The Blonde who Came in from the Cold is the second book in Ally Carter’s Blonde Identity series and it’s female lead is Alex Sterling, the sister of Zoe, from book one. This one is (kind of) a standalone, but now I’ll have to read The Blonde Identity, as both books share the same villain.

Alexandra Sterling is smug, super-talented, and really mouthy; so independent and stubborn that I wondered if she’d actually be able to put her ego aside and follow orders. Michael Kingsley (King) is a third-generation spy with a photographic memory and a complicated family history. He’s that romance archetype known as ‘Exasperated Man’ who hangs on in Alex’s wake as he falls in love with her.

This is propulsive, fast-paced story with multiple timelines that gave me that ‘can’t look/can’t look away’ discomfort that propels a great spy story. As close to being on a bullet train as a book can be, it feels cinematic, so think James Bond and Jason Bourne. It’s also fanciful and more than a bit silly, with unbelievable stunts, and a body count that doesn’t seem to worry anyone.

After the prologue, in which Alex and King meet ten years previously, Alex wakes up and finds herself handcuffed to King (her nemesis and ex), and they don’t know where or how they got there. They have to work together to escape, save themselves and each other, and this action is interspersed with flashbacks to their shared history – from spy school, their first case (where they were literally thrown together) through various capers and shenanigans, as they both show themselves to be able spies, before they each leave the service and Alex disappears. It’s a second chance romance, and it takes a while to get to the nub of why they are no longer together.

The flashback chapters take us through their shared history. It’s clear that everything is related, from their first job ten years earlier to the present as they get closer to the villain who has been dogging them the whole time. The action moves from Las Vegas to Portugal to Scotland and other places over the ten years, so it’s worth paying attention. Secondary characters are fun, especially Merritt, their all-seeing boss, who is channelling Judi Dench’s ‘M’, and who pushes those age-old questions about who can be trusted. The irony of course is that in the present, Alex and King can only trust each other, which is anathema to them both.

The Blonde who Came in from the Cold is unrealistic and a bit silly, but in a good way. If you love spy stories with a side of romance, and characters that you can care about, this is well worth checking out