Title: The Spy’s Love Song
Series: Stars from Peril 01, Dreamspun Desires 67
Author: Kim Fielding
Narrator: Drew Bacca
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 5 hrs, 32 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press LLC (28th February 2019)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 3.5 Hearts
Reviewer: Prime
Blurb: For a singer and a spy, love might be mission impossible.
Jaxon Powers has what most only dream of. Fame. Fortune. Gold records and Grammy awards. Lavish hotel suites and an endless parade of eager bedmates. He’s adored all over the world – even in the remote, repressive country of Vasnytsia, where the tyrannical dictator is a big fan. The State Department hopes a performance might improve US relations with a dangerous ene-my. But it means Jaxon’s going in alone…with one exception.
Secret agent Reid Stanfill has a covert agenda with global ramifications. Duty means everything to him, even when it involves protecting a jaded rock star. Jaxon and Reid’s mutual attraction is dangerous under Vasnytsia’s harsh laws – and matters get even worse when they’re trapped inside the borders.
Romance will have to wait…assuming they make it out alive.
Purchase Link: Audible US | Audible UK | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Review: The Spy’s Love Song is the first book in Kim Fielding’s series Stars from Peril. I really enjoy Fielding’s writing style and so was pretty confident that I would at least enjoy this story. The writing style is easy for me to connect to and I find a majority of Fielding’s characters both relatable and entertaining.
It was actually good timing for me to listen to this audio, because I also had the ebook for book 2 in the series and I listened in case I needed a refresher. FYI: these do work as standalone book with only passing reference with the character who happens to be the famous person from the small town of Peril. In fact, the characters aren’t even physically in the town, it just happens that one MC is a small town boy who has made it famous.
The audio narration for this story was by Drew Bacca, who is a completely new narrator for me. I found his voice matched both characters and the theme of the story well. He was able to convey the emotions – the danger and the passion – pretty damn well. I look forward to hearing more performances him in the future.
For me this book is a mix between The Cold War (in the style of The Man from UNCLE) and the Seth Rogen/James Franco movie The Interview. If you don’t know what I’m talking about you could also think gay James Bond with a spoiled Rockstar and hot sexual tension. If a pseudo-James Bond minus the Bond girls is your thing in a romance this book will probably go for this one.
Jaxon Powers transformed his life and moved to the big city to try to make his big break after his parents took his coming out badly. In fact, he hasn’t spoken to them in years. But now he has made it big and a big name. He’s doing world tours, recording albums, and basically living the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll lifestyle. He is a spoiled, bored and jaded celebrity. Then one days he gets what has to be the strangest request. Apparently, the dictator of some eastern European country is a massive fan of his and requests that Jaxon fly over to perform a couple shows. The US State Department see this as the perfect opportunity to see into the country Vasnytia and get some intelligence. Vasnytia is basically like North Korea/USSR.
This is where Secret Agent Reid Stanfil comes in. He is all that is awesome and the embodiment of a secret agent man: he’s ex-military, knows the local language, sexy as well and good to have when you’re in a spot of trouble. He accompanies Jaxon to Vasnytia and goes to all lengths to ensure the man’s safety, as well as conduct any secret agent type business. They have an instant connection, but Reid is well aware of the dangers of giving into his base desires. However, things go awry, to put it nicely, and when the guys are running for their lives the last thing they have time for is to give into their feelings.
I really liked the two characters together and I love that they didn’t have sex in stupid places at ridiculous times although they had a good chemistry. I found that Drew Bacca’s performances lifted this chemistry between the characters and made the whole story a lot more relatable.