A Review of The Turncoat, by Donna Thorland

The Turncoat is a spectacular historical romance spy novel, set during the American Revolution. Prepare for some sleepless nights because you will be unable to put this book down!

Setting

Occupied Philadelphia, 1777-1778

Main Characters

Kate Grey is a practical Quaker with strong rebel leanings, coordinating the local women in packing salt-pork for the rebel soldiers. Her mother, a devout Quaker, is dead. Her father, who fought in the French and Indian War, is off to join his old friend George Washington. She is horrified when he tells her he will be leaving Angela Ferrers with her. The woman will masquerade as her aunt to keep her safe until the British are holed up for the winter in Philadelphia.

Major Peter Tremayne, Viscount Sancreed, is a career soldier and commander of a cavalry unit. He is tasked with carrying dispatches from Philadelphia to New York, and he is enthralled by the rebel Quaker whose home he chooses as a stopover for his troops. He is less enthralled by her fashionable aunt, but decides that perhaps being stuck in Philadelphia all winter might not be so bad with Kate as a target of seduction.

Romance

Peter finds a sealed letter of Kate’s father’s and tells her she may have it back if she leaves her bedroom door unbolted. Kate, certain her aim is to convince him to hand it over, finds herself unwilling to kick him out of her room when he hands over the letter. Instead, she finds herself quite willing to be seduced for the first time in her life. Peter is forthright and talks her to like an intelligent human being, and he turns body molten.

He asks her if she consents to his staying with her in her room. But when they are interrupted by pounding on the door and the announcement of rebels raiding nearby, he makes bold to pluck some lace from her house jacket to take with him. And when she says she would indeed consent to him staying, he cannot help but gallantly tie the lace to a button loop on his sleeve, eager to mop up the raid and get back to what they have started.

They may be on opposite sides of the conflict, but they are very much intellectual equals and quite ready to explore that further.

Plot

But Angela Ferrers is a rebel spy who steals Peter’s dispatches to take them to General Washington. The loss of those dispatches will implicate Peter–and Kate–in high treason. With no return possible, Kate determines to serve Washington as a spy in Philadelphia.

When Peter returns to America months later, he is beholden to General Howe, who tasks him with finding the spy. To his horror, he discovers Kate in disguise and engaged to Peter’s sadistic cousin, a fellow officer. The nest of vipers interweaves until it becomes impossible to extricate either of them unscathed.

Historical Worldbuilding

Thorland is a genius at this. She brings Revolutionary Philadelphia to life in vivid detail, immersing readers seamlessly into history. She shows us the simple, but prosperous Quaker farm Kate grew up on and then transitions to the opulence of British-occupied Philadelphia, with Loyalists and officers holding grand, theatrical spectacles. We get the details of Kate’s silk stays contrasted to the cheap leather ones of poor women. The realities of Peter’s titled social rules contrast with Kate’s egalitarian American Quaker views. Readers don’t read about the era, they time travel to it, and they are dropped right into the real intrigue and complexities of Revolutionary politics and personal lives. Chef’s kiss!

Tropes

This is a protector romance, with Peter a dashing and capable soldier. It is also an opposites attract romance, with Peter a viscount, and Kate a levelling Quaker. Layer on top of that all of the delicious tropes of a spy novel, and you have an explosive romance with enough twists and turns to keep you reading into the wee hours.

Secondary Characters

The secondary characters in this novel are vivid and three-dimensional, and many of them are real historical figures. Among the fictitious, Angela Ferrers, “The Widow”, is a ruthless Continental spy, but with a human side that brings her to life. Bayard Caine, Peter’s cousin, is simultaneously artistic, brutal, and sentimental, which makes him hard to forget. The most thoroughly developed of the real historical figures is John Andre, who was Britain’s spy-master, and the man who turned Benedict Arnold. Thorland renders him in all of his complicated glory.

Point of View

The story is written in third-person, alternating between Kate’s point of view and Peter’s.

In Summary

• This is a steamy and intense romance set smack dab in the middle of Revolutionary War espionage, which only serves to heighten the emotion. It was spectacular, and I didn’t want it to end!
• It is set in Philadelphia and environs during the British occupation in 1777 and 1778.
• The characters are so realistic, they leap off the page and never stop surprising you. Kate is daring and smart, and Pater is dashing and brave, but Thorland runs them through fire to earn their happily ever after. I loved these two!
• The historical detail is superb. You will be transported and love every second of it. A beautiful marriage of romance and historical fiction.
• The tropes are protector romance and opposites attract, layered over with the delights of a spy novel.
• The heat level is about a 2.5 or 3 out of 5. There is sex on the page, and it is also explicit.
• It is set during war, and there is violence, both of the military sort and the illegal sort. There are also two brief scenes of sexual assault, one on page, one off page, but they are not gratuitous.

Keep them Coming!

Please keep the tips coming! What other historical romances have you read that are set in the Americas and you think others might enjoy? Let’s share the love. Please email me or post in the comments below with suggestions of other titles!

Love novels set in this period? My novel Passion’s Duty is set during the war that set up the Revolution, and it releases on June 17. Next year is the 250th anniversary of the Revolution, so this is the perfect time to read it. Be sure to check it out!

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Image: March to Valley Forge, by William B.T. Trego, 1883, via Wikimedia Commons

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