This was a fun, funny, and adventuresome read. Rafe is a true English rake with Mommy issues while Colette is a French "spy" intent on saving her assassin father. They were at cross-purposes, but found irresistible attraction with each other.

The first part was a tad slow with balls and fumbling attempts by both Rafe and Collette, but the action picked up after Rafe's assignment became official. There were lots of sexytimes too, and great supporting characters. The last part was my favorite with the tension-packed sequence of whether they'll get together or not. Even knowing that HEA is guaranteed in romance, Shana still made the reader excited to find out how she'll pull it through.

I can't wait for Jasper's story. He intrigues me so much and I hope Shana finds a worthy heroine for him.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for providing me with an early copy to review via NetGalley.

The Survivor series continues with its third book and I thought this story was too slow for me. Out of all three books, this one is my least favorite and I blame the heroine for it.

If the main characters aren’t interesting and compelling, the whole story suffers. The story itself isn’t enough for me. The heroine was too tedious for my liking and I frankly didn’t care for her or her plight.

The saving grace to the story was its hero, who I found totally charming and entertaining.

The setting, humor and plenty of action in the second part of the story, made this a much better read for me and since I am a huge fan of this author, I have high hopes that her next book will thrill and have me swoon over her hero.

Melanie for b2b

3.5 Stars

The Survivors series is definitely one of my favorite historical fiction romance series. I loved the first two books in the series, and while this one was entertaining, I’d agree with others that it wasn’t quite on par with the other two.

I loved Rafe and his backstory. His role as a seducer was well written and sometimes humorous. I struggled a little with Collette’s character though. My favorite scenes were always the ones with The Survivors together.

The epilogue is told from Jasper’s POV which makes me eager for the next book as I hope it means it’s his.

I loved this series, I hope being that there are 4 other survivors we get to see their stories in the future!
I would have read it in a night if I had enough hours in the day. I couldn't put it down.

3.5 Stars

Pierre Fortier will do anything to provide for his wife and daughter. When things get so bad that they are starting to go hungry, Pierre agrees to become a paid assassin for Napoleon. After Napoleon is removed from power, Pierre is imprisoned, and his daughter, Collette is the only one who can get him released. The cost is high, as Collette must go to England and obtain British codes to provide to the new regime in France. Her initial attempts to glean information from Lt. Col. Draven are totally unsuccessful, but she learns that Rafe Beaumont served under him, and may have the information she needs, so she switches her attention to him.

Rafe Beaumont was part of what became known as the suicide troop, because of their taking on missions with little chance of success. Only twelve of the original thirty men returned. Rafe is described as jaw droppingly beautiful, and his function in Draven's troop was to seduce information from Napoleon's cronies. Collette doesn't realize that Draven suspects that she's the French assassin's daughter, and has assigned Rafe to use his charms to find out what she's up to in England.

Collette is actually quite shy, and is totally tongue tied when Rafe approaches her. She is as susceptible to his beauty as the rest of womankind appears to be, and her awkwardness seems to appeal to Rafe. As they initially dance around each other, Collette becomes a little more assertive, and rebuffs Rafe's advances. Never having been refused before, Rafe is puzzled, and doesn't quite know what to do.

I have mixed feelings about both Collette and Rafe. On one hand, I admire Collette for continuing to love her father, despite knowing what he did. It took considerable courage for a shy young woman to leave her home country, and try to extract confidential information from experienced agents. Still, her father, in fact, was a killer for hire, a profession he originally chose of his own free will. Is she justified in working to remove him from prison? I'm also ambivalent about Rafe. Though he suffered a trauma as a young boy, he never seemed to desire to accomplish anything beyond using his exceptional good looks and charm. While initially the hordes of women who crowded around him was amusing, it grew tiresome that he just couldn't say, "No," or, "Go away."

Ultimately, this couple falls in love, which creates a definite conflict. Collette must make a choice between Rafe and her father, and Rafe must choose love or country. Or, is there another solution? AN AFFAIR WITH A SPARE is a passionate journey of flawed characters finding love in an impossible situation, and will appeal to readers who enjoy the spying element to be a significant part of the story. A grand gesture at the conclusion is guaranteed to satisfy the craving of true romance fans.

This is a sweet next chapter in this series. I rooted for the heroine all the way to the exciting conclusion and the male protagonist had me on tenterhooks to choose the correct path. I did feel that some of the backstory could have been more developed, especially concerning the family dynamics. Also, the subplot concerning the tutor could have been left out all together. Nonetheless, this is a fast-paced, enjoyable read.

I've read all the books of the Survivors series from Shana Galen. Unfortunately, the saying: third one is a charm is not applicable for this series. Although it is a lovely book, I really like the first two parts better. Maybe this was because the story was a bit far fetched and unclear.

Collette is the daughter of a French assassin, spying in London to find information about her father. Rafe, one of Draven's man (just like Ewan (book 1) and Neil (book 2)) is given the assignment to seduce Collette in order to find out where her father is.

So, while under false pretences they both feign interest in each other, very slowly they fall in love with each other. But love and hate are divided by a thin line. And when the time comes, what will Rafe and Collette chose? Collette has to choose between her father and her love and Rafe between his country, fellow men and his love...

How will this end? Find out for yourselves in this wonderful read. And don't miss out on the first two parts. Three out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

This was a sweet story for romance readers that are looking for something with a cute plot and a little bit of adventure. The first half starts out a bit slow, but it picks up as the story moves along. This is my first read by Shana Galen, and I liked the adorable hedgehog references.

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This a beautiful story , full of love , and friendship. I can't wait to reading more books by Mrs Galen. ☆☆☆☆☆ . I just purchased the TWO previous books for a friend.

Suspense, romance, spies, and hedgehogs. That's right, I said hedgehogs. They all play significant roles in this third book of Shana Galen's popular The Survivors historical romance series that follows the post-war journeys to love of a small group of younger sons who were part of a secret military regiment during the war with France. Rafe, the youngest of eight children of an earl, put his good looks and charm to good use behind enemy lines to ferret out secrets for England. When his former commander asks him to take on a new mission, Rafe is ready to put his skills to work but the woman from whom he must obtain information, inexplicably to Rafe, is the first woman in his entire life who seems immune to both his looks and his charm!

Frenchwoman Collette Fortier has traveled to London under a false name and false pretense. Collette's father, a feared assassin for Napoleon, is being held prisoner by the new regime and she fears for his life. Only if she obtains a set of codes from England's Foreign Office, will her father's captors release him. Collette loves her father and remembers what their peaceful country life was like before he was forced to carry out Napoleon's demands. She will do anything to save him but she can't be distracted by the charming man who seems suddenly interested in her. She can't imagine why he would be anyway. He flusters her. And when Collette gets flustered, embarrassing things happen, such as blurting out everything she knows about the mating habits of hedgehogs. It's hilarious, endearing, and, ultimately, irresistible to Rafe.

As the two dance around one another while each pursuing their own individual mission they begin to move from adversaries into friendship. And when the friendship begins to evolve so do deeper feelings but obstacles abound. Rafe was deeply affected by events in his childhood and believes himself unable to love which hinders him from recognizing what he's feeling. Also, he must succeed in his mission to find Collette's father and bring him to justice and that is the straw that will break whatever hope they have of being together. Unless they can find another way...

I've really enjoyed this series and An Affair With a Spare is another winner. Galen has created two multi-layered, engaging characters with complex backgrounds and placed them in a situation that seems impossible to resolve. The story flows smoothly with a nice balance of both suspense and romance along with action, humor, and heartfelt emotion. As Rafe's background is unveiled it's easy to see why he's become the man his comrades call "The Seducer." As more of the man beneath that facade emerges, I found myself falling for him just as hard as Collette does. As for Collette, I admired her loyalty to her father and her determination to save him, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. I also found her simply charming and couldn't help but smile each time bits of hedgehog mating trivia burst from her mouth. I so wanted these two to find a way to a happy ending. Galen didn't make it easy on them and, I admit, I had no idea how she was going to resolve the issues between them. How she accomplished it was a surprise I didn't see coming (I always enjoy that) but one that I could thoroughly embrace.

As usual, the secondary characters are vibrantly portrayed and contribute much to the story. We see more of the horribly scarred Jasper, who hides his burns behind a mask, in this book and that's only ramped up my excitement for his story. It will be next in Unmask Me if You Can, due out on November 6.

4.5 stars

A spy for the English government Rafe Beaumont sometimes use his charms to persuade women to give up their secrets. Now he’s skill are being put to the test as he charms Collette Fortier, the daughter of elusive assassin. Little does Rage know she’s being forced to spy for the French regime that holds her father hostage. What a cat and mouse romance this is, it’s filled with adventure, intrigue and passions. A well written story with strong characters who find themselves tempted as they’ve never been before, but will they work together in the end or will their secrets pull them in different directions. This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

What an amazing story line. Each book in this series is over the top. Your sitting on the edge of your seat turning the pages. Will he get the girl or not? Can this work out?? Once again this author did it.

This book is filled with love,lust,danger and betrayal.It was a mixed of all this with great characters to keep your interest! The Survivors that we’ve met in past books make a reappearance here but don't quite play the important role I would have liked. Rafe was such an endearing, amusing character, Collette on the other hand was not as well, I have a problem with her.'

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Shana Galen for receiving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my Lordie Lord Lord. Whatever shall I do? (Swoon). I just can’t for the life of me decide how to rate this!! I mean, it is what it is (a historical romance) and it doesn’t pretend to be anything but. For that, I give it credit. It wasn’t nearly as annoying as some of these romance novels can be. It follows the trope, the writing is light but the characters were not cardboard. I was really glad that Collette didn’t play the completely helpless damsel in distress. I have a hard time stomaching it when the girl is useless and the relies on the man to do everything. Realistically that would never happen, even back then. Also, why would the man fall in love with her when he has usually rejected a million other females that behave that way. The point is supposed to be that she is different and that’s what entices him. There also wasn’t a lot of time spent on them fighting and hating each other before falling in love. There was the logical reason of them both being spies that puts them in each other’s path. They develop a relationship by getting to know each other. I enjoyed that. Rafe, the main male character, was also painted a little different. Yes, he was gorgeous and had abs to die for, but his job as a spy was as a seducer of women. He was really rather inept at the physical confrontations. His soldier buddies laugh at him and don’t take him that seriously because he never fought on the battle front. I though that made him endearing. He wasn’t the he-man, overly macho man that can do everything with ease. Having to seduce women for information did make him a rather good lover, so there was that perk! Thank goodness Claire wasn’t the virgin sacrifice. So happy that she had some experience, even though she was still virginal in behaviour. These are the little differences that for me made this more of an enjoyable read. So, I used to enjoy these romance novels much more when I was younger. I loved the whole experience from the first meeting to the happily ever after. I was excited to revisit this genre.

“An Affair With A Spare” is book 3 in a series called “The Survivors”. You do not have to have read the other novels in the series and can enjoy this book as a stand alone. The story is about a French woman, Claire, who is trying to free her father, a former assassin for Napoleon, from his jailers. She is sent to England to spy and bring back the codes needed to decipher the British communications. Rafe, a son of an earl, fought in an elite unit and has just returned home to England. His commander learns about Claire and sends Rafe in to seduce her, get all the information he can from her and then kill Claire and her father. As they both spy on each other, they fall in love. I have to say, neither one of them was convincing as a spy. I know Claire’s character wasn’t supposed to be a professional but still they weren’t even the least bit good, which was actually kind of funny. Can Claire trust Rafe to help her or will he turn her in to the authorities. The story was enjoyable, the premise believable and the sex scenes were exciting, tasteful and plentiful.

I’m not sure what happened but I was reading along nicely and then boom. Something hit me. I sort of lost my taste for it and I’m not sure why. This was maybe about a third of the way through. A romance novel is like dessert. Decadent, sweet, light and fluffy, sometimes sinful. But you know when you bite into that piece of chocolate cake and it is sickly sweet, almost turns you off. That’s what happened to me. Then, it sort of went away and I enjoyed the rest of the book. Maybe I enjoy the paranormal romance books better because of the world building? I’m not sure. But I think it is more of a me problem than the book’s problem. When I try to put my finger on it I can’t. The writing was good, the characters likeable. I didn’t find the action particularly exciting. I didn’t feel a build up of suspense. For some reason I stayed a little detached from it and that was a weak spot for me. I did find it amusing, especially Claire’s penchant for the mating habits of hedgehogs. So, I think that in the end I will rate it 3.5 stars. If this is a genre you love then I think you will enjoy this book.

Can anyone explain the title to me? I don't get it. Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

I am completely enjoying this series. The Survivors Club is a group of men who fought together during the Napoleonic Wars in a platoon(?) that was basically a suicide squad. Only 12 members survived and bonded like brothers on their return home to Regency England. Each member was especially skilled at a task. Rafe Beaumont was skilled at seduction and was a spy for the group.

When Rafe’s former commanding officer requests his help in ferreting out a French spy for the Foreign Office, Rafe accepts and is tasked with meeting and seducing Collette Fortier the daughter of a known French assassin. Collette is in England to seek out secret codes that will free her father from prison.

Shana Galen has added another swoon worthy hero to this wonderful series. Each book is a standalone but I encourage you to read this delightful, intelligent, humorous series. I would have liked more from the Survivor Club members in this book and I hope Ms. Galen will give us more as the series progresses. The Survivors are all so full of personality that I really missed more interaction.

Let me start off by saying every book I've read by Shana Galen has always been a 5 star read. That being said, it hurts to give this one a 3. It just didn't flow the way most of her stories do. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't connect with the characters. The story is well written and entertaining, just not for. Though this will not stop me from continuing to devouring her future stories

Another charming story by Galen with this third installment in the series. I really enjoyed it as I have the other two in the series, but I don’t think it will appeal to as many readers as the previous two. The beginning and ending were fantastic, and the middle was solid though it had some slow parts.

Rafe is a rake. A true rake. And a sort of former spy, embarking on a new mission because his country needs him and his seductive ways. He is swoon-worthy, irresistibly gorgeous and has women scheming to get in his bed. The first scenes with Rafe were very funny, IMO. If you sample this book and don’t find some amusing bits in the first chapter, you probably won’t like this story very much. There is plenty of befuddlement on the part of the hero when Collette doesn’t succumb to his seductive ways. Something along the lines of “no woman has ever rebuffed me before” is said or thought multiple times. Collette, an assasin’s daughter, is Rafe’s mission and he is having a tough go at it. She is in a precarious position trying to save her father and not being able to trust anyone.

On its surface and especially if Rafe’s character is unappealing to you, the characters and story may seem ridiculous, but there’s a subtlety and hidden depth that had me caring for both MCs early on. It had me tearing and chuckling early on. As noted before, I did get a bit bogged down in the middle. It lost some of its charm, but the ending made up for it in a grand “will he make it” sort of gesture. The anticipation and tension was great!

As an aside, I really think these two MCs’ characters are difficult to convey in a convincing way that gets the reader to care. Rafe is a charismatic war hero, who stayed away from most of the danger due to his talents at seduction. He has some defining characteristics but they seem minor when compared to all the PTSD hero types that is common these days. Collette has no home or safe place so she can’t be as carefree as other ladies. I thought Galen handled their characterization well.

I enjoyed the epilogue, and am looking forward to Jasper’s story.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
So if I’m checking to see how much I’ve read of a book and how much I have left every 10 minutes that’s probably a good indicator that I’m not loving a book. Both main characters were lacklustre and the only thing that saved it (kind of) was the storyline. Again spying in historical romances isn’t my favourite trope but this one was ok.
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The story revolves around our heroine who is French and has come to England to acquire codes to bargain with the French who have her father (an assassin) imprisoned. Our hero, known by his moniker in the war as The Seducer is sent to seduce her and find out whether in fact she is a spy. For once in his life he find he can’t seduce a woman so instead becomes her friends when she needs one the most.
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I don’t understand why the fell for each other- neither of their characters have real personalities and the hero says he likes that she rebuffed him which made her a challenge but that’s hardly enough to fall for someone. And I can’t even say what the heroine saw in the hero is a man-whore. There were some light hearted moments and I laughed out loud when the heroine mentioned when flustered hedgehog mating rituals as that’s the book she learnt to read English. Otherwise this book was a big old meh.

Collette Fortier is desperate to save her father. He is being held a captive. Collette must find a spy who can crack the codes in her father's letters or his life will be forfeit. She has one spy in mind, but when another is thrust into her path, he will do just as well.

Rafe Beaumont has just been asked by his superior to find out why Collette is in London. They know her father is an assassin and he must be in hiding somewhere. Rafe sets out to seduce the truth out of Collette; after all that is his specialty. Unfortunately, Collette is a tough nut to crack as she acts like no other woman Rafe has ever encountered.

Rafe gets to Collette in a big way, but she does not have time for games and seduction. Her father does not have much time left. The more time Rafe spends with Collette, the more she begins to trust and confide in him. Could Rafe be the answer to all her problems? Or could trusting him be a mistake?

To be honest, I wanted to like this book more, but just couldn't really connect with Rafe. He seems to full of himself. Even rakes who spend all their time seducing women have feelings and Rafe just takes so long to come to the realization that Collette is not just another conquest or assignment. Collette, on the other hand, I liked better. At times she was a little airheaded, in my opinion, but others Collette is willing to fight to fight tooth and nail to protect the ones she loves. I have to give AN AFFAIR WITH A SPARE a 3.5 out of 5.

This is part of a terrific series, although each book is a stand alone. In this story Colette is a young french women whose only desire is to save the life of her imprisoned father. Rafe, a lord, and member of a group of special English army men who perform specific tasks for a Colonel is tasked with learning if Colette is a french spy. Rafe is chosen as he has expertise with women, as he is known by the nom de plume “ the seducer”. No woman can refuse his charms...except Colette it seems.
For Rafe, this could be a curse or a blessing, for Colette, she has more important concerns, but Rafe could be useful, and he IS rather attractive. So the plot thickens and the two become involved in a web of intrigue and danger as their attraction for each other grows.
The story has an interesting plot, colorful characters, and witty dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to historical romance readers.