The Exiles

The Couriers #2

by Nita Abrams

In the year 1813, during the collapse of Napoleon's empire, spy Elizabeth DeQuincy, disguised as a boy, becomes the apprenctice to Sommers, a fencing master and English gentleman, who is also a double agent for the Crown, but when her clever disguise is discovered, these two intelligence couriers must join forces to stay alive. Original.

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Espionage, Regency, Historical Romance, Suspense

382 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

Reviews

[Lupinus Texensis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a wicked sinus infection and I'm up past my bedtime to finish this book I started at nine. Bookmarks really are quitter strips.

This series reminds me very much of all the best parts of Bourne's and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see Jewish characters in a historical story that's not 100% about them being Jewish.

I'm off to hunt down the rest of this series and read it like an absolute glutton.

[Debby]

Elizabeth Dequincy is an orphan who's been caring for an Aunt on the Continent. When she dies, Elizabeth doesn't trust her uncle, so disguises herself as a boy to try and get home to England. She is promptly robbed and then saved by and English fencing master. Thru a series of incidents' "Michael Sommers" has been forced to leave the English military in disgrace as a traitor. However, he was set up by the Brits so he could continue spying for them in Austria, unbeknownst to him. He and "Edward Purcell" room together for a month and she becomes Michael's fencing assistant.

Convoluted story about spies (Nathanson, a Jew and friend) the political situation and Southey's true situation. Eventually he discovers she's female, they fall in love and marry, but not until they're both attacted, Nathanson tortured, Southey beaten, etc.

Must be a sequel to an earlier book to explain all the background & characters.

Pretty clean.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

(violence, deception, male and female in disguise as male live together prior to marriage, kidnapping) I loved this story but it is VERY light on romance--it is more about the historical fiction.

[Dls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book more than I expected to. In a way it's a bridge between the first in the series (showing the outcome of what happened there for the hero of this book) and the third (the hero of the next book falls in love with and is deceived by a beautiful but really nasty woman.)
But in another way it's a convincing portrait of how a man who was an abused child ends up depressed and feeling guilty out of all proportion to his crime--and eventually learns to stand up for himself. Very well done although not a particularly light read. The historical detail about fencing and dialing is very well done...