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The Code of Love
Once again, Cheryl Sawyer pens a sweeping saga—this time beginning on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a far-flung Bonapartist stronghold buffeted by the winds of war...
To Sir Gideon Landor, an English naval prisoner in the French colony, Delphine Dalgleish, a Parisian trifle who would think nothing of turning him over to the French legion, is as pretty—and as useless—as a porcelain doll. To Delphine Dalgleish, Sir Gideon is an ice-cold double agent she despises for his treachery.
But these two are about to find out how wrong first impressions can be. In the midst of the Peninsular War, Sir Gideon has orders to crack the Grand Paris Cypher, a complex code created for Napoleon. Meanwhile, the emperor himself sends Delphine to London on a delicate espionage mission. When Gideon and Delphine confront each other, they manage to defend their dangerous secrets, but not their hearts. As passion takes hold, they must decipher their own complex code of love.
And, still, war draws them inexorably to the Peninsula, threatening their lives and testing an alliance that may prove stronger than two empires.
To Sir Gideon Landor, an English naval prisoner in the French colony, Delphine Dalgleish, a Parisian trifle who would think nothing of turning him over to the French legion, is as pretty—and as useless—as a porcelain doll. To Delphine Dalgleish, Sir Gideon is an ice-cold double agent she despises for his treachery.
But these two are about to find out how wrong first impressions can be. In the midst of the Peninsular War, Sir Gideon has orders to crack the Grand Paris Cypher, a complex code created for Napoleon. Meanwhile, the emperor himself sends Delphine to London on a delicate espionage mission. When Gideon and Delphine confront each other, they manage to defend their dangerous secrets, but not their hearts. As passion takes hold, they must decipher their own complex code of love.
And, still, war draws them inexorably to the Peninsula, threatening their lives and testing an alliance that may prove stronger than two empires.
365 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2006
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109 people want to read
About the author
Cheryl Sawyer
21 books17 followersIn her first years, Cheryl Sawyer lived just a few steps from the sea and her favorite places, whether they be Caribbean islands or coastal towns on the Pacific rim, are still within sight and sound of an ocean. She has two master's degrees with honors in French and English literature, and her career has included teaching, publishing, and writing. After a year's travel researching and writing in Europe, the USA, and Costa Rica, she is now living and working in the harbor city of Sydney, Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 23, 2016
I don't know why this book was such a slog. There was nothing wrong with the writing; the elements of the story were just fine; the characters should have been engaging. But for some reason I had to fight my way through to the end.
Perhaps part of it was a bit of weariness at just how utterly exquisite the heroine, Delphine, was. "She entered like lightning and arrested every conversation." Every couple of pages came another reminder of just how beautiful she was. Oh, and Our Heroine keeps snubbing Our Hero. When she isn't actually freezing him out her disdain is being mentioned – every couple of pages. It was writing for the attention-span-challenged.
Point of curiosity: this is one of the first times I've been given an (if you will) outsider's point of view of Shakespeare:
It was the most lowering play she had ever sat through. There was a quite unseemly burial, with a ghastly harangue over a dead woman’s body, and eventually a court scene where everyone mouthed things they didn’t mean and drank things they should never have touched. Then all of a sudden swords came out…
That, my friends, is Hamlet. I'm not sure how I was supposed to take that; "silly French girl never saw Shakespeare" or something? Sorry; I'm plumping for "lack of taste and discrimination". (If I had liked the woman it might have been "really bad production".)
Using the Bard as a point of transition, I can also say that this book was chock-full of much ado about nothing. Example: a journey is planned with all sorts and kinds of hand-wringing and trepidation about the many and varied hazards, it's all but impossible, but no! The heroine must undertake it! And she shall! And she does, and it is gotten out of the way with one line stating that it basically went without a hitch. And thud goes the buildup.
I could also bring in the Comedy of Errors, as the Hero – who has been painted as a fairly sensible bloke for most of the book – suddenly and with no explanation whatsoever does something so moronic that I had to page back a bit to make sure I didn't misread something. Nope: he really did deliberately and with aforethought decide to be that stupid. I will give him a little credit for ruefulness when he gets himself wounded, but even there ….
‘Where are you hurt?’
‘Through the chest, but it’s no problem….'
It's just a flesh wound.
Point of interest: this was the second Netgalley book I came across in the span of a month or so that had a character named Tracey, spelled as I spell it - the Earl of Tracey.
In some of my reviews I mention that the writing fights me – some authors try to manhandle me as a reader instead of disappearing and allowing me to live in and experience the world of the book. This style will turn what should be a fun romp, a quick and light read, into a struggle. The Code of Love fought me for every metaphorical inch of ground.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
Perhaps part of it was a bit of weariness at just how utterly exquisite the heroine, Delphine, was. "She entered like lightning and arrested every conversation." Every couple of pages came another reminder of just how beautiful she was. Oh, and Our Heroine keeps snubbing Our Hero. When she isn't actually freezing him out her disdain is being mentioned – every couple of pages. It was writing for the attention-span-challenged.
Point of curiosity: this is one of the first times I've been given an (if you will) outsider's point of view of Shakespeare:
It was the most lowering play she had ever sat through. There was a quite unseemly burial, with a ghastly harangue over a dead woman’s body, and eventually a court scene where everyone mouthed things they didn’t mean and drank things they should never have touched. Then all of a sudden swords came out…
That, my friends, is Hamlet. I'm not sure how I was supposed to take that; "silly French girl never saw Shakespeare" or something? Sorry; I'm plumping for "lack of taste and discrimination". (If I had liked the woman it might have been "really bad production".)
Using the Bard as a point of transition, I can also say that this book was chock-full of much ado about nothing. Example: a journey is planned with all sorts and kinds of hand-wringing and trepidation about the many and varied hazards, it's all but impossible, but no! The heroine must undertake it! And she shall! And she does, and it is gotten out of the way with one line stating that it basically went without a hitch. And thud goes the buildup.
I could also bring in the Comedy of Errors, as the Hero – who has been painted as a fairly sensible bloke for most of the book – suddenly and with no explanation whatsoever does something so moronic that I had to page back a bit to make sure I didn't misread something. Nope: he really did deliberately and with aforethought decide to be that stupid. I will give him a little credit for ruefulness when he gets himself wounded, but even there ….
‘Where are you hurt?’
‘Through the chest, but it’s no problem….'
It's just a flesh wound.
Point of interest: this was the second Netgalley book I came across in the span of a month or so that had a character named Tracey, spelled as I spell it - the Earl of Tracey.
In some of my reviews I mention that the writing fights me – some authors try to manhandle me as a reader instead of disappearing and allowing me to live in and experience the world of the book. This style will turn what should be a fun romp, a quick and light read, into a struggle. The Code of Love fought me for every metaphorical inch of ground.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
January 27, 2020
I can't wrap my mind around as to what happened. This is a story about daring escapes, break-ins, espionage, romantic pursuits, set during Napoleonic Wars and I thought it will be a breeze to read. Boy, was I wrong. I swear, it felt like 50 new pages were added to the book for every 50 pages I read. It was such a slog. There was absolutely no suspense or thrills in the writing, the narrative felt very monotonous. Oh, and did the author really felt the need to remind us on every single page how beautiful and delectable Delphine is? That got boring really fast.
August 27, 2016
When I started reading this book, I was like whoa! What's going on? Did I miss five pages? Because the author dumps you right into the thick of things and expects you to catch up. It's books like this that make me love reading. She does not dumb things down or repeat herself twenty times, she just goes. I loved it. I learned so much that it made me feel bad for not knowing all of it already.
So pretty much from the word go I felt like Gideon and Delphine loved each other. They just didn't know it yet. There was so much chemistry there. It was such a real and sweet journey for them both to realize. Sometimes I couldn't figure out how they would ever get there, but a lot like real life, it found it's way.
I couldn't stand Delphine's cousin from the very beginning, but I though t him just spineless not the true jerk he becomes. Is it bad that I wanted someone to kill him?
I was so caught up in all the spy stuff. I had chills when then opened the code together.
So pretty much from the word go I felt like Gideon and Delphine loved each other. They just didn't know it yet. There was so much chemistry there. It was such a real and sweet journey for them both to realize. Sometimes I couldn't figure out how they would ever get there, but a lot like real life, it found it's way.
I couldn't stand Delphine's cousin from the very beginning, but I though t him just spineless not the true jerk he becomes. Is it bad that I wanted someone to kill him?
I was so caught up in all the spy stuff. I had chills when then opened the code together.
June 9, 2016
The Code of Love was a story that snuck up on me. The first few chapters I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but then the intrigue and the thrust and parry between the two leads really took off, and suddenly I was hooked. I found the characters well-written and likeable, the prose eminently readable, and the plot well-paced and exciting. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction who want a story packed with both romance and action.
I received this book as a free review copy via the publisher.
I received this book as a free review copy via the publisher.
September 28, 2009
Just finished this. Despite the title (sounds too sappy) it turned out to be rather interesing. It is set on England, France and Portugal during at the beginning of the Peninsular War (Napoleonic Era). The genre is romantic, historical fiction, so it has a more or less accurate historical setting. As a result the reader gets a view of life in the early 19th century. I have my copy if any one wants it.
March 27, 2016
The Code of Love was a story that snuck up on me. The first few chapters I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but then the intrigue and the thrust and parry between the two leads really took off, and suddenly I was hooked. I found the characters well-written and likeable, the prose eminently readable, and the plot well-paced and exciting. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction who want a story packed with both romance and action.
November 28, 2008
The book is a historical romance set in the early 1800's. The characters are well developed and act in realistic ways. The pacing is good, and every scene serves a purpose. There is a fun "Pride and Prejudice" type proposal scene near the middle of the story. There are no explicit sex scenes, but the main characters do have sex after they're married.
August 18, 2010
Easy on the eyes, fast to read. I slightly interesting Romance, without the scenes that are unnecessary in it. It is a pg rated to g. Nothing gets out of hand... which is a good thing. And makes this a great beach read.
Mystery, suspense... a good read.
Mystery, suspense... a good read.
August 11, 2012
Horrible book. It pains me to not finish a book, but this one. Wow. No character development what so ever. After 135 pages, I couldn't tell you their names. Horrible writing. I hate to say that, but it's true. This book will go on my list of worst books ever.
May 24, 2014
Another lush historical romance from Cheryl Sawyer, bringing an English secret agent together with a French one. Nicely done seemingly insurmountable political differences, and plenty of intrigue and danger.
May 7, 2012
This book has the perfect mix of romance, intrigue and history.
Rich in detail and easy to read!
Rich in detail and easy to read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews