Friends and Foes (The Jonquil Brothers #1)

Philip Jonquil has been hiding behind the disguise of a careless and shallow dandified gentleman for years while working for British Intelligence to aid the war effort and catch French spies. While conducting some business he has a chance run in with a Miss Sorrel Kendrick at a random country inn. She does not take kindly to the persona he has adopted and in fact is greatly insulted by him. Sorrel was injured years earlier in an accident and needs a walking stick for anything requiring her to take more than a few steps and he is under the mistaken believe that she has adopted a rediculous fashion accessory. They part as strangers, until they unexpectedly meet again at a gathering for friends and family for the holidays. Their second meeting goes worse than the first. They are forced in company with one another for the duration of the gathering. What their animosity is so strong for one another that they declare that they are at war with one another. There are witty barbs and snarky banter a plenty until they soon find that they actaually enjoy each other\’s company. They have gained a respect and understanding with the other and even find themselves working together. I actually started this series by reading the sixth book in the series,The Heart of A Vicar, which focuses on Harold. Which I loved and was very interested in reading more books by Sarah M. Eden. In that book Philip and Sorrell actually feature quite a lot and I found myself as invested in them as I was with the main characters of the story. I really love Philip and Sorrell. Especially Philip. His persona of a dandy may be an act, but his penchant for saying absolutely absurb things in any situation is not. I loved this about him, I found his little barbs so ridiculous and amusing. Sorrell is so strong and brave. She is adamant that she will hold on to her independence and wants to care for her family even though it is difficult and often painful for her to do so. She has such a big heart, but she hides it behind an abrasive facade. I quite like the role reversal here. In most historical romances you see a sweet and pampered young woman paired with a tortured and abrasive man. But here, she is the one that suffers with physical pain and is abrasive in her interactions with others. He is the one walking around charming everyone around him with his sparkling conversation and grabbing attention with his flashy outfits. It was a refreshing change and the author pulled it off really well. I enjoyed this book far more than I did the prequel to the series which focused on Crispin and Catherine and which I felt was dragged out a little more than necessary and had a never ending amount of misunderstandings and lack of communication, in a way that it lacked believability. (I was still very hapy though to see Crispin and Catherine in this book to see how they were fairing after the conclusion of their book). But in this book I felt that the pacing was great, nothing felt unnecessary to the plot, everything worked together to move the story forward and the their reactions to situations, I felt, were matched up with their characters. I\’m officially in love with Sarah M. Eden\’s writing and will be moving on to the next book in the series.

Philip Jonquil, Earl of Lambton goes to his friends estate for Christmas while at the same time working for the Foreign Office to catch one of Napoleons most dangerous spies. On the way there he meets Sorrel Kendrick, the infuriatingly stubborn and opinionated lady who challenges him. They agree to be enemies, only it seems exhausting to keep up the animosity. Friends & Foes is the first book in The Jonquil Brothers series by Sarah M. Eden published by Covenant Communications. The setting is 1814 when England fears French invasion by Napoleon. We follow Philip Jonquil, Earl of Lambton, as he works for the Foreign Office. Under cover of spending Christmas at his friends estate in Suffolk, he is really on a hunt for the dangerous Napoleonic spy Le Fountaine. While on the spys trail, he meets stubborn and opinionated Sorrel Kendrick. She dislikes him from the very beginning, while he has his secret reasons for pretending to be the dandy she dislikes so much. They get off to a spectacularly bad start, but unexpectedly she manages to help him with his spy catching operation. Main character Philip Jonquil, Earl of Lambton does his best to help his younger brothers and I think it speaks volumes of what kind of person he is. He is impressive and my absolute favorite. Secondary character Sorrel Kendrick has been trampled by a horse and lives in constant pain from the injuries. She tries to hide her vulnerabilities and tries to build armor around herself. I felt so sorry for her, but was pleased to see she managed to respond differently and open up more. Sarah M. Eden has a signature light hearted, bantering and humorous writing. I love that by following her great writing I learn new expressions in the English language I have not heard in a long time, -or ever. The dialogue feels like the perfect mix between funny, bantering and serious conversations. I cannot remember having read anything similar to the plot of Friends & Foes as it is dealing with consequences of being trampled by a horse. It felt very hard to read. My favorite part of the story was the romance developing between Sorrel and Philip. There was mutual animosity from the start. As they got to know each other better, trust and closeness increased and the romance got room to develop. I thoroughly enjoy the way Sarah M. Eden writes these scenes and I dont know of any other author who creates romance quite like this. Research of the devastating consequences of being trampled by a horse I found both impressive and very, very sad. Great research of how spies operated in England during the Napoleonic wars shone through. Friends & Foes was superb entertainment owing to the combination of an interesting plot, great character building, great dialogue, and vivid writing. Drops of Gold (The Jonquil Brothers #2) is already on my Kindle and I so much look forward to starting it. Fans of Sarah M. Eden will love Friends & Foes; as will readers of historical romance fiction. If you want to explore similar books, you might like to check out the works of Julianne Donaldson or Josi S. Kilpack. All opinions in this review are completely my own. My rating: 5 stars / 5 Main reasons: interesting plot, great character building, super dialogue, and vivid writing

Friends and Foes, the first book in Sarah Eden\’s Jonquil brothers series, introduces you to the eldest brother of the family, Philip Jonquil, the Earl of Lampton. Philip\’s work (investigating crimes as an agent for the Foreign Office) leads him and a fellow agent to a small, out of the way inn. As they are discussing their plans to locate a French spy, named Le Fontaine, their private discussion is suddenly interrupted by a beautiful young English woman looking for her walking stick! This young woman\’s name is Sorrel Kendrick and when Sorrel and Philip end up at the same party in the country at the home of Philip\’s best friend, you know fireworks are bound to happen! Sorrel and Philip have declared war with each other after their previous meeting. As you watch them interact with friends and family during this party, you also see sparks forming between Philip and Sorrel! Philip is still looking for Le Fontaine and when he learns that he is in the area, he knows he must go out on the hunt. Big trouble arises when Sorrel gets involved with the hunt, as well! http://penlessreview.blogspot.com/

The H&h\’s first meeting sets them at loggerheads, each rubbing the other the wrong way. However, they are also instantly attracted to each other and when they meet again their growing, if begrudging respect and their increasing attraction eventually drive them towards love. The romance is spiced with verbal battles and self delusion, the reluctant lovers fight their feelings for each other through much of the book, but the well written supporting characters who are their family and friends help them both to see how foolish they have been. Thrown into the mix is the hunt for a deadly spy and a secondary romance between Sorrel\’s younger sister and one of Philip\’s many brothers. I like the characters but think the plotting lacks Ms Eden\’s usual high standards. In particular the adventure elements are a tad formulaic and the obvious rejoinder Sorrel could give to Phillip, when he thinks her walking stick is an affectation is for some reason never raised. After all Philip doesn\’t need his stick. It is a fashion accessory to him. One he uses to hide secret papers, but he is not obliged to use it for support. A few grating Americanisms appear, like starting sentences with \”Sure\” or the sentence ending phrase that every American writer gets wrong. All American writers have British characters say \”is all\” instead of \”that\’s all\”.Although, strangely I have come across this phrase used by Brits in magazine articles I think that\’s an example of linguistic Atlantic drift, I doubt it was in prevalent use in Regency England. Apart from the above criticisms and the price I liked this book.

A very expensive book for what it is. A quick easy to read romance which I found rather light is not really good value at eight pounds plus. I found some of the story rather moving but the romance story lacked magic and tension. The adventure part was very formulaic. Not good enough for the price.

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