This book was not at all what I was expecting and I'm so happy it wasn't!
I can't say I've ever read a romance that involved so much action, twists, turns, and high stakes. What a fun way to add intrigue and put our main characters into interesting situations.
As I read more from genres outside of romance, I'm starting to find that a cut-and-dry romance can come of as boring or unoriginal, but this book flips everything on its head and delivers the excitement of a spy thriller while still embracing its romantic plot.
I did feel like the ending went on a bit too long and there was just a tad too much back-and-forth with the female and male leads, but overall, I do think Ally Carter used every bit of this book's 304 pages to tell an interesting and unique story.
If you're looking for a romantic story with a bit more excitement, I would highly recommend this read!

What a fun thrillerxromance! (Riller? Thrance? Nothing that rolls off the tongue like romantasy).

I have loved all of Carter’s previous books, so I knew I would enjoy this one. I really liked the progression of the plot, even if the romance was slightly insta-lovey. I did love Sawyer, our MMC, and all his nicknames for Zoe. Zoe had a lot of growth in the book, and I also really liked her character.

My two biggest issues with this book (which aren’t huge since I still gave it 4 stars) are the instalove and genre. I already mentioned the instalove. However, there isn’t really a reason this should be labeled as adult in my opinion. There’s a small number of curse words, no sex, and not a ton of violence. It’s been awhile since I read the Gallagher Girls and Heist Society series, but I felt like the material was very similar in terms of audience other than these characters being older. I definitely think younger Carter fans could still read this one.

All in all, a fun read. Thank you to Carter, Netgalley, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review,

In The Blonde Identity, we meet our unknown female heroine just as she gains consciousness and realizes she can't remember anything. But soon enough, she's getting shot at a swoony male spy is scooping her up to safety and calling her Alex. It becomes clear she must also be a spy, until it's clear she most definitely isn't... but her twin sister, Alex, is. Racing across Europe undercover as honeymooners, the two try to escape the Russian mob, find Alex, and stay safe. But each turn makes our unnamed heroine question what really is the truth, and who she can trust...

I was always a huge fan of Ally Carter's YA Gallagher Girl series as a kid, so when I saw she was coming out with an adult romance-spy action adventure novel, I was chomping at the bit. This book ended up being so much fun! It has so many great tropes--twins, amnesia, only one bed--which our heroine cheekily calls out as they happen. As a reader, I love these little moments that call out our culture. I also really felt the perspective of our heroine, wondering who she was and who to trust. We need more romance hybrids and genre-bending books out there! Mysteries, heists, spy action sequences--I want them all!

And, I could 100% see this being made into a movie one day. Please give it to me, film gods!

Thanks to Avon for my ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Thoroughly entertaining, like if a James Bond 007 movie married a laugh out loud romantic comedy novel. Fancy clothes, Swiss banks, high altitude wild construction sites, along with MI5, Russian mobsters, CIA, and Mossad agents make for action adventure fun as an amnesiac and a gorgeous spy dash across Europe by boat, train, motorcycle, and other devices while evading and fighting the bad guys.

I first read Ally Carter when I was younger and absolutely loved her books. When I saw she was writing another book I was immediately hooked!! Absolutely loved this fun story, it was different than what I usually read and it was exactly what I needed. Life of a mood reader 😅

Here’s what to expect:
🔎 enemies to lovers
🔎 grumpy sunshine
🔎 agents and spies
🔎 action packed danger and adventure
🔎 James Bond/Mission Impossible vibes
🔎 reverse Bourne Identity
🔎 fast paced twists and turns

Read this if you want a fun spy romcom that will sweep you away! (Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for the eARC!)

I loved this action-packed romantic comedy! It was fun and 100% delightful. The pacing and plot were swift and entertaining. Each new twist was thrilling and/or delightful, what a page turner!

The story alternated wonderfully between two points of view, “Her” and “Him.” I highly recommend this book. It checked so many boxes for me, including a fabulous and emotionally satisfying ending and main characters that stole my heart. I received an ARC from the publisher.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book to read and review.

