ally carter never disappoints. the tension and twists were nerve-wracking, the chemistry between the protagonists was delicious, and the way she wove and poked at tropes throughout the book was so playful and charming. a wonderful read.

So much PLAID!!!! I loved this book! And I know Zoe’s sister when Gallagher’s Girl Academy. Don’t try to convince me otherwise! Now give me more.

Originally reviewed publically on Goodreads:
I was privileged enough to receive an ARC of this book, so I typed this knowing that I wanted to avoid as many spoilers as possible. I apologize if it’s a bit vague in that regard.


Ally Carter always manages to pinpoint exactly what her audience needs, and this book was no exception. From the dedication alone (which had me close to tears), I knew that I could trust the direction this would be going in. The female main character’s dialogue was always so witty and self aware about the genre—a fact that ended up tying in perfectly to the unraveling of her identity. Over the course of the book, it felt like we were working with both of our main characters to solve a mystery. They also managed to find ways to surprise us if we weren’t able to read between the lines. Everything about the book ended up feeling so right! I truly enjoyed Ally’s more adult romance, and I think it’s going to open up plenty of exciting opportunities for future reads. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know (and evidently strangers on the internet as well—I hope you enjoy as much as I did)!!!

Having loved the Gallagher Girls series, I was extremely excited to learn Carter was coming out with an adult romance this summer. To be perfectly clear, this is NOT an adult GG romance novel, but it is SO good. Zoe, Sawyer, and Alex are all fantastically twisty characters to learn about. I was hooked from the first page, and I am so hoping that with that ending there's a sequel coming soon because I cannot wait to read more adult books from my one of my favorite authors!!

As a Gallagher Girls stan I was ALL in for this book!

It was a fun read with lots of adventure and enjoyable tropes. I think Ally's writing is still more suited to YA -- in some places, the voice felt kind of juvenile. That aside, there was plenty of swoon and humor and mystery. An overall fun read!

A big thank you to Avon and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I have been reading Ally Carter’s books for years, so when I heard that she was releasing an adult spy romance novel, I was so excited! The Blonde Identity surpassed my already very high expectations! Readers- familiar with and new to Carter- will love the characters, their banter, and this amazing adventure. Carter knows how to write a love interest, so prepare to fall in love! I loved getting to experience one of Carter’s books for the first time again and I cannot wait to reread The Blonde Identity over and over!

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter is a flirty and fun breeze of a story with secret agent escapades mixed in. It was a super fun adult story from Carter, an author I’ve never read before. Over the course of a few days we follow two main characters trying to stay safe and get away from the bad guys.

The writing was very witty and interesting, which made the pages go by quickly. The language and suggestions are probably PG or PG13 but the actual “action” was rated G.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Growing up I loved Ally Carter’s young adult series so I was excited to get an arc of her first novel for adults. The story is about a young woman who wakes up on the streets of Paris with no memory of anything. She is immediately whisked into the world of spies when she is misidentified as her spy twin sister Alex. Overall the plot felt juvenile and not like it was written for adults. I was disappointed in the “twists” thrown in throughout the book. They seemed too obvious.

I'm a huge fan of Ally Carter's but I think this one lacks a lot of character development for both main characters.

Ally Carter is no stranger to romance with a heart of intrigue. In the newest installment of her adult novels, she gets our blood running with a case of amnesia, a beautiful blond who wakes up in the snowy streets of a Paris night. We know who the fallen mysterious woman is...or do we?

I would have like this better with more implied romance, but Ally Carter is anything but subtle. Overall, an enjoyable romp for anyone looking for a floofy spy romance.

"Sometimes villains make the best heroes.”

Book two?! There’s gonna be a book two?! Why did nobody tell me?!

Okay, so. This was fun. I honestly thought there was more to the identity of the FMC so the reveal was a bit anticlimactic. But aside from that, I really liked “Her”. And it truly felt unreal to be back in the world of spies with Ally Carter’s signature writing style.

The Blonde Identity was a fast-paced, easy read. The characters were likable and endearing. And I loved the Her and Him chapters. Is it weird that for some reason I kept expecting Cammie, Zach and gang to show up? Maybe for a reallly short, really quick cameo? It just felt like this book is the GG series’ baby book. (If that makes sense?) I couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity. And I was overcome with nostalgia for most of the book. (Not surprising considering I was in my early teens when I read the GG books and it made me realize my quite unrealistic dream of becoming a spy.)

I’m trying to keep the air of mystery of the book so this review is nothing but vague. Quite unhelpful, I know. But let me just say Ally Carter writing Adult spy rom-com is a dream come true. I admit I didn’t love it as much as I was hoping. (Hence, the average rating.) But I think that was mostly my fault since I was in the mood for a spicy read but I didn’t want to put off finishing this any longer so I pushed myself to read it. I was wanting some smut but what I got was a closed door romance and an FMC who reminded me of Captain America (iykyk).

Overall, The Blonde Identity lived up to the promise of a spy rom-com. If you’re looking to spend some relaxing and fun time with a book, you can’t go wrong with this one!

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley to read and review. Quoted excerpt/s may change in the final print.

Wow! What a ride! Almost like it was written for me in mind! An adventure romance, it starts in snowy Paris. A woman wakes up on the icy streets, she has no idea who she is or where she is until she see's the Eiffel tower. She also doesn't know why men are chasing her and shooting at her or why she's wearing high heeled shoes in the middle of winter! There's nothing in her pockets that give her any clues but then a super hot, grumpy guy rescues her and at first he thinks she's a woman named Alex but it turns out she's probably Alex's twin sister. And thus starts an adventure of spies on the run filled with sexy, witty banter and plenty of trope-tastic misadventures. Its great sexy fun that doesn't fall apart in the third act! includes a very satisfying ending.
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What a fun story! I read this pretty quickly as I was easily absorbed into the story. The plot flows along nicely, with some good twists and turns to keep the tone tense and mysterious. There was also a great amount of humor, it was truly an entertaining book. The romance was just right in my opinion, not too much but enough to be interesting and cute!

