Thank you Netgalley and Harper Audio for the ARC. This book was fun and engaging! I remember reading Ally Carter books as a kid and am glad to see her still writing about spy’s. This book was fast-paced and funny. It was nice to see the other sibling throughout her journey as a spy. I loved the cliff hanger too! Can’t wait for book 3.

4⭐️
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The Blonde Who Came In From The Cold feels like a James Bond movie if it was directed by Gary Marshall. It’s quippy, fast-paced, and a super fun read. Be prepared for SO MUCH ANGST and tension between the characters! We get to see them in TWO TIMELINES, which makes it that much more delicious. But don’t worry, mom! This book is fade-to-black when it comes to spicy scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ally Carter, and the publisher for the ALC. while the audiobook was free, my review is my own opinions.

Edit to add ALC review:

Thanks for NetGalley and HarperAudio for also providing me with an ALC. The narration on this is impeccable. Andrew Eiden does as amazing job voicing King’s chapters and displaying his frustration with and attraction to Alex at all times, but Emily Ellet as Alex is a true star. Her skill at voicing multiple characters with distinct voices and personalities during Alex’s chapters was truly amazing.


4 ⭐️
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Fast paced, slow burn, enemies to lovers, slow burn spy thriller rom com that takes you from the Vegas desert to an island paradise to a dusty seaside shack in Portugal and I loved it.

Alexandra Sterling and Michael Kingsley are A+ spies in training when they meet at the Farm and the story leaps from the present to the past over a 10 year span showing us the history of their relationship and the background of their mission.

Loved the writing and the chemistry between the characters was amazing. There is no spice at all, but the tension and yearning between Alex and King is so well portrayed. While it was easy to guess who the Big Bad is, I did not foresee the “why”. Side characters were well done, notably Merritt and the island-owning sibling duo.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

After reading the Blonde Identity and this book, it has become clear that spy rom coms have been unlocked as a new favourite genre of mine!

This was just so much fun! I love that we got to know more of Alex’s story, and she and King together were so friggen adorable.

The audiobook really added to the experience for this book. Andrew Eiden and Emily Ellet were PERFECT for the narrators! My only complaint here is that with all the sporadic time and location jumping in the book, it was sometimes hard to keep track of where we were in the timeline. This isn’t really something that is wrong with the audiobook, just something that makes it a bit more tricky for readers that like to multitask while listening to audiobooks.

As soon as I finished 'The Blonde Identity', I couldn't wait for Alex's story! The narrators, Emily Ellet and Andrew Eiden, also narrated the Blonde Identity. Once again, they were amazing at bringing the romance, action, and fun in this spy romance.

Alex is the twin sister of Zoe from the first book, and she is a spy. When Alex wakes up in a room, she doesn't know where she is or how she got there. She discovers that she is handcuffed to King, who used to be her partner but now they are enemies.

King and Alex have to work together to figure out why they are trapped together and see who is after them. There is a lot of action and fun! I loved all of the forced proximity, and I'm always a sucker for a second chance romance.

King fell so hard for Alex, and I love how he was so down bad for her. The story is told in a current timeline and through flashbacks, and it was great to see how much King cared for her over the years.

This story is amazing, and I can't wait to reread it. I hope there is another book in the series too.

Highly recommend re-reading the first book before picking this one for the ultimate enjoyment as there quite a few flashback scenes from the first book. This was a cute sequel and wrapped the series up nicely!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Audio for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book with pretty high hopes. I've read and liked Ally Carter in the past and loved the premise here. Unfortunately, it ended up being DNFd at 70% due to some consistent issues I had with the story.

The characters were promising. You have Alex who we were introduced to in the first book of this series. She is a tough no nonsense gal who has just wanted to be a spy her entire life. The MMC is King who comes from a long line of men who engaged in spy craft, unfortunately it seems that does not breed humility in a man.