CWs: amnesia, injury, detail, guns, kidnapping, attackers

I really enjoyed reading this one. I was super excited to read it because I am a huge fan of Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series, which is her YA spy books so when I heard that she was coming out with an adult spy book I knew I had to get my hands on it.
The writing style of this book reminded me a lot of the Gallagher Girls, and it gave me such a sense of nostalgia while I was reading it. I really liked the humour and the lightheartedness that was put into the story because it’s such a heavy kind of a topic, but the author has a great way of making it funny and a little awkward and it just is a lot of fun to read. The story is told in dual POVs between his and hers. Hers is Zoe and his is Sawyer, and their POV’s are in third person. I thought third person worked really well for the story because we were able to get into both Zoe and Sawyer‘s head, and they would often switch in the middle of a chapter so we could see both sides of the situation.
Zoe was a really great character. For the first several chapters, we don’t even know her name because Zoe wakes up on the streets of Paris in a snowbank with amnesia. She has no idea who she is, no idea how she got there or why she’s there, and she stumbles across Sawyer and they team up to find Zoe‘s twin sister, Alex and the flash drive that she stole. Zoe was really funny. I really related to her like she was just a really great character. I loved how she kept getting excited over book tropes that were happening to her and Sawyer during the story. Sawyer was also a really good character. He gave me Mr. Solomon from Gallagher girls vibes, which I absolutely loved. And I thought the contrast between Sawyer and Zoe’s characters. It was really good, and they complementing each other really well. Their relationship was really awkward and kind of funny, and I love the way that it turned out for them.
I thought the pacing was pretty good. It was pretty fast there was a lot of action, but there were also a lot of quiet and sweet moments between Sawyer and Zoe.

If you are wanting a book that has Finlay Donovan vibes this one is it! I loved it! The writing was clever and witty and I laughed out loud in several places!

DNF at 34%.

Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. I struggled to connect with the characters, and their banter/chemistry fell flat for me. I could tell that the author was trying to give the characters some sparks and romantic tension in certain scenes, but the execution wasn't there. I think the book being in third person without his/her chapters would've helped things.

3.5 ☆

this was so fun??? fast-paced, action packed, and a quirky fmc. a book that really doesnt take itself seriously. plot was actually super interesting and very different from typical romances that i read. sawyer is such a great mmc. really enjoyed this!

such a fun book!!! Action and romance. It was so perfect I flew through it. I loved the mystery and seeing how it played out. I loved the MCs and how their relationship developed. I recommend this to anyone who likes light mystery and romance.

THE BLONDE IDENTITY, Carter's first venture into adult fiction, was a fun romp. A woman wakes up in Paris with no memory and finds herself in the middle of a spy novel.

She is rescued by superspy Sawyer and learns that she has an identical twin sister who is really a spy. She learns her name is Zoe and that everyone is after her for some reason unknown to her.

Zoe and Sawyer have all sorts of adventures together as they run from various groups including the CIA, MI6, and Mossad and from the Russian villain Kozlov. And while Zoe isn't as kickass as her twin, she more than holds her own against the villains and with Sawyer.

Zoe falls in love. But can she trust a man who admits that he is lying to her?

This banter filled story was humorous and heart-warming and just lots and lots of fun.

I wanted to love this so very badly. I mean, Ally Carter is a YA legend and a major part of my childhood reading. Unfortunately, THE BLONDE IDENTITY fell flat for me in a lot of ways. There were too many times where the story felt disconnected or disjointed. I often found myself wondering “what is the point here?”. It seems like there is a setup for this to be a multi-book universe similar to her other series (possibly with different POVs), but the first book really has to wow me for it to be worth my time to invest in a series.

Let me be clear that I didn’t dislike Carter’s adult debut, I just could have done with more focus in the story and a better drawn out plot. This felt largely like YA writing style and not as engaging as I remembered her writing to be. Otherwise, things I enjoyed were: the spy sequences (brought back so much Gallagher Girls nostalgia), amnesia plotline, the romance element. So much potential but didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for and e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3/5 stars

I love action romantic comedies. I love spy books, too. Mostly because of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series, which I read throughout my teen years, and which still has me in a chokehold. So this aged-up romantic spy novel was announced, I was obviously over the moon.

Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. While the themes are familiar for those who have read Ally's work before, it doesn't make the journey any less fun. This is a perfect beach read, or cozy read, or any time read. The plot moves fast, with plenty of twists and turns and OMG moments right from the start. I am proud to say that I did NOT guess the twist and it knocked me flat. From Paris to [redacted], you won't want to stop running with Sawyer and [redacted]. The formatting of HIM/HER alternating POVS (not necessarily chapters) made the pages fly by.

