Camy Tang's Blog

Full excerpt + character images below.

Mr. Drydale studied Michael’s face. “I’ve known for months that I need more help than just the two of us, but it has been difficult finding people to trust. I was hoping you might join us in pursuing this group, but you seem reluctant.”

Michael didn’t blame his job, but when he was focused on a mission, he rearranged his priorities and discarded what should be most important to him. He knew he couldn’t regain what he had lost, but he didn’t want to go back to being an agent again. “I quit my work for the government because I wanted to find Richard’s murderer, not uncover a plot for treason. I have been working toward that goal for the past year.”

Perhaps he was so focused on Richard’s murderer because he didn’t want to face a future so completely the opposite of what he had thought his life would be. Or maybe he was so focused on the murderer because he didn’t want to face the fact that, if he had handled the situation better, his brother would not now be dead.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

Michael Coulton-Jones — master of disguises and reluctant heir.

My character, Mr. Michael Coulton-Jones, is a man who laughs easily, moves confidently, and seems untouchable … until you discover what he carries alone.

Michael isn’t tormented in the obvious way. He doesn’t brood in corners or glare across rooms. He smiles. He jokes. He adapts.

But beneath every disguise is a man who believes he failed the one person who trusted him most.

This is a story about espionage, about secret societies hidden beneath Regency society.

But it’s also a story about guilt, and whether a man who cannot forgive himself can ever believe that God might.

The Spy Who Laughs

At first glance, Michael is exactly the sort of Regency gentleman who should not be trusted.

He is broad-shouldered and deceptively relaxed. His coffee-brown hair falls longer than fashion dictates, often into glass-green eyes that seem to be laughing at a joke no one else has heard. He speaks French like a commoner from the countryside and Spanish like it is a childhood lullaby.

He grins at danger and bows over a lady’s hand as if the world were nothing more than a ballroom. He is charming. Reckless. Quick with a blade. Quicker with a smile.

And he lies for a living.

A Spy in Disguise

As a younger son, Michael joined the army at seventeen, where his gift for languages and his ease with disguises drew the attention of men who worked quietly in the shadows. Before long, he was no longer simply a soldier. He was retrieving information, slipping through borders, trading false documents for real ones. He learned to become other men as easily as changing coats.

He cultivated a persona—the fool, the adventurer, the rogue who never appears worried. It made people underestimate him. It kept him alive.

But even then, he had somewhere to return to—his family’s estate only an hour from London, a steady older brother who handled responsibility, a charming younger sister, and a mother who believed him merely restless, not dangerous.

His anchor was his brother Richard.

And then Richard was murdered.

The Brother He Could Not Save

Michael could have prevented the tragedy. That’s what haunts him the most.

Richard had written to him after a friend had been killed and he suspected a man with strange facial scars was involved. But Michael was in the middle of a mission and didn’t take it seriously enough.

By the time he returned to England, Richard was dead—officially poisoned along with other club members in what was called an unfortunate incident.

But Michael knew otherwise. Richard’s papers regarding the strange man were missing.

His own unconcern gave evil time to strike.

He hasn’t forgiven himself, and he wonders if God has not forgiven him either.

The Archer He Should Not Want

Before all of that—before grief hardened him—Michael had met a woman who unsettled him.

He was drawn to Miss Phoebe Sauber from the first moment they were introduced—she was awkwardly tall but pragmatic, not impressed by his flirtations. He was intrigued because she did not seem to need him.

But a spy’s life is not kind to attachment, and he’d already learned to keep women at arm’s length. Better to remain unattached. Better to remain free.

So he left her alone.

And then Richard died.

Michael’s focus narrowed to one thing—finding the truth behind his brother’s murder.

A Dangerous Reunion

When Michael encounters Phoebe again, it is not in a ballroom.

It’s when she nearly uses him for target practice.

She found her arrow lodged, not in a victim, but knee-height in a tree trunk at a downward angle, and it had caught a strangely shaped leaf against the bark. As she yanked it out of the tree and the leaf fluttered to the ground, a snapping twig behind her made her tense. It did not sound like anyone from her party who may have been running into the trees after her—it was an isolated sound, made from a slow-moving foot, like someone sneaking up on her.

It had not occurred to her that it might be dangerous for a young woman to be alone on the Heath, where she and her friends often had social gatherings. But these trees extended back hundreds of yards, and anyone could be sneaking around within.

