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Love Lies and Spies Cindy Anstey 9781250084033 Books

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Love Lies and Spies Cindy Anstey 9781250084033 Books

I really wanted to love this book! A romance featuring a young woman scientist, billed as "a hilarious homage to Jane Austen?" Yes, please!

However, once I started reading "Love, Lies and Spies," it didn't take long at all to realize that Cindy Anstey falls into quite a lot of common sexist tropes in her writing.

Juliana, the main character, is supposed to be this smart, independent young woman scientist, but all she ever does it get rescued by men. The book starts as she is rescued by two attractive gentlemen, and the reader is supposed to see that she is spunky and "not like other women" because she was out alone in the first place. The men save her and fix her carriage and send her home. This pattern continues throughout the whole book. Even when it comes to her scientific research, which is her entire purpose in life, she fails until her male family members fix it for her and finish what she couldn't do on her own.

And I can't write this without addressing the whole "not like other girls" aspect of Anstey's novel. IT. IS. SO. SEXIST. Juliana's cousin is sweet, but doesn't understand how a lady could want to read books instead of finding a suitor. All of the women in the novel except for Juliana are either sweet but dumb, or evil and calculating. All of the women except for Juliana care only about dresses, shopping, money, and marrying the best man. Of course, we are supposed to love Juliana because she's so different from all the other women! So refreshing! Except I don't find it refreshing to read a novel that tells me women are shallow and kind of stupid, and presents women who are smart and motivated as a novelty. That's not refreshing - that's exactly the same as every other misogynistic book, movie, or TV show out there.

One more HUGE example: In the beginning of the book, Juliana professes to care only about her research and her father. She cares nothing for fashion and does not want to get married. She meets an attractive gentleman in the first chapter, and immediately changes all of her priorities, starts worrying about her dresses, and is now thinking about her handsome stranger when she would have previously been focused on her work. We really just have to take Anstey's word for it that Juliana ever cared about her work at all, because Juliana changes before the book even gets started.


Tags : Love, Lies and Spies [Cindy Anstey] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>Full of humor, English Regency charm, and starring a whip-smart strong female heroine, this hilarious homage to Jane Austen will “have readers rooting for love and science” ( Entertainment Weekly</i>). </b> Juliana Telford isn’t your ordinary nineteenth-century lady. She's more interested in publishing her research on ladybugs than in marriage or fashionable dresses. Spencer Northam isn’t your ordinary nineteenth-century gentleman. He’s a spy for the War Office on his first mission. But when Spencer’s assignment involves keeping an eye on the lovely Julianna and her friends,Cindy Anstey,Love, Lies and Spies,Swoon Reads,1250084032,Historical - Europe,Romance - General,Entomologists,Great Britain - History - 1789-1820,JUVENILE FICTION Historical Europe,JUVENILE FICTION Love & Romance,London (England) - History - 19th century,London (England);History;19th century;Fiction.,Love,Love;Fiction.,Romance fiction,Spies,Spies;Fiction.,Women entomologists,243501 SWOON TP Originals Curr Yr,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Historical - Renaissance,Historical Europe,Love & Romance,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Historical Europe,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance Historical,Young Adult FictionHistorical - Europe,Young adult historical romance; teen historical romance; historical romance teen; historical romance young adult; teen historical romance books; young adult historical romance books; teen historical romance novels; young adult historical romance novels; teen historic romance; young adult historic romance; teen regency romance; young adult regency romance; regency romance teen; regency romance young adult,Historical - Renaissance,Historical Europe,Love & Romance,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Historical Europe,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance Historical,Young Adult FictionHistorical - Europe,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)

Love Lies and Spies Cindy Anstey 9781250084033 Books Reviews

Positive thoughts
This book is the BEST combination of Jane Austen’s prose and Rick Riordan’s hilarity. It is silly, political, romantic, and swoon-worthy.
We had a smart & quirky main character, and a dashing, mysterious love interest. The dual POV (alternating between Juliana and Spencer) works to the advantage of this book, in a way that it doesn’t for many.
The side characters were all well-developed, and were woven into the plots seamlessly.
I also loved the history of the Napoleonic War threaded through this story.

Negative thoughts
So, the villains were….not my favorite part of this book. SPOILER ALERT, but I saw the twist where the Pyebalds were concerned from a mile away. But, to be honest, I didn’t see any of them as very threatening, except for Maxwell. Maxwell was quite fearful, simply because he is a character whose sexual obsession is something we see WAY too often in real life. Also, I didn’t QUITE believe that the War Office and the Home Office would get their wires crossed THAT extremely, but I know that it could have happened, at least to a lesser effect.

Final thoughts
Good book, especially for lovers of Jane Austen and other Regency authors. I love the author’s writing, and I’ve already pre-ordered the next Regency novel written by this author (Duels And Deception, Swoon Reads, April 2017).
The minute I read the summary and saw the cover to Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey I immediately wanted to read it. I love historical romance - add in the spy aspect and I am totally on board.

Juliana Telford is the main character and there is more to her than meets the eye. As a girl growing up in the nineteenth century, she should be interested in attending parties and finding a husband but really, none of that is important to her. Instead, she would prefer to continue to study the bugs she and her father have researched for so long. Unfortunately in order to try to get a publisher to consider publishing their research, she has to jump through some hoops and that includes pretending she is interested in parties and a husband.

Our hero is Spencer Northam and like Juliana, he is hiding something about himself. As a spy for the War Office, he is on a mission to find the truth about the traitors he has been directed to watch. As he and his good friend, Lord Randolph Bobbington spend some time outside of London, conveniently near the home of the supposed traitors, they cross paths with Juliana and things become super interesting.

I have to admit, I love the way Juliana and Spencer met. It was one of my favorite parts and you don’t have to wait long for it as it is the first chapter of the book. With that said, the book is written well and the rest of the book provides fantastic interactions between these characters. As Juliana continues to investigate her publishing options and Spencer continues to investigate the traitors, they cross paths quite a bit. To make it easier for both of them to avoid potential matchmaking – since neither of them are looking for a spouse – they pretend they are interested in each other and the development of their friendship and eventually a romance was well done. Please note, the romance is very PG but I loved seeing how their relationship evolved. The banter between these two and getting to peek into the development of their relationship was fantastic.

In addition to the above, there is an added layer to the story. Someone (nope, I’m not saying who) has decided they want to compromise Juliana in order to be able to marry her and have access to her money. I won’t go into much detail on this aspect of the story only because I don’t want to give it away but he has a connection to the family that Juliana is traveling to London with and when things start to fall apart for him things become more dangerous for Juliana. Other secondary characters include Juliana’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. All of them add something to the story and help keep the story moving forward.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic YA historical romance. It was exactly what I was looking for and I can’t wait to read more by Anstey. If you are looking for something light with a historical feel and well-written characters, consider checking this book out. There really is something for everyone in this book – romance, intrigue, and a bit of adventure to keep you turning the pages.
I really wanted to love this book! A romance featuring a young woman scientist, billed as "a hilarious homage to Jane Austen?" Yes, please!

However, once I started reading "Love, Lies and Spies," it didn't take long at all to realize that Cindy Anstey falls into quite a lot of common sexist tropes in her writing.

Juliana, the main character, is supposed to be this smart, independent young woman scientist, but all she ever does it get rescued by men. The book starts as she is rescued by two attractive gentlemen, and the reader is supposed to see that she is spunky and "not like other women" because she was out alone in the first place. The men save her and fix her carriage and send her home. This pattern continues throughout the whole book. Even when it comes to her scientific research, which is her entire purpose in life, she fails until her male family members fix it for her and finish what she couldn't do on her own.

And I can't write this without addressing the whole "not like other girls" aspect of Anstey's novel. IT. IS. SO. SEXIST. Juliana's cousin is sweet, but doesn't understand how a lady could want to read books instead of finding a suitor. All of the women in the novel except for Juliana are either sweet but dumb, or evil and calculating. All of the women except for Juliana care only about dresses, shopping, money, and marrying the best man. Of course, we are supposed to love Juliana because she's so different from all the other women! So refreshing! Except I don't find it refreshing to read a novel that tells me women are shallow and kind of stupid, and presents women who are smart and motivated as a novelty. That's not refreshing - that's exactly the same as every other misogynistic book, movie, or TV show out there.

One more HUGE example In the beginning of the book, Juliana professes to care only about her research and her father. She cares nothing for fashion and does not want to get married. She meets an attractive gentleman in the first chapter, and immediately changes all of her priorities, starts worrying about her dresses, and is now thinking about her handsome stranger when she would have previously been focused on her work. We really just have to take Anstey's word for it that Juliana ever cared about her work at all, because Juliana changes before the book even gets started.