Kissing the Enemy

Scandals and Spies #1

by Leighann Dobbs, Harmony Williams

Frederica Vale is about to cause a scandal that will make her a target of the most dangerous spy network in England.

London, 1806. Fredrica “Freddie” Vale would do anything to protect her younger sister. When a dubious benefactor threatens Freddie’s family, he gives the plain girl a mission. To keep her sister safe, Freddie must steal a codebook from enemies of the British crown…

Tristan Graylocke has always benefitted from diminished expectations. As the duke’s younger brother, he can carouse at-will during high-society affairs. It also keeps anyone from suspecting him of espionage as he prepares to pass on the codebook…

When Tristan spots an enemy spy in the crowd, he’s not sure if the innocent girl is bad at her job… or a master of deception. But in this seductive game of cat and mouse, will achieving their mission keep them from falling in love?

Kissing the Enemy is the first book in a series of Regency romance novels with a dash of espionage. If you like simmering mysteries, character chemistry, and pulse-pounding action, then you’ll love this amorous adventure from USA Today bestselling author Leighann Dobbs and co-author Harmony Williams.

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Fiction, Regency

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2016

About the author

USA Today bestselling author, Leighann Dobbs, discovered her passion for writing after a twenty year career as a software engineer. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband Bruce, their trusty Chihuahua mix Mojo and beautiful rescue cat, Kitty.

Her book "Dead Wrong" won the "Best Mystery Romance" award at the 2014 Indie Romance Convention.

Her book "Ghostly Paws" was the 2015 Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem First Place category winner in the Animal Mystery category.

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book except for the sex scene. It's only one scene but I feel I don't need the details, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars. I liked the twist at the end which was really unexpected. I enjoy a lot of Leighann's series (Lexy Baker, Blackmoore sisters, Mystic Notch, Mooseamuck Island, and Kate Diamond adventures) along with a few of her stand alone books because they are "clean romances".

[J. Kahele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet

I adore historical romance and this was one of the better ones. It had everything, the good, the bad and even spies!

[Coco.V]

💝FREE on Amazon today (5/20/2018)!💝

[Book Buddies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kissing the Enemy by Author Leighann Dobbs & Harmony Williams
Series: Scandals and Spies #1
Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

I loved this book it was romantic and fun, I love the characters Frederica Vale and Tristan Graylocke, can't wait to read more by Author Leighann Dobbs.

[Zel Polev · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this is a pretty mediocre book. I've read almost half of it and I don't think it is terrible. I just want more ingenuity for a book that purportedly has spies as its characters. As spies, they're pretty sloppy. Maybe I'll pick it up later and give it a fairer rating but I'll put it as DNF as of now.

The story revolves around Frederica and Tristan. Frederica's family is under the protection of a lecher. Her mother appeases him sexually to get his support. However, his eyes are wandering to the Freddie's seventeen year old sister and Freddie is looking for a way out. The lecher told him he works for the government as a spy. He tasked her with stealing a book that has the identity of other spies. It was in the Duke's house. Under the guise of house party guests, she was to steal that book away. In exchange, the lecher would provide Freddie with a house and her sister a dowry. Freddie agrees and sneaks off to find the book.

One of my main issue with this is that Freddie takes the lecher at his word. She knows he isn't a good man but she's pretty convinced that the seemingly nice people are enemy spies and the lecher is a home spy. I just wanted some doubt.

I also didn't like that they let her go so easily. She just shed a few tears and she gets out. They didn't even extract the information from her. If she was innocent, why not clue her in that the man she wasn't working for wasn't good.

Also, I cannot deal with the fact that his solution to the innocent being a spy is seduction. It felt like he leapt over other solutions just to get to seduction. Tristan presented it as if that was the only reasonable solution. I didn't really get it.

The contrived nature of their romance is why I am abandoning this book. I just didn't have the confidence that the writing would turn out well. I wasn't really interested in the characters anyways.

[Lissy Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Korin: A Crone Running Amok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Freddie Vale is being blackmailed by her guardian Elias Harker. She needs to steal a code book in order to break his hold on her her younger sister and her mother. But it's even harder than it sounds it's a country party at the estate of a Duke and she falls for his younger brother.

A not quite standard Regency romance.

