Amanda, a countess, is a widow in her 30’s with two young boys. She married the man her parents picked out when she was 19, is constantly told to mind her step by her mother and is expected to marry her sons’ dull guardian. She needs an adventure when she becomes in possession of a code book and meets Langley. Langley is a spy, in his 40’s, knighted for his services and the perfect lover for Amanda. The boys are charming, the mother and would be fiancé are bullies and Langley’s boss is manipulative in a good way. A lovely romance with interesting characters.

This is my first Susanna Craig, I did not know anything about the series but I was very struck by the cover of the first book in the series.
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I like that it can be read as a standalone and the line of the series, espionage for the crown, is easily understood without much introduction.
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Behind this group of spies in her Majesty's service is Colonel Scott who enjoys matchmaking with his spies.
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I liked the chemistry between Amanda and Langley, the situations they are in and how their relationship flows. I also liked how it presents the countess's family life and social situations, and the relation with her kids.
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One thing leads to a lover, is a very entertaining Spy to lovers Regency that makes you want to read all the books in the series.
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Thank to #NetGalley and Kensington Books for let me read #OneThingLeadsToaLover by Susanna Craig before goes on sale this 6 April 2021

I really like the premise of this series! It's spies and adventure, but not too dark or angsty. I do enjoy a meddling matchmaker, and General Scott gets to order his men around while scheming to get them settled with just the right woman.

In this second book, the hero is a knighted agent to the crown, Sir Langley Stanhope, known as Magpie. He is skilled in mimicry and disguise, and he's the first historical romance hero I've read who wears glasses. (I never knew what I was missing until now.) His mission is to find a valuable French code book, which unexpectedly fell into the lap of the Countess of Kingston, a sheltered widow with an overbearing mother and two young sons.

Magpie has to retrieve the book, make sure the Countess and her boys are kept safe from dangerous men who are after the same book, and somehow manage not to fall in love with Amanda, the Countess of Kingston.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for an advanced copy of this book. I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Susanna Craig is a new author to me, so I didn't know going in whether it would be more romance centric or more of a spy story, and I was pleasantly surprised at the mix of both.

Amanda Kingston is a widowed countess smothered by her overprotective mother and cut out of her sons future plans by her husbands leaving guardianship to one of his friends. She spends her days trapped at home, her grief in the past, trying to raise her sons with the education she has. While out purchasing a book for her sons birthday, she has a run in with a man who switches their packages. The book, disguised as a cookbook, is actual a piece of military intel that, if in the wrong hands, could spell trouble.

The man sent to retrieve it is the deceivingly handsome Magpie, and the relationship that blooms between Amanda and he is so very precious. He quickly becomes a protector, and a teacher, and a father figure for her boys, and his assignment changes from something he is ordered to do to something he desires to do. And the dangerous enemy might be closer than they think.


We spend a lot of time with the family aspect, and I love that. I could have gone for a little more espionage and action, but I loved Amanda and Langley enough to look past that. I look forward to reading more of Susanna Craig's books.

This is the second book in a series. I liked Amanda the widowed countess with young boys, I felt she was a little too complacent in letting her mother run her life at this point in her life. The spark between Langley and Amanda wasn't as strong for me. I did like the intrigue theme and the relationship between Langley and Amanda's sons.

Synopsis:
Although her mom frequently reminds her to “mind her step,” Amanda, The Dowager Countess Kingston, wants nothing more than a little excitement in her world. After the death of her husband, Amanda is living comfortably, if boringly, with her 2 beloved sons and her mom in her London home. She never suspects that accidentally picking up the wrong package after she bumps into a man on the street could lead to adventure, but it does. Before Amanda knows it Major Langley Stanhope is everywhere she turns... trying to recover the package Amanda accidentally took and trying to avoid falling in love with her.

What I liked:
-First of all, I read and absolutely loved Who’s That Earl (which is why I requested an ARC of this book), but I love that this could definitely be read as a stand alone. There’s brief nods made to the characters in the previous book, but nothing that would hinder your understanding of this story if you skipped Who’s That Earl. With that said, do read Who’s That Earl, because it is fantastic.
-I loved Langley. His ability to blend into any situation by becoming someone completely different was fascinating. I also really enjoyed the slow reveal of his backstory. He was such a wonderfully fleshed out character, I wish he were real (I found his accent imitations ridiculously attractive even though he is fictional and I can’t hear them 🤣).
-I really enjoyed how clearly we can see Amanda’s intelligence and her value for learning through her boys’ education and how much they respect her.
-The chemistry between Amanda and Langley is incredible... there was a slow build in their attraction that had me anxious to see them finally together.
-The climax of this story and the end was perfect. I loved the way everything blows up at in the last quarter of the novel and how it gets resolved - every conflict is tied up neatly.

What I didn’t like:
-The pacing and balance of the storylines felt off to me. There’s a lot of focus on Amanda’s boys and home life in the beginning. It is important to the story that Amanda loves her boys, but it wasn’t super exciting to read about. Once the underground spy ring discovers the book is missing the investigation seems almost like it comes to a halt while Langley and Amanda get to know each other. Watching them get to know each other was wonderful, but it felt like the main storyline was forgotten for a good chunk of the book.

