THE SPY WITH THE SILVER LINING by Wendy Rosnau, Spy Games #3, Silhouette Bombshell #89, May 2006, Rating: C

We're back to the parts that I didn't care for in THE SPY WORE RED, female assassins employed by EURO-Quest that sleep with their victims. Casmir Balasi went so far as to sort of fall in love with one of her victims even while she put him in prison. The only problem is Yuri Petrov manages to get out of prison and realizes that Casmir is one of his betrayers. EURO-Quest and Onyxx team up together, assigning Casmir a bodyguard in the bayou of Louisiana. She doesn't know until it's too late that she's actually the bait. Casmir knows her bodyguard, Pierce Fourtier, they worked together in bringing the end results about in THE SPY WORE RED, disguising themselves as Bjorn and Nadja.

Casmir agrees to the "vacation" because she believes her mother Ruza, was threatened by Yuri. She doesn't realize until she's in Louisiana that she's to be the bait, drawing Yuri to her. EURO-Quest and Onyxx want him to capture her, hoping she'll lead them to his hideaway in the Mediterranean that no one has been able to find. Disliking Pierce the one time she worked with him before she was surprised to find herself liking him and the simple way he lived. She was the actress, the glamorous spy, even going so far as never having taken off the huge rock of an engagement ring Yuri had given her. Their worlds couldn't have been more different, but she knew if she was to be bait that there was no one else she wanted trying to find her but Pierce.

Pierce Fourtier doesn't want anything to do with Casmir or her mother. As they get deeper into the mission and he realizes that she doesn't know what her part is in the mission he starts to question that mission. And he realizes that she's not just another agent. Having to ply her with alcohol and drugs to get her into a state wher he can surgically implant a tracking chip in her neck goes above and beyond the call of duty for both of them, but they realize her clothes and other things will get searched.

There's a side story involving Pierce's friend Saber Lazie and Casmir's mother traveling around together, Saber's job is to keep Ruza busy and distracted so that she doesn't find out what her daughter really does for a living. We find out in this book how far even family members are willing to go to keep their secret lives secret.

I enjoyed the book enough, but I found it a little far fetched that EURO-Quest would send Casmir out on all sorts of dangerous assignments before this one but now decide she doesn't need to know she's bait. I also just don't like the description provided of how these women are recruited, the options they're given, etc. I'm sure it's done in real life, but reading about it just doesn't hold that much appeal. I rated this one a C.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com