DNFing so far in a book is unheard of for me but the issues I was having were chronic and I told myself they would be resolved eventually and finally had to admit defeat when that didn't happen. Firstly, the 'enemies' in the 'enemies to lovers' part of this book has no foundation and that drives me NUTS. When an author doesn't respect the reader enough to create actual conflict and instead just introduces a rivalry that gets pretty nasty for no reason- it's a pet peeve of mine. I loved the part where King had his 'who did this to you' moment but even that wasn't enough to make up for the hostility they displayed FOR 70% OF THE BOOK. like, it's a romance, be romantic already.

I started this book in April and kept wondering what was taking so long for me to finish it but I simply had no buy in for it. It did nothing to keep my attention and when I would force myself to sit down and read it, I was annoyed at all of the dialogue and that will really take you out of a romance.

Sorry but between the pacing and the entire lack of chemistry between our main characters, this was just a no from me.

One of the massive saviors of this audio was the voice of King. Holy cow- hire that guy for everything.

I received a complimentary copy of THE BLONDE WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by Ally Carter from Harper Audio and Netgalley!

THE BLONDE WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD is the sequel to THE BLONDE IDENTITY, this time following the previous heroine’s twin sister Alex. Alex met King through their work for the CIA. They were rivals, then lovers, but a year ago Alex walked out without any plans to go back. Then comes the present day when the two have woken up, beaten and bound together with no recollection of how they got there.

I really enjoyed THE BLONDE IDENTITY last month, so was really excited to be approved for the sequel. I went into this one with a bit of trepidation as second chance romance is not a favorite trope, but I did wind up enjoying this one. I find this author’s writing to be very engaging and the plots to be a lot of fun.

The story follows the present and the past and with the audio I did at times lose track of where I was in the story as the settings in the different timelines was at times overlapping. I did enjoy seeing how this book tied in with the first book’s timeline.

Of the two books, I did prefer the relationship and story in the first book, but I still had a really good time with this one!

THE BLONDE WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD comes out August 5!

I wanted to read this book after reading the first one in this series. The first one was about the twin sister of the spy and this one is about the spy. It was good to have that background going into this one. I like how the stories kind of overlap each other. It is definitely a book where reading the first one makes you like the next one more. I would not read this as a standalone, although it could be.

Thanks NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

This is Alex’s book of enemies to lovers! Her and King are trying to piece together their time together and apart, while solving Russian, jewelry, and family mystery.

I felt a bit disappointed in this book compared to first one. While I do think the wit, charm, silliness and humor was still there that I loved so much in the first one, and this was a chefs kiss example of enemies to lovers - I felt the structure of this book may have failed it.

This is a dual POV and dual timeline book. It only says when the timeline switches and then would have multiple POV changes without saying which timeline we were on. For me this got really confusing especially when some of the past and present were happening in the same locations (the location changes a lot). I think putting present or year with the POV at each chapter would have helped a lot. I also think because of this i was following characters and lost the plot a bit.

On a side note these are two of my favorite narrators and they did an amazing job - though I think audiobook did contribute the the issues with dual pov and dual timeline

Mercy 😮‍💨

What would you do if you wake up in an unknown location, tied up to your former enemy, also former love of your life, now turned enemy again? Personally, I would be so angry I would sit there and fume and not try to find a way out of the situation, but also, I am not a trained spy so there's that LOL.

This installation had a lot of flashbacks and changes of setting. While I still enjoyed it, and the romance was sweet, the timeline changes and setting hopping gave me whiplash at times. Since I mostly listened to this book on audio, that threw me off and out of the storyline a few times. When I was physically reading, I didn't have that issue as much but the feeling was still there. I was hoping for more appearances with Sawyer since he was Alex's partner for so long. The tie in to Sawyer felt like an afterthought on how to tie in the plot and felt very different from the relationship they supposedly shared and was alluded to in book 1.

Overall an enjoyable read, just not a seamless continuation of the first book. I do hope we get more books like this or more books in the series because I do enjoy the characters a lot.