Our heroine is smart, tough as nails, and can't remember a thing. You'll be desperate to know who she is from the very beginning, and no matter what your guess is, you'll be wrong. She's a combo meal, the total package, and a little bit of a hot mess. Watching her soften Sawyer up with just her personality even after she's forgotten the events that shaped her life is SO precious.

And Sawyer. I have a lot of words for Sawyer, not all of them nice. But he's a deep character, with a lot of flaws but also so many good pieces. I think the dual perspective was so important in this novel because we needed the insight into his actions to really feel the pace. My only quibble is that I don't think "lady" is a cute pet name, even if it IS an inside joke, and he says it a lot.

I can't say too much more without getting into spoiler country, but it's safe to say that if you've loved Ally's books before, you'll love this one. And if you're new to her writing, prepare for lots of laughs, a super spy who is also a super hottie, and nonstop action.

I did like this book and there was a real element of nostalgia to it, but I wished there was more plot to it as well as more hardcore romance. In some ways, it felt more like adult fiction or women's fiction than true romance, which is the genre I vastly prefer.

That said, returning to Ally Carter's writing after my childhood/adolescence as a fan of the Gallagher Girls was EXCELLENT.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: gun violence, violence, parental abandonment (past), murder in self-defense, childhood illness, vivid nightmares that cause the MMC to choke the FMC during a nightmare due to trauma from his past

I would recommend (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romantic suspense
-amnesia
-a gruff, competent spy who is only soft for her
-fake marriage
-forced proximity
-grumpy/sunshine
-escapism at its finest

Gosh this book. This is escapism, an adventure movie, and just an epic romcom all in one book and i loved every minute of it. I want to be careful and not say too much. I went into this one with very little info and I highly recommend doing that.

This moved at the breakneck speed it needed to, the pacing was exceptional. The use of the dual POV, how every page I was wondering what was going on, the twists and the turns. How the MMC is an entirely and badass spy but is just soft for the FMC (the blurb doesn't give names so I won't) and just can't stay away. The chemistry between the two of them as they had such an attraction yet also are trying to not get killed. I was eating it up and just don't know what to do with myself now that it's over. This gave me the feelings and vibes of watching Speed and other adventure romance movies. Honestly I'm just waiting for the movie announcement and begging for that ending to mean this will be a series.

Honestly just DM me because you are going to need someone to scream about this book with and I am here for you. Just read it, enjoy it and then stare at the wall with me because this book is spectacular.

Steam: 2

LOVED this action rom-com that’s reverse Bourne Identity with a healthy dose of com!

This book delivered exactly what it promised: a fun caper across countries à la Jason Bourne/Mission Impossible, with loads of annoyed enemies to lovers and all the hilarious situations. I was going to read the first chapter before bed, and then suddenly it was 1 AM and I had inhaled the first 60%. It’s SO hard to put down. I absolutely loved all the references to tropes and some of the twists near the end, and the heroine is one of the most likable protagonists I’ve read in a long time.

Highly recommend for lovers of romcoms or twists on actions spy stories!

All the gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc! I’ll be ordering my own copy.

This was a surprisingly fast, fun read.
The characters won me over, chapter by chapter and some chapters had me laughing out loud.
This was so much fun!

This was a book that had me hooked from the first page and I couldn’t put it down. A woman wakes up and doesn’t know who she is and gets involved in a spy plot with a very handsome spy. The banter between the two was amazing and had me chucking the whole book. The tension and romance between the two was amazing. The never ending action kept my attention the whole time. I loved this story and really hope there is another one about the sister.

Thank you to NetGAlley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ally Carter's adult debut is everything an Ally Carter fan could want and everything a first-time Ally Carter reader needs.

Romance, Action, Aventure, and more. Carter's writing is so distinct in the best of ways. Each character's voice rings true and finding a fast-paced, adventurous, romantic, and comedy novel is unique in adult fiction. I am a huge Ally Carter fan and have read all of her books and THe Blonde Identity does not disappoint.

You will laugh, gasp, swoon, and panic with the characters during this novel. Fans of The Princess Bride, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and any spy novel will want to pick this up!