Spies and Prejudice by Talia Vance

Title: Spies and Prejudice

Author: Talia Vance

Source: Library

Rating: 4 Stars

Pride & Prejudice meets Veronica Mars in this slick romantic spy-thriller where nothing’s as it seems.

Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She's busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she's sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.

So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her "nothing amazing," it's no loss for Berry. She'll forget him in no time. She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death.

But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can't Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?

With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide. -Summary from Goodreads

            Books are always getting described as “X-Men meets Ocean 11,” “Just like the Hunger Games,” “For fans of Game of Thrones,” and you just have to take it with a grain of salt because most of the time you can’t see any resemblance. However, calling Spies and Prejudice a lovely dish of Veronica Mars mixed with Pride and Prejudice would not be far from the truth.

            Strawberry “Berry” Fields (let us pause on that name for a second) spends most of her time hanging out with her friends, keeping up with her schoolwork, and catching cheaters on camera for her dad’s private investigation service. She doesn’t put up with idiots and she seems like she’s got her life under control. But when she see’s something that opens up an old wound, Berry is on a mission to find out what really happened to her mother that fateful night years before.

            I really enjoyed this read. There was mystery and snarky-ness and I loved seeing bits of Pride and Prejudice under the surface. Tanner played his role as the Mr. Darcy character well and I couldn’t help swooning over him a bit. Especially when he would try to make nice and then Berry would reject him. I know it’s silly but also very romantic. The mystery surrounding him and his brother though was very intriguing and I couldn’t figure out what was up with those two so it was pretty shocking to me when we were finally told. I was like “whoa” and then “swoon.”

            This was a cute, short read, but if I had one complaint about this book it is that I felt the ending might have been too abrupt and the tiniest bit disappointing. I think I expected a little more out of the mystery of her mother’s death and while everything was revealed in the end it just didn’t feel… complete.

            It was a fun read and I would recommend it to people who like Veronica Mars or Pride and Prejudice, but I’m not sure I would read it again.

 -Sarah