This is a silly, goofy good time. It’s a spy mystery romance with the correct amount of not taking itself seriously. Ally Carter is great with humor in my opinion, as it’s not an over the top cringe slapstick humor, but there’s an edge and fun to all her writing. I did find the timelines a little confusing, as there was so much going backwards and forwards and connecting to different timelines, but overall I was smitten and enjoying myself. I would not call this enemies to lovers, as it’s definitely more pining, but the romance was sweet and wholesome even though predictable. A good time overall! The narrators did a good job voice acting and it wasn’t just a simple read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

I love a good mystery that you can follow along with and try and figure out what’s really going on. This book had a great mystery and laid enough bread crumbs that it felt like the answer was attainable, but not obvious. The time jumps got a little confusing for me, but overall I really liked this book! I really enjoyed the audio performance, both narrators did a fantastic job.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harperaudio Adult for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!
4.25⭐️
This was such a fun book!! The blond identity was the first book I read this year and ever since then I have been waiting for Alex's story. This is a spy romcom between two spies who didn't like each other when they first met, yet with the years and missions they start to fall for each other. Alex and King have been in and out of each other lives since they meet, and now after not seen or knowing anything from the other in over a year, they wake up tied together in an unknown place with no memory of how or who got them there. In a quest to find out what is happening in the present we get to see Alex and King's backstory and old missions and learn how all of them tie together.
This story was told in dual POV, and just like her other books, it is very silly and fun while also being self aware. I like the narrator but I would say that I would have like to hear the very few Spanish words in the book pronounce in Spanish as supposedly both of them spoke that language, but overall it was really fun and I totally recommend this book :)

I reread The Blonde Identity in anticipation of this sequel and I had so much fun re-entering this spy world with Alex and learning more about King!

Some of my initial thoughts on the original read through of The Blonde Identity was how much I needed Alex's story and I hadn't remembered exactly how much of Alex & King's romance and past was hinted at and laid down in anticipation! I really enjoyed seeing more of Alex and her reasoning and inner thoughts about her relationship with Zoe (FMC from Blonde Identity). Alex became a much more complex character in this story and I really enjoyed it! Most of Alex & King's relationship is happening at the same time and immediately after the plot of The Blonde Identity which meant that a reread was definitely needed and appreciated before reading this but again, it really helped round out both characters from the first book and our main characters here.

I did personally struggle a lot with the way Ally chose to handle the flashbacks here. There is a lot of back and forth which is laying down the complex and long history between King & Alex but there are some plot points that are happening in the past to then affect the present and it was ultimately confusing as to what was really going to be plot important in the present and what was not. Ultimately it wasn't my favorite presentation of a past/present timeline but it just made it harder to follow along with the actual Spy parts.

I enjoyed this audiobook! I split my reading time between the ebook and audiobook, but I thought the audiobook was good. Nothing spectacular but it was definitely a good listen!

This was such a fun audiobook. It was just the distraction I needed to get some packing done. The narration was excellent and really kept me engaged with all the spy shenanigans.

Loved the first book and was glad Zoey and Sawyer had a little role in book 2. King & Alex took us on quite the ride... all over the world.

If you like romances with a little suspense, action packed spy plot with a second change romance, then this one is for you.

Before I begin I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the advance listening copy. All opinions are my own for this honest review.

Style: Dual POV, Dual Narration.
Length: 10 hrs

Second-chance romance? Check! Mission Impossible vibes? Check! Rom-com with a broody, pining MMC? Check! Another fast-paced, extra twisty, story that's just a lot of fun, that kept me invested the entire time. If you don't love cliffhanger though? Yea, this one might not be for you, I definitely did a very audible groan at the end!

Two words. Andrew Eiden. That's it, that's the review. No, but really, in what should be a surprise to absolutely no one, but this man can literally do no wrong! He definitely brought his trademark gravelly, tough-guy charm, which fits King’s character to perfection.

I love Emily Ellet, she just always impresses, especially with some of the most believable male voices in the business, which is no small feat. She seems to be able to do anything and can absolutely seamlessly balance between grit and banter.

I think, together, they handled the constant timeline shifts and intense dialogue with fluid pacing and chemistry. I never felt lost or confused, no matter where (or when) we were in whatever timeline it happened to be. Also, a shoutout to the audio production which had flawless transitions, no drop in clarity at 1.5x speed. It's very easy for a book with these types of time jumps to get confusing and force having to go back, but I never experienced any of that.