Phoebe clenched the arrow tightly, regretting that she had dropped her bow. She straightened, trying to appear relaxed, listening for sounds other than the leaves dancing in the wind. Then she whirled around, her right arm pulled back and brandishing the arrow overhand like a dagger. At the very least, if there was someone behind her, she could try to stab them.

“Whoa! Whoa!” A tall man stood about ten feet—no, twenty feet distant as he backed away from her, his hands raised in front of him. “I apologize, miss, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The man’s voice had a strong country accent, but the timbre was familiar. At first glance, he didn’t look like anyone she knew. His plain colored clothes were made of rough-woven fabric, stained with dirt in places, and his shoes were old cracked leather. His coat was shabby and poorly sewn, and much too short for him. He had a large nose and deep chin, and his eyes, shadowed by heavy brows, were glass-green.

But then she recognized something about his limbs, the way he moved his hands, the general shape of his face—and those glass-green eyes. “Mr. Coulton-Jones?” she exclaimed in surprise.

She had seen him only rarely over her past several Seasons because he had been fighting on the Peninsula up until last year, when his older brother had died. They had been introduced at a ball in her second Season, and he had danced with her only that one time. While she had a good memory for names and faces, that wasn’t the reason she remembered him clearly—it was because he had made an impact upon her that she hadn’t wanted, but couldn’t erase.

Mr. Coulton-Jones controlled his face admirably, affecting a confused look. “I’m sorry, miss, but you’re mistaken.”

She was not. Like a woman deranged and obsessed (which she very well might be), she had covertly watched him at every gathering they attended together. This was most definitely him. “Mr. Coulton-Jones, why are you dressed like that? And your face … is that stage cosmetics? It’s quite realistic.”

He hesitated for several seconds, and she could tell he was debating between continuing to deny his identity or abandoning his act. The certainty in her gaze must have decided it for him, because he relaxed and his normal saucy smile quirked up the edge of his mouth. “You have me at a disadvantage, Miss Sauber.”

From there, they discover they’re both caught in a web of secrets that stretches farther than either of them expected. Michael discovers that Phoebe’s own uncle may have had ties to the very conspiracy that killed Richard.

Now the woman who unsettles his carefully constructed detachment is suddenly entangled in the same darkness he is hunting. The two of them are drawn together by questions neither can answer alone and a growing awareness that neither truly wants to be rootless.

Guilt, Forgiveness, and a Slow-Burn Love

The story has espionage and secret societies. But it also is about Michael’s guilt over failing his brother.

Phoebe sees what he hides—the grief he buries beneath humor, the daredevil courage that masks shame. And she, too, carries wounds of her own.

Their romance does not resolve quickly.

This series is a serial novel, and their love unfolds gradually across multiple volumes. Trust is earned. Wounds are revealed slowly. Faith is wrestled with honestly. Forgiveness—of others and of oneself—is not immediate.

Michael may be fearless in battle, but learning to hope again is far more dangerous.

If you love:

A charming spy hiding a wounded heartA courageous heroine who refuses to be dazzledSecret societies and layered Regency intrigueAnd a slow-burn Christian romance where faith and forgiveness unfold over time

Then you may enjoy stepping into Michael and Phoebe’s world.

Lady Wynwood’s Spies is a serial Regency romantic suspense, which means their story doesn’t resolve in a single book. The mystery deepens. The danger grows. And their relationship develops gradually across the series.

If you’d like to meet them from the beginning, you can read the first three chapters of Volume 1 here.

Reference Footer

This post relates to Camille Elliot’s Lady Wynwood’s Spies, a Christian Regency romantic suspense series set in 1811 London and featuring intrigue, espionage, botanical alchemy, slow-burn romance, and themes of faith and redemption.

• Lady Wynwood’s Spies Series Reference Page

• Reading Order: Lady Wynwood’s Spies Reader Journey Roadmap

The man he was waiting for opened the door to the study with barely a click of the door latch. His silhouette was partially outlined in the dim light from the candle he held, and he was far enough away that he shouldn’t have seen the predator in the shadows, but he grew still for a moment.

