that I will most certainly be reading, as well as the Gardener and the random assortment of minor prisoners, spies, and suspicious cousins.

Looking forward to the next one.(less)

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Mar 17, 2012 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-historical, romance-straight-up

I'm not sure what exactly possessed me to continue reading it once I realized the writing was what is was. It was the strangest thing. At first, through the first 100 or so pages, I was not a big fan of the Bourne's writing style and I couldn't quite put my finger on what was bothering me. The way things were so utterly French and so completely English amongst the characters - from body language to the way they structured their sentences and phrases to attitude? Or maybe it was just the wholly u...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Megan Winget rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-favorites

I love this book. I've read other reviews that say Marguerite is too interior and self-contained and that it's difficult for readers to really understand what she's thinking or why she does what she does. She's hard to engage with. I guess I can see what these reviewers are saying, but that criticism is actually one of the things that I really like about this characterization. Yes, Marguerite is introverted and maybe outwardly emotionally cold (?). She buries her emotions. Exactly. That's what s...more I love this book. I've read other reviews that say Marguerite is too interior and self-contained and that it's difficult for readers to really understand what she's thinking or why she does what she does. She's hard to engage with. I guess I can see what these reviewers are saying, but that criticism is actually one of the things that I really like about this characterization. Yes, Marguerite is introverted and maybe outwardly emotionally cold (?). She buries her emotions. Exactly. That's what she was trained to do. And that's what French aristocrats had to do (Bourne even describes how Marguerite would get pinched by her uncle if she blinked while attending the King at Versailles). And finally, that's *particularly* what you have to do if you lead an underground organization that smuggles aristocrats (and other enemies of the state) out of revolutionary France. I really appreciate that Bourne is willing to carry through to the logical conclusion of who her character is. So - Marguerite is complicated, she's not an open book, she's got a lot going on. She's a bit of a dreamer (she collects folk stories) while simultaneously being a genius planner and pulling of an incredible feat. She's fantastic. I admire this character.

Like the other Bourne books I've read, while the relationship at the center of the book (Marguerite and Doyle) does take center stage, there are some pretty important things going on on the sidelines. The relationship between Doyle and Hawker is interesting and feels mildly dangerous. Marguerite and her evil cousin. Heck, even the relationship between Hawker and Pax is interesting. It's very rare for me to care anything at all about the side stories in romance novels. I literally skip right over them. In this book, I cared a lot. I wanted Hawker to make the right decisions. I wanted him to give the important information that he finds to Doyle in time. I enjoyed reading the interactions between Justine and Hawker. Justine is a deeply interesting character. Marguerite's father is reasonably exasperating and lovable. The whole thing is engaging for me.

I love reading books with lots of emotions, and hot sex, and tempestuous relationships. It's fun. This is not a book like that. They know they like each other right at the outset. That's never ever questioned. The core of the book isn't a tension about their relationship, it's about a tension about their situations. Is The Forbidden Rose a historical romance? Yes. Is it like any other historical romance I've read? No. (less)

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Aug 19, 2011 Brownbetty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, if you sometimes binge on historical romances, and then read all the ones your friend recommended and then try heading out on your own and suddenly realize, oh wait, the majority of the genre is awful, full of 'his forceful kisses stifled her protests!' type stuff where the protagonists are cardboard cut-outs distinguished only by how annoying they are...

Here is an author to start your next binge with.

I suspect the 'historical' part is not something you should lean on too hard, so if that'...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, french-revolution, france

I've always enjoyed a good spy story, but I haven't, until now, read a really GOOD one. Joanna Bourne's The Forbidden Rose was everything I wanted in a spy novel, complete with romance - the kind that (as it does in war) blossoms unexpectedly and with a desperation that, at any moment, either party could be lost.

The Forbidden Rose takes place during the French Revolution, and Bourne does not shirk from showing the ugly side of the revolution - this is no over-romanticized France. It is a land to...more I've always enjoyed a good spy story, but I haven't, until now, read a really GOOD one. Joanna Bourne's The Forbidden Rose was everything I wanted in a spy novel, complete with romance - the kind that (as it does in war) blossoms unexpectedly and with a desperation that, at any moment, either party could be lost.

