She craved purpose. She found danger. Now, there may be no turning back.
Genevieve Sturbridge was never meant for a quiet life in the English countryside. Once an artist in the heart of London, now she spends her days in restless solitude, longing for the passion and purpose she once knew. But when a familiar figure from her past arrives with an urgent request, she is thrust into a perilous world of spies and a formula that could shift the
balance of power between France and England.
The thrill of the chase is intoxicating—the cryptic clues hidden in plain sight, the challenge of ferreting secrets from dangerous opponents, the undeniable rush of being needed again. But with every step deeper into the mystery, the danger grows. Someone is watching. Someone ishunting. And the more she uncovers, the more she wonders: has she walked willingly into a
trap?
Torn between exhilaration and fear, Genevieve must decide—was this the life she was always meant for, or has she risked everything for a mission that will consume her completely?
Years ago, protecting this secret nearly cost Genevieve her life.
Now someone could be willing to kill for it once more.
If you tell Nancy Bilyeau that reading one of her historical novels of suspense is like strapping yourself into a time machine, you’ll make her day. She loves crafting immersive historical stories, whether it’s Jazz Age New York City in “The Orchid Hour,” the 18th-century European
chateaus and porcelain workshops in “The Versailles Formula,” “The Blue,” and “The Fugitive Colours,” or Henry VIII’s tumultuous England in “The Crown,” “The Chalice,” and “The Tapestry.”
For her Genevieve Planche novels–“The Versailles Formula,” The Blue” and “The Fugitive Colours”–she drew on her heritage to create a Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a direct descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Nancy’s ancestor, Isaac, was born on the boat crossing the Atlantic.
Pierre’s stone house is the third oldest house in New York State.
Nancy’s mind is always in past centuries but she currently lives with her husband and two children in upstate New York. Her quest to cook the perfectly flavored cassoulet is ongoing.
My thoughts: I hadn’t read the previous books in this series before I read this, and while it isn’t essential to do so, it might help to understand the back story.
Genevieve is bored of her quiet, provincial life in the English countryside, summoned to her friend’s home in Twickenham, and invited to Sir Horace Walpole’s rather peculiar home, Strawberry Hill, to help unravel a mystery, fills her with hope for adventure and intrigue. She gets both.
Dispatched to Paris as Lady Jane Howard, she’s attempting to find out if a treaty, the treaty she and her husband are implicated in keeping, has been broken on the French side. But there is danger, and her life could be at risk if she isn’t very careful.
Smart, resourceful, intelligent and brave, Genevieve must outwit those who mean her harm to get the answers she seeks and safely return to her husband and son, even if it means giving up the possibility of more with the dashing Captain Howard.
I went back and read the previous books, which filled in the story of how Genevieve came to be married to a schoolteacher and buried out in the country, having lived a rather eventful life. I actually think she should return to it. She has the head for adventure and teaching local gentry’s bored wives how to paint water colours of flowers must be tedious in the extreme.
Very enjoyable and entertaining, studded with real life figures and events, during a particularly tumultuous time for both England and France.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 
Thank you so much for being a part of the tour x
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