Reviewed by Andrea Williamson
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: January 27, 2009
4.5 stars

As the only child of the wealthy Earl of Doncaster and his loving wife, Lady Mariah is very close to her parents.  So when at 16, her father became an emissary for the Crown to various European capitals, naturally his wife and daughter traveled with him.  Five years later, Mariah finally gets her London Season and so far it isn’t what she’d hoped it would be.  Not even close.  Until the night of her parents’ ball and she meets a mysterious stranger on a darkened balcony.  He’s impertinent and blunt and candid . . . and the most interesting man Mariah has met.  She becomes instantly smitten.  The only problem is she has no idea what he looks like, only that his name is Harry.  And then he starts coming to her bedroom window under the darkness of night uttering the sweetest things . . . and she begins to fall hopelessly in love with him.

Harry Sinclair is a spy for the Home Office and a master of disguises.  While taking in some fresh air dressed as the elderly Lord Wroth, Harry meets the object of his instant attraction, the incomparable Lady Mariah.  Knowing that a common spy is well beneath the station of an earl’s daughter, Harry can’t help himself from speaking to her.  And even though his current mission could be compromised by doing so, he can’t seem to stay away from her.  But will his double life full of secrets destroy any slim chance they might have to be together?

I love, love, love the “reverse Cinderella” plot.  There’s just something so appealing to me of the complexity of a story in which a hero whose social standing isn’t high enough or doesn’t feel as if he’s good enough for the heroine.  Harry is just such a hero.  I admired him for staying strong while managing his inner struggles and absolutely adored his raw vulnerability regarding Mariah.  For him, it was love at first sight.  *sigh*  And Lady Mariah was the perfect heroine for him.  She trusted her instincts and Harry, even when he couldn’t supply answers to all of her questions, was very determined to find a way – any way – for them to be together.

A cross between Jane Austen and 007, A View to a Kiss is a sweet, passionate romance filled with intrigue and surprise twists.  This one kept me up late into the night because I couldn’t put it down.  Caroline Linden’s first book for Avon is a book that should not be missed!