REVIEW: The Spy and I by Tiana Smith

The Spy and I by Tiana Smith: Aside from looking identical Dove and her twin sister Madison could not be more different from one an other. While Madison is a globe trotting photographer, Dove prefers to stay home with her cyber security job, truly total opposites, but it would seem that there is way more to Madison than Dove ever realized, seeing as how Dove has now found herself smack bang in the middle of some Mission Impossible meets James Bond sort of scenario with secret code words, covert briefcase hand offs and more gun fights than she ever bargained for! Turns out dear ole Madison is actually an undercover CIA agent, but with Dove being mistaken for her sister, she has no choice but to follow Madison’s partner Nick Mendez on an international spy hunt, if she has any hope of finding her sister. The question is can she really trust Mendez? After all aren’t spies supposed to lie?

I loved the idea of a cute mistaken identity spy romance novel and with the cute yet spicy cover, I had real hope that this book would be amazing. For the most part I have to say that The Spy And I was a nice read, there were moments that felt a bit slow and drawn out but I did enjoy the book as a whole. As much as I enjoyed this book, I don’t think it would be fair to classify it as a romance, as that was pretty minimum, this was more of a young adult with a side of drama and mystery.

I really liked our leading lady Dove, she is sassy but also a bit unsure of herself. Though I will say she is a hacking wiz, I loved seeing her in her cyber element, rocking the whole tracing and hacking like a total boss. She did a lot of growing and stepping out of her comfort zone as the story progressed and I really liked this about her characters development but I did feel that there were moments that she was a bit naive. As for our hero Nick Mendez, well he had an element of charm to him that I can not deny. I will say there were moments that he came on a bit strong but I could not help but want more.

As far as the chemistry between Dove and Nick went, these two played into the slow burn to an art. There was so much tension and build up between them. I really wish that this was not a close door romance because it would have been sooo hot! I really liked the slight element of body guard and civilian that was going on between Dove and Nick, this only made their connection all the more spicy.

There was a nice level of drama and action as Dove and Nick tried to find the rouge spy and save Madison. Overall this was an enjoyable read. If you are looking for a cute, no spice, spy romance then this is definitely worth checking out.

Book Info:

Publication: February 13, 2024 | Berkley | My Spy #1

The first thing to know about Dove Barkley is that, even though she works as a cyber security analyst, she is one hundred percent not an undercover CIA operative. But when a group of bad guys mistake her for her super-spy sister (news to her!), Dove gets roped into a dangerous government mission that she’d very much rather be left out of, thank you.

Too bad Mendez, the man who claims to be her sister’s partner, says she’s in too deep to back out now. He’s smart, capable, and has a body almost distracting enough to make Dove forget about the team of trained assassins after her.

Dove has information that can help prevent a national tragedy, but there’s mounting evidence that Mendez might not be who he claims. More importantly, she’s running out of time to save her sister. Because the last thing Dove wants is for either of them to go out with a bang.