The Forbidden Rose takes place during the French Revolution, and Bourne does not shirk from showing the ugly side of the revolution - this is no over-romanticized France. It is a land torn by war and a population ruled by fear. Marguerite de Fleurignac is the leader of a group called La Flèche (The Arrow) which transports aristocrats out of the country and across the channel. William Doyle is a British spy who is looking for Maggie's father - apparently, he has a list of people that has served as a hit list, and there is a suspicion that her father is the one behind the assassinations. Things start to get complicated when Doyle stumbles on Maggie in the ruins of her sacked and looted home. Both are suspicious of each other, but they need each other. Doyle knows she is the daughter of the man she is looking for, and Maggie knows that she will get to Paris (where she is certain someone has betrayed La Flèche) more easily with Doyle to protect her. Along the way, of course, they fall in love, though both of them take their time coming to the realization that despite the danger, they will both risk their lives to stay together.

What I loved most about this book was that the danger was always very real. Doyle and Maggie both have honed skills - Maggie from leading La Flèche, and Doyle from his years of spying - but every time there was a situation, there was always a part of me that thought that they might not get out of it this time. I never had the sense that they were superhuman, which can be a problem in some spy romances. Bourne did an excellent job of showing the thought process for figuring out the solution, step by painful step, to each obstacle in their way. They were just really good at figuring out the puzzles.

The romance side was hot, though not particularly explicit. But throughout the intimate scenes, I felt the desperation for these two lovers - they might never see each other again, and that made the discovery of the other both precious and not. Special because it might be the last, but not too precious that they took time about it. They had no time to spare! These were the kinds of love scenes that reached into my heart and gave it a hard tug.

The side characters were all from different factions, and often clashed despite their connection to Maggie and Doyle. This painted a political landscape where you didn't know where your next enemy was going to come from, and I seriously spent nearly every scene wondering if the person they were speaking to was going to betray them. I never knew who was on their side with an absolute certainty. Hawker and Owl were particularly fabulous side characters, because they're so young. The ease with which Hawker performs certain tasks adds to the darkness of the book in ways that seeing an adult do the same things just cannot do. And seeing Doyle pass on his knowledge to Hawker helped to show us that these skills Doyle has come from a natural talent, but also YEARS of experience. Bourne throws in a lot of tips from Hawker's point of view (repeating in his mind things that Doyle has told him) that gave me a new perspective on scenes I'd already read.

I started this book on a whim at school on Thursday - purchasing it from the Kindle store despite agency pricing because I'd heard so many wonderful things about it. Today I sat down to read a few more chapters in my office and ended up staying two hours later than I'd planned to finish it. I could not put it down. Aside from the excellent world-building, the language itself - especially in Maggie's point of view - was lovely and poetic. Maggie sees the world through a lens of spinning a fantastic tale thanks to her hobby of making written records of local stories. That lens took a dark, dangerous world and gave it a beauty that gave me hope for their future.

This book is an EPIC WIN for me. (less)

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Jun 30, 2010 Rosina Lippi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, reviewed-here

I've reviewed Jo Bourne's novels before, and here again I am full of praise. Historical fiction is not easy to write. That is, it's harder to write than contemporary fiction, and she pulls it off beautifully.

We're in France, close to the end of the Reign of Terror. Everybody fears for their lives. Think Stalin, but not quite so grand a scale. We have the young woman, daughter of nobility, who has been busy smuggling aristos (as they are called so charmingly) out of France. We have the English sp...more

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Jun 19, 2010 Sandy Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, historical-romance

I love Joanna Bourne. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed her first two books – The Spymaster’s Lady and My Lord and Spymaster – I didn’t expect to like this one quite as much. I’m happy to report I loved it just as much. Maybe more?

