THE PRETENDER

Author: Celeste Bradley ISBN:0312984855 6/2003 HISTORICAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Time Period: Regency England

She had a secret she'd do anything to hide. Agatha Cunnington, a headstrong beauty from the country, has come to London in search of her missing brother James. The only clue she has is a cryptic letter signed The Griffin. Agatha decides to disguise herself as a respectable married woman so that she can go about the city unnoticed. But for her charade to work she needs a suitable "husband," preferably someone tall, elegant, and rakish-someone like Simon Montague Rain. He had a secret he'd do anything to hide. Simon Montague Rain, also known as The Magician, is a member of The Liar's Club, a renegade group of rogues and thieves in the service of the Crown. When someone begins murdering members of the undercover cabal one by one, Simon is given the mission to bring in The Griffin, one of his comrades who is suspected of betraying his brothers. Simon goes undercover and infiltrates the home of "Mrs." Agatha Applequist who he believes is the Griffin's mistress. Before Simon knows what's happened, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to Agatha's soft, feminine charms-and he is tempted beyond reason to break the first rule of The Liar's Club: never fall in love. Find out more about this book and Celeste's next October 2003 release by visiting her website at http://www.celestebradley.com/

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

A fun-filled and witty romp, THE PRETENDER is the second book I've read by this author since her debut book, FALLEN, was published last year. Simon, one of the main antagonists - er, characters in this story - is a joy and delightful wonder to behold. A jack-of-all-trades spy who was born on the wrong side of the blanket, he thinks he knows it all: he's way too slick and too smart to ever be wrong or caught while working as an undercover spy...that is, until he meets Agatha, who soon shows him he's not always as clever as he thinks he is. And that's when the sparks fly, as he and Agatha become tangled in intrigue and she learns that, yes, one little lie can lead to another and before you know it...well, let's just say that it's fun to watch these two go at it, as things on both sides start to unravel and get just a wee bit out of hand.

While I did enjoy reading THE PRETENDER, I must say that the one element this story lacks, and what kept it from being a Top Pick read for me, is "suction" power: that special something that draws you into a story and keeps you reading even when you know you should be long-gone to bed. But even lacking that extra *umph*, the story was fun, the plot passable, and with sparkling dialogue, one devil-may-care hero, and plenty of one-line zingers between the two main characters to keep things flowing, I still found plenty to like about it. Ms. Bradley is definitely an author who's quickly perfecting her craft, and I'll be there to check out her next book in this series when it's released in October.

Nancy