All around, this book by Ally Carter was so enjoyable! It definitely had some Easter eggs for the Gallagher Girls fans, and similar vibes while being its own thing.

As a forever fan of the Gallagher Girl series, this book has fulfilled everything I've ever needed in a grownup version of a spy romance! The dual perspectives of both Zoe and Sawyer worked so well to giving us insight on how both of them were feeling about one another and helped to put the plot forward. I appreciated how familiar the writing was even though it was now written for adults, it was strangely comforting to read a book from an author I've loved for years that gave me all the same feelings in an adult relationship and storyline. Once again, Carter manages to give us a few twists and turns as well as make us fall in love with both Zoe and Sawyer. I am so hopeful that this is just the beginning of a new series of adult spy romances from Ally Carter!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review*

Here's the thing... I wanted to love this book. I literally kept checking NetGalley daily in hopes the book would be in my library. It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't at all what I was expecting.

When I first read that she was writing an adult novel, I could feel my heart drop and an audible "oh sh--" leave my lips (Sorry... language). As many others, I grew up on Ally Carter's novels. Her Gallagher girl series started the spark of my "I'm into bad boys and leather jackets" era in middle school. So when I heard she was going to make a book that was supposed to be the adult version of that series and tagging stuff like "only one bed" I got so ecstatic! Finally, a book series I loved as a kid growing up with me in real time! But that's the thing... it wasn't in real time.

The book caters more towards new (& I mean new) adults with fade to black and little steam outside of kissing and references to downstairs feelings (which are very tame to the most part). Honestly, I'd argue the most mature part of this book is the cursing, and part of me wonders if it was tossed in to up the age rating (kind of like in movies, you drop too many f-bombs and end up in the R section never to be seen by anyone under 17 unless accompanied by a parent). So, as you can imagine, I was a bit disappointed as a 23-year-old to see barely any descriptors (like honestly just longer make-out scenes would've made me happier).

All of this being said, I'm glad my initial fear of this feeling like a spin-off gender-bend of The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer was quickly quelled. It's absolutely nothing like the Chemist. It offers it's own tale and is incredibly unique. Honestly, the storyline was very enjoyable. The dual POV was very useful in this novel to offer important perspectives into the character's lives and give more fuel to the "I only like men when they're written by women" fire. The writing did feel a bit too youthful at times, but ultimately the plot left me wanting more.

To conclude, this book is worth a read for the plotline, but if you're expecting an adult novel (esp after the one bed troupe leak) you may be a bit disappointed.

I can't put into words how much I loved this book. I have read all of Ally Carter's books and this is by far my favorite one. I love both characters, especially Zoe. She is so witty that at one point I thought we merged and I was Zoe because of every comment she made I also had made. Sawyer was the best male character and especially seeing how complex his thoughts were in navigating everything and his feelings. I truly believed this was Ally's best work and she was meant to write this story.

A fun spy thriller romance. Most of it was as believable as any spy movie. It is fade to black and not very spicy.

Ally Carter has once again proven her talent as a writer with her latest book. As someone who has been a fan of hers since childhood, I was eager to read this new work and was not disappointed. The dedication alone brought back so many nostalgic memories, and the book itself had the potential to be a new favorite series for me, even though it's not connected to her GG series.

*Thank you to Ally Carter and her team for providing me with an e-ARC to read and review at my pleasure.*

A spy, rom-com novel? Sign me TF up!

The Blonde Identity features some of the best writing that Ally Carter prevails at: romantic banter, spy jargon, and badass, movie-style action. Not to mention how quickly the story begins and progresses, leading you on a whirlwind of explosions, guns, and ultra-thin nightgowns.

Our hero and heroine are total opposites, which, in romance-world, makes them the perfect couple stuck together in a covert spy chase on European soil. This rom-com is filled with tons of fan-favorite tropes: one bed, grumpy-guy x sunshine-girl, fake marriage, etc.

Ally Carter is a marvel at writing fast-paced, high-stakes action scenes that leave you breathless and at the edge of your seat, while also writing the most intense romance story about strangers falling in love with each other while you, the reader, begin to fall in love with them. The Blonde Identity was a delight to read and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all romance and spy-lovers alike.

Ally Carter does it again! She's never disappointed me throughout my childhood and she wasn't about to start now. Without even starting the book, the dedication alone hit the nostalgic feels in me. As a long-time GG fan, no series has been able to compare to it for me but man this book and hopefully series has the potential to do so. This book just felt like a grown version of GG for me even if they aren't connected. I dove into reading pretty much blind. While I knew the tropes beforehand, I didn't read the summary so I can be fully surprised from the get-go. I was truly hooked from the moment the book started and it was revealed that the main character has amnesia. I wasn't expecting it and I had to know how it would play out. The book teaches a good life lesson. As much as we think we know someone we don't. When we know someone for so long we tend to stay the same with them but throw ourselves into a new group of people and/or a scenario to see how we can change as a person. The way both the female and male characters challenged themselves over and over again was fun to see. The book felt like a breeze with the short chapters which is a book trait I love. I finished it within a few hours because I couldn't put it down. Such a fun read that I recommend for a long flight or beach day!