The Spy Who Loves Me

by Julie Kenner

Call him Teague. Finn Teague. A jack of all trades, Finn dreams of being a secret agent. Amber is an elite operative for the government who has been sent to track a terrorists mistress. Her hunky neighbour Finn seems to be doing the same, only badly. Amber suspects he is a spy too and takes Finn on the adventure he's been looking for.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Action

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 25, 2004

About the author

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.

Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, Victorian-era thrillers (coming soon), and paranormal mommy lit.

Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, has been consistently in development in Hollywood since prior to publication. Most recently, it has been optioned by Warner Brothers Television for development as series on the CW Network with Alloy Entertainment producing.

JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swopn for him.” A three time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy).

Her books have sold well over a million copies and are published in over over twenty countries.

In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.

Reviews

[Amy]

Imagine Walter Mitty meets the female James Bond. They fall deeply, inexplicably in love because.......sex???
The end.
Oh wait, no, there is a Bond villain who wants to start WWIII because reasons. He also has a sexy, evil female sidekick who will try and seduce the main lead because......sex???
The end.
No? There is a super predictable mole within the agency that the reader will figure out in chapter 1 because....reasons?????
Well, at least we'll get a nice, conclusive ending that wraps up the characters' relationship drama and demonstrates that their chemistry comes from more than sex, right?
Right?

[Melissa Fletcher]

Finn Teague and Amber Robinson go through a crazy journey together, the whole book was filled with passion, love, crazyness, adventure and suprises, from beginning to the end it was a mystery, Finn had many jobs and ZAEL was the government where they thought that we worked with and they thought he had some undercover things going on, and Ambers job was to watch Mr. Teague and then eventually they have imediate passion and then they find out they really love eachother, and so through the book they get kidnapped by Diana and her crazy man, and they are on the island faced with some crazy things going on, but Finn i have to say had a VERY imaginative mind and he would alaways act like he was a spy, which i thought was hilarious but then his "spying" days came to life in the story, and they fit so much as a couple, it was really good, i enjoyed it so much! Did not want to put the book down, my eyes were glued to it!

[Hayden Doughty]

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it was kind of lackluster. The basis of the plot was something I found hilarious, but the execution was somewhat boring. It took me a while to get into it, about 4 chapters, and it was a slow read. The middle was where it hit its stride for me, but then it fell right back down in the last 8 chapters. I found it predictable, and the romance wasn't believable. In al honesty, they'd known each other for a few days and had a purely sexual relationship, which is fine, but not love like the characters claimed. Glad I stuck through and finished though. It makes me feel accomplished.

[Rachael]

What a surprise! I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would with this novel. If you go into the headspace that this is a James Bond inspired novel with silly/catchy one liners, heated romance and moments of "there's-no-way-that-would-happen", then you'll be surprised by how well the story develops. The first part may be a bit slow but it picks up super fast in the end. I definitely want to read more about Finn and Amber!

[Suz Davidson]

Fun and light, with a nice level of suspense and a role reversal that was very appealing. Unfortunately I saw both of the "twist" developments coming a mile away, but it was still enjoyable. I'd call it beach reading, except it's winter and rainy, but you get the idea.

[Nae]

The good: Amber is a badass heroine; fun, light, adventure romp (beach read)

The bad: Finn’s weird alter-ego imagination; lust > love; cheesy / over-the-top parts

[Stephanie J]

This was pretty cute. Gotta love. Golden retriever wannabe spy. 😍 And I am here for the early 2000s nostalgia.

[Suzie Quint]

I liked this book on many levels. I really liked the role reversal - she's the spy here, he's the civilian. That gave this a freshness that it wouldn't have had otherwise. The problem I had with this - and plotwise it's a pretty big problem - is that, at the climax of the book, they're changing the target of an orbiting weapons satellite from the middle east to just off the California coast without having to adjust the firing time. Since the author makes an point of addressing the targeting window earlier in the book, I have to assume it's not ignorance of this technical point, so it ends up feeling like she just threw the rule book out the window because it didn't suit the needs of her plot. I have a problem with that. I expect more from the authors I follow. So I guess this is my last Julie Kenner book. That's too bad, because I was enjoying her stories until she lost her credibility.

[Ann Marie]

I loved Aphrodite's Kiss by Julie Kenner and couldn't wait to read this one and wasn't disappointed. Kenner has a way of creating a far fetched story that, for some reason, seems believable. This one has a real spy watching a guy who they think is a spy but isn't but has to become one when they are taken hostage by the evil terrorist guy and his wicked mistress who are hell bent to start World War III. Lots of action (both in seduction and missions) and lots of fun. I'm looking forward to reading more from Kenner.

[Carrie]

This book...is the only book in the series (by Ian Fleming at least) written from the point of view of the woman. What's the worst book you ever read suffering from the man-writing-as-a-woman problem? Multiply it by 1,000. Then square it. This book is hilarious and disturbing.

[April]

I've liked a lot of the books by this author - they're usually fast reads that hook you right from the start. I had a horrible time starting this one though, and I just couldn't finish it. I doubt I'll pick it up again.

[Alix]

Not bad for a beach-read. Thoroughly predictable chick-lit with lots of laughs thrown in and some steamy scenes.

Fun for a brainless day at the beach.

Rating: PG-13
Moderate language, minimal strong language, explicit nudity, and some graphic sex scenes.

[Katie]

This book is great...some hilarious stuff to go along with it makes it an interesting read for me.

[Julie]

Some of her books are great and some just start out with sex and don't go anywhere else. Couldn't get past the first bit.

[Brittany]

It took a few pages to get the characters sorted out. Overall it was a good read. I do like Kenner's later books better but I'd still recommend it.

[Ruqayyah Pasha]

very good book, highly recommended!

[Dorothy Morawsky]

It was very good. A spy love story, I've never read one, but loved it. You will enjoy it. Highly recommend.

[Sharon]

it was ok. found it a little boring.