Then he continued into the darkened room, although he did not head toward his desk, as might be expected. Instead, he set the candle on the mantle of the fireplace, with his back to his desk and the stranger waiting for him.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

As he waited in the darkened room for his quarry to appear, he felt like the shadows were loving arms clasped around his shoulders. He was comfortable in the dark—it blurred his many disguises, and it somehow made his emotions rest in slumber. Everything that felt messy inside of him was hidden by the dark so that he could pretend he was whole and without pain.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

The Spy You Don’t See Coming

A closer look at Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 2

Some characters arrive quietly. They don’t announce themselves. They don’t command attention.

And yet, the moment they step onto the page, everything begins to shift.

That’s the role a certain prince plays in Volume 2.

⸻

When One Person Goes Missing

At the end of the first volume, everything is already unraveling.

The danger isn’t theoretical anymore. It has a name—a man willing to experiment with something no one fully understands.

But Septimus, a member of the team, is missing. Instead of an investigation, the team must urgently search for their lost, but time begins to feel like the enemy.

⸻

A Man Alone

While the others scramble to find him, Septimus is left to endure something very different.

He is injured, isolated, and moving through a world that is no longer predictable. There is no safety in skill, no careful planning to rely on. He only has his instincts and endurance. He is determined to keep going.

⸻

The One No One Fully Understands

At the same time, a new figure enters the story.

He is known only by a title—le petit prince. A master of disguises, an agent whose loyalty is trusted, but whose identity is not widely known. Even among allies, he remains a mystery.

And now, finding Septimus may depend upon the abilities of le petit prince.

⸻

A Book That Carries the Story Into Its Design

For the hardcover Special Edition of this volume, the dust jacket itself offers more than one way to view the story.

On one side, there is a silhouette rather than a full portrait so that Septimus is present but not fully revealed.

Behind him, shadowed figures suggest something else at work, someone concealed—the mysterious prince.

Reverse the dust jacket, and you’ll find an alternate version of the Special Edition paperback cover, along with an additional image of Septimus on the back. It allows the mood to shift depending on what you choose to display.

Beneath the dust jacket, the book is bound in cloth, with the title stamped in gold. It has a weight to it.

The sprayed edges carry a scroll and floral motif that ties this volume to the others in the series. Even when closed, it points to the story world.

⸻

Details That Echo the Conflict

The endpapers are full color and feature the image from the chapter headers of the Special Edition paperback version of volume 2.

Also, the margins are not identical throughout the book. In the opening and closing pages, a more delicate scrollwork appears alongside a small illustration of a vial—the Root potion at the center of the story’s danger.

In the main chapters, that design shifts. The scrollwork becomes bolder, and the vial appears again in a different form, reinforcing how deeply it affects the events unfolding on the page.

⸻

Moments Marked as the Story Moves Forward

Each chapter opens with a two-page color spread.

The floral elements are inspired by a Regency-era design, but each chapter also includes a different image, something that reflects a moment, a tension, or a turning point ahead.

These pages create a pause—or maybe a warning—before each new development.

⸻

A Small Detail That Matters

Even the scene dividers carry meaning.

A simple throwing knife appears between sections—a quiet reference to a moment that becomes important as the story builds toward its climax.

⸻

If You Enjoy Stories Like This…

You might enjoy this volume if you like:

Quiet, resilient charactersMysteries that deepen rather than resolveA sense of urgency beneath a calm surfaceRelationships that develop under pressureStories where not everything is immediately explained

⸻

Where This Story Fits

This is the second volume in a continuing series.

Each part carries its own arc—but the larger story continues to unfold across multiple books.

If you’re drawn to stories where tension builds and the stakes grow more personal, this is where that shift begins.

⸻

A Note for Curious Readers

From time to time, I create special edition hardcovers of these volumes in small batches only during Kickstarter campaigns.

These editions are designed to reflect different aspects of the story—not just through the cover, but through the details inside.

If you enjoy stories that carry a sense of atmosphere both in the writing and in the object itself, this is one way to experience it.

The current campaign features:

The Special Edition Hardcovers of Volume 3: Aggressor and Volume 4: Betrayer (but Volumes 1 and 2 are also available)Matching Special Edition paperbacks for Volumes 1–9

Feel free to check out the rewards in my Kickstarter campaign.

You can read more about all the Special Edition hardcovers and paperbacks here.

And if you’d prefer to start with the story itself:

📖 Read a free excerpt

🏹 Or begin the series with Volume 1

Reference Footer

This post relates to Camille Elliot’s Lady Wynwood’s Spies, a Christian Regency romantic suspense series set in 1811 London and featuring intrigue, espionage, botanical alchemy, slow-burn romance, and themes of faith and redemption.

