Book Review: The Secret Service of Tea & Treason

The Secret Service of Tea & Treason by India Holton is the third and final book in the Dangerous Damsels series, but can technically be read as a standalone (you’d just get some spoilers about books 1 & 2).

This novel follows Daniel Bixby and Alice Dearlove, who are both top spies for A.U.N.T (Agency of Undercover Note Takers). We were first introduced to Bixby in the first two books in the series as the butler for pirate, Alex O’Riley, but apparently he was undercover this whole time! We briefly met Alice in The League of Gentlewomen Witches (book 2) as she was undercover as a maid. Now the two agents have to work together and pretend to be a married couple in order to infiltrate a pirate house party where a dangerous weapon that could possibly kill the Queen is rumored to be.

The book is just as witty, clever, whimsical, and hilariously steamy as the other books in the series! I loved Alice and Bixby – Bixby especially! Alice is on the autism spectrum so while she is highly intelligent, she did not understand idioms and took things very literally which made for some humorous moments, but it was really sweet once Bixby realized this about her that he made sure she always understood what people really meant before she said something that would draw attention to herself amongst the others.

I really liked this book, but I didn’t find myself as immediately hooked as I was with the first two books in the series. It took me til about halfway through before I was really invested, but I liked the book well enough to not want to stop reading. I did really enjoy the book and never even thought about not finishing it, I just wasn’t as in love with it as The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels and The League of Gentlewomen Witches.

The book was a great wrap up to the series and if you enjoyed the first two books than the epilogue will be really satisfying to you with a glimpse at the lives of the 3 couples (Cecilia and Ned, Charlotte and Alex, and Alice and Daniel) in the not too distant future.

Read this if you want a Victorian romcom, fantasy romance with the fake dating/marriage trope and some steam.