Sabrina Jeffries

Her Phantom

Sabrina Jeffries writes a delightful romance about spies and flirtatious secrets in Accidentally His. Lady Verity is the last of her three sisters to search for love. Though after the sting of a broken engagement, she is just happy to plan decadent dinners for Elegant Occasions. Rafe Wolfford is a spy on a mission to avenge his uncle’s grievous injury, after uncovering a dangerous traitor. All Rafe knows is that someone in Elegant Occasions is selling dangerous secrets, and he is determined to find out who. Even if it means courting the clever Lady Verity to get invited. Rafe just doesn’t expect how well they fit together.

Lady Verity’s story continues from What Happens in the Ballroom, as she tries to uncover the identity of the Phantom lurking at the recent Elegant Occasions events. When Mr. Wolfford appears at their silent auction, she is certain she has found her man. Except he is infuriatingly vague about who he is. Which makes her even more determined to find out all his secrets, and to steal a few kisses. Diana, Geoffrey, Eliza, and Nathaniel are more than happy to help spill the tea about the mysterious Colonel Wolfford. It is wonderful how the sisters are still involved in each other’s lives, and are still well matched with their respective husbands. With help from the protective, but meddling, chef Monsieur Beaufort.

“She paused outside the door to cast him a chastening look. ’That had better not be another veiled reference to something wicked.’ “Veiled’? Never.’ His grin proved that quite well. ‘I am always direct about anything wicked.’ He narrowed his gaze on her. ‘And you enjoy that, I daresay, since you’re fairly forthright yourself.’”

All of Rafe’s experience as a spy does not prepare him for the curious, and quick-witted Verity. From the beginning he appreciates her openness, honesty, and loving family. Though, these are characteristics he has never had a chance to experience in the army. Finding the traitor who badly injured his uncle is Rafe’s primary goal. He also has serious questions about the death of his parents. The only secret he is unable to discover, is why Varity haunts his thoughts so completely.

A duel between secrets and the truth, can only lead to a broken heart. Verity has to decide if she can give trust Rafe, or live with scandal. Together they uncover dangerous secrets, and accidentally fall in love.… (altro)

Great chemistry and really enjoyable
4 stars

Sabrina Jeffries is back with the third, and presumably last, of the Designing Debutantes series featuring the remaining single Harper sister. While the story does technically stand alone, there are a few things (like Rafe’s prior spying on the family) that happened in the previous books and aren’t completely explained right up front. Because the other sisters and their husbands do appear, it’s probably worth having read the prior two books (A Duke for Diana and What Happens in the Ballroom) before delving into this one - just to be sure.

Verity is the most outspoken and independent of the sisters. While they all run Elegant Occasions - a business to help young women succeed in society - Verity much prefers toiling away in the kitchen and designing menus to anything else. I found it amusing that for all her free-spirited notions, she becomes quite the stickler when it comes to the young ladies in her charge. But when she’s with Rafe, she’s free to be herself and certainly doesn’t mind getting naughty with him. Overall she’s a likeable heroine and one I was certainly rooting for.

If you’re looking for the perfect hero for a historical romance then let me introduce you to Rafe. He’s a soldier / spy who is now in line for a viscountcy so he’s got that fantastic blend of gentleman that’s a little rough around the edges. He’s quite a straightforward, stoic kind of guy who doesn’t recognise the wildness in himself when it comes to Verity. I liked his attempts to delude himself into pretending he felt nothing for Verity and also felt so sorry for the wee boy Rafe still was - unloved and dreaming of a family.

Together, Rafe and Verity had wonderful chemistry. They had banter aplenty and you could definitely feel the sexual pull and tension between them. I loved them as a couple and loved their sex scenes even more. Sabrina Jeffries does write a good sex scene. And good kissing scenes, too.

There’s a sort of mystery running though the book. It’s never really truly defined but Rafe is searching for a spy for the French. This is where the book lost points with me as Rafe’s spying to determine the traitor were wishy-washy at best. And things kept on just being announced and I wondered if I’d missed that fact previously. It still all came to a mostly satisfying conclusion but I felt that things could have been a bit more solid.

All in all, I liked this series from Sabrina Jeffries and liked this book, too. It’s not my favourite of hers but she remains one of my go-to authors and her writing and historical detail remains top-notch and definitely one of the best in the business. 4 stars for this one but I still enjoyed it a lot.… (altro)

Barbara’s rating: 3.7 out of 5 Stars
Series: Designing Debutants #3
Publication Date: 1/23/24
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 344

Finally, we have the identity of the Phantom who made cameo appearances throughout the second book. The Phantom had everyone fooled – or did he? Sly fellow that he was, he appeared in all sorts of roles and disguises – and nobody even noticed him. Well, nobody except Verity, and they all just thought she was imagining things. Who is the Phantom? Hmmm. . .

Rafe Wolfford is heir to a viscount, but he is also a Colonel in the army and a spy who is undercover to find a traitor who is feeding secrets to the French. His suspect is a peer who cannot be directly approached, so deception is called for. The traitor shot and grievously wounded Rafe’s uncle. Now, Rafe will do whatever it takes to catch this traitor – even pretend to court the man’s daughter. Hmmm . . . that daughter is witty, intelligent, and quite beautiful, so pretending to court her isn’t a real hardship. The hardship is in not truly falling for her. Can he do that? He has to because she hates secrets above all else and when she discovers what he has done and why, she’ll hate him forever.

Verity Harper, the estranged daughter of an Earl, is part owner of Elegant Occasions. Each of the owners, who are sisters, brings a special talent, and Verity’s talent is with food. Her menus, settings, and recipes are always unique and special for each occasion. Verity also never forgets a face – that is why she always knows when the Phantom is attending one of their affairs. Why is he showing up at their venues? What does he want? He never actually seems to do anything. And – why does the man she’s just met remind her of the Phantom? He can’t possibly be the Phantom – can he?

It was fun to watch Verity dance rings around Rafe. She saw right through him and the scene where he realized that was such fun to read. Yes, she had him at every turn, so I wondered how he became such a renowned, lauded spy. But, of course, Verity flustered him and he couldn’t keep his wits about him when she was around. Still, with as much experience as he had – one would think. . .

I enjoyed Verity and Rafe and thought they made a great couple. I know Verity hated secrets and lies, but Rafe was such a sweet liar – and he lied for all of the right reasons. I also enjoyed the mystery associated with the spy hunt. I thought it was interesting, but I have to admit, the identity of the spy threw me a bit – partially because we spent little time with them.

If you are looking for an entertaining romance with a mystery, spies, a romance, and a fun cast of characters, then you will likely enjoy this one.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (altro)