Suddenly a Spy by Heather Huffman

Title: Suddenly a Spy
Author: Heather Huffman
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Genre: Romance
Pages: 216
How I Read It: Review copy received from the publisher – The views expressed in my review are mine alone and I have received no compensation for these opinions.

Synopsis: On her wedding day, Veronica Sinclair thinks she has it all: the loving family, the Vera Wang dress, the hunky husband. But then a mysterious and beautiful woman shows up at the reception, suggesting Veronica’s new hubby isn’t exactly who he says he is.

As if that weren’t enough, Veronica and Richard must flee gunmen in the middle of their honeymoon, convincing Veronica she got more than she bargained for when she said, “I do.”

Thrown into a world of espionage, seduction, and human trafficking, Veronica must fight for the life and husband she thought she had – and she must discover whether they are the life and husband she truly wants.

*Synopsis taken from Goodreads

My Review: Suddenly a Spy starts off with a bit of a bang, and continues with a rather fast pace throughout the entire novel. It’s all pretty action packed and won’t leave you disappointed when looking for thrills and bad guys!

I was admittedly struggling with this one for awhile.  I can suspend my disbelief fine when I know a novel is going to have some fantastical elements, but when something is set in our world, I generally expect it to be plausible.  As a character, Veronica evolves at such a pace, and accepts her life, in a way that I found to be really unrealistic.  This aspect was grating on me quite a bit until I made myself take a step back and enjoy it for what it was – a light summery type of read.  As long as I didn’t think too deeply about what was happening, I was entertained and enjoyed it.

It was also difficult for me to connect with Veronica as a character, which was disappointing to me.  I think I could have used a chapter or two to get to know her before all the trouble started.  I mean, it sucks that some random attractive woman showed up at her wedding, but I didn’t feel as sympathetic as I should have during the whole thing.  Her behavior annoyed me for quite some time too, I understand not fully trusting your husband when you find out he used to be a spy, but get it together girl!  How many times can one lady go back and forth from “I should divorce him” to “I want to rip his clothes off”?

Again, once I was able to set this issue aside, I enjoyed it a lot more.  And the main fight of the novel is for Veronica and Rick to try and prevent human trafficking, which is something I can get behind.  In some ways, I wish that issue had been dealt with in a more serious manner, because that would be an interesting and hopefully educational novel.  I liked the message behind this, I just didn’t love the delivery.

All told, it was a fast read and entertaining at times.  I can’t promise you’ll have some deep thoughts about this one, but it would make a good beach read.

Read this book if: Fans of chick-lit or romance will likely enjoy this one.

My Rating: 3/5 – Two thumbs up, fine holiday fun!

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