Spies and romance, what more could you want? Yardley and KC are both spies for the CIA, but they don't know that. While on a mission, their secrets are revealed and their relationship, both professionally and romantically, is put to the test. Will they be able to salvage what they had and learn to trust each other?

I loved how this book was not strictly romance with a little bit of action or lots of action with a little bit of romance sprinkled in. It was a nice balance and combination of both. There were action scenes, there were romance scenes, and then there were romance action scenes. Think Mrs. and Mrs. Smith but in a book! The "switching" between action and romance flowed really well and I was engaged the entire time. I didn't feel like there was any lagging in the story to where I wanted to stop reading.

Thank you to the NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I ended up dnf’ing this book around the 50% mark. The story wasn’t bad or anything but for me it was a little too much spying and not enough romance and I just couldn’t get into it. I do think people who enjoy spy stories with romance will like this book but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Griffin for the ARC of this book.

Queer spy romance? Why not?! I love a fun read and this was that! Plus the spy elements gave another layer to the story beyond just the romance, which I appreciate. If you’re looking for a fun book, look no further!

Yardley is a field agent; a legend in her field and KC is an intelligence analyst, a step up from being a hacker in her youth. This is reminiscent of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, where they live together but they don’t know the other is a spy. Even though it feels like that, it is still very much a lighthearted humorous book with some action sprinkled in. The chemistry that Yardley and KC had were great and made the romance parts very enjoyable. It was a perfect mix of romance, action and humor. There were some spots that the writing felt choppy, and also repetitive, but overall wasn’t too terrible. This was my first sapphic novel and one by Mae, which I will be looking forward to checking out others by Mae as well.

I was so excited for this book — a SPY romance. It started off super fun and super cute and I found myself really loving the story, the characters, the action. But about 60% in, I realized I wasn’t enjoying reading it anymore. The third person pov was often times confusing with the MCs both being female and it switching between who the her was. I felt like a lot of the filler text was repetitive and got annoying. I also felt like KC and Yardley reconnecting happened way too quickly and wasn’t as sweet as I’d hoped. The ending action with Dr. Brown was good, but felt rushed. I actually hated the ending, with Yardley moving out and then the proposal being ruined. As traditional as her character was made out to be, I felt her knowing about exactly what would happen against her character and also just not fun for me as a reader. I’m a little disappointed in this one because I had such high hopes and I saw so much potential here.

I ended up DNF’ing, despite the book being set in the area where I grew up and supposedly ticking a lot of my book boxes. The book really drags out a lot of scenes. I made it to 49% before I finally admitted to myself that it just hadn’t hooked me. I think with some heavy editing for clarity and length, this book could be something amazing, but as it stands it’s ultimately forgettable.

This was a great page-turner from start to finish. Yardley and KC are in a relationship—but they’re also spies working for the same agency, without realizing it. The agency knows and keeps this secret from them, and as their relationship starts to fall apart, rogue tech is released into the world. I loved the globe-trotting, the different personas Yardley had to slip into, and the way the story balanced the suspense of will they get back together with will they recover the rogue tech before it’s too late. Plus, the world felt refreshingly queer and full of people of color, which made it even more vibrant and fun to dive into.

Let me start off by saying that this book is written REALLY well. This book was fun, sexy, and mysterious. I also really enjoyed most of the elements of suspense. I just wasn't 100% into the spy thing which kept me from fully diving into this book. However, if you're into spy books/movies and want a fun book with elements of mystery and suspense - this is absolutely the book for you!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for the arc!!

A sapphic spy romance? This was a great book. I loved KC and Yardley, and found myself rooting for them even when they were not.

this is sapphic Mr. and Mrs. Smith and I don't have a higher compliment. Not only a romance, but I thought the spy plotline itself was really good!

I loved the concept of the Ms. and Ms. Smith in this book! This was a mix of romance and spy thriller type plot, which got a little messy for me. It felt like the book focused too much on the job aspect and left of a lot of potential romance development between the characters. I think this would've been a better book if the author picked one lane to stick too. The book hooked me in the beginning but fell flat through the middle, which impacted my overall ranking.