THE FORBIDDEN ROSE is set during the turmoil of the French Revolution. Marguerite de Fleurignac is a French aristocrat who smuggles people who would otherwise be sent to the guillotine out of the country. When her château is burned to the ground, Maggie flees to her hom...more

I love Joanna Bourne. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed her first two books – The Spymaster’s Lady and My Lord and Spymaster – I didn’t expect to like this one quite as much. I’m happy to report I loved it just as much. Maybe more?

THE FORBIDDEN ROSE is set during the turmoil of the French Revolution. Marguerite de Fleurignac is a French aristocrat who smuggles people who would otherwise be sent to the guillotine out of the country. When her château is burned to the ground, Maggie flees to her home in Paris where she intends to warn the other people in her smuggling network that their identities have been compromised. The hero, William Doyle, arrives in time to help her get away. He pretends to be a traveling book seller, but he is in truth a British spy who is using Maggie to find her father, who he believes is linked to the assassinations of several British agents.

First off, I love the setting. The French Revolution? I’m intrigued. I’ve discovered over the last year that, in order for me to enjoy a historical romance, there must be some type of conflict other than the ups and downs of the romance. There is conflict aplenty in this book – in all of Bourne’s books actually. She does a great job of exploring the Revolution, making it seem real and horrible. I found myself wanting to learn more about the time period and about Robespierre. It’s been a long time since I had a history class, and honestly, the only thing I can remember from high school text books is that the French Revolution was a victory for the people. The monarchy was overthrown. That sounds good, right? Like when the American colonies overthrew King George? Well, there’s definitely an ugly, bloody side to the French Revolution that I, in my sunny little world, didn’t think much about. This book brought that to life. This is not to say the book is overly violent or anything, but it… well, it makes you think.

The second thing I love about this book: Maggie. It might seem odd to describe a woman in a historical romance as a “kick-ass heroine”, but that’s exactly the type of character Maggie is. No, she doesn’t go running around swinging swords, casting spells, or beating villains up like the women in urban fantasy do, but I love her just as much. She’s resourceful, brave, stoic, compassionate. She doesn’t let people boss her around. She doesn’t wait around for a man to come along and save her. She takes matters into her own hands and she does things. She is not helpless as so many other historical romance heroines are.

Thing number three: Justine and Adrian. Sidekicks for the win! Adrian is Doyle’s spy-in-training. Justine is… complicated. She works for the Secret Police, which I think is a French spy network? She’s also a member of Maggie’s smuggling network. She has an interesting past and an interesting future, I believe. I’ve read on Bourne’s blog about “Justine’s book”. I’m now extremely excited to read that story. I loved both her and Adrian, and I’m fairly certain these two will run into each other in the “Justine book”. If not, boo! These two need to be together!

Number four: the writing. I love the author’s voice. Love, love, love. What’s interesting to me, though, is I think she changed her writing style a little. Before I read her previous novel, I read this review over on Dear Author http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/... where it talks about the writing style grating on the reviewer’s nerves. In her previous books, Bourne reversed the typical order of sentences. Example: “Canny as a parliament of owls, the Captain” instead of “The Captain was as canny as a parliament of owls.” I don’t think the reversal would have bothered me in MY LORD AND SPYMASTER if I hadn’t read that review, but they did kind of stick out to me. That said, I really missed the sentence reversals in THE FORBIDDEN ROSE. (I know, I know. The author can’t win either way, can she? ) I wonder if Bourne consciously refrained from the reversal because of these reviews? I still loved the writing, though. There were times where I stopped and said, “Wow” because I truly appreciated the prose. A couple of examples:

He wasn’t worried about the donkeys. It takes dedication and ingenuity to kill a donkey, though Hawker was giving it a try. Any fool can founder a high-bred mare. A good horse will run her heart out and die under you.
That was Maggie. She’d keep on until she fell in her tracks.
(Yes, Doyle is comparing Maggie to a horse, but she’s tired and worn out and scared and this metaphor fit so well.)

Guillame looked Jean-Paul over, being meditative and calm about it. Guillame, being meditative, was like a mountain wondering if it should fall on someone.
(Perfect description!)