[Barbara Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read

The characters make this book a delight. Lady Frederica is a delight and her desire to look after her family has her apparent foe falling to his knees.
Easy to read, sweet and romantic, and with a few nasties thrown in to keep things interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

This novel had such a neat cover, an interesting title, and an intriguing premise that I couldn't resist picking it up when I was in the mood for romance. Although this book wasn't bad per se, I certainly wasn't blown away by it either.

My first complaint stems from the character's nicknames. Both Vale sister's called each other by their not-so-feminine counterparts: Frederica becomes "Freddie," Charlotte becomes "Charlie" (and just fyi, since I snuck a peak at the synopsis's of the other novels in this series, you can bet that this trend continues). While I don't mind one reference or fudge on the historical time period that novels similar to this might have, women of the nobility would not, under any normal circumstance, call themselves (or most assuredly want) to go by a masculine name. It would not bode well for their reputation. So the fact this is a continued theme through a lot of the series, just doesn't make me feel great about it.

But this was nothing compared to the complete ineptitude of 2 professional English spies and 1 wanna-be. Everything that happened involving these 3 characters was grossly exaggerated to the point of just being too silly to pass for anything that looked remotely realistic. The 2 "professionals" are beyond sloppy and if the 1 wanna-be had been another true professional, let's just say that England would be in trouble.

At best, the premise of the story was implausible. But it doesn't stop there. For example, the plot was irritating at times. The confusion about who's side Tristan and Freddie are each on was waaay too drawn out and just became exasperating. Forgetting the nicknames, there were other historical inaccuracies for this time period (although this may not be a deterrent or cause much notice from others, it was glaring for me).

Despite my issues with the story, it's fast paced and was a quick read. It did have a little charm and humor at times, so while this may not become one of my all-time favorite historical novels, it wasn't god-awful either. Still though, I won't be continuing the series and to my historical novel-loving friends, this isn't one I'd highly recommend.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weird inept spy novel

A young women with no training, is pit against two very experienced in espionage, is to steal to save her family. The misunderstanding about where loyalty lays is annoyingly overdone.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

TRISTAN YOU DAMN SWEETIEPIE!!! This dude is the biggest simp and I honestly love that for him. His inner dialogue just made me want to squeal.

I also love the whole "they believe mc is this trained spy but she's actually just a clumsy mess", although, I don't think they ever actually thought she had any clue what she was doing. I honestly would have loved it so much if she accidentally made a fantastic spy, but I'm really happy with the outcome nonetheless.

Um, I thought the spy they were meant to pass the info onto was quite obvious but I still liked and respected it. I wish there was more to the ending but I'm still very happy with how things turned out.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een lief verhaal en veel sympathie voor het hoofdpersonage.

[Read with Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐ 5/10
🔥 1/5
💧 0/5

Currently working on my review

[Crystal Collier · Rating 4 out of 5]

So clean readers, there is one scene to skip. I'm putting that out there first--and it was completely inconsistent with the time period and main character as far as I'm concerned. Beyond that, I enjoyed the dynamics of the story. It was a fun story with a satisfactory ending.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to enjoy Kissing the Enemy, but the implausible premise mean that the characters can never sustain the dramatic, romantic, or sexual tension and the plot is incredibly thin. Given that Tristan is so much more experienced than Freddie, there's never any real competition and the manufactured conflict didn't exactly hold my interest since it's based on a lie that Freddie alone believes.

I might've felt more invested in the characters' emotional turmoil if the authors had shown more and told less in general or if they'd deferred at all to the historical constraints that would've put barriers in Tristan and Freddie's path, but no such luck. Quite frankly, if I had to choose a "historical" period based on the character's dialogue and attitudes, I'd pick the 1990s, not the 19th century. The characters risked their reputations and their lives with about as much thought as I give to my choice of underwear from one day to the next.

When Tristan asked Freddie if she were a feminist, I lost it. It didn't come into English use until 1851 and even then, didn't take on the modern definition until closer to 1895. The conversation highlighted one of the major issues with the story for me, though I imagine that another reader might find it easier to overlook the anachronisms and pacing issues to appreciate the story's writing, humour, and charm.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frederica, (Freddie) is a very klutzy debutante who believes her sister is much prettier and deserving than herself.
Wanting to see her sister have every advantage in getting a proper match in the future, she is coerced into the spy business in order to save her family from poverty and being outcast with the promise of a small house for herself, her mother, and a dowry for her sister.
There are several twists in the book with a good bit of suspense, and there is lots of humor in it, some parts are almost a comedy of errors, I laughed quite a bit in it.
There is one very explicit scene in the book, which I was personally uncomfortable with, but it is a romance story, so it's to be expected.
The book is a very slow paced and easy read. Once again Leighann Dobbs proves she is an excellent writer and does her research before writing a story.

