The Gift (Crown's Spies Book 3)

I loved this book and have read it several times. Each book is a standalone but better to read in order. Nathan was quite a character, and I did have tears when Sara was hurt when he didn’t believe in her. Glad they got their happy ever after. This was a really fun book too. I highly recommend this book.

Let me start by saying I love the premise of these books. It’s historical romance meets murder mysteries, which are two of my favorite genres.PlotGreat plot. I loved the storyline. It was unique, original, and I enjoyed it.CharactersI loved the characters. I will say that at first, I was not crazy about Sara. But I think that was intentional on the author’s part. By the end of the book, I liked her.RomanceAgain, excellent. Very steamy romance scenes. The only complaint (and it’s hyper critical) is that I like a little more build up to the ultimate romance scene, which didn’t necessarily happen in this book (or the series).Historical AccuracyGreat.Typos/grammar:There may have been a few but none were super noticeable.Chief complaint:The reason I did not give this book 5 stars (and why I found the series lacking when it could have been spectacular) was the action climax scenes. Throughout the entire book, the author builds and builds with the rising action, making the reader need to see a climactic scene with the main characters. While there is a main scene if confrontation, there is never any real danger for the main characters. It was a let down for me. And in my opinion, every book in the whole series did that.SPOILER WARNINGFor example, she goes to save her mother. Her dangerous uncle shows up. Instead of drawing out the climactic action scene, all we know is that when Nathan shows up a few minutes later, she kicked him in the groin, disabling him. It just could have been built into so much more, which I desperately think it needed.

This is by far one of my favorite romance books. I’ve read it at least a dozen times. This series is my go to when I want a good love story. I highly recommend

Third book in a regency series, we’d met Nathan in Caine and Jade’s story from Guardian Angel. It’s time for Nathan to go kidnap his bride—the baggage he’s got to accept in order to get the king’s gift of gold. He needs the money to grow his shipping business.In an attempt to stop a long standing feud between the Winchester and St James families, King George came up with a contract, forcing four year-old Sara Winchester to marry fourteen year-old Nathan St James. They’ll be awarded a valuable strip of land that resides between the estates of both families. And when she gives him a child, the king’s gift of gold. If either breaks the contract, the other family gets the land. The two haven’t seen each other since being wed fourteen years ago and her family desperately wants Nathan to break the contract.Chaotic humor abounds as naïve Sara is the cause of one mishap after another while aboard his ship, to the point where a sailor getting a wart also gets blamed on her. The two are as different as night and day. She’s a dreamer who grew up with the fairy tale belief that her husband loved her and should protect her from everything. That faith gets put to the test. For his part, he’s relieved that she’s nothing at all like her despicable family in either looks or temperament and both he and his crew come to appreciate her.I love the characters. First read back in the 90s before I’d started reading so much urban fantasy with capable, kick butt heroines, today Sara seems like a wet noodle in comparison. But she’s so charming and funny. Her backbone is obvious from the start, but we see growth in that area. Expect to shed tears in more than one place as it’s easy to slip into Sara’s head and feel her emotions.It’s not necessary to have read Guardian Angel first, but it would definitely help with a better understanding of some of the relationships as well as an issue that comes up. The characters and storyline from the first book, Lion’s Lady, have nothing to do with this third story.

Julie Garwood is an excellent writer and the stories are always good, however, this book is just one sex scene after another. The story gets lost in the sex scenes, that is a shame because Sara and Nathan are a good story without all the sex.

Liked reading this one of Julie Garwood. Recommend her books as they deliver what a good read should do. Will have to try out some of the other titles now too!

This is a five star book with a great heroine, excellent side characters and a lot of laughs. But I didn't like it as much as the first book 'Guardian Angel' because the plot didn't have quite as much momentum.Married when they were children, Nathan Marquess of St. James and Lady Sara Winchester come from warring families. Now Sara is an adult Nathan travels to fetch her and claim the monetary dowry that come with his unwanted bride.But Sara has more loving type of marriage in mind. She tells Nathan she loves him daily and forces him to cuddle. She also chastises Nathan and his pirate crew every time they swear. Sara is a great character - super girly but very entertaining and with great comeback lines. Nathan is good fun too. He has a foul temper and Sara takes pleasure in getting him to explode. Witty and entertaining this is recommended reading.

While I really did love this book and the plot I also felt it wasn't quite as strong as her other books are. I loved all the characters and the romance and humour were great. However, one thing that jarred with me was having Sara 'whispering' for so much of the time when she spoke - by all means use this word to get across embarrassment, shame, chagrin etc .. but not all the time and definitely not when a more ordinary tone of voice is so obviously called for! So for this alone I would drop it a half star.

Love story line.

Loved this book, it was like watching Irene Dunne and Cary Grant in a 1930's comedy capper toooo delicious!!!