Release Day Book Review: The Schoolmaster’s Spy (Winsford Green #3) by Ruby Moone

Sadonna

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Schoolmaster’s Spy

SERIES:  Winsford Green

AUTHOR:  Ruby Moone

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH: 349 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 28, 2020

BLURB:

With Bonaparte defeated, King’s spy, Captain Mark Dexter is furious at being sent to investigate the latest headmaster of his old school rather than a smuggling ring on the south coast. Things look up considerably when he realises that the schoolmaster he admired above all others, Felix Brook, is still there. The man who listened to him, the man who cared about him, the man who is still out of bounds. With only half an eye on the job, Dexter inadvertently puts Felix in an extremely compromising position. The mission goes catastrophically wrong, leaving Felix to bear the brunt of the repercussions. With his commanding officer after his blood, and Felix running from him, Dexter is desperate to put things right.
Felix Brook, schoolmaster, is devoted to Hestingley’s school and its pupils. His life is quiet and unremarkable, but When Mark Dexter turns up at an Old Boys’ dinner, he turns Felix’s life inside out. In the decade since he last saw him, the wild, unpredictable schoolboy has become a devastatingly attractive man. Felix can scarcely believe it when Dexter makes his attraction clear, it’s like a dream come true. Until it all goes wrong.
Reluctantly thrown together at the Winsford Green annual Summer Fete, Felix and Dexter attempt to piece together what happened, rebuild trust, and deal with the searing passion that still burns between them. When the truth is finally revealed, Felix must not only prove his innocence, but hold tightly to love as Dexter’s world crumbles beneath him.

REVIEW:

Note:  This is book 3 in this series, but it can be read as a standalone.  It does contain major spoilers for the first book in the series.

Captain Mark Dexter didn’t have an easy life. The despised youngest son, he had a rough go of it until he got to his last boarding school.  At Hestingley’s, Felix Brook was a newly minted schoolmaster.  He was devoted to his students and did his best to keep the wild and angry Mark focused.  When Mark is sent with a colleague to investigate the new headmaster at Hestingley’s under the perfect cover of a reunion, he extremely unhappy.  That is until he sees Mr. Brooks again 🙂  Then things look up a bit.

I don’t want to spoil the intrigue here, but while Dexter and Cross (one of the protagonists from the first book in the series) are investigating the rather ineffectual new Headmaster, things go frankly a bit sideways.  Brook is beside himself and Dex has a lot to account for.  The twists and turns of the plot going forward are quite entertaining and worth every word and chapter 😀

This is a marvelous series!  I have enjoyed each story and I honestly hope that we will have more from Ms. Moone in this universe.  These two characters are very different seeming from the outside, but they are both lonely.  Mark has been dashing through life getting pleasure where he can, thriving on the job that he’s been doing.  Felix has lived a much more quiet life – which he’s mostly happy with even if it’s rather solitary in many ways. He’s devoted to his students – of which Mark was one of his earliest.  When they realize their mutual attraction, Felix has difficulty believing that Mark would truly be interested.  It was wonderful to watch these two men of very different temperaments find their way forward together.  Their first time together is just beautifully written.  This regency era story is just so well done!  These men definitely have to work for their happy ending.  Highly recommended especially for fans of the student/teacher trope (although with a twist) and regency period drama.  Such a good series!

 

RATING: 

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