Review by Booklist Review
The writing duo Mae Marvel delivers an engrossing and highly unique sapphic romance that has potential to appeal to broad audiences. The glamorous and charming Yardley Whitmer is a spy: a real-life, disguise-wearing, bomb-detonating, CIA spy. Her field alias, the Unicorn, seems to have it all figured out, but her personal life is crumbling. Her years-long relationship with her girlfriend, KC, is coming to an end. What she doesn't know is that pint-sized, but tough KC, a brilliant hacker and tech wizard, also works for the CIA, as Tabasco. They both live secret lives, and despite living together, have never been further apart. When a dangerous tech weapon is let loose on Toronto, the two star-crossed lovers find themselves on the same mission and finally learn the truth about each other. It is up to them to put aside their mistrust and save the world. This slow-burn, fascinating novel reads like a spy-thriller that is laced with angst and sexual tension, and is an exciting addition to the sapphic romance genre.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Marvel, the pen name for authors Annie Mare and Ruthie Knox (who previously collaborated on Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous), delivers an enthralling combination of thrilling action and sweet, sexy romance. It was love at first sight when Yardley and KC met three years ago, but now their relationship is foundering, burdened with the weight of lies on both sides. What neither woman realizes is that they're keeping the same secret: they're both spies working for the same agency under whimsical code names ("the Unicorn" and "Tabasco," respectively). When a mission goes sideways and the truth comes out, KC and Yardley try to put their drama aside and work toward the greater good--but there's no denying the complicated feelings they still have for one another. The authors do a good job balancing internal and external conflict as the unabashedly queer Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esque plot picks up. The international intrigue and well-plotted action sequences evoke James Bond, but the story keeps a sense of cozy sweetness at its core and wears its politics on its sleeve, extolling the virtues of diversity, public service, and queer love. It's a delightful diversion. Agents: (for Mare) Tara Gelsomino, One Track Literary; (for Knox) Pamela Harty, Knight Agency. (June)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Yardly and KC's relationship is over, and it's Yardley's fault. Unable to blow her cover as an agency field agent and away all the time on missions puts too much distance between the couple and neither knows how to breach the gap. KC also has secrets. She wishes she could tell Yardley that she's a hacker for an agency, but the first rule of working at the agency is not to blow your cover. When a mission goes sideways, KC and Yardley come face to face and realize the truth: both of them work for the same company. They know their mission must continue--retrieving a USB drive that holds a computer virus that could shut down the world--but maybe along the way they can also figure out how to trust each other again. KC and Yardley are well-drawn characters with compelling backstories and wicked senses of humor. The action is fast, and their inconvenient make-out/make-up sessions are hot, while the covert operation is expertly woven through the romance. VERDICT Marvel (Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous) sends readers on a thrilling ride in this steamy spy romance.--Heather Miller Cover
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A spy for the CIA discovers her ex-girlfriend also works for the agency. Yardley Whitmer grew up determined to become a spy like her grandfather. Known by the code name Unicorn, she's one of the CIA's most successful agents, completing dangerous missions around the globe. She's paid a price, though, because the weight of keeping her job secret led to a painful breakup with her live-in girlfriend, KC Nolan. What Yardley doesn't realize is that KC is a world-class hacker, code name Tabasco, who also works at CIA headquarters near their home in Virginia. Ten weeks ago, KC's handler, Dr. Brown, instructed her to code a dangerous project--and then disappeared. KC was passed off to a new handler, but she doesn't know whom to trust. When KC is assigned to monitor one of Unicorn's missions in a D.C. coffee shop, she's shocked to discover the superspy is her ex-girlfriend. Learning they've been working on the same team all along doesn't solve their personal problems, and neither of them thinks their relationship can be saved. When KC's project is weaponized and put up for sale on the black market, she and Yardley are sent to Europe to try to recover the intel before it can be deployed. KC is on a poignant emotional journey as she comes to realize that Dr. Brown isolated and monopolized her, cutting her off from having colleagues or friends at work. Meanwhile, Yardley wonders how she missed the clues that KC was also engaged in spycraft. The fast-paced and fun spy story is in the foreground here, while the romance feels like an underdeveloped subplot. It's good to see a powerful group of characters explicitly stating that their identities as queer people are an asset to their work protecting America from enemies, both foreign and domestic. An entertaining espionage story and an easy second-chance romance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