The cherry on top: the ending! Oh, how I loved it! I complain all the time about how historical romances have stupid, obligatory baby epilogues. You know, those last five or ten pages where the heroine just so happens to be pregnant or to have a dozen adorable mini-heroes running around her feet? Can’t stand that! I don’t want to give anything away here, but THERE IS NO BABY EPILOGUE! I’m ecstatic with the ending! I think this might be the Best Historical Romance Ending Ever.
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Dec 16, 2010 Jessi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, suspense, romance

First Line: "'You have not been foolish,' she said."

This was one of the 2010 top picks for the SBTB blog. It was completely worthy of the praise - I read it in one day (in between house cleaning and errands). It has one of my favorite hero types - the gentle giant. William Doyle is a spy for England in search of the person responsible for the deaths of England's most promising military men. He is a master at blending into the environment (despite a giant scar on his face and the fact that he is...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Rea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, historical-romance

For me, the story was not particularly well-written, the characters were not particularly engaging, the plot was not at all solid. I cannot say in all honesty that I particularly enjoyed reading it.

It was one of those romances where the relationship is built on mutual lust rather than a steady growth of feelings towards the other person. Within a couple of chapters she's naked in his arms, has no idea who he is, he knows that he's using her to get to her father, whom he intends to kill, his "des...more

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May 12, 2010 Katie(babs) rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Forbidden Rose is where Joanna Bourne continues to amaze with her thought out, somewhat complex plots and characters who will take a beating and even after all the danger and life threatening action that comes their way, they refuse to be down for the count and live to fight another day. If there is such a thing as swashbuckling spies, I would say Joanna has placed her claim on it.

Marguerite de Fleurignac has been hiding in the French countryside where her family's chateau has burned to the...more The Forbidden Rose is where Joanna Bourne continues to amaze with her thought out, somewhat complex plots and characters who will take a beating and even after all the danger and life threatening action that comes their way, they refuse to be down for the count and live to fight another day. If there is such a thing as swashbuckling spies, I would say Joanna has placed her claim on it.

Marguerite de Fleurignac has been hiding in the French countryside where her family's chateau has burned to the ground. As a noblewoman, she must be careful because she is being hunted by those who want to kill her. These are important members responsible for the revolution who arrest anyone for any reason and send to the guillotine to die. Marguerite has just cause for concern, because she and her ex-lover, Jean-Paul, who is the son of the botanist of the Royal Gardens, are part of an underground network called la Fleche, where they help smuggle émigrés across the channel and into England. Marguerite's father is a mad genius hiding in Paris and is also being hunted by a select group of individuals because he maybe responsible for a group of assassinations in England.

Guillaume LeBreton, and his twelve-year old servant boy Adrian Hawker, come across Marguerite and basically hold her hostage for her own safe keeping. She lies and tells them she is Maggie Duran, a former governess. Guillaume is actually an English spy by the name of William Doyle who works for the British Service and has been sent on a mission to find Maggie's father. He knows who Maggie is as soon as they meet and will gain her trust and protect her from the men who work for her cousin Victor de Fleurignac, a very high ranking official and a close friend of the bloodthirsty and righteous Robespierre. Maggie is wary of this LeBreton, who is very large, hulking, and has a long wicked scar on his cheek. But in order to arrive safely in Paris, she needs the protection and looks to Guillaume to help her, although she acts as if she doesn't need his aid. He is more than willing to help because this way Maggie will lead him to her father.

As Maggie, Doyle and Hawker travel the dangerous roads to Paris, and then enter the city where one wrong move can get them kill, they are unaware that there are others watching them closely who may or may not want them dead. Maggie can't help but succumb to her passions for Gillaume, who is definitely not what he seems. They try their best to find a small piece of happiness in one another arms, but the horrors of the revolution may keep them apart forever.

Joanna Bourne has such an amazing skill at writing strong characters, descriptive settings, including a mature and passionate love story. She uses a great amount of historical research to have penned an amazing book such as The Forbidden Rose. Readers of Ms. Bourne's past books have met Maggie and Doyle before in The Spymaster's Lady. The Forbidden Rose is a prequel and the story of how Maggie and Doyle first met met. Not only do we see how France was full of unrest during the time of the revolution, but how no one can trust anyone, not even the children. This is especially shown with Doyle's young charge, Adrian Hawkins, who also has made quiet an impression in the two books that were released prior to The Forbidden Rose. As an adult first showcased in The Spymaster's Lady and briefly in My Lord and Spymaster, he made a big impression and does even more so in The Forbidden Rose. He is one such character that you can't help but be in awe of at such a young age, including his adversary, Justine, a young girl close to his age, who lives in a brothel and works in some capacity to lend aid to Maggie's cause.

Ms. Bourne's way with words, dialogue and deep devotion and love Maggie and Doyle have for one another will blow you away. Maggie and Doyle's passion for one another at times is rushed, but that doesn't take away from the bond and attachment they build, where they would die for one another if that ever came to pass.

The Forbidden Rose is a fiery and near all consuming tale filled with suspense and wonderful insights on the human psyche. This is one historical romance that is a must read and proves yet again how masterful of a writer Joanna Bourne has become.(less)

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May 15, 2012 Lady Knight rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 18th-c, adult, e-book, france, historical-fiction, online-library, regency, revolution, romance-focused

I'm going to preface this review by mentioning that trashy romances have never really been my thing, and every once in a while one comes along with a premise that I just love the sound of and I think, 'what the hell? I'll give it a go'. Sometimes that leap of faith ends in an okay read (Lord and Lady Spy|), sometimes I stumble across an amazing read (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (... and frankly I don't consider this series to be all that trashy... or maybe it's just my guilty pleasu...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-historical-fiction, adult-romance

Finally, Bourne takes readers back to explore the story of "The Maggie of Doyle" that we first met in The Spymaster's Lady.

Marguerite de Fleurignac is one of the few French aristocrats who has survived (at least so far) Robespierre's Reign of Terror. She and a group of loyal friends have created a network to spirit other nobles out of France. But now they have been betrayed. With her home in ruins and her people scattered, Marguerite is on the run. She finds an unlikely traveling companion in D...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Hilcia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, romance, 2011-read

B+

I read this book in preparation for The Black Hawk (because that book looked so good!), and I wanted to get some background on the main characters, Justine and Hawker. Well, surprise, surprise The Forbidden Rose turned out to be quite a read! I was immediately caught up in the romance, the adventure and most of all with Joanna Bourne's prose.

I loved how Bourne weaved romance and adventure with some history. Loved, loved how she fictionalized Robespierre's downfall and all the twists and turns...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Aemelia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Joanna Bourne seems to be a popular author on the top of may bloggers and reviewers lists...with all the talk I decided to finally giver her a try. I was given the chance to review her newest book THE FORBIDDEN ROSE for NightOwl Reviews. I figured that since she has been given glowing reviews for this book and her past books that this would be a safe choice.

Boy was I wrong, I was burned bad by this one. I found very little in her writing to like. Her prose and her characters' conversations ramb...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Jill Dunlop rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: rt-award-winner

The Forbidden Rose is loosely connected to Joanna Bourne's other novels The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. Marguerite de Fleurignac finds herself living in the woods after her home is burned down by mercenaries of the Republic. France is in an upheaval with noblemen and women fearing for their lives. William Doyle, a British spy is trying to locate Maggie's father as he believes him the man responsible for traitorous acts involving the death of important men. He discovers Maggie hid...more The Forbidden Rose is loosely connected to Joanna Bourne's other novels The Spymaster's Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. Marguerite de Fleurignac finds herself living in the woods after her home is burned down by mercenaries of the Republic. France is in an upheaval with noblemen and women fearing for their lives. William Doyle, a British spy is trying to locate Maggie's father as he believes him the man responsible for traitorous acts involving the death of important men. He discovers Maggie hiding amongst the rubble of her former home and offers to escort her to Paris under the disguise as a humble book peddler with his helpful servant Adrian Hawker.

The Forbidden Rose is a very complicated book filled with intrigue and passion. It is set during a very tumultuous time of the French Revolution. There are very complicated plots afoot. Maggie is involved with helping those who have been targeted by the Republic flee France. Doyle works as a British spy and wants to put an end to the Terror. There are other factions at work as well which make this a very complicated and confusing story. I am not really one for spy stories, but Bourne's writing is so compelling that I cannot seem to help myself. I was much more interested in the romance between Doyle and Maggie than I was the French intrigue. However, the backdrop of French turmoil created a very poignant and intense setting for this romance.

The characters are extremely well drawn and are what make the story come alive. This book was much more sensual and explicit than Bourne's previous two books, which I found somewhat surprising. For those who are fans of her character Adrian Hawker, who appeared in the previous two books, will be very happy to learn that this book delves more into Adrian. The Forbidden Rose takes place previous of the other two books and gives the reader insight into how Adrian came to be the way he is. I didn't enjoy The Forbidden Rose as much as I have Bourne’s previous books and I think this is due to the complexity to the spy plots. I had a hard time following things. Plus, I found myself trying to remember Doyle from the previous books and had trouble recalling the details. It makes me want to go back and reread The Spymasters Lady and My Lord and Spymaster. If you are a fan of Joanna Bourne you won’t want to miss The Forbidden Rose.(less)

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Feb 08, 2012 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, history

Joanna Bourne's The Forbidden Rose plays in France near the end of Robespierre's bloody part of the French revolution. I've read The Spymaster's Lady, an earlier volume of this series, earlier and while I had some major qualms about (in my eyes unbelievable and unnecessary) family relationships there, the historical background and distanced prose was very well done. The Forbidden Rose has all (and more) of what I loved in The Spymaster's Lady and none of its shortcomings.
The narration is third...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Meagan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: espionage, fiction, historical-fiction, romance

Once again, Joanna Bourne has written a wholly entertaining romance novel set during the French Revolution. Unlike her previous two books, however, none of this story takes place in London. Instead it focuses on a French aristocrat who has developed a secret organization to smuggle people away from the guillotine and out of France. When her home home is burnt and French revolutionaries begin searching for her, she has no choice but to travel to Paris with a man who claims to be nothing more than...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Emilyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, romantic-suspense, espionage, book-club, adrenaline

Marguerite de Fleurignac is an aristocrat living in Revolutionary France. She orchestrates a network of people who smuggle the condemned out of the country before they are sent to the guillotine. When she is betrayed, she goes into hiding until she can return to Paris to find her father and continue her efforts to smuggle people out of France.

William Doyle is an English spy sent to France to find a list, created by Marguerite's father, of English military men who are being assassinated. When Wil...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-historical

Picked this one up on the recommendation of Felicia Day... didn't realize it was the fourth in a series. It doesn't read quite like a serial to me, I didn't feel like I was missing something; it is a very self-contained novel. I don't know much about the French revolution, just from school and The Scarlet Pimpernel. This book was so evocative of revolutionary France. Something about the dialogue and characters was SOOO French to me. Marguerite has just the right blend of haughtiness, desperation...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Anne Toronto1 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, xrate, fun

**** "The Forbidden Rose" by Joanna Bourne refers obscurely to the flower surname of pretty Margeurite de Fleurignac. The French aristo is shielded from the guillotine by her traitorous greedy cousin. Her crazy genius father roams far, believing scientific intellect transcends borders and war. His list of brainy contacts is targeted for assassination by Robespierre, and traced by a top British spy William Doyle. 'Guillaume' rescues Meg from the burned out ruins of her country estate. Together to...more

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Sep 12, 2010 Jeannie Lin rated it 4 of 5 stars

As always, Joanna Bourne's prose is fresh and beautiful. At times I felt Maggie was a bit wordy when I would have wanted more urgency, but I did love both Maggie and Doyle's characters. Their love story developed in a surprisingly quiet way amidst all the other drama.

I did sense this was a bit of an ensemble piece with secondary characters taking a significant role and subplots often overshadowing the main characters. This isn't a complaint as I've come to enjoy the cast of spies and operators w...more

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Jul 18, 2010 Jane Stewart rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance

I just couldn’t get into the characters, plot, or events, but there was some good information about the French Revolution.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I wanted it to be over. Although I did enjoy the secondary character Hawker. Strangely, the sex scenes were missing passion/emotion. As a positive, I learned some things about the French Revolution, the Jacobins, and Robespierre.

I loved and gave 5 stars to “The Spymaster’s Lady” (TSL) also by this author. The characters, plots, and settings in these two boo...more I just couldn’t get into the characters, plot, or events, but there was some good information about the French Revolution.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I wanted it to be over. Although I did enjoy the secondary character Hawker. Strangely, the sex scenes were missing passion/emotion. As a positive, I learned some things about the French Revolution, the Jacobins, and Robespierre.

I loved and gave 5 stars to “The Spymaster’s Lady” (TSL) also by this author. The characters, plots, and settings in these two books were similar, but “The Forbidden Rose” (TFR) did not engage me. Nothing pulled me in. The creative magic was missing. TFR is a prequel to TSL but it’s not necessary to read them in order.

STORY BRIEF:
Marguerite’s eccentric French father made a list of Englishmen who were a threat to a group. His purpose was intellectual, not political. That group hired assassins to kill men on the list. Doyle is an Englishman who is sent to France as a spy to get the list. The Jacobins are in power. They burned down Marguerite’s home in Voisemont. They want to arrest her, but she is in hiding. She is part of a resistance group called La Fleche which helps political refugees escape the country. Doyle finds her in Voisemont. She pretends to be of the servant class. He pretends to believe her. She needs to get to Paris, and he offers to take her for a fee. Doyle’s goal is to find Marguerite’s father by following her, but he lets her think he is doing it for the money. They get to Paris where they are both in danger from the Jacobins.

DATA:
Story length: 368 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting 1794 France. Copyright: 2010. Genre: historical romance.

OTHER BOOKS:
I've reviewed the following Joanna Bourne books.
5 stars. The Spymaster's Lady. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 7-07-08.
2 stars. My Lord and Spymaster. Copyrt 2008. Review Date 7-11-08.
2 stars. The Forbidden Rose. Copyrt 2010. Review Date 6-14-10.(less)

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Dec 25, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, 2011

*2.5 stars*

Overall a pretty fun read, and I think Bourne is probably the only romance novel author whose writing I can stand thus far, but she seems to be bad at plot organization and development. This is the second book I've read of hers, and damn, it's kind of confusing. And a lot of the plot is not so exciting. I definitely think she could have trimmed the fat.

I loved the first in this series: spymaster's lady. The hero was more...yummy for lack of a better word. I found Doyle (and Maggie......more

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About Joanna Bourne

Joanna lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge with her family, a medium-sized mutt and a faux Himalayan cat.

She writes Historical Romances set in England and France during the Napoleonic Wars. She's fascinated by that time and place - such passionate conviction and burning idealism ... and really sexy clothes.

More about Joanna Bourne...

Books by Joanna Bourne

The Spymaster's Lady (The Spymaster's Lady, #1)

The Black Hawk (The Spymaster's Lady, #4)

My Lord and Spymaster (The Spymaster's Lady, #2)

Her Ladyship's Companion (The Spymaster's Lady, #0)

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Quotes from The Forbidden Rose

“And fetch some straw.
We’ll put it between us and the ground. No reason we shouldn’t sleep soft tonight.”
“Straw. I love luxury.” — 2 people liked it

“Her breasts were nudging out of her bodice. And . . . he had his hand on one of
them. When did that happen? God. He jerked away fast and took hold of her shoulder instead. That was neutral ground up there. “Sorry. Don’t mean
anything by that. An accident.”
Fine pair of breasts she had. White as split almonds. Round as peaches. The nipples peeked out, since the fichu wasn’t doing its job. A pair of
dark little roses, pulled up into buds. Tasty looking. And if he got any closer he could put his mouth down and lick them.
That’s going to reassure her—you slavering at her tits.” — 2 people liked it

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The Forbidden Rose (Spymaster #3)

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