No Ordinary Mistress by Robyn DeHart | Book Review

Item: No Ordinary Mistress
Rating: 2.5
Author: Zeee

Posted April 3, 2014 by Zeee in Reviews • 0 Comments

No Ordinary Mistress written by Robyn DeHart
Publisher Entangled: Scandalous
Publication Date: March 10th 2014
Genres: Historical Romance
Series: Masquerading Mistresses #1
Format: eARC
Pages: 99
ISBN: 1622664698
Rating:
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London, 1814

Remington Hawthorne, Earl of Latham, has spent his life protecting the Crown. When he's assigned to play the part of lover to Emma Masterson, one of the few female spies in England and the one woman he can't forget, he'll have to risk his heart as well as his life.

It isn't easy being an independent woman, much less a spy. Perpetually tasked with proving she is as valuable as any man in her profession, the last thing Emma needs is to be reunited with the one man who makes her want to forget her duties and get lost in passion.

Pretending to be his mistress isn't difficult—remembering that it is all a charade is a challenge. With every glance, every touch, every kiss, she is drawn deeper under his spell and pulled further from her goals. She refused him once, but it will take every ounce of strength to not give in to the passion that still burns strong...

My Thoughts

No Ordinary Mistress is Robyn DeHart’s first book in her series Masquerading Mistresses. This is a novella and I was a little bit surprised how well the story flowed despite it being a little bit short for my taste.

The two protagonists: Emma Masterson and Remington (love that name, BTW) Hawthorne, Earl of Latham are spies for the Crown. To complicate things, there are (were) partners. The story opens two years before when both Emma and Remy (Remington) were on assignment together and both had a falling out. Emma, being an independent woman that she is, did not want to be controlled by a man because she didn’t want history to repeat itself (her mother was a courtesan and she didn’t want to be like her).

Fast-forward to two years later, Emma and Remy meet again while she was on assignment and witnesses a murder. Their boss, immediately orders both of them to work together so Remy can protect Emma. Naturally, Emma doesn’t want this but she has no choice. She poses as Remy’s mistress so they can be seen together without raising any questions.

I mentioned that this was a novella and it IS a really good one. I love that this read like a full novel, however, the pacing was a little bit too fast for me. I understand that they had a history together but the transition from “I hate you” to “let’s make love” was just too fast for my taste. There were also parts where I was frustrated with Emma just for speaking (weird, huh?). Oh, and the last scene where she proclaims her love to Remy in front of the whole agency? I thought that was corny.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the story but I did not really like Emma.

About Robyn DeHart

I’m one of those writers who always knew that she wanted to be a writer. It took me a while, however, to figure out precisely what I wanted to write. Reading Kathleen Woodiwiss’ ”A Rose in Winter” sealed the deal for me and I’ve been reading and writing romance ever since. I should have known I was destined for this when my Barbies insisted on hosting elaborate masquerade parties, complete with stolen kisses in the moonlight.
I’m the youngest of three children, so of course I’m the favorite. I was raised in central Texas, in the beautiful Hill Country, right smack-dab between Austin and San Antonio. My parents were high school sweethearts and married a week after my mother graduated – they both needed their parents’ permission to marry since they were so young. So I blame them and their amazing marriage for the fact that I’m a hopeless romantic.
Somewhere along the line, I graduated from college with a degree in Sociology, only after completing an internship with none other than award-winning best-selling author, Pamela Morsi. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life and I learned more about the writing business than I could have hoped.
After college I worked a myriad of jobs: Computer Software Trainer, Recruiter, Administrative Assistant. But no matter what my day job, I come home to my real job and click, click, click away on my computer and get lost in my imaginary world where justice always prevails and the girl always gets her guy! It’s the coolest job in the world.
I’m married to the most amazingly supportive man. He’s so proud of my career, and loves to tell people, “My wife is a romance novelist.” We live in the Austin area, where my husband is a university professor. He’s ridiculously smart, but remains goofy enough to make me laugh every day. We’re the parents of two beautiful and precocious little girls who keep me quite busy during the day. We also have two very spoiled cats who are of no help at all when it comes to my writing, although they sometimes nap in the same room where I sit diligently working.
I’ve published seven historicals, all of which have received great reviews and a handful of them have won awards. I love to hear from readers, so feel free to send me an email or you can find me online at The Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills, or, Peanut Butter on the Keyboard, my newest blogging endeavor that’s all about writing moms or moms who write. You can also find me on my Facebook or my Facebook Author page and on Twitter. I’m everywhere!