• Lady Wynwood’s Spies Series Reference Page

• Reading Order: Lady Wynwood’s Spies Reader Journey Roadmap

It was seeing the wardrobe and remembering those days that did it. Phoebe had a flash in her mind’s eye of a wooden floorboard, and a tiny symbol carved into the surface of the wood. The symbol had been barely visible since it hadn’t been filled with blacking to make it stand out, but with a child’s curiosity, she’d seen the strange flaw in the grain of the wood and crawled closer to investigate it.

It had been near the wall, next to the back edge of the wardrobe. Here, in her uncle’s bedchamber.

It had been the same symbol she’d seen just today, on the torn scrap of paper that had been caught by her arrow.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

It was possible Phoebe had just helped an immoral, albeit handsome, criminal. But good gracious, that man was intriguing.

On the carriage ride back to town, the Misses Layton had initially congratulated themselves in a burst of high spirits over the successful archery party. But for the latter half of the trip, they lapsed in silence and dozed with exhaustion, and Phoebe was left to her own thoughts.

Her curious interaction with Mr. Coulton-Jones was at the forefront, but the archery party had only postponed her inevitable ruminating over her new, dire situation.

Now that she had had time for the shock to fade, Phoebe felt as if she had been completely routed, like an ill-equipped army that fell helplessly before Emperor Napoleon. Only now could she think of all the things she could have said, all the arguments she could have made in her defense.

But could she have spoken with any semblance of calm in the face of Mrs. Lambert with her perfectly beautiful face and her hateful smile?

As the carriage neared her home, her heart felt quashed by a heavy stone of dread. She couldn’t return to her father’s indifference and an army of servants who knew about her banishment and likely tittered about her misfortune.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

The Volume Where the Spy Wakes Up

Pride and Prejudice meets Mission: Impossible—with a supernatural twist.

In Volume 1, Mr. Michael Coulton-Jones was knocked unconscious.

In Volume 2, readers weren’t sure whether he would ever wake.

In Volume 3, he does.

And nothing is the same.

One Man Faces Death

Michael has survived Apothecary Jack’s deadly Root elixir—a potion derived from the mysterious Goldensuit plant, capable of granting unnatural strength … at a terrible cost.

But survival is not the same as freedom.

Now that he understands what was done to him, he must face an inevitable truth—unless he risks taking more of the potion, he will eventually die.

The man who once moved through London’s shadows with calculated precision must now live in a body altered against his will.

And he must decide whether power is worth the price.

One Man Faces Theft

Meanwhile, a notorious French spy arrives on English soil, determined to steal the Goldensuit plant and secure the Citadel’s plans to sell the potion to Napoleon.

The conflict spills into London’s rookeries and into an illegal gambling hall—where antique playing cards are more than decoration.

In one pivotal scene among gamblers and spies, Michael is forced to confront something far more dangerous than enemy agents:

His growing attraction to Phoebe.

One Man Faces Rage

When a member of the team is exposed to strange pollen from Jack’s plants, a savage madness takes hold.

The threat is no longer merely foreign spies or criminal empires.

It is something darker.

Something that begins within.

Volume 3 is where the cost of the conspiracy becomes deeply personal.

⸻

Why Volume 3 Matters in the Series

If Volume 1 launches the conspiracy …

And Volume 2 deepens the mystery …

Volume 3 changes the emotional landscape.

Michael returns from the brink of death only to discover that civilians are now entangled in the team’s operations. He’s conflicted about this because he blames himself for his brother Richard’s murder.

Richard pursued a scarred man suspected of poisoning a gentleman’s club. He died for it.

Michael was away on assignment. That guilt shapes every decision he makes in Aggressor.

This is the volume where he must confront:

His altered bodyHis responsibilityHis griefAnd his heart

Without spoiling the story, this is the book where Michael stops being merely the enigmatic former spy, and becomes a man forced to choose who he will be.

⸻

A Collector Edition Designed Around the Conflict

Because Volume 3: Aggressor marks such a pivotal shift in the series, the Special Edition hardcover reflects its intensity.

The hardcover features a refined, elegant silhouette of Michael—echoing the design language of the first two collector volumes.

Behind him, subtle antique playing cards appear in the background, referencing the illegal gambling hall scene that changes everything.

And woven into the design are poppies—symbolizing the fictional Goldensuit plant at the heart of the Root potion.

