The Forbidden Lady: (Originally Published Under the Title for Love or Country)

Set in Boston, 1769. Quincy Stanton and his uncle, Edward Stanton, owned Stanton Shipping which was very profitable. Quin was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Dearlington in Britain. After a short, and awful, visit with his father Quin returned to find British soldiers all over Boston to suppress the colonists. When Quin found out his half brother, Clarence, was coming to Boston to take over Stanton Shipping, it was the last straw! Quin and Edward became spies for the Sons of Liberty. Quin played a Loyalist dandy. He had several gadgets on his person, as well as, within his coach to help him ferret out secrets from the wigs. Virginia Munro and her sister, Caroline, were staying in Boston with their newly widowed aunt, Mary Dover. Mary's husband had been a Loyalist so Mary had access to all the Tory parties. They went to all of them in hope of stumbling across information that could help the Sons of Liberty. Quin and Virginia found themselves attracted to each other. However, they could not trust one another. After all, their necks would be stretched after a single false move. Things became worse when Clarence entered the picture and lived with Quincy. ***** I have not read a Historical Romance this good in quite a while! I am amazed to learn that this is the author's debut novel! Kerrelyn Sparks is a name to watch! She is destined to become a well known name in book stores! This one will win awards! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Well I almost didn't give this book five stars because of the ending. I won't spoil it but there were a lot of loose ends, granted the book is almost 500 pages long the end was a little rushed which took away from the amazing book it could have been. So however a truer rating would have been 4.8 stars (haha)... There was a healthy dose of romance, danger, excitement, humor, and history all neatly packaged. Though we all know how the war ends up turning out it was still exciting and made you imagine yourself in that situation. The author made each situation feel as if I was actually apart of what was going on, and though reading a 500 page book may seem daunting... I didn't notice the hours slipping by once immersing myself into this world. I look forward to reading plenty more books from this author with the hopes that everyone will be as good as this one.

First of all, The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of my favorite story lines of all times. As a novel it could be a tad tedious, but I think I've watched every movie rendition that was ever made. So when the author says that she modeled The Forbidden Lady after The Scarlet Pimpernel, I admit I am predisposed to like a story. If you've never read a historical romance this would be a good one to start with. I don't think historical is this author's primary genre, so she writes with a more characteristically modern feel. To me, The Forbidden Lady combines the "perkiness" of a typical regency but with a little more rational thought. (I can't be the only one who thinks the English aristocracy of the 19th century had to be one of the most contrived societies in history.) I also loved how she wove historical events like the Boston Massacre into the story. Some of you who are sticklers for historical accuracy might need to curb your instincts. I didn't bother mapping out the timeline to assess the accuracy of every detail, but the language is clearly more modern. Not sure when "oops" was first used, but pretty sure it was sometime after 1775. Plus, some of the humor relies on sexual innuendo that requires an understanding of fairly modern colloquialisms. That did not affect my appreciation of the story or the author's style at all. I would classify the heat level as spicy. There are some fairly explicit scenes, but they don't drag on and on, and the emphasis remains on the relationship between the hero and heroine. All in all, I would say this one is definitely worth reading.

The Characters in this story were wonderful and I had a difficult time putting the book down. After just coming off a visit to the UK, I liked the historical time period of the book, just before America's Independence from Great Britain. I like the fact that many of Kerrelyn Spark's female Characters in her books are strong and independent. Her stories are intriguing and very exciting. The spy element in this book kept me at the edge of my seat. The Forbidden Lady was quite a delightful and fun read and I was disappointed when the book ended. I have read all of Kerrelyn's books and I am counting the days to her newest release at the end of December.

Wow! This was a great book! I can not believe that this was the first book that this author ever wrote! It was an awesome book considering the fact that it was her first book! It is completely different than her Love At Stake series but I really enjoyed it! I am excited to read the sequel to this when it comes out this summer! I love Kerrelyn Sparks! Her books are fantastic because they are always full of romance, humor, and really good story lines! :)

Excellent book. As always Sparks has written an enjoyable book, for which I was not disappointed. I have read all of her Love at Stake series which are phenomenal, and this book being a period book and different from her vampire series, was just as good. If a reader likes period books, they will thoroughly enjoy this one. ENJOY!