The Royal Four series is an offshoot to the Liars Club historical romance series. Each of the books can be read as a stand alone, however, I would recommend reading them in order to enjoy exactly what has led up to the point of each book. As I read the Liars Club books, I hoped that there would be something special done regarding the Royal Four, the leaders of the Liars Club spies.

It's been too long for me to give a detailed review, but I did, and still do, enjoy Ms Bradley's books, the characters were in turns frustrating, sneaky (as all spies should be), and made for great Heroes and Heroines. ( )

1.5 Just a little bit too silly to be funny. ( )

My first Celeste Bradley book. I hope all the others are as good as this.

Two memorable characters — especially jinx-minx Willa with her passion for Linnaeus and her irrepressible sexuality. The story is competently covered in the Goodreads summary, so I'll mention just a few weaknesses in an almost perfect Regency romp.

Alas, not even Ms Bradley can avoid slipping into anachronistic vocabulary and phrases. The saga of the Royal Four pushes the book close to the dividing line between historical romance and historical fantasy. Basil and Daphne's sudden ostracism at the end may have made for a cathartic come-uppance, but left Basil's involvement in earlier shenanigans unexplained. Or maybe I missed something.

Otherwise, once Willa unleashed her slingshot in the opening pages of the book, I willingly suspended almost all disbelief and went along for a throughly enjoyable ride.

Were I rating this book objectively, I'd give it four stars. Subjectively evaluated, it gets five stars for the unalloyed pleasure it gave this reader. ( )

Celeste Bradley is an author whose books I've often enjoyed in the past, but I really have mixed feelings about this one.

It requires a great stretch of the imagination to go along with the story as she sets it up. I found that difficult. That's v-e-r-y d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t. But because I've enjoyed her books in the past, I plodded along, my goal being to reach page 100 before I gave up. At some point the book caught fire and I found myself staying up into the wee hours to finish it. Who knew? lol

My second major problem is that the author and the heroine look alike. I find this to be extreme self-indulgence. Ms Bradley, it bothers me.

To sum up the story line: Willa and Nathaniel marry under totally unbelievable circumstances. I'm embarrassed to repeat them. He's less than happy about the whole thing because 'he has a mission.' right. She's totally wonderful, has the right response for all occasions, is charming, loveable, and looks just like the author. ( )

I loved this book. Out of all the books in the Royal Four series this was the best one. You just had to love how Willa just ate away at Nathanial until he started to like her. It was quite entertaining. Nathanial was also very supportive of Willa, which was wonderful. The conflict and the characters worked well together, and I just could not put this book down. I loved a book that makes me laugh. ( )