On to my next favourite audio Element! The book end music! I am in LOVE with the spy-themed instrumental that really invoked that spy Mission Impossible/Born Identity vibe.

As I said, this is very fast-paced, very high-stakes that spans both time and multiple locations. It has plenty of action, deception, and slow-burning trust layered into the plot. The non-linear timeline might require a little focus, but the structure adds to the mystery and energy, making it hard to pause and worth every bit of attention you put into it.

So I know a lot of people say it's not their favourite trope, but this did have the classic mis/lack of communication trope, but in the world of spies and covert operations, it didn’t feel tired and actually felt pretty warranted. If you loved Blonde Identity, I think you’ll be all in for this one. It’s got the same banter, suspense, and one hell of an ending! Honestly, my only regret is getting the ARC… because now I'm stuck waiting even longer to find out what the heck happened at the end! I need to know (also I don't regret getting the ARC, that was me being facetious! Thank you HarperAudio!)

As mentioned in the beginning, I received an ALC of this audiobook from NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult in exchange for an honest review. Having said that, all thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars. I was ecstatic to get this ARC because I loved the first book. This book was fun, but my biggest criticism is the jumping between different years, locations, and perspectives every chapter gets very confusing. It’s very easy to get lost. I do appreciate the concept to describe Alex and Michael’s relationship over the previous decade, but there could’ve been a better way to take readers through that journey that wasn’t as confusing.

Overall, a really fun read and it was nice to see more of Zoe and Alex interacting

The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold is a fun, fast-paced, spy romcom with second-chance romance, forced proximity, and all the action-packed, banter-filled charm you’d expect from Ally Carter!

This was a strong follow-up to the first in the series, following Zoe’s sister Alex, back into the world of covert agents and spy missions! The story follows Alex and her rival from spy academy, the legendary King, who’s descended from a renowned of covert operatives. Years ago, they were paired up for a mission that led to something more… until something tore them apart. Now, years later, they wake up handcuffed together and must figure out what’s going on before it’s too late…

Alex is witty, charming, and undeniably badass, while King is broody, loyal, and protective, with a soft spot just for her. Their dynamic is full of tension, snark, and crackling chemistry. The banter is spot on. There’s yearning, caretaking (he takes care of her when she’s shot), and a secret code word just for them. They just get each other, even when the stakes are high!

My only issue was that because of the dual timeline and the fact that the flashbacks are often to missions in settings that are revisited in the present-day timeline, it did get confusing at times and tricky to follow on audio. It’s the kind of story that might benefit from immersive reading so you can keep track of the time jumps more easily.

This is another signature Ally Carter blend of spy games, action and romance with both humor and heart. If you’re into rivals-to-lovers with a dash of espionage, you’ll like this one!

Thank you to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

So… I picked this one up because of the pretty cover. I know, I know—but sometimes a good cover just gets you, right?

I wasn’t totally sure if the whole spy romance angle would work for me, but it started off strong and pulled me in pretty quickly. I liked the characters, and the pining? Surprisingly fun to listen to. There’s something about two people clearly falling for each other while pretending not to that just works every time.

At one point I had this random (possibly ridiculous) thought—like how actors sometimes fake kiss in movies and end up falling in love for real? My brain decided that spies probably fall in love the same way. All that fake dating for a mission? Yeah… totally believable that real feelings would sneak in. (I fully blame my rom-com brain for this.)

I was a little worried about not having read the first book in the series, but turns out you can totally jump into this one as a standalone. There were a few timeline jumps that were slightly confusing, but not enough to take away from the story.

I really enjoyed the narration—especially the FMC’s voice. She had the perfect mix of strength, sarcasm, and vulnerability that made her easy to root for. That said, I did feel a tiny bit bored at times. There were a few slower patches where my mind started to drift, even though I was still enjoying the overall vibe.

Final thoughts: it was fun, light, and a nice escape. I’m not sure I’ll remember all the plot twists later, but it kept me entertained—and sometimes, that’s exactly what I need.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudioAdult for the ALC!