The Lady and Mr. Jones
Grade : B

The Lady and Mr. Jones, the fourth and final (I think?) book in Alyssa Alexander’s A Spy in the Ton series turns the spotlight on the eponymous Jones, a secondary character in previous books and a member of the elite spy ring that includes Shadow, Angel and the Flower.  Picking up some of the threads laid out in the previous book, A Dance with Seduction, Ms. Alexander has crafted a tender cross-class romance which plays out alongside an engaging suspense plot which sets spy against spy in a perilous, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.  I enjoyed the book and the characters, although the ending is a little weak and brought my final grade down a notch.

Jones – who doesn’t appear to have any other names – is a lad from the streets; an orphan from the rookeries who was plucked from poverty and trained by the best of the best in the art of spycraft.  Deeply loyal and honourable to a fault, Jones is so discreet, skilful and efficient that he is the man his superiors turn to when they need to keep an eye on one of their own.  In A Dance with Seduction, we met the Flower and her handler, Henry, Lord Wycombe, another member of Britain’s intricate network of spies and informants.  As the story progressed, it became clear that Wycombe was involved with something underhand and that his position had become compromised in some way – and now, Jones is assigned to keep watch on him and discover the truth about his activities and allegiances.

Lady Mary Elizabeth Frances Catherine Ashdown, the Baroness Worthington, is one of the richest women in England – or she would be if her late father hadn’t tied up her money in such a way that she is dependent on her guardian – her uncle, Viscount Wycombe – until she marries or reaches her thirty-fifth birthday.  Cat is one of the few women in England to bear a title in her own right (the barony is over five hundred years old, and as is the case with some of the oldest titles, can be held by a female) and she takes her responsibilities to her title and those who depend on her very seriously.  But her requests for funds to make improvements and repairs to the estate at Ashdown Abbey are continually blocked by her uncle and trustees and she is increasingly suspicious of Wycombe’s motives. She’s also furious, but her uncle is a dangerous and unpleasant man and she knows better than to reveal her feelings; instead she decides to pay for the repairs to her tenants’ cottages using her allowance.  Well aware that not all the servants at Worthington House are loyal to her, Cat slips from the house in order to post her letter of instruction to her steward - but on the way back, is accosted by a ruffian who tries to abduct her.

He would have been successful but for the intervention of a man Cat recognises as the one she’d accidentally bumped into in Park Lane on her way out. The stranger hauls the would-be kidnapper away from her and forces him to admit that he was sent to grab Cat by people who want leverage over Wycombe. Cat doesn’t understand what’s going on, but she’s no simpering miss and is determined to find out why someone would want a hold over her uncle and why they’d use her as a means to that end.

Jones is captivated by Cat from the moment he sets eyes on her, even though he knows it’s stupid and quite possibly dangerous; spies and personal relationships don’t mix.  In any case, she’s the wealthiest woman in the country and he’s a rookery brat with nothing, and that’s a gap that no amount of wishing or wanting can ever bridge.  But that doesn’t mean he won’t do everything in his power to keep her safe.  Together, he and Cat gradually uncover the truth about Wycombe’s activities, and work out exactly why he is so eager to marry her off to a charming marquess whose outward congeniality masks a man every bit as cruel and ruthless as her uncle.  With the wedding date set and Cat unable to refuse to go through with it owing to a forfeiture clause written into the marriage contracts, Jones is running out of time to expose the truth about Wycombe and free the woman he loves – from her marriage contract and from the threat to her life.

The suspense plotline is absorbing and well put-together; and even though I had my suspicions as to where things might be headed, Ms. Alexander kept me guessing until the reveal.  Both protagonists are engaging and I was especially impressed with Cat, an intelligent, independent woman who is nonetheless a woman of her time who thinks for herself and (for the most part) before she acts. She admits when she’s scared, knows when she’s out of her depth and isn’t afraid to ask for help - and she knows what she wants, too: “a man who will stand by me.  One who loves me.  A man with shoulders strong enough to bear any responsibility and a nobility that would put any gentleman I know to shame.”

Jones is an attractive hero who never forgets where he came from and who has never really thought beyond having somewhere decent to live, and the trust and respect of a few friends.  He is a thoroughly decent man with a strong sense of honour and loyalty, but he’s perhaps less well-defined than Cat; we know little about him other than that he’s an orphan, he’s deadly and has a serious case of ‘I am not worthy’ when it comes to his lady-love. To be fair, though, the difficulties of entering into a relationship with a woman so far above him in station were not inconsiderable at this point in time, and I was pleased that Ms. Alexander didn’t just sweep them under the carpet.

One thing that really stands out in this story is the characterisation of the villain. So often authors go over the top in the attempt to create someone capable of the dastardly deeds their plot demands, but here, Wycombe is a revealed to be a thoroughly nasty piece of work without venturing into cape-flipping, moustache-twirling territory.  He’s quietly menacing in his scenes with Cat and her fear of him is palpable; he’s the sort that rarely loses his temper, but lashes out without warning or when he’s cornered. He is certainly not an adversary it’s wise to underestimate, which makes him more believable and also serves to heighten the sense of peril faced by our heroes.

If I have a complaint, it’s that the romance between Jones and Cat is pretty much of the insta-love variety.  The connection is there, the chemistry is there and the intense longing they feel for each other simply jumps off the page, but it’s love-at-first-sight (more or less) for both of them, and their relationship doesn’t really change very much throughout the course of the story.

Even with that said, however, The Lady and Mr. Jones is well worth a few hours of your time if you enjoy historical romance mixed in with a sizeable helping of espionage and suspense.  The plot is intriguing, the characters are likeable and their HEA is hard won; the book earns a solid recommendation.

Buy Now: A/BN/iB/K

Reviewed by Caz Owens
Grade : B

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : November 25, 2017

Publication Date: 11/2017

Recent Comments …

Caz Owens

I’m a musician, teacher and mother of two gorgeous young women who are without doubt, my finest achievement :)I’ve gravitated away from my first love – historical romance – over the last few years and now read mostly m/m romances in a variety of sub-genres. I’ve found many fantastic new authors to enjoy courtesy of audiobooks - I probably listen to as many books as I read these days – mostly through glomming favourite narrators and following them into different genres.And when I find books I LOVE, I want to shout about them from the (metaphorical) rooftops to help other readers and listeners to discover them, too.
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