⸻

A Reversible Dust Jacket

Like the previous hardcovers, this edition includes a fully reversible dust jacket.

On one side—the elegant silhouette design.

On the other:

A variation of the Special Edition paperback cover.A different title treatment.And instead of a back-cover blurb, a bonus portrait image of Michael.

You can choose how to display the book on your shelf.

It’s meant to feel interactive—like a hidden layer in a spy’s file.

⸻

Beneath the Jacket: Cloth and Gold

Under the dust jacket, the book itself is bound in deep red cloth.

The title is stamped in gold foil on both the front and the spine.

It feels substantial—like something that might have sat quietly in a Regency study, waiting to be opened.

⸻

Sprayed Edges: The Goldensuit Motif

When the book is closed, the outer edges display a scrollwork and poppy design sprayed directly onto the pages.

Even before the book is opened, the Goldensuit plant—the source of the potion—surrounds it.

⸻

Inside the Pages: Symbolism in the Margins

The interior design of Aggressor is where the story details subtly unfold.

Two Distinct Margin Designs

There are two elegant scrollwork border styles:

One appears in the main chapters and includes small illustrations of a slice of lemon cake and a treacle bun—symbols of Lady Wynwood’s young twin servants from the rookeries, whose role expands significantly in this volume.

The other margin design appears in the front and back matter and features poppies, again echoing the Goldensuit plant.

⸻

Two-Page Full-Color Chapter Headers

Each chapter opens with a two-page full-color spread.

The floral corner illustrations draw inspiration from Regency and Victorian design aesthetics.

On the left-hand page, a unique illustration hints at a central conflict or emotional turning point within that chapter.

These spreads create a visual pause before each escalation.

⸻

Scene Dividers & Hidden Details

Even the scene dividers carry meaning. An ace of spades references the gambling hall and the calculated risks at the heart of the story.

Small scrollwork details frame the page numbers, and each hardcover in the series features slightly different designs—making each volume quietly unique.

⸻

A Note for New Readers

Aggressor is Volume 3 of a projected 12-volume Christian Regency suspense series.

Like the novels published in Jane Austen’s time, each volume completes a story arc—but the larger conspiracy continues.

If you’re new to the series, you may wish to begin with Volume 1: Archer.

But if you are drawn to:

Tormented heroesSpy conspiracies in 1811 LondonSlow-burn romanceSupernatural undertonesAnd stories where faith is tested under pressure

Then Volume 3 may be the turning point that pulls you fully into the world.

⸻

Limited Collector Editions

The Special Edition hardcovers are produced in small batches and are available only during Kickstarter campaigns.

This campaign features:

The Special Edition Hardcovers of Volume 3: Aggressor and Volume 4: Betrayer (but Volumes 1 and 2 are also available)Matching Special Edition paperbacks for Volumes 1–9

You can read more about all the Special Edition hardcovers and paperbacks here.

The Kickstarter campaign launches in late March 2026! If you’d like to be notified the moment it goes live, you’re welcome to follow my Kickstarter for updates.

And if you’d prefer to start with the story itself:

📖 Read a free excerpt

🏹 Or begin the series with Volume 1

Reference Footer

This post relates to Camille Elliot’s Lady Wynwood’s Spies, a Christian Regency romantic suspense series set in 1811 London and featuring intrigue, espionage, botanical alchemy, slow-burn romance, and themes of faith and redemption.

• Lady Wynwood’s Spies Series Reference Page

• Reading Order: Lady Wynwood’s Spies Reader Journey Roadmap

Michael went to his rescuer, whose face had turned deathly white in pain. “Sep, I’m going to help you up.”

Septimus Ackett, son of Viscount Ammler, managed a weak nod and a shallow inhale of air. Michael slung his arm over his shoulder and gingerly raised him up, guiding them to a pew so they could both collapse in pain.

Every single part of his body, including his pinkie toe, throbbed with agony. “You couldn’t have arrived a few minutes sooner?”

“Ungrateful wretch,” Sep wheezed.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

Read the first few chapters free online.

Phoebe smiled smugly at Mr. Coulton-Jones, as if to say, I have done my part. What will you do now, I wonder?

A twinkle appeared in Mr. Coulton-Jones’s eyes as he took up her unspoken challenge.

—from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 1: Archer

View the short reel on Patreon.

Read about Phoebe’s first meeting with Michael free online.