[Diane creech · Rating 5 out of 5]

An innocent spy

The first story that I have read in a few weeks that I found hard to put down. It is about a young woman forced to spy for her uncle thinking that he was working for England. She was told the Duke and his brother were traitors and she had to retrieve a book they had. During the course of her hunt she falls in love. The book has a twist that I did not see coming. I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

[Yashari Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A who done it type of story

A very light read. A little romance with that who's on who's side type of twist. It can be read as a stand alone book.

[Kathleen Crowell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate when characters fall in love over the course of 1 week. not my favorite story.

[Lana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was just bad. The premise, the plot, forced romance, discrepancies in the story, poor writing. Authors should have just stuck to their usual genre. If you ditch the sex scene and few murky moments, it could easily be cozy romance, and maybe if it was cozy romance I could forgive the stupidity of the heroine, unbelievable plot and the rest of it.

Heroine is described as smart. And yet, she takes for granted what Harker tells her, the man she loathes and fears, who practically blackmailed her in doing his bidding. She doesn't question anything. It doesn't strike her as strange that an experienced spy would blackmail some sheltered girl to do his work, dangerous work. Are there no other spies in whole of Britain who could do it. No, clueless klutz is the best choice because no one would bother noticing a plain girl. And if he needed her help so badly why the blackmail and threats. Why not just ask her to do it out of loyalty to the Crown.
And did this woman actually believe Harker would honor the terms of their agreement (dowry for her sister and a cottage) when she passed on the book. How naive was that. Given how little she thinks of him, if she was smart she would have gotten the terms in writing first and hold on to the book until he payed.
Later she actually remembers to ask Tristan to prove he works for the good guys. But, since he can't show her proof, she just takes his word for granted. After all, it's not in his character to be a traitor. And she knows his character so well after three days of acquaintance.

The brothers, experienced spies, can't handle one amateur. No, seduction and arrest for treason are their best ideas. The simplest solution would be to just produce a fake book and let her "discover" it. They wouldn't have to watch her all the time, and they could concentrate on the actual drop off. And enemy would get a fake book with some gibberish codes and waste time decoding it. Added bonus, since Harker provided the book to the enemy side, they would probably find him useless or untrustworthy.

The whole scene in the woods made no sense. First of all, why did Tristan bring her along. He could've left her in the house, where she'd be safe and not a hindrance and meet with his brother. The other spy was suppose to arrest Harker, but he went for his gun for no apparent reason (I guess villain must die for the book to be a true happy ending). All of a sudden, mommy appears and saves the day. No explanation how she knew to come to that spot, or where she got a gun, or why she thought to bring it. Later, she just tells her daughters the truth about daddy and everything, but there is no shock or outrage. It's all good.

What was the point of going one-eighty. All through the book, mommy is distraught widow, whose wastrel husband managed to gamble away everything they had and left them at Harker's mercy. Nothing unusual about that, common story. Mother has to endure Harker's advances, presumably to keep the roof over their heads and protect her daughters from him. Also, very common story. And then she goes all super spy, stealthy, cool, great shot, nothing like a wilting flower in the last 200 some pages. Also, we learn that not only is daddy very much alive, he got his wife to work off his debts on her back (Crown "generously" offered to forgive his gambling debts, and in return they would both became spies, him of to France somewhere probably doing what he does best, loose money, while mommy gets to be Harker's mistress).
The other spy or one of the brothers could have shot Harker, mommy could've stayed the wilting flower, daddy didn't need to be resurrected.

And they never even passed the book to their unknown contact.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew. I was beginning to think I would never get out of my current reading slump. Thankfully I decided to give this author and this book a try! Kissing the Enemy is about Frederica "Freddie" and Tristan.

Freddie, her sister, and her mother live with this horses's ass of a man who's taken them in after Freddie's father died/disappeared and he is forcing Freddie's Mom to be close to him...if you get my meaning...and is also being pervy with Freddie and her younger sister Charlie. So, he makes a deal with Freddie to find this log book as he's a spy and it's needed to save England. He tells her it's at this home of the Duke and then while there she can make a match for her sister. This is great for Freddie because it means that they could get away from this horrible man. She agrees to look for this book. Oh, and of course the Duke's younger brother Tristan is a spy too, but for France. Oh, so she's told.