Sapphic spies? Hell yeah. Dramatic pining and relationship drama? Absolutely! I cannot get enough of this!

Rating: 3.75 ⭐️

A story about spies? Sign me up! We have Yardley and KC. KC was recruited at 14 has a hacker into the government. Yardley is a field agent. Funny thing is they live together... but guess what? They don't know that one another is a spy.

A little bit of much needed humor along with some spies, nice. I quite enjoyed the thoughts of the MCs. The thing that made this rating go down was the writing style, it wasn't something that I was vibing with.

This book is advertised as Ms. and Ms. Smith meets The Pairing and I would say it delivers on that promise. Our two main characters are both spies who happen to be dating each other under the guise of their covers. Their breakup coincides with having to team up on a mission where they realize that the lies and deceptions necessary for work were only part of their issue as a couple.

I was sold on the action and the pacing in this book but slightly less sold on the romance. However, it's so much fun that I didn't really mind. The international setting is compelling and the colorful cast of characters makes the story feel well rounded. It's a great romantic suspense story with high stakes and a comfortable safety net.

Just to bgein - This was so different & fun!! Thank you St. Martins Press and Netgalley for this spy-fi queer romance!!

Yardley Whitmer & KC have two things in common. 1) They both work for the CIA "The Agency" - Yardley "The Unicorn" as the hands on super slueth & master of disguise & KC "Tobasco" as the behind the scenes master of tech that is often in Yardleys ear, guiding her throughout her missions. 2) They both just broke up with their partner due to the struggle of maintaining a relationship without being able to fully disclose any personal information about themselves due to the confinement of their CIA jobs. The catch? They were dating EACH OTHER, & their team has kept them in the dark about each others identity.

They are both deployed on a very high classified mission to retrieve a device that could alter the tech world permanently. They are the best in their fields and are both working as best as they can while navigating through their heartbreak. When the start of the mission goes south & Yardley's cover is blown - KC realizes they have been each others counterpart this entire time.

The book navigates them working together, instead of apart, for the first time in their relationship. Both in their misison to save the device from entering the wrong hands with the agency & their mission to get to know each others true selves and salvage their relationship.

This was such a fun new concept for me! Very much giving spy kids meets incredibles meets mr & mrs smith with a queer spin on it. I feel like there is not alot of romance with a similar plot line to this! Which made it new and exciting.

I loved these characters! I found KC and Yardley so loveable and it was so understanable why they had to keep so much from each other. But once you realize they can save the relationship, I was rooting for them the whole book. My favourite scene was when they were connecting & uncovering their true selves to each other, playing "If I told you, I'd have to kiss you" - I felt this is when I truly fell in love with them and their relaitonship.

The one downside of this book for me, was keeping up with the spy talk & the plot at times LOL! I will say I got a LITTLE confused in between chapters. I found it hard to keep track of who was who ans what characters were friends vs foes. I do not watch alot of spy movies or engage in spy content often ... So that had me slightly confused. But I managed to keep up and still enjoy!!

Thank you so much for this eARC!

I didn't know I was into spy books until I read this! I really enjoyed it. It did take me awhile to read it as the middle kinda drug. I'd definitely recommend to a friend!

Thank you so much for this ARC! I did enjoy this read, but felt like the CIA and spy jargon was a little much for me. It had me skimming some of the pages and not super invested which broke my heart because I loved the concept of this story so much! The romance was also top tier, I just don’t think I really vibed with the writing style and that’s okay!

I loved this so much! It was so fun, and the suspense and adventure aspect was really great! The main characters had a ton of chemistry, and I also really liked the journey through Europe. I greatly enjoyed this, and I’m grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC.

Such a cool book! At first I thought it was going to be a parody but it definitely wasn’t! Great spy storyline with amazing characters and lots of twists and turns. Spicy too! I definitely recommend putting this on your tbr list!! Looking forward to more books by Mae!

HOT and ANGSTY! Yes, please!

This was such a fun read. Immediately ordered from this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!