My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you are looking for a book that will reach deep into your emotions, you won’t want to miss Reclaiming the Spy! It’s a book that is almost impossible to put down. Seriously.

Description of Reclaiming the Spy

How can he protect her from himself when she keeps winding up in his arms?

She never gave up hope. After ten years of prayers for her husband, presumed dead in the Peninsula Wars, Abigail Emerson is shocked to discover him alive. Yet what should be the happily ever after of fairy tales becomes a nightmare when he coldly instructs her to forget she’d ever seen him. Abigail refuses to let her beloved slip through her fingers again, and she’s willing to battle for his love, despite the walls he’s created to barricade his heart.

Nicholas Emerson’s time as a spy for the War Office has left physical and mental battle wounds. He can never be the charming, carefree man he once was—the man his wife deserves—but when a threat to Abby’s life returns him to their small Midland village, keeping her safe proves more challenging than expected. If only Abby would forget him and remarry, then he wouldn’t have to face the torment of all the tender, buried feelings she evokes. The consequence of his life as a spy means he can never have her again…

My Thoughts

Reclaiming the Spy hooked me right from the prologue. Nick and Abby were newly married, and happy–so happy that I had a sense of impending disaster. And sure enough, then the letter arrived, changing everything.

This book has earned every bit of a five stars and beyond. It dug deeply into my emotions. It made me laugh and cry (I was so glad my sister wasn’t in the room). Best of all, it delivered a perfect ending, giving my emotions a much needed soothing.

I love a book where I can’t guess what’s going to happen next, and the unique circumstances of Reclaiming the Spy kept me turning pages. Every character was perfectly developed. Lorri used real skill in portraying Nick, making him likeable, yet also displaying the trauma he faced. I was on the edge of my seat every time he started sneaking around Abby, trying to hide his identity. Those were some of the best parts of the book.

Lorri threaded a beautiful theme through the book, showing the sanctity of marriage and the importance of unconditional love. Abby provided a lovely picture of what a wife should look like with the strength of her love for Nick and her determination to stay at his side no matter what.

I also loved how Lorri emphasized that God is the One who heals. The way that she delivered truth in Reclaiming the Spy gives this book a deep impact and makes it a story that will linger in your mind long after reading the last word.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book, but my thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Reclaiming the Spy Excerpt

What was he going to tell Abby? He’d been too rash that night he’d bought his commission, too distraught by the thought of losing her to a titled gentleman. She’d proved a thousand times over that she didn’t care about such things, but that night, something within him had snapped. He’d made a desperate decision.

And now came the price.

Grab a copy of Reclaiming the Spy!

About the Author

Lorri Dudley has been a finalist in numerous writing contests and has a master’s degree in Psychology. She lives in Ashland, Massachusetts with her husband and three teenage sons, where writing romance allows her an escape from her testosterone filled household. Find her online at www.lorridudley.com.

More From Lorri

When writing stories, I delve into research to provide the best experience for my readers, hoping to transport them to another time and setting, in this case, the lush green rolling hills of England’s Cotswolds at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. However, God had an alternative plan for me during my research and writing of Reclaiming the Spy. To prepare for the beginning scene with Mama Em, I read Glimpses of Heaven by Trudy Harris, RN. Trudy Harris was a hospice nurse and wrote about her clients in their final days. I’ve never sobbed through every book chapter quite like I had this one. At the same time, I was encouraged to hear how many of her patients heard glorious music, observed beautiful scenes, had visions of past friends or family members, witnessed angels, or even saw their Savior, Jesus Christ.

I didn’t realize that God was preparing me through my research for my dad to go into hospice care. In his final stages, my dad spoke of seeing his parents in vivid dreams, and thanks to reading about similar situations in Glimpses of Heaven, I know they were waiting to welcome him into heaven. I’m so grateful for how God readied my heart, and I was able to draw comfort in seeing how He blurs the lines of this realm and the next to make for an easier transition. God is good all the time, and I felt his presence beside me the entire way.

I’d initially titled my manuscript Love Never Fails because Abby and Nicholas struggle to learn the qualities of love from 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient, love is kind… love believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Nicholas’s debilitating spells and nightmares after serving as a spy in the Napoleonic Wars cause him to fear Bedlam and that he may hurt Abby. Post-traumatic stress disorder wasn’t a mental health diagnosis of the early 1800s, but it did exist. Mental hospitals (or madhouses) were frightening places where inmates were often treated like zoo animals. Spectators would come for enjoyment to stare and laugh at the men and women housed there.

While my parents didn’t have a wartime story like Abby and Nicholas, they shared a love that endured through good and bad times and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past year. The last few days my dad was alive, he sang Amazing Grace and to my mom a Doris Day song, I Love You a Bushel and a Peck. They shared a love that never failed, and that is the love I hoped to convey through Abby and Nicholas’s story.