Hijinks ensue at the house party and Freddie and Tristan meet, he figures out what she's looking for and even though they are "enemies" and on opposite sides...mmm-hmm...they end up falling in love.

I enjoyed the writing style and the characters. I liked Tristan alot! I thought his character had a great balance of cockiness but yet was soft and tender with Freddie. He was smart and thoughtful about situations that happened. Freddie was okay over all. Sometimes I felt like she was a bit too gullible in moments, but not enough to say that I disliked her.

My drawback for giving this more stars was I was missing a bit more action/adventure with the spy plot of this book. I wanted a bit more meat there. Still, one of the better books I've read in awhile though. Fingers crossed my slump is over!

Month: June
Letter: K/L

[Jen Kerekes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consumed this book in one sitting. The book was reasonably well written, with minimal typos and good grammar. Story was entertaining and had me laughing in several parts. Who couldn't love a spy story combined with the antics of matchmaker sisters. These two layers were an interesting juxtaposition together--even though I would have liked to see more situations arising from these conflicts as they were the key entertainment of the story.

I would also have liked to know more about the lengths her sister went to repair the heroine's wardrobe. I do not feel she got her due for her efforts. In the romance genre, a make-over is always momentous with reactions from both her love interest as well as all who witness it. Although the hero did make note of the transformations, his reaction was not transmitted to the heroine. None of the guests noticed either.

I did, however, Love the chemistry between the hero and heroine. That, in my opinion, is what kicked the book from a three to four star book. I will say though that as a spy, I think she shouldn't quit her day job. I think calling her a spy was a bit of a stretch as she was capable of absolutely no subterfuge nor was she capable of walking without tripping over herself.

I certainly look forward to the other books in this series as Morgan is certainly due for some excitement in the field as a spy. I also think that Gideon deserves a little romantic adventure away from his plants too!

[Kimberly K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free on Apple Books.

Starts off great. Regency. Spying. Clandestine encounters. Unfortunately, it drags a bit through the middle. Those clandestine encounters aren’t ever taken advantage of until way too late in the story imo. There’s also way too much miscommunication. I didn’t expect this because it starts off so direct just to waste way too much time beating around the bush. And duh the enemy isn’t who she thought it was. Like obviously. But whatevs. I’ll let it go. Why? Because we finally get redemption and it all works out. I was glad the way it was done even if it was wrapped up way too fast.

I will say another thing that broke my immersion throughout was the misuse of titles. Why was Tristan, a second son, Lord Graylocke. We’re never given a (courtesy) title for him. Should he just be Lord Tristan? Also, a (dowager) duchess is never Lady Lastname. She is the (dowager) duchess. Or her grave, the (dowager) duchess. Mistakes like these are distracting as an avid historical romance reader because we have spent years learning the intricacies of addressing British nobility. You’d think authors would research this and know this.

One more pet peeve: the use of “heels” to describe womens shoes. I looked up regency shoes. I wouldn’t call them heels. Slippers. Half boots. Walking shoes. But none are really “heels”.

But again, I’m giving the 3 stars because the beginning, end, and love felt between the MCs made up for everything else. And it was free.

[Richelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good spy romance, and this one did not disappoint. I know there are mixed reviews on this book, but I really enjoyed this book. Lord Graylocke is immediately suspicious of Freddie. It is a game of cat and mouse, but it is fun to see their relationship build, even if they think the other is the enemy. However, without his suspicions being correct that she is in fact working with Harker (slimy man!), I doubt they ever would have connected. Freddie was so successful at being in the shadow of her sister Charlotte, that Lord Graylocke never would have noticed her. She deserved to find love and happiness, especially because she had been carrying a lot of the family's burden on her own shoulders for so long. You just wish she would figure out her slimy benefactor is the one who is the enemy in all things. I would have given this an additional star, but I really felt that ONE SCENE was unnecessary and really out of place. Thankfully, it wasn't too terribly descriptive and easily skimmed over. I will definitely be reading the next in this series, as well as looking at other books by both of these authors.

