The Cryptographer by Alice Wallis-Eton

The Cryptographer 

Author -  Alice Wallis-Eton

Genre -  Regency Romance

Series -  Second Sons, Book 1 of 4 

Pages -  254 

Published -  August 11, 2015

Publisher -  Self

Kindle link

POV -  Third Person

Language -  none

Sexual Content -  tame

Synopsis

Everybody has a secret, but some are harder to decipher… 

England, 1813. Aster Tanner is alone in the world and keeps a roof over her head by working the one asset she has – her mind. She needs her job; she does not need a Scotsman underfoot making her heart flutter with heated glances and impertinent questions.

Iain McIntyre, Captain in the Second Dragoons, has a confidential assignment: find a list rumoured to name traitors working against England. He is looking for anything unusual — like a woman working as a secretary. He tells himself his fascination with the lass is because she holds a man's position, and nothing to do with his rising desire to know the sharp mind hidden behind her darkened glasses.

When Aster is targeted by those intent on recovering the list, she must decide who to trust. She has seven encrypted names. But whose? Meanwhile, Iain is on the trail of a double agent. Time is running out, and secrets must be decoded before lives and hearts are sacrificed. 

Review

This was an enjoyable read start to finish.

I cared about the two leads, their associates, and their similar agendas that brought them together.

The author did a good job of creating the needed imagery in my mind to help the story move forward and give me a vivid idea of who these people are, where they came from, and why they behave the way they do.

The intrigue was there, and since this is a mystery revolving around the Napoleonic war with both leads doing their part to serve England, that sense of growing intensity lasted to the very end.

The two leads came together well, with both behaving wary at the start, fighting against their growing emotions in the middle, and then eventually caving in to them at the right moment.

Dougal, Aster's faithful terrier, was as well thought out and entertaining as the rest of the cast.

This is thorough Regency with believable female lead behavior and dashing male lead desire all rolled up into a riveting plot that unfolds at a moderate pace to label this a true page turner.

However, and keeping in mind that the author is from New Zealand, there were a lot of misplaced or misused/abused commas, and the misspellings/editing gaffs increased with each chapter.

The other issue was with the Chapter Titles, which were unnecessary and on the insulting side: naming each one based on which of the two leads was in action -- as if to say I wouldn't have figured it out otherwise.

I look forward to reading the other three novels in this series; especially after having been properly introduced to each man in this first novel.

Very anxious to discover how they fair in their turn at Regency Romance!

                                             Quinn Tulloch                            Aibne Kerr                                     Seamus