{"id":4794,"date":"2014-08-18T18:39:55","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T22:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=4794"},"modified":"2022-10-30T19:48:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T23:48:50","slug":"lord-and-lady-spy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4794","title":{"rendered":"Lord and Lady Spy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lord and Lady Spy<\/a><\/em> (2011) Shana Galen<\/p>\n

\"Lord-and-Lady-Spy\"<\/a>This is not an historical romance.<\/p>\n

It’s a steampunk, without the automatons. Or perhaps it’s fantasy, with boinking.<\/p>\n

But it is not historical fantasy.<\/p>\n

Why? Because it’s wildly inaccurate as far as the history goes. So inaccurate that even I–who am terrible with dates and other numbers–caught multiple flaws.<\/p>\n

Here is the start of the book:<\/p>\n

Somewhere in Europe, July 1815<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Got that?<\/p>\n

I was willing to suspend belief over the female spy. I knew going in that was going to be non-reality based, so I just let it go.<\/p>\n

That wasn’t the problem. <\/p>\n

The first problem came with this paragraph:<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I must warn you, Dewhurst favors the waltz.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t scare me,\u201d he said from behind her, his breath tickling her ear.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I know from many other stories that the waltz was considered scandalous when it first came out, which is a delightfully fascinating historical fact. The problem is that it was invented around 1847. Thirty-some years after the setting of this book.<\/p>\n

And I forgot to mark it, but I remembered a mention of bustles, which were popular in the late 1800s to early 1900s.<\/p>\n

And of course both the language and the actions of both characters were anachronistic.<\/p>\n

That is not to say there weren’t amusing parts. There were multiple allusions to the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smyth (I mean, even their names are a play on that). And there are plenty of funny and silly passages. But don’t look here for anything resembling historical accuracy.
\nRating: 3\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lord and Lady Spy (2011) Shana Galen This is not an historical romance. It’s a steampunk, without the automatons. Or perhaps it’s fantasy, with boinking. But it is not historical fantasy. Why? Because it’s wildly inaccurate as far as the history goes. So inaccurate that even I–who am terrible with dates and other numbers–caught multiple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,26],"tags":[547,548],"class_list":["post-4794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-romance","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-regency"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1fk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/109","url_meta":{"origin":4794,"position":0},"title":"In Camelot’s Shadow","author":"Michelle","date":"August 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"In Camelot's Shadow (2004) Sarah Zettel I knew when I started the book that this was going to be a fantasy\/romance. Perhaps for that reason, or perhaps because the romance was well done, and I haven't read a well written romance before. But whatever the reason, I really liked this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Camelots-Shadow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21489,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21489","url_meta":{"origin":4794,"position":1},"title":"There Will Be Phlogiston","author":"Michelle","date":"January 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"There Will Be Phlogiston (2014) Alexis Hall (Prosperity) Anstruther Jones is the Phlogiston Baron. Wealth beyond imagine from ignominious beginnings, he wants to be accepted not because he admires society, but because he wants to find companionship. 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Half of it\u2019s Welsh, half of it\u2019s Scottish, and half of it\u2019s cribbed from someone\u2019s classical education, with a few things that are entirely out of someone\u2019s imagination thrown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Matter of Magic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/A-Matter-of-Magic-e1511036689153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27132,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27132","url_meta":{"origin":4794,"position":3},"title":"A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience (2024) Stephanie Burgis (The Unexpected Adventures of Lady and Lord Riven #1) Set in an alternate 19th century England. After being kept awake for 48 hours by her unscrupulous aunt and uncle, Margaret has been forced into marriage she didn't want. Margaret set her teapot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alternate History"","block_context":{"text":"Alternate History","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy\/alternate-history"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/A-Marriage-of-Undead-Inconvenience-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26608,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26608","url_meta":{"origin":4794,"position":4},"title":"The Magpie Lord","author":"Michelle","date":"April 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Magpie Lord (2013) KJ Charles (A Charm of Magpies #1) Merrick frowned. \u201cGot to fight it, my lord.\u201d \u201cFight what? Give me something to fight, and I\u2019ll fight it\u2014but how the hell do I fight my own mind?\u201d Crane looked at the naked hostility in the other man\u2019s face\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Magpie Lord","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/the-magpie-lord-197x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24075,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24075","url_meta":{"origin":4794,"position":5},"title":"Confounding Oaths","author":"Michelle","date":"November 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Confounding Oaths (2024) Alexis Hall (Mortal Follies #2) Set in England in 1815. Mr. John Caesar wants his sisters' coming outs to go well, so they can make good matches and be taken care of. But it won't be easy, because they aren't quite like the rest of society. 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