The Secret Service of Tea and Treason

Starred review from February 20, 2023
Holton returns to a magic-infused Victorian London in her fiendishly clever third Dangerous Damsels romantic adventure (after The League of Gentlewoman Witches). When the Agency of Undercover Note Takers (A.U.N.T.) learns that a pirate is plotting to assassinate Queen Victoria, rival agents Alice Dearlove and Daniel Bixby must go undercover as a married couple to infiltrate the pirate’s house party and stop the scheme. As “professional heroes” who typically go it alone, they’re both wary about working with a partner—especially one they find so maddeningly attractive. The pair are surprised to find they have much in common, including their love of literary allusions and their levelheaded handling of curveballs lobbed at them by their salacious yet endearing pirate acquaintances. The longer they pretend to be in love, the more they actually fall for each other—but A.U.N.T. frowns on agents courting. As they descend further into the exciting and eccentric world of piratical hooliganism, Alice and Daniel must choose between their feelings and their duty. Holton’s signature tongue-in-cheek style shines, pairing dry wit with ludicrous situations to excellent effect. Alice and Daniel’s banter is a particular highlight, and their tender connection helps to ground all the action. This may be Holton’s best yet. Agent: Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary.

March 1, 2023
Two spies go on a chaotic quest in the third novel of this zany Victorian series. Daniel Bixby and Alice Dearlove are in service. The secret service. But also working undercover as servants to the gentry while spying on various factions of pirates and witches and other dangers to the realm for A.U.N.T--the Agency of Undercover Note Takers. Having met in passing on an earlier mission, the two are now introduced to each other as the most skilled agents in their organization. Their mission: Pose as a married couple to foil an attempt on Queen Victoria's life. Trained to put duty above all else thanks to a punishing regimen enforced on them by A.U.N.T. as orphaned children, Alice and Bixby (Agents A and B) are astonished that their attraction makes them want to break that rule. As their task to find and neutralize the assassination weapon takes them on a perilous flying journey to a house party of gleefully quarrelsome sky pirates, forced proximity makes them succumb to their feelings. Consummation follows but only after they agree on a stringent contract about consensual pleasure. The third installment of Holton's series, following The League of Gentlewomen Witches (2022), ratchets the farcical energy even higher than before. The author's delight in witticisms also fills out a frothy plot. While the couple overcomes a lifetime of stoicism, their feelings are personified into comic extended images and similes reminiscent of a mock epic like Pope's "The Rape of the Lock." Apart from A.U.N.T.'s allusion to the "Man from U.N.C.L.E.," the combat episodes call to mind Mr. & Mrs. Smith, while the farcical values of the world evoke Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. If A and B are to overcome the obstacles standing in their way in this free-for-all, they must rely on old friends-cum-employers-cum-enemies to help find their happy-ever-after. A comedic romance with maximum vibes and minimum realism.

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Starred review from March 1, 2023

Mix Julia Quinn at her musical recital best with Tuesday Next, Stardust, and Get Smart, and the result is this Victorian-set fantasy/thriller/romance blend. Alice Dearlove is a prim, proper, top-notch operative. Daniel Bixby is a staring-down-villains (and stewards) master spy. When they infiltrate a pirate country house party, on the hunt for a rogue secret weapon, they find themselves with more to talk about than operational plans. Holton and her characters Alice and Daniel are autistic, and she deftly crafts details and scenes that highlight these character identities as parachute petticoats deploy. As Daniel's past shows up for the party, and Alice starts to think of a new future, even swords over tea and crossbows in the portrait gallery offer little distraction. Madcap it may be, but there are also stark moments where Alice and Daniel's abusive childhoods are referenced in heartbreaking ways, and the thriller aspect of the story turns icy cold indeed. VERDICT Witty, deeply clever, and read-it-like-you-just-robbed-some-pirates fast. Those who have been with the books from the start (the last installment was The League of Gentlewomen Witches) will be gleeful, and those finding them now will immediately want to read back. Flying houses ahoy, buy in bulk.--Neal Wyatt

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2023
The raucous fun of Holton's Dangerous Damsels series continues, following The League of Gentlewomen Witches (2022), this time featuring A.U.N.T., a covert spy agency of household servants. It keeps track of the activities of the Wicken League's witches and pirates as well as ensuring "spoiled rich girls were kept from killing one another on shopping sprees." Alice, a lady's maid and accomplished agent known as A, is teamed up with Daniel, known as B, to infiltrate a pirate flying-house party. The two agents must pretend to be a newlywed couple, leading to compromising positions amidst melees and spying; they frequently find themselves piled up behind furniture with real pirates who broke into the same room. Anyone not utterly exhausted by the incessant word play will delight in Holton's adventurous romp that wittily second-guesses itself and is jam-packed with flagrant innuendo. Bookish protagonists who proclaim, "reading is not a hobby . . . it is a way of life" and hope for a decent library at their destination will delight readers who can never leave home without a book.

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