CONTENT:
Romance - Sketchy Clean 🔥🔥 (Darn that one scene, otherwise it is CLEAN)
Language - Mild
Violence - Mild

[tanisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok ok so their chemistry actually made sense for once — like, they ACTUALLY LIKE EACH OTHER!!! i loved seeing that spark, it finally felt believable and not just insta-love thrown in for drama. their banter had me grinning and the tension was definitely there. but… it didn’t really make sense why they didn’t kill her immediately if she’s supposed to be a “spy.” it felt like the stakes weren’t as high as the story wanted them to be. and the whole subplot about her father’s gambling problem (which supposedly explains why she doesn’t want a relationship) was mentioned twice and then dropped, which made it feel kind of pointless. i wanted more depth there because it could’ve added layers to her character. pacing-wise, the beginning dragged a little, but once they finally started working together it picked up and was way more engaging. i also liked the little glimpses into the world of espionage — though i wish there had been more actual “spy stuff” woven into the plot. and omg i cannot WAIT for the next book with the duke — i feel like he’s going to steal the whole series!! WHY AM I BLABBERING

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Reads!

First time, I gave this a 5 stars read because I kinda liked it and enjoyed it overall.

Then minutes later, I realized what I wanted to read when choosing to read this book. Spy actions, from the actual spies because of course I know Freddie is first/one-timer in spying acts.

There isn't much spy action in this book so I'm a bit disappointed. Barely any scandals either so.. (except scandalous making but that don't count)

But still a great reads for me, good plots for romance parts.. but action as spies esp. for Freddie is excellently portrayed except for Tristan whose supposed to be in the field but doesn't seem like an active sort of spy.

The villain only barks but not threatening enough, the twist is a good job but too short a chapter for my liking.

It'd at first deem as clean historical romance because it seems so but still have the sex scene but I skip over that part too, slow so I won't miss out some info but actually it's skip—pable for those who came for the storyline minus sex scenes.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book moved along, and kept my interest, but the failure to keep the language , and actions in the time frame, dropped it to a four star rating. Words like vitals, to describe a formal dinner of the ton is just out of place. Plus virgins who are shy, and nervous about their families acceptance do not sneak off to bedrooms. The characters were likeable, but a few. The banter between the main characters was fun, and lively. The spy part was pretty good considering one of the supposed spies really had not a clue, but was forced, into the part. I really liked the book, but it needed a good edit. It will not stop me from reading another one, but wrong words, attitudes, and a time frame where a whisper could ruin you, that was not constant, was distracting. The ending was good, and I loved the added epilogue.

[Majan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Completely farfetched and implausible.

The gullibility of the heroine and the non-communication and lack of follow through by the hero after she revealed startlingly info about her involvement was completely foolish on his part. There was really no meat to this spy charade since there were holes galore in Freddie's judgement as well as Tristan's.

However I still liked the hero and the heroine despite their bungling through this spy romance. Both are charming in their own way, but I have to say there is a lot to be said for good chemistry. I liked them together so I finished this in order to get to their HEA.

This is a low steam romance. There is one relatively short and heated scene, however there is no consummation.

It also ended abruptly so their HEA afterglow is minimal. The epilogue is not about them but sets up the brother, Morgan's story.

[PAMpublish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Regency spy-suspense novel with a lovely cover about a young woman, demanded by her family's guardian, to find a covert book at a two-week gathering in exchange for independence from him. Little did she know that there was much more involving mistruths in the scenario. During this, Freddie (the female main character's nick-name) and the spy-family sponsor of the get-together, come to enjoy each other's company (Tristan) being thrown together by a younger sister. It's all very confusing, until unraveled, when it makes sense. But that's part of the mystery. Only thing not crazy about were the nicknames Freddie and Charlie which would be highly unlikely for women of the Regency era. Otherwise, a good, entertaining spy-suspense novel read.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay romance, quick read, and nice enough story but had some annoying bits. For someone who knows exactly how awful Harker is, how is it plausible that Freddie never once considers the possibility that Harker lied to her about the Graybrookes spying for the French. I realize they need discord between Tristan and Freddie up to a point but it just takes one short conversation and the whole thing is resolved in a flash. And the mother being a spy all along didn’t seem very likely either. It was like it was thrown in to be a big surprise with no hints before, unless I missed something. I did listen to this through Alexa app reading it as an audiobook so could have missed something. Overall only lightly entertaining. Not likely to continue the series.