Final Thoughts:
I LOVED Who’s That Earl and I couldn’t wait to dive into One Thing Leads to a Lover. This book, like it’s predecessor, is well thought out and showcases a strong independent lady operating in a time where she always has to “mind her step.” While the pacing was a little slower than the first book, the characters were wonderful and the romance was beautifully done. Although you don’t need to read the first book to enjoy this one, if you liked the first, you will like this one as well. While I liked this one, the epilogue that builds up book 3 sounds like an even better continuation of this series - can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Thanks netgalley & Kensington books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One Thing Leads to a Lover is an absolutely charming book! It is the second in the Series, but is a stand alone. It is the story of a widowed Countess who at 32 is raising her two young sons while under the "care" of her mother and co-guardian of her children, much to her dismay. A random incident brings a character called The Magpie, a disillusioned spy, into her life and so starts this adventure.. It's one you will want to follow along with.!

I very much enjoyed this story. Langley is a spy who has a hard time becoming his true self and connecting with people. Amanda is a widow with a over protective mother, she longs for adventure and passion. The two meet and have a almost instant connection. I really enjoyed the family dynamic of this story. I also liked that Amanda was a older heroine, which is rare in historical romance. There was just enough passion, danger, and intrigue to keep me turning the pages. I’ve read the first book in this series, but this one is my favorite so far. I will say I wish there was a little more background into Langley. Overall this was a great read and I look forward to reading the books that come after this one.

Amanda Bartlett is a widowed countess at the age of 32 and mother to two children. She’s spent her whole life doing exactly what was expected of her, and it’s just as boring as one would expect. Her entire life has been dictated by her mother, then her husband, and then her mother again. While buying a book for her son she is bumped into by a stranger on the streets wherein she leaves with the wrong book. Unbeknownst to her, the book she has in her possession is vital to the Crown and Langley Stanhope is tasked with its retrieval.

This is my second book by Susanna Craig (my first being “Who’s that Earl” which is the previous book in the Love and Let Spy series) and beyond just LOVING the word play in the book titles, I really did enjoy this book. The whole spy plot line gives it another layer that sets this book apart from other historical romance novels.

Overall, I would have loved to have seen more resolution with her mother since she really annoyed me for a large part of the book, but I loved that Amanda was able to finally get the adventure and excitement she deserved and wanted. Langley/the Magpie was a great love interest for Amanda and I loved their dynamic and the way they treated each other right from the beginning. A fun read with enough excitement that it kept me up til 2AM to finish lol

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books!

Susanna Craig, a new to me author, writes a great story about a widow, Amanda, who has no control of her own life. Amanda is dictated to by her children’s guardian as well as her own widowed mother who lives with her. When her family is accidently put in danger an intelligence officer named Langley is sent to protect her. Amanda realizes that she not only wants more control of the decisions in her life, but she also wants Langley. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington Books for my honest review.

This was delightful and I loved it. I needed a good regency romance with a bit of spy action to get me through a day spent stuck in bed, and this didn't disappoint.

Amanda was stifled and frustrated with her overbearing mother and suitor, the Magpie was a master of disguise and excellent with her children, and the romance and adventure were swoon-worthy.

I loved watching Amanda come into her own and give herself permission to live and have some adventure, and I loved seeing the Magpie as he came to care about her and her children and protect them.

The actual spying takes a backseat to the romance a good bit of the time, but as it's what I wanted I definitely didn't mind. There's also enough intrigue going on to add some extra flavor to the romance.

I will definitely be seeking out more of Susanna Craig's books, since I enjoyed this one and Who's that Earl so much.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an e-arc for review.

This is a fun Regency read and I liked that Amanda gets into the spying as well. The romance was sweet. I wanted more resolution between Amanda and her mom though about her mom trying to control her life.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Amanda Bartlett, the widowed Countess of Kingston, has always been told to watch her step. Married at 19, she is finally free to be herself, but with two young children in her care, her mother living in her home, and a suitor dogging her heels, she is still trapped in some way. While out shopping for a birthday present from her eldest son, she is jolted in the street, and the book she thinks she bought turns out to be a book full of French war codes, valuable to the war effort, and embroiled in an adventure than just could be the making for her. Sir Langley Stanley, a major and intelligence officer, feels guilt over the death of his comrade, and now that another has been kidnapped, and the code book holds the key to his recovery, he needs to get Amanda to help him retrieve it, and find the traitor who is in their midst. Masquerading as the tutor for the young boys, Langley moves into Amanda's home, for protection, and it's soon clear that their attraction may just be one thing they need to overcome.

I was completely blown away by Who's That Earl when I read it last year, and as soon as I spotted this one on NetGalley, I requested it. Amanda's life has been boring since she married during her first season, with a husband old enough to be her father, not allowed to do anything more straining than picking the meal options for dinner. Now widowed, she's still young, and wants her chance at freedom, but is stopped at every turn. Her two boys, Jamie and Pip, are her entire life, but she shares guardianship of them with her late husband's friend, Lord Dulsworthy, who is adamant they should be off at Harrow, and also wants to marry her too. It doesn't help, either, that Amanda's mother has moved in, and has taken over everything, from answering invitations, or creating the menu at dinner, to stating what Amanda should wear, even. It's too much, and I really felt for Amanda here - she deserves to be her own person, and have a little fun. Becoming embroiled in intrigue and espionage may not have been what I was expecting for her, but she took to it like a duck out of water, and was perfectly aided by Langley. Langley was an amazing love interest, with his own complex backstory as an orphan on the streets of London, to being adopted by a loving couple, and raised to join the military and help with the intelligence services. He's only once let down his guard, and that's when his friend was killed, and he won't make the same mistake again. He fights his attraction to Amanda almost as much as she does for him, but it's inevitable, and swoony, and downright perfect for them both. There were twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and I was again blown away by the brilliance of Susanna's writing, and her story telling. I can't wait for the next book, hinted at in the final pages of this one.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Sweet and spicy, with one of the more affable heroes and daring heroines I’d seen in a while. Can’t wait to read more from this author