Safecracker Ellie McDonnell hasn’t seen Major Ramsey―her handsome but aloof handler in the British government―since their tumultuous mission together three months before, but when she hears about a suspicious robbery in London she feels compelled to contact him. Together they discover that a rash of burglaries in the city all lead back to a hotbed of spies in the neutral city Lisbon, Portugal, and an unknown object brought to London by a mysterious courier.
As the thieves become more desperate and their crimes escalate, it becomes imperative that Ellie and Ramsey must beat them at their own game. Fighting shadowy assailants, enemy agents, and the mutual attraction they’ve agreed not to acknowledge, Ellie and Ramsey work together to learn if it truly takes a thief to catch a thief.
I really do love this series, Weaver manages something special by making stories that mostly follow the same pattern seem wholly unique. Each story, each plot becomes distinctive enough to keep our interest, thanks to Weaver threading the mystery behind Ellie’s parents, as well as the slow burn and tension filled romance throughout all the books. Simply put, they are entertaining, and I really enjoy the historical period she chose to write them in. Adding in the element of war, of bombings and spies just heightens the tension & atmosphere, and I think Weaver does a really great job of showing the horror but also resilience of that time. People worrying about family missing abroad, how people came to deal with the war & bombings in their own way making tea and biscuits to take down into the air raid shelters and cellars with them. Despite it being set at war time, there is a coziness to these books and they’re just stories I could loose myself in again and again.
Ellie is a character I have loved from the first book. She’s written so incredibly well, so honest to the time, whilst also giving her a streak of independence, allowing her to be sure of herself and of her skills. She may head into situations she shouldn’t, may do things without thinking of the consequences, but she does it all in the name of England, in trying to save the country she loves from invasion. Her character grows with each book, grappling with her feelings, not just for Major Ramsey and Felix, but for the parents she never knew, and those just makes her so relatable and adds a real touch of heart to the story, ensuring you become invested in her.
The one thing that may put people off this is the love triangle, but in my mind there is only one winner when it comes to Ellie’s heart. I like Felix, I do, but he reads more as the childhood sweetheart that she grows out of and less of the man she wants to marry. Major Ramsey on the other hand… whoo boy, their interactions are just filled with glorious tension. Ellie constantly infuriates him, whether it’s her going behind his back on a case, putting herself at risk or just being her impertinent self and let me tell you, I live for their scenes together. We had to wait for three books for just a kiss, but what a kiss it was, so I was expecting the tension to be heightened in this one and I was not at all disappointed. Despite the Major saying nothing could happen between them, it felt like every moment, every look and touch was heightened, and I savored every single bit.
The ending however, the ending nearly had me in tears. I felt so much for Ellie in that situation, and do feel that the Major overreacted slightly, even if I do get his reasoning. And as usual Weaver has left us on somewhat of a cliffhanger, despite the plot of this book being mostly tied up. I am obviously super eager to get my hands on the next book, and can’t wait to see what Ellie and Major Ramsey get up to next.
