April 2, 2007
Sword fighting and martial arts may not interest the typical Regency heroine, but Pickens, known for such traditional work as The Storybook Hero
, fits them nicely into her new action-filled historical series. At Mrs. Merlin's Academy for Select Young Ladies, street urchins are trained in both the ways of society and the deadly arts, for the purposes of countering England's foes. On her first assignment, the resourceful Siena is charged with sniffing out a Napoleonic spy while posing as a courtesan in search of a new protector. Apparently one of the six highborn members of the Gilded Page Club has been smuggling documents in the guise of acquiring valuable old books, but who is it? As Siena challenges each club member to a series of competitions to win her favor, the sensuality of one prime suspect—the earl of Kirtland, a disgraced former officer in the Royal Army—threatens Siena's self-control and secret identity. The introduction of an enigmatic outsider and some helpful intervention from another of Mrs. Merlin's young ladies thicken the plot and build momentum for the sequel. Regency fans should enjoy